CN117062174B

CN117062174B - Relay device reselection method, reselection strategy generation method and device and storage medium

Info

Publication number: CN117062174B
Application number: CN202210483694.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 贾靖; 聂衡; 邢燕霞; 毕奇
Original assignee: China Telecom Corp Ltd
Current assignee: China Telecom Corp Ltd
Priority date: 2022-05-05
Filing date: 2022-05-05
Publication date: 2024-07-19
Anticipated expiration: 2042-05-05
Also published as: CN117062174A

Abstract

The disclosure relates to the technical field of communication, in particular to a relay device reselection method, a relay device switching method, a reselection strategy generation method, a relay device reselection device, a relay device switching device, a reselection strategy generation device, a computer readable storage medium and an electronic device, wherein the method comprises the following steps: sending a relay equipment reselection request to an application management network element, so that the application management network element configures a relay equipment reselection strategy for a user terminal according to the relay equipment reselection request; receiving a relay equipment reselection strategy sent by an application management network element; and determining a target relay device discovery process by executing a relay device reselection strategy sent by the application management network element, and determining the target relay device from a plurality of candidate relay devices according to the target relay device discovery process. By the technical scheme of the embodiment of the disclosure, the problem of poor communication quality of the user terminal in the prior art can be solved.

Description

Relay device reselection method, reselection strategy generation method and device and storage medium

Technical Field

The disclosure relates to the technical field of communication, and in particular relates to a relay device reselection method, a relay device switching method, a reselection policy generation method, a relay device reselection device, a relay device switching device, a reselection policy generation device, a computer readable storage medium and an electronic device.

Background

Existing wireless communication systems may communicate with a base station via a relay device for connection into a network when a user terminal is located within the coverage area of the base station and when the user terminal is outside the coverage area of the base station.

However, in the related art, the user terminal is connected to the network through the relay device, there may be a case where the communication quality is poor. For example, the user terminal is far from the currently connected relay device, i.e. the communication range is out of reach of the relay device. At this time, the stability of communication is greatly affected, the service performed by the current user terminal cannot be ensured, and the use requirement of the user is difficult to meet.

It should be noted that the information disclosed in the above background section is only for enhancing understanding of the background of the present disclosure and thus may include information that does not constitute prior art known to those of ordinary skill in the art.

Disclosure of Invention

The disclosure aims to provide a relay device reselection method, a relay device reselection device, a computer readable storage medium and an electronic device, which can solve the problem of poor communication quality of a user terminal in the prior art.

Other features and advantages of the present disclosure will be apparent from the following detailed description, or may be learned in part by the practice of the disclosure.

According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a relay device reselection method, applied to a user terminal, the method including: sending a relay equipment reselection request to an application management network element, so that the application management network element configures a relay equipment reselection strategy for a user terminal according to the relay equipment reselection request; the application management network element is used for configuring a relay equipment reselection strategy for the user terminal; receiving a relay equipment reselection strategy sent by an application management network element; the relay device reselection strategy comprises first switching priorities of a plurality of candidate relay devices; and determining a target relay device discovery process by executing a relay device reselection strategy sent by the application management network element, and determining the target relay device from a plurality of candidate relay devices according to the target relay device discovery process.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, based on the foregoing scheme, sending a relay device reselection request to an application management network element includes: acquiring the signal intensity of a communication interface corresponding to a user terminal; and when the signal intensity of the communication interface corresponding to the user terminal is smaller than or equal to the signal intensity threshold value, the user terminal sends a relay equipment reselection request to the application management network element.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, based on the foregoing solution, determining a target relay device among a plurality of candidate relay devices according to a relay device reselection policy sent by an application management network element, includes: acquiring a routing strategy issued by a strategy control network element; and determining the target relay equipment in the plurality of candidate relay equipment according to the routing strategy and the relay equipment reselection strategy sent by the application management network element.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, based on the foregoing solution, determining a target relay device among a plurality of candidate relay devices according to a routing policy and a relay device reselection policy sent by an application management network element, includes: determining a second switching priority of the plurality of candidate relay devices according to the routing strategy; determining the switching priority of the plurality of candidate devices according to the second switching priority of the plurality of candidate relay devices and the first switching priority of the plurality of candidate relay devices; and determining a target relay device in the plurality of candidate relay devices according to the switching priority of the plurality of candidate devices.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, based on the foregoing scheme, determining a target relay device among a plurality of candidate relay devices according to a target relay device discovery procedure includes: transmitting relay equipment switching broadcast according to a relay equipment reselection strategy so that the target relay equipment transmits relay switching response information according to the relay equipment switching broadcast; and receiving relay switching response information sent by the target relay device to determine the target relay device from the plurality of candidate relay devices.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, based on the foregoing scheme, determining a target relay device among a plurality of candidate relay devices according to a target relay device discovery procedure includes: discovering a relay to-be-switched broadcast sent by a plurality of candidate relay devices; the relay to-be-switched broadcast is used for indicating equipment information related to the candidate relay equipment and the relay equipment reselection strategy; and determining the target relay equipment according to the relay equipment reselection strategy and the relay to-be-switched broadcast sent by the plurality of candidate relay equipment.

According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a relay device switching method applied to a candidate relay device, the method including: when a user terminal sends a relay equipment reselection request to an application management network element, sending a relay to-be-switched broadcast to the user terminal; the relay to-be-switched broadcast is used for indicating equipment information related to the relay equipment reselection strategy of the candidate relay equipment.

According to a third aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a reselection policy generation method applied to an application management network element, including: receiving a relay equipment reselection request sent by a user terminal; configuring a relay equipment reselection strategy for the user terminal according to the relay equipment reselection request; the relay device reselection strategy comprises first switching priorities of a plurality of candidate relay devices; and sending the relay equipment reselection strategy to the user terminal.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, based on the foregoing solution, configuring a relay device reselection policy for a user terminal according to a relay device reselection request includes: determining continuity of service and a plurality of candidate relay devices according to the relay device reselection request; wherein the continuity includes unsupported continuity and supported continuity; and configuring a relay equipment reselection strategy for the user terminal according to the continuity of the service.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, based on the foregoing solution, configuring a relay device reselection policy for a user terminal according to continuity of service includes: when the continuity of the service is not supported, determining a connection mode of the user terminal and the target relay equipment to be switched; determining first switching priorities of a plurality of candidate relay devices according to the connection mode of the user terminal and the target relay device to be switched and the connection mode corresponding to the candidate relay devices; and generating a relay device reselection strategy according to the first switching priority of the candidate relay devices.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, based on the foregoing solution, a connection manner between a user terminal and a target relay device to be switched includes: the user terminal is connected with target relay equipment to be switched through a two-layer relay mode; or the user terminal is connected with the target relay equipment to be switched through a relay mode of three layers of support N3 IWFs.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, based on the foregoing solution, determining, according to a connection manner of a user terminal with a target relay device to be switched and a connection manner corresponding to a plurality of candidate relay devices, a first switching priority of the plurality of candidate relay devices includes: setting the candidate relay equipment as a high priority in the first switching priority when the corresponding connection mode of the candidate relay equipment is the same as the connection mode of the user terminal and the target relay equipment to be switched; setting the candidate relay equipment as a low priority in the first switching priority when the corresponding connection mode of the candidate relay equipment is different from the connection mode of the user terminal and the target relay equipment to be switched; a first switching priority of the plurality of candidate relay devices is determined.

According to a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a relay device reselection apparatus, applied to a user terminal, the apparatus comprising: the reselection request sending module is used for sending a relay equipment reselection request to the application management network element so that the application management network element configures a relay equipment reselection strategy for the user terminal according to the relay equipment reselection request; the application management network element is used for configuring a relay equipment reselection strategy for the user terminal; the reselection strategy receiving module is used for receiving the relay equipment reselection strategy sent by the application management network element; the relay device reselection strategy comprises first switching priorities of a plurality of candidate relay devices; and the target equipment determining module is used for determining a target relay equipment discovery process by executing a relay equipment reselection strategy sent by the application management network element, and determining the target relay equipment in the plurality of candidate relay equipment according to the target relay equipment discovery process.

According to a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a relay device switching apparatus applied to a candidate relay device, the apparatus including: the switching broadcast discovery module is used for sending a relay to-be-switched broadcast to the user terminal when the user terminal sends a relay equipment reselection request to the application management network element; the relay to-be-switched broadcast is used for indicating equipment information related to the relay equipment reselection strategy of the candidate relay equipment.

According to a sixth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a reselection policy generating apparatus applied to an application management network element, the apparatus comprising: the reselection request receiving module is used for receiving a relay equipment reselection request sent by the user terminal; the reselection strategy configuration module is used for configuring a relay equipment reselection strategy for the user terminal according to the relay equipment reselection request; the relay device reselection strategy comprises first switching priorities of a plurality of candidate relay devices; and the reselection strategy sending module is used for sending the relay equipment reselection strategy to the user terminal.

According to a seventh aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program which, when executed by a processor, implements the relay device reselection method of the first aspect or the relay device handover method of the second aspect or the reselection policy generation method of the third aspect as in the above-described embodiments.

According to an eighth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an electronic device comprising:

One or more processors; and

And a storage means for storing one or more programs, which when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to implement the relay device reselection method of the first aspect or the relay device handover method of the second aspect or the reselection policy generation method of the third aspect as in the above embodiments.

The technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the disclosure can comprise the following beneficial effects:

In the relay device reselection method, the relay device switching method and the reselection policy generation method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, the relay device reselection policy may be configured by an application management network element, and a target relay device discovery procedure may be determined by executing the relay device reselection policy sent by the application management network element, and the target relay device may be determined from a plurality of candidate relay devices according to the target relay device discovery procedure.

According to the scheme, when the communication quality between the user terminal and the current relay equipment is poor, the target relay equipment to be switched can be determined according to the relay equipment reselection strategy, so that the communication quality is guaranteed, the stability of communication is improved, the service performed by the current user terminal is guaranteed, the use requirement of a user is met, and the problem that the user efficiency is poor due to the fact that the current service is influenced by poor communication quality is solved.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the disclosure.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with the disclosure and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the disclosure. It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that the drawings in the following description are merely examples of the disclosure and that other drawings may be derived from them without undue effort. In the drawings:

fig. 1 schematically illustrates a flow chart of a relay device reselection method in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied;

Fig. 2 schematically illustrates a flowchart of a user terminal sending a relay device reselection request to an application management network element when a signal strength of a communication interface corresponding to the user terminal is less than or equal to a signal strength threshold in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 3 schematically illustrates a flowchart of determining a target relay device among a plurality of candidate relay devices according to a routing policy and a relay device reselection policy sent by an application management network element in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

Fig. 4 schematically illustrates a flowchart of determining a target relay device among a plurality of candidate relay devices according to a handover priority of the plurality of candidate devices in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 5 schematically illustrates a flowchart for receiving relay handover response information transmitted by a target relay device to determine the target relay device from a plurality of candidate relay devices in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 schematically illustrates a flow chart of a reselection strategy generation method in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 7 schematically illustrates a flowchart for configuring a relay device reselection policy for a user terminal according to continuity of service in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 8 schematically illustrates a flowchart of generating a relay device reselection strategy according to a first switching priority of a plurality of candidate relay devices in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 9 schematically illustrates a flowchart of determining a first switching priority of a plurality of candidate relay devices according to their priorities in the first switching priority in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 10 schematically illustrates a flowchart of a relay device switching method in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 11 schematically illustrates a composition diagram of a relay apparatus reselection device in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 12 schematically illustrates a composition diagram of a relay apparatus switching device in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 13 schematically illustrates a composition diagram of a reselection strategy generating device in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

Fig. 14 schematically shows a schematic of a computer system suitable for use in implementing the electronic device of the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

Example embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the exemplary embodiments may be embodied in many forms and should not be construed as limited to the examples set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the concept of the example embodiments to those skilled in the art. The described features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. Furthermore, the described features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In the following description, numerous specific details are provided to give a thorough understanding of embodiments of the disclosure. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize, however, that the disclosed aspects may be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or with other methods, components, devices, steps, etc. In other instances, well-known structures, methods, devices, implementations, materials, or operations are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of the disclosure.

The block diagrams depicted in the figures are merely functional entities and do not necessarily correspond to physically separate entities. That is, these functional entities may be implemented in software, or in one or more software-hardened modules, or in different networks and/or processor devices and/or microcontroller devices.

According to the relay device reselection method provided in the present exemplary embodiment, a relay device reselection request may be sent to an application management network element, so that the application management network element configures a relay device reselection policy for a user terminal according to the relay device reselection request, receives the relay device reselection policy sent by the application management network element, determines a target relay device discovery procedure by executing the relay device reselection policy sent by the application management network element, and determines a target relay device in a plurality of candidate relay devices according to the target relay device discovery procedure. As shown in fig. 1, the relay device reselection method may include the steps of:

step S110, a relay equipment reselection request is sent to an application management network element, so that the application management network element configures a relay equipment reselection strategy for a user terminal according to the relay equipment reselection request; the application management network element is used for configuring a relay equipment reselection strategy for the user terminal;

Step S120, receiving a relay equipment reselection strategy sent by an application management network element; the relay device reselection strategy comprises first switching priorities of a plurality of candidate relay devices;

step S130, determining a target relay device discovery process by executing a relay device reselection strategy sent by the application management network element, and determining the target relay device from a plurality of candidate relay devices according to the target relay device discovery process.

In the relay device reselection method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, a relay device reselection policy may be configured by an application management network element, and a target relay device discovery procedure may be determined by executing the relay device reselection policy sent by the application management network element, and a target relay device may be determined among a plurality of candidate relay devices according to the target relay device discovery procedure.

Next, steps S110 to S130 of the relay device reselection method in the present exemplary embodiment will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings and embodiments.

In one example embodiment of the present disclosure, a relay device reselection request may be sent to an application management network element, so that the application management network element configures a relay device reselection policy for a user terminal according to the relay device reselection request. Specifically, the user terminal may send a relay device reselection request to the application management network element. Wherein the application management network element may be configured to configure a relay device reselection policy for the user terminal, the relay device reselection policy may be configured to indicate a first handover priority of the plurality of candidate relay devices.

In particular, the application management network element may comprise (AF, application Function), or the application management network element may comprise a session management network element (SMF, session Management Function), or the application management network element may also comprise a repository network element (NRF, NF Repository Function).

Further, the application management network element may be a functional network element in the application layer.

It should be noted that the specific type of the application management network element is not particularly limited in this disclosure.

In one example embodiment of the present disclosure, a relay device reselection request may be sent by a user terminal to an application management network element. Specifically, when the communication quality between the user terminal and the current relay device is poor, the user terminal sends a relay device reselection request to the application management network element, and the current relay device is switched to other relay devices, so that the communication quality of the user terminal is improved.

Note that, the present disclosure does not particularly limit the timing of sending the relay device reselection request to the application management network element.

In one example embodiment of the present disclosure, after sending the relay device reselection request to the application management network element, the application management network element may configure a relay device reselection policy for the user terminal according to the relay device reselection request. Wherein the relay device reselection policy may include a first switching priority of the plurality of candidate relay devices. Specifically, the application management network element may configure a relay device reselection policy for the user terminal according to the related information of the user terminal, where the relay device reselection policy may include first switching priorities of multiple candidate relay devices.

For example, the relevant information of the ue is a Qos (Quality of Service ) index of the ue, a plurality of candidate relay devices corresponding to the ue may be determined by the location of the ue, and the priority is configured for the plurality of candidate relay devices obtained in the above steps according to the Qos index of the ue, so as to obtain a first handover priority of the plurality of candidate relay devices.

It should be noted that, the specific type of the related information of the user terminal is not particularly limited in the present disclosure.

It should be noted that, the specific manner of configuring the relay device reselection policy for the user terminal by the application management network element according to the relay device reselection request is not particularly limited in the present disclosure.

In an example embodiment of the present disclosure, signal strength of a communication interface corresponding to a user terminal may be obtained, and when the signal strength of the communication interface corresponding to the user terminal is less than or equal to a signal strength threshold, the user terminal sends a relay device reselection request to an application management network element. Referring to fig. 2, when the signal strength of the communication interface corresponding to the user terminal is less than or equal to the signal strength threshold, the user terminal sends a relay device reselection request to the application management network element, which may include the following steps S210 to S220:

Step S210, obtaining the signal intensity of a communication interface corresponding to a user terminal;

in an example embodiment of the present disclosure, when a user terminal is connected to a network through a current relay device (a relay device to which the user terminal is connected before switching the relay device by the method of the present disclosure), signal strength of a communication interface corresponding to the user terminal may be detected, and signal strength of the communication interface corresponding to the user terminal may be obtained. Specifically, the communication interface corresponding to the user terminal may include signal strength of the communication interface between the user terminal and the current relay device.

For example, the communication interface corresponding to the user terminal may be a direct communication interface (PC 5 interface), and the signal strength of the direct communication interface may be obtained.

It should be noted that, the specific manner of acquiring the signal strength of the communication interface corresponding to the user terminal is not particularly limited in this disclosure.

Step S220, when the signal intensity of the communication interface corresponding to the user terminal is smaller than or equal to the signal intensity threshold, the user terminal sends a relay equipment reselection request to the application management network element.

In an example embodiment of the present disclosure, after obtaining the signal strength of the communication interface corresponding to the user terminal through the above steps, the user terminal may send the relay device reselection request to the application management network element when the signal strength of the communication interface corresponding to the user terminal is less than or equal to the signal strength threshold. Specifically, when the signal strength of the communication interface corresponding to the user terminal is smaller than or equal to the signal strength threshold, it may be indicated that the signal strength of the communication interface corresponding to the current user terminal is smaller, and the communication quality of the user terminal connected to the network through the current relay device is poor, at this time, the current relay device needs to be switched to other relay devices, that is, the user terminal is connected to the network through other relay devices, that is, the user terminal may send a relay device reselection request to the application management network element, so as to switch the relay device, and improve the communication quality of the user terminal.

The signal strength threshold may be used to indicate communication quality, and when the signal strength corresponding to the user terminal is less than the signal strength threshold, it indicates that the current communication quality is poor. Specifically, the signal strength threshold may be configured according to a service scenario.

The specific value of the signal strength threshold is not particularly limited in this disclosure.

Through the steps S210 to S220, the signal strength of the communication interface corresponding to the user terminal may be obtained, and when the signal strength of the communication interface corresponding to the user terminal is less than or equal to the signal strength threshold, the user terminal sends a relay device reselection request to the application management network element. According to the embodiment of the disclosure, the relay equipment reselection request can be sent under the condition of poor communication quality, so that the relay equipment can be switched in time, and the communication quality is ensured.

In an example embodiment of the present disclosure, after the relay device reselection request is sent by the user terminal to the application management network element through the above steps, the application management network element may configure a relay device reselection policy for the user terminal according to the relay device reselection request, and send the relay device reselection policy to the user terminal, where the relay device reselection policy sent by the application management network element is received by the user terminal, where the relay device reselection policy includes first switching priorities of a plurality of candidate relay devices, where the first switching priorities of the plurality of candidate relay devices may be used to indicate switching priorities of the plurality of candidate relay devices.

For example, the first switching priorities of the plurality of candidate relay devices include: candidate relay device a-priority 1, candidate relay device b-priority 4, candidate relay device c-priority 6, candidate relay device d-priority 3, candidate relay device e-priority 8, candidate relay device f-priority 2, wherein the larger the number corresponding to the priority is, the higher the priority of the candidate relay device corresponding to the priority as the target relay device is.

Note that, the present disclosure is not limited in particular to the specific form of the first switching priority of the plurality of candidate relay devices.

In an example embodiment of the present disclosure, after receiving the relay device reselection policy transmitted by the application management network element by the user terminal through the above steps, the target relay device discovery procedure may be determined by executing the relay device reselection policy transmitted by the application management network element, and the target relay device may be determined among the plurality of candidate relay devices according to the target relay device discovery procedure. Specifically, since the relay device reselection policy may be used to indicate the first switching priority of the plurality of candidate relay devices may be used to indicate the switching priority of the plurality of candidate relay devices, the target relay device discovery procedure by which the target relay device is determined among the plurality of candidate relay devices may be determined according to the relay device reselection policy. The target relay device discovery process refers to a connection preamble process of discovering a target relay device among a plurality of candidate relay devices.

For example, the target relay device discovery procedure may be determined according to the first switching priorities of the plurality of candidate relay devices, for example, the target relay discovery procedure in which discovery broadcast information is transmitted by the candidate relay terminal may be adopted, or the relay discovery procedure in which the user terminal performs service request broadcasting through the first switching priorities of the plurality of candidate relay devices may also be adopted, and the target relay device may be determined among the plurality of candidate relay devices through the target relay device discovery procedure.

It should be noted that, the specific manner of determining the target relay device from the plurality of candidate relay devices according to the target relay device discovery procedure is not particularly limited for determining the target relay device discovery procedure by executing the relay device reselection policy sent by the application management network element.

In an example embodiment of the present disclosure, when a target relay device is determined among a plurality of candidate relay devices, direct communication may be established between the target relay device and a user terminal, and the user terminal may be accessed according to a relay access procedure of a 3GPP proximity service, so as to implement handover of the relay device.

In an example embodiment of the present disclosure, a routing policy issued by a policy control network element may be obtained, and a target relay device is determined from a plurality of candidate relay devices according to the routing policy and a relay device reselection policy sent by an application management network element. Referring to fig. 3, determining a target relay device among a plurality of candidate relay devices according to a routing policy and a relay device reselection policy transmitted by an application management network element may include the following steps S310 to S320:

step S310, a routing strategy issued by a strategy control network element is obtained;

in an example embodiment of the present disclosure, after the user terminal sends the relay device reselection request to the application management network element through the above steps, the application management network element configures a relay device reselection policy for the user terminal according to the relay device reselection request, and the user terminal receives the relay device reselection policy returned by the application management network element, the routing policy issued by the policy control network element may be obtained. In particular. The policy control network element may include a PCF network element (Point Coordination Function) that supports a unified policy framework to manage network behavior, provide policy rules to network entities, and access subscription information of the unified data repository.

It should be noted that the specific type of the policy control network element is not particularly limited in this disclosure.

In particular, the policy control network element may be configured to issue a routing policy that may be used to determine a target relay device among a plurality of candidate relay devices.

For example, the routing policy may include priorities of a plurality of candidate relay devices.

Further, the target relay device may be determined from among the plurality of candidate relay devices by a routing policy (URSP rule, UE route selection policy) issued by the PCF network element.

It should be noted that the specific type of the routing policy is not particularly limited in this disclosure.

Step S320, determining a target relay device in a plurality of candidate relay devices according to the routing strategy and the relay device reselection strategy sent by the application management network element.

In an example embodiment of the present disclosure, after the routing policy issued by the policy control network element is obtained through the above steps, the target relay device may be determined from among the plurality of candidate relay devices according to the routing policy and the relay device reselection policy sent by the application management network element. Specifically, a total relay device reselection policy may be obtained by combining a routing policy and a relay device reselection policy, and a target relay device is determined from a plurality of candidate relay devices according to the total relay device reselection policy.

It should be noted that, the specific manner of determining the target relay device among the plurality of candidate relay devices according to the routing policy and the relay device reselection policy sent by the application management network element is not particularly limited in the present disclosure.

Through the steps S310 to S320, a routing policy issued by the policy control network element may be obtained, and the target relay device may be determined from the plurality of candidate relay devices according to the routing policy and the relay device reselection policy sent by the application management network element. By the embodiment of the invention, the routing strategy issued by the strategy control network element and the relay equipment selection strategy applied to the management network element can be combined, so that the accuracy of the target relay equipment is improved, and the communication quality of the user terminal after the user terminal is connected with the network through the target relay equipment is better.

In one example embodiment of the present disclosure, a second handover priority of the plurality of candidate relay devices may be determined according to a routing policy, the handover priority of the plurality of candidate relay devices may be determined according to the second handover priority of the plurality of candidate relay devices and the first handover priority of the plurality of candidate relay devices, and the target relay device may be determined among the plurality of candidate relay devices according to the handover priority of the plurality of candidate relay devices. Referring to fig. 4, determining a target relay device among a plurality of candidate relay devices according to handover priorities of the plurality of candidate devices may include the following steps S410 to S430:

step S410, determining a second switching priority of a plurality of candidate relay devices according to a routing strategy;

Step S420, determining the switching priority of the plurality of candidate devices according to the second switching priority of the plurality of candidate relay devices and the first switching priority of the plurality of candidate relay devices;

In an example embodiment of the present disclosure, after obtaining the routing policy issued by the policy control network element through the above steps, the second handover priority of the plurality of candidate relay devices may be determined according to the routing policy. Wherein the second handover priority of the plurality of candidate relay devices may be used to indicate a handover priority of the plurality of candidate relay devices.

In one example embodiment of the present disclosure, the handover priorities of the plurality of candidate relay devices may be determined according to the second handover priorities of the plurality of candidate relay devices and the first handover priorities of the plurality of candidate relay devices. Specifically, the switching priorities of the plurality of candidate relay devices may be obtained by combining the second switching priorities of the plurality of candidate relay devices and the first switching priorities of the plurality of candidate relay devices.

For example, in a case where the second switching priorities of the plurality of candidate relay devices do not conflict with the first switching priorities of the plurality of candidate relay devices, the first switching priorities of the plurality of candidate relay devices may be optimized by the second switching priorities of the plurality of candidate relay devices to form switching priorities of the plurality of candidate devices, where the switching priorities of the plurality of candidate devices may be used to indicate the switching priorities of the plurality of candidate relay devices.

Step S430, determining a target relay device among the plurality of candidate relay devices according to the handover priorities of the plurality of candidate devices.

In one example embodiment of the present disclosure, after the handover priorities of the plurality of candidate devices are obtained through the above steps, the target relay device may be determined among the plurality of candidate relay devices according to the handover priorities of the plurality of candidate devices. Specifically, since the switching priorities of the plurality of candidate relay devices may be used to indicate the switching priority order of the plurality of candidate relay devices, the target relay device may be determined among the plurality of candidate relay devices according to the switching priorities of the plurality of candidate relay devices.

For example, the highest priority candidate relay device among the plurality of candidate relay devices may be determined according to the switching priority of the plurality of candidate relay devices, and the candidate relay device may be regarded as the target relay device.

The specific manner of determining the target relay device among the plurality of candidate relay devices according to the handover priority of the plurality of candidate devices is not particularly limited in the present disclosure.

Through the above steps S410 to S430, the second switching priority of the plurality of candidate relay devices may be determined according to the routing policy, the switching priority of the plurality of candidate relay devices may be determined according to the second switching priority of the plurality of candidate relay devices and the first switching priority of the plurality of candidate relay devices, and the target relay device may be determined among the plurality of candidate relay devices according to the switching priority of the plurality of candidate relay devices. Through the embodiment of the disclosure, the second switching priority of the plurality of candidate relay devices and the first switching priority of the plurality of candidate relay devices can be combined to obtain more accurate switching priority, so that the accuracy of the target relay device is improved, and the communication quality of the user terminal after the user terminal is connected with the network through the target relay device is better.

In one example embodiment of the present disclosure, a relay device switching broadcast may be transmitted according to a relay device reselection policy, such that a target relay device transmits relay switching response information according to the relay device switching broadcast, receives the relay switching response information transmitted by the target relay device, and determines the target relay device from among a plurality of candidate relay devices. Referring to fig. 5, receiving relay handover response information transmitted by a target relay device to determine the target relay device from among a plurality of candidate relay devices may include the following steps S510 to S520:

step S510, transmitting relay equipment switching broadcast according to a relay equipment reselection strategy, so that the target relay equipment transmits relay switching response information according to the relay equipment switching broadcast;

In one example embodiment of the present disclosure, after the target relay device is determined through the above steps, the relay device switching broadcast may be transmitted according to the relay device reselection policy, so that the target relay device transmits the relay switching response information according to the relay device switching broadcast. Specifically, the broadcast may be performed by the user terminal to connect with the target relay device.

In one example embodiment of the present disclosure, after the target relay device discovers the relay device switching broadcast, a relay switching response message may be sent to the user terminal by the target relay device after confirming that the connection may be made with the user terminal according to whether the relay device switching broadcast confirms that the connection may be made with the user terminal.

In step S520, relay switching response information transmitted by the target relay device is received to determine the target relay device from the plurality of candidate relay devices.

In one example embodiment of the present disclosure, after switching the broadcast to the transmitting relay device through the above-described steps, when the target relay device finds that the relay device switches the broadcast and the target relay device returns the relay switch response information, the relay switch response information transmitted by the target relay device may be received by the user terminal to determine the target relay device from among the plurality of candidate relay devices. Specifically, the relay switching response information sent by the target relay device may be used to indicate that the target relay device may be connected to the user terminal, and at this time, the target relay device may be switched from the current relay device to the target relay device according to the relay switching response information.

The specific manner of switching from the current relay device to the target relay device according to the relay switching response information is not particularly limited in the present disclosure.

According to the relay device switching method provided in the present exemplary embodiment, it is possible to find a relay device switching broadcast, and transmit relay switching response information to a user terminal according to the relay device switching broadcast.

For example, the relay device handover broadcast may include a relay discovery request message (5G ProSe UE-to-Network Relay Discovery Solicitation message), the relay handover response information may include a relay discovery response message (UE-to-Network Relay Discovery Response message), the relay discovery request message may be transmitted by the user terminal according to the relay device reselection policy, and the relay discovery response message transmitted by the target relay device may be received by the user terminal.

The present disclosure is not limited to a specific form of switching broadcasting by the relay device.

Through the above steps S510 to S520, the relay device switching broadcast may be transmitted according to the relay device reselection policy, so that the target relay device transmits the relay switching response information according to the relay device switching broadcast, and receives the relay switching response information transmitted by the target relay device, so as to determine the target relay device from the plurality of candidate relay devices.

In one example embodiment of the present disclosure, a relay to-be-switched broadcast transmitted by a plurality of candidate relay devices may be discovered, and a target relay device may be determined according to a relay device reselection policy with the relay to-be-switched broadcast transmitted by the plurality of candidate relay devices. Specifically, when the user terminal sends a relay device reselection request to the application management network element or after the user terminal sends the relay device reselection request to the application management network element, a plurality of candidate relay devices send a broadcast to be switched, where the broadcast to be switched may be used to indicate that the relay device is in a connectable state, and the broadcast to be switched is used to indicate device information related to a relay device reselection policy of the candidate relay device. Specifically, the device information related to the relay device reselection policy may include a connection manner of the relay device.

For example, the relay to-be-switched broadcast may include relay discovery broadcast information (UE-to-Network Relay Discovery Announcement message), which is transmitted by the candidate relay device, and the user terminal may determine the target relay device according to the relay discovery broadcast information.

It should be noted that, the present disclosure is not limited to a specific form of relaying the broadcast to be switched.

It should be noted that, the specific type of the device information related to the relay device reselection policy is not particularly limited in this disclosure.

In one example embodiment of the present disclosure, a relay to-be-switched broadcast transmitted by a plurality of candidate relay devices may be discovered by a user terminal, and a target relay device may be determined among the plurality of candidate relay devices according to the relay to-be-switched broadcast and a relay device reselection policy.

For example, the connection mode of the relay device is included in the relay to-be-switched broadcast sent by the candidate relay device, and the first switching priority of the plurality of candidate relay devices in the relay device reselection policy may be used to indicate the priority of the connection mode.

It should be noted that, the specific manner of determining the target relay device according to the relay device reselection policy and the relay to-be-switched broadcast transmitted by the plurality of candidate relay devices is not particularly limited in the present disclosure.

According to the embodiment of the disclosure, the relay to-be-switched broadcast sent by the plurality of candidate relay devices can be found, and the target relay device is determined according to the relay device reselection strategy and the relay to-be-switched broadcast sent by the plurality of candidate relay devices.

According to the scheme, when the communication quality of the user terminal and the current relay equipment is poor, when the user terminal sends a relay equipment reselection request to the application management network element, the candidate relay equipment sends a relay to-be-switched broadcast to the user terminal, so that the user terminal is switched into the target relay equipment in the plurality of candidate relay equipment, the communication quality is ensured, the stability of communication is improved, the service performed by the current user terminal is ensured, the use requirement of a user is met, and the problem that the current service is influenced by poor communication quality, so that the user efficiency is poor is solved.

Next, a relay device switching method in the present exemplary embodiment will be described in more detail.

In one example embodiment of the present disclosure, when a user terminal transmits a relay device reselection request to an application management network element, a relay to-be-switched broadcast is transmitted by a candidate relay device to the user terminal, so that the user terminal is switched to a target relay device among a plurality of candidate relay devices. Specifically, when the user terminal sends a relay device reselection request to the application management network element or after the user terminal sends the relay device reselection request to the application management network element, a plurality of candidate relay devices send a broadcast to be switched, where the broadcast to be switched may be used to indicate that the relay device is in a connectable state, and the broadcast to be switched is used to indicate device information related to a relay device reselection policy of the candidate relay device. Specifically, the device information related to the relay device reselection policy may include a connection manner of the relay device.

For example, the relay to-be-switched broadcast may include relay discovery broadcast information (UE-to-Network Relay Discovery Announcement message) that may be transmitted by the candidate relay device to enable the user terminal to determine the target relay device from the relay discovery broadcast information.

By the relay device switching method provided by the embodiment of the invention, when the communication quality between the user terminal and the current relay device is poor, the target relay device to be switched can be determined according to the relay device reselection strategy, so that the communication quality is ensured, the communication stability is improved, the service performed by the current user terminal is ensured, the use requirement of a user is met, and the problem that the current service is influenced by poor communication quality, thereby causing poor user efficiency is solved.

In one example embodiment of the present disclosure, discovery broadcast information may also be transmitted through the target relay device in order to connect the user terminal with the target relay device.

According to the method for generating the reselection policy provided in the present exemplary embodiment, a relay device reselection request sent by a user terminal may be received, and the relay device reselection policy may be configured for the user terminal according to the relay device reselection request, and sent to the user terminal. As shown in fig. 6, the reselection strategy generating method may include the following steps S610 to S630:

step S610, receiving a relay equipment reselection request sent by a user terminal;

step S620, configuring a relay equipment reselection strategy for the user terminal according to the relay equipment reselection request; the relay device reselection strategy comprises first switching priorities of a plurality of candidate relay devices;

step S630, sending the relay device reselection policy to the user terminal.

In the reselection policy generation method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, a relay device reselection request sent by a user terminal may be received, a relay device reselection policy is configured for the user terminal according to the relay device reselection request, and the relay device reselection policy is sent to the user terminal.

According to the embodiment of the disclosure, when the communication quality between the user terminal and the current relay equipment is poor, the target relay equipment to be switched can be determined according to the relay equipment reselection strategy, so that the communication quality is ensured, the stability of communication is improved, the service performed by the current user terminal is ensured, the use requirement of a user is met, and the problem that the current service is affected by poor communication quality, so that the user efficiency is poor is solved.

Next, steps S610 to S630 of the reselection strategy generating method in the present exemplary embodiment will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings and embodiments.

In one example embodiment of the present disclosure, a relay device reselection request sent by a user terminal may be received. Specifically, the user terminal may send a relay device reselection request to the application management network element, and the application management network element receives the relay device reselection request sent by the user terminal. The application management network element may be configured to configure a relay device reselection policy for the user terminal, the relay device reselection policy may be used to indicate a first switching priority of a plurality of candidate relay devices, and the target relay device discovery procedure may be determined by executing the relay device reselection policy sent by the application management network element, and the target relay device may be determined from the plurality of candidate relay devices according to the target relay device discovery procedure.

In one example embodiment of the present disclosure, a relay device reselection request may be sent by a user terminal to an application management network element, and the relay device reselection request sent by the user terminal may be received by the application management network element. Specifically, when the communication quality between the user terminal and the current relay device is poor, the user terminal may send a relay device reselection request to the application management network element, so as to switch from the current relay device to other relay devices, so as to improve the communication quality of the user terminal.

In one example embodiment of the present disclosure, after the application management network element receives the relay device reselection request, the relay device reselection policy may be configured for the user terminal according to the relay device reselection request. Wherein the relay device reselection policy may include a first switching priority of the plurality of candidate relay devices. Specifically, the application management network element may configure a relay device reselection policy for the user terminal according to the related information of the user terminal, where the relay device reselection policy may include first switching priorities of multiple candidate relay devices.

It should be noted that, the specific manner of configuring the relay device reselection policy for the user terminal according to the relay device reselection request is not particularly limited in this disclosure.

In one example embodiment of the present disclosure, a relay device reselection policy may be configured for a user terminal according to continuity of service and a plurality of candidate relay devices according to a relay device reselection request. Referring to fig. 7, configuring a relay device reselection policy for a user terminal according to continuity of service may include the following steps S710 to S720:

Step S710, determining continuity of service and a plurality of candidate relay devices according to the relay device reselection request; wherein the continuity includes unsupported continuity and supported continuity;

In an example embodiment of the present disclosure, after receiving the relay device reselection request transmitted by the user terminal through the above steps, the continuity of service and the plurality of candidate relay devices may be determined according to the relay device reselection request. In particular, the continuity of the service being used by the user terminal may be determined by the application management network element. The continuity of the service may be used to indicate whether the session corresponding to the service can ensure session continuity when switching the relay device.

For example, the continuity of the service may include not supporting the continuity, that is, the session corresponding to the service cannot guarantee the session continuity when switching the relay device.

In one example embodiment of the present disclosure, a plurality of candidate relay devices may be determined according to a relay device reselection request. Specifically, a plurality of candidate relay devices may be determined according to the related information of the user terminal.

For example, a plurality of candidate relay devices corresponding to a user terminal may be determined by the location of the user terminal.

The present disclosure is not limited to a specific manner of determining the continuity of the service and the plurality of candidate relay devices according to the relay device reselection request.

Step S720, a relay equipment reselection strategy is configured for the user terminal according to the continuity of the service.

In one example embodiment of the present disclosure, after determining the continuity of the service and the plurality of candidate relay devices through the above steps, a relay device reselection policy may be configured for the user terminal according to the continuity of the service. Wherein the relay device reselection policy may be used to indicate a first switching priority of the plurality of candidate relay devices. Specifically, the continuity of the service may be used to indicate the connection manner of the user terminal and the relay device, and the first switching priority of the plurality of candidate relay devices may be determined through the continuity of the service.

For example, the connection modes of the ue and the relay device include a three-layer relay mode that does not support the N3IWF, a three-layer relay mode that supports the N3IWF, and a two-layer relay mode, where the connection mode of the ue and the relay device corresponding to the continuity is the three-layer relay mode that supports the N3IWF and the two-layer relay mode, and the connection mode of the ue and the relay device corresponding to the continuity is the three-layer relay mode that does not support the N3 IWF.

It should be noted that, the specific manner of configuring the relay device reselection policy for the user terminal according to the continuity of the service is not particularly limited in the present disclosure.

Through the steps S710 to S720, the continuity of the service and the plurality of candidate relay devices may be determined according to the relay device reselection request, and the relay device reselection policy may be configured for the user terminal according to the continuity of the service. According to the embodiment of the invention, the priority of the candidate relay equipment can be determined according to the continuity of the service, and the relay equipment with the connection mode matched with the continuity of the service can be given higher priority, so that more accurate switching priority is obtained, the accuracy of the target relay equipment is improved, and the communication quality of the user terminal after the user terminal is connected with the network through the target relay equipment is better.

In an example embodiment of the present disclosure, when continuity of a service is not supported, a connection manner between a user terminal and a target relay device to be switched may be determined, first switching priorities of a plurality of candidate relay devices may be determined according to the connection manner between the user terminal and the target relay device to be switched and the connection manner corresponding to the plurality of candidate relay devices, and a relay device reselection policy may be generated according to the first switching priorities of the plurality of candidate relay devices. Referring to fig. 8, generating a relay device reselection policy according to a first switching priority of a plurality of candidate relay devices may include the following steps S810 to S830:

step S810, when the continuity of the service is not supported, determining the connection mode of the user terminal and the target relay equipment to be switched;

In an example embodiment of the present disclosure, after determining that the continuity of the service is not supported by the above steps, a connection manner of the user terminal with the target relay device to be handed over may be determined. Specifically, when determining that the continuity of the service is not supported, it is necessary to configure a relay device (target relay device) corresponding to the continuity not supported for the user terminal, that is, the connection mode of the target relay device to be switched may be determined by the user.

For example, the connection modes of the ue and the relay device include a three-layer relay mode that does not support the N3IWF, a three-layer relay mode that supports the N3IWF, and a two-layer relay mode, wherein the connection modes of the ue and the relay device corresponding to the non-support continuity are the three-layer relay mode that supports the N3IWF and the two-layer relay mode, and the connection modes of the ue and the relay device corresponding to the support continuity are the three-layer relay mode that does not support the N3 IWF.

Step S820, determining a first switching priority of a plurality of candidate relay devices according to the connection mode of the user terminal and the target relay device to be switched and the connection mode corresponding to the plurality of candidate relay devices;

In an example embodiment of the present disclosure, after determining the connection mode of the user terminal and the target relay device to be switched through the above steps, the first switching priority of the plurality of candidate relay devices may be determined according to the connection mode of the user terminal and the target relay device to be switched and the connection mode corresponding to the plurality of candidate relay devices. Specifically, after determining the connection mode of the user terminal and the target relay device to be switched, the plurality of candidate relay devices may select a candidate relay device having the same connection mode as the connection mode of the user terminal and the target relay device to be switched from among the plurality of candidate relay devices, and assign a higher priority to the candidate relay devices, so as to determine the first switching priority of the plurality of candidate relay devices.

In an example embodiment of the present disclosure, when the continuity of the service is not supported, the connection manner of the user terminal and the target relay device to be switched includes that the user terminal is connected to the target relay device to be switched through a two-layer relay manner, or the user terminal is connected to the target relay device to be switched through a three-layer relay manner supporting N3 IWF.

For example, the connection modes corresponding to the candidate relay device and the candidate mediation device include: the connection mode of the user terminal and the target relay device to be switched, which is obtained through the steps, is a relay mode of three layers of non-support N3IWF, a relay mode of three layers of support N3IWF, and a relay mode of candidate relay device c-two layers of relay mode, and at the moment, higher priority can be given to the candidate relay device b so as to determine the first switching priority of the candidate relay device a, the candidate relay device b and the candidate relay device c.

It should be noted that, the specific manner of determining the first switching priority of the plurality of candidate relay devices according to the connection manner of the user terminal and the target relay device to be switched and the connection manner corresponding to the plurality of candidate relay devices is not particularly limited in the present disclosure.

In step S830, a relay device reselection policy is generated according to the first switching priorities of the plurality of candidate relay devices.

Through the steps S810 to S830, when the continuity of the service is not supported, the connection mode between the user terminal and the target relay device to be switched may be determined, the first switching priority of the plurality of candidate relay devices may be determined according to the connection mode between the user terminal and the target relay device to be switched and the connection mode corresponding to the plurality of candidate relay devices, and the relay device reselection policy may be generated according to the first switching priority of the plurality of candidate relay devices. According to the embodiment of the disclosure, the priority of the candidate relay equipment can be determined according to the current connection mode, so that more accurate switching priority is obtained, the accuracy of the target relay equipment is improved, and the communication quality of the user terminal after the user terminal is connected with the network through the target relay equipment is better.

In an example embodiment of the present disclosure, when a connection manner corresponding to a candidate relay device is the same as a connection manner of a user terminal and a target relay device to be switched, the candidate relay device may be set to a high priority in the first switching priority, and when a connection manner corresponding to a candidate relay device is different from a connection manner of a user terminal and a target relay device to be switched, the candidate relay device may be set to a low priority in the first switching priority, and the first switching priorities of the plurality of candidate relay devices may be determined. Referring to fig. 9, determining the first switching priority of the plurality of candidate relay devices according to the priority of the plurality of candidate relay devices in the first switching priority may include the following steps S910 to S930:

Step S910, when the connection mode corresponding to the candidate relay device is the same as the connection mode of the user terminal and the target relay device to be switched, setting the candidate relay device as a high priority in the first switching priority;

Step S920, setting the candidate relay device as a low priority in the first switching priority when the connection mode corresponding to the candidate relay device is different from the connection mode of the user terminal and the target relay device to be switched;

in step S930, a first switching priority of the plurality of candidate relay devices is determined.

In an example embodiment of the present disclosure, after determining a connection manner of a user terminal and a target relay device to be switched, a connection manner corresponding to a candidate relay device may be acquired, where the candidate relay device is set to a high priority in a first switching priority when the connection manner corresponding to the candidate relay device is the same as the connection manner of the user terminal and the target relay device to be switched, and is set to a low priority in the first switching priority when the connection manner corresponding to the candidate relay device is different from the connection manner of the user terminal and the target relay device to be switched.

For example, the connection mode between the ue and the target relay device to be switched determined by the above steps is a two-layer relay mode, the connection mode corresponding to the candidate relay device a is a three-layer relay mode supporting N3IWF, and the connection mode corresponding to the candidate relay device b is a two-layer relay mode.

Through the steps S910 to S930 described above, when the connection mode corresponding to the candidate relay device is the same as the connection mode of the user terminal and the target relay device to be switched, the candidate relay device may be set to a high priority in the first switching priority, and when the connection mode corresponding to the candidate relay device is different from the connection mode of the user terminal and the target relay device to be switched, the candidate relay device may be set to a low priority in the first switching priority, and the first switching priorities of the plurality of candidate relay devices may be determined. According to the embodiment of the invention, the priority of the plurality of candidate relay devices can be configured according to whether the connection mode corresponding to the candidate relay devices is the same as the current connection mode of the relay devices, so that the first switching priority of the plurality of candidate relay devices is obtained, the more accurate switching priority can be obtained, the accuracy of the target relay devices is improved, and the communication quality of the user terminal after the user terminal is connected with the network through the target relay devices is better.

Step S630, sending the relay device reselection policy to the user terminal.

Through the steps S610 to S630, a relay device reselection request sent by the user terminal may be received, a relay device reselection policy may be configured for the user terminal according to the relay device reselection request, and the relay device reselection policy may be sent to the user terminal. According to the embodiment of the disclosure, when the communication quality between the user terminal and the current relay equipment is poor, the target relay equipment to be switched can be determined according to the relay equipment reselection strategy, so that the communication quality is ensured, the stability of communication is improved, the service performed by the current user terminal is ensured, the use requirement of a user is met, and the problem that the current service is affected by poor communication quality, so that the user efficiency is poor is solved.

In an example embodiment of the present disclosure, a user terminal is connected to a current relay device, the user terminal triggers a relay device reselection, the user terminal sends a relay device reselection request to an application management network element, the application management network element configures a relay device reselection policy for the user terminal according to the relay device reselection request, the application management network element issues the relay device reselection policy to the user terminal, and the user terminal determines a target relay device from a plurality of candidate relay devices according to the relay device reselection policies sent by the application management network element and the routing policy, and mode 1: the target relay device establishes direct communication with the user terminal device by finding the broadcast information, mode 2: the user terminal sends relay equipment switching broadcast according to the relay equipment reselection strategy, the target relay equipment sends relay switching response information according to the relay equipment switching broadcast, the user terminal establishes direct communication with the target relay equipment through the relay switching response information, and the user terminal is accessed according to the relay access flow of the 3GPP proximity service to realize switching of the relay equipment.

Referring to fig. 10, a relay device switching method of the present disclosure may include the following steps S1001 to S1011:

Step S1001, the current relay device is connected; step S1002, triggering relay equipment reselection; step S1003, a relay equipment reselection request is sent to an application management network element; step S1004, configuring a relay equipment reselection strategy for the user terminal according to the relay equipment reselection request; step S1005, issuing a relay equipment reselection strategy; step S1006, determining a target relay device in a plurality of candidate relay devices according to the routing strategy and the relay device reselection strategy sent by the application management network element; step S1007, establishing direct communication with the user terminal device by discovering broadcast information; step S1008, transmitting relay device switching broadcast according to a relay device reselection strategy; step S1009, transmitting relay switching response information according to the relay device switching broadcast; step S1010, establishing direct communication with the target relay device through the relay switching response information; step S1011, accessing the user terminal according to the relay access flow of the 3GPP proximity service, and realizing the switching of the relay equipment.

In the relay device reselection method, the relay device switching method and the reselection policy generation method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, the relay device reselection policy may be configured by applying the management network element, and the target relay device may be determined among the plurality of candidate relay devices according to the relay device reselection policy.

It is noted that the above-described figures are merely schematic illustrations of processes involved in a method according to exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, and are not intended to be limiting. It will be readily appreciated that the processes shown in the above figures do not indicate or limit the temporal order of these processes. In addition, it is also readily understood that these processes may be performed synchronously or asynchronously, for example, among a plurality of modules.

In addition, in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a relay device reselection apparatus is also provided. Referring to fig. 11, a relay device reselection apparatus 1100 includes: a reselection request sending module 1110, a reselection policy receiving module 1120, and a target device determining module 1130.

The system comprises a reselection request sending module, a relay equipment reselection request sending module and an application management network element, wherein the reselection request sending module is used for sending a relay equipment reselection request to the application management network element so that the application management network element configures a relay equipment reselection strategy for a user terminal according to the relay equipment reselection request; the application management network element is used for configuring a relay equipment reselection strategy for the user terminal; the reselection strategy receiving module is used for receiving the relay equipment reselection strategy sent by the application management network element; the relay device reselection strategy comprises first switching priorities of a plurality of candidate relay devices; and the target equipment determining module is used for determining a target relay equipment discovery process by executing a relay equipment reselection strategy sent by the application management network element, and determining the target relay equipment in the plurality of candidate relay equipment according to the target relay equipment discovery process.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, based on the foregoing solution, the apparatus further includes: the signal strength acquisition unit is used for acquiring the signal strength of the communication interface corresponding to the user terminal; and the reselection request triggering unit is used for sending a relay equipment reselection request to the application management network element by the user terminal when the signal intensity of the communication interface corresponding to the user terminal is smaller than or equal to the signal intensity threshold value.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, based on the foregoing solution, the apparatus further includes: a selection policy obtaining unit, configured to obtain a routing policy issued by a policy control network element; and the relay equipment determining unit is used for determining the target relay equipment from the plurality of candidate relay equipment according to the routing strategy and the relay equipment reselection strategy sent by the application management network element.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, based on the foregoing solution, the determining, according to the routing policy and the relay device reselection policy sent by the application management network element, the target relay device among the plurality of candidate relay devices, the apparatus further includes: a second switching priority determining unit configured to determine a second switching priority of the plurality of candidate relay devices according to the routing policy; a switching priority determining unit configured to determine switching priorities of the plurality of candidate relay devices according to second switching priorities of the plurality of candidate relay devices and first switching priorities of the plurality of candidate relay devices; and a target relay device determining unit configured to determine a target relay device among the plurality of candidate relay devices according to the switching priorities of the plurality of candidate devices.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, based on the foregoing solution, the apparatus further includes: a switching broadcast transmitting unit, configured to transmit a relay device switching broadcast according to a relay device reselection policy, so that the target relay device transmits relay switching response information according to the relay device switching broadcast; and a response information receiving unit for receiving relay switching response information transmitted by the target relay device to determine the target relay device from the plurality of candidate relay devices.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, based on the foregoing solution, the apparatus further includes: a relay to-be-switched broadcast discovery unit, configured to discover relay to-be-switched broadcasts sent by a plurality of candidate relay devices; the relay to-be-switched broadcast is used for indicating equipment information related to the candidate relay equipment and the relay equipment reselection strategy; and the target relay device determining unit is used for determining the target relay device according to the relay device reselection strategy and the relay to-be-switched broadcast sent by the plurality of candidate relay devices.

Since each functional module of the relay device reselection apparatus of the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure corresponds to a step of the foregoing exemplary embodiment of the relay device reselection method, for details not disclosed in the embodiment of the apparatus of the present disclosure, please refer to the foregoing embodiment of the relay device reselection method of the present disclosure.

In addition, in the exemplary embodiment of the disclosure, a reselection strategy generating device is also provided. Referring to fig. 12, a relay device switching apparatus 1200 includes: the broadcast discovery module 1210 is switched.

The switching broadcast discovery module is used for sending a relay to-be-switched broadcast to the user terminal when the user terminal sends a relay equipment reselection request to the application management network element; the relay to-be-switched broadcast is used for indicating equipment information related to the relay equipment reselection strategy of the candidate relay equipment.

Since each functional module of the relay device switching apparatus of the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure corresponds to a step of the foregoing exemplary embodiment of the relay device switching method, for details not disclosed in the embodiment of the apparatus of the present disclosure, please refer to the foregoing embodiment of the relay device switching method of the present disclosure.

In addition, in the exemplary embodiment of the disclosure, a reselection strategy generating device is also provided. Referring to fig. 13, a reselection strategy generating apparatus 1300 includes: a reselection request receiving module 1310, a reselection policy configuration module 1320, and a reselection policy sending module 1330.

The system comprises a reselection request receiving module, a relay equipment reselection request sending module and a relay equipment reselection request sending module, wherein the reselection request receiving module is used for receiving a relay equipment reselection request sent by a user terminal; the reselection strategy configuration module is used for configuring a relay equipment reselection strategy for the user terminal according to the relay equipment reselection request; the relay device reselection strategy comprises first switching priorities of a plurality of candidate relay devices; and the reselection strategy sending module is used for sending the relay equipment reselection strategy to the user terminal.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, based on the foregoing solution, a relay device reselection policy is configured for a user terminal according to a relay device reselection request, where the apparatus further includes: a candidate relay device determining unit configured to determine continuity of service and a plurality of candidate relay devices according to the relay device reselection request; wherein the continuity includes unsupported continuity and supported continuity; and the reselection strategy configuration unit is used for configuring a relay equipment reselection strategy for the user terminal according to the continuity of the service.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, based on the foregoing solution, a relay device reselection policy is configured for a user terminal according to continuity of a service, and the apparatus further includes: a connection mode determining unit, configured to determine a connection mode between the user terminal and a target relay device to be switched when continuity of the service is not supported; a first switching priority determining unit, configured to determine first switching priorities of a plurality of candidate relay devices according to a connection mode of the user terminal and a target relay device to be switched and a connection mode corresponding to the plurality of candidate relay devices; and the reselection strategy generation unit is used for generating a relay device reselection strategy according to the first switching priority of the plurality of candidate relay devices.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, based on the foregoing solution, the apparatus further includes: a high priority configuration unit, configured to set the candidate relay device to be a high priority in the first switching priority when the connection mode corresponding to the candidate relay device is the same as the connection mode of the user terminal and the target relay device to be switched; a low priority configuration unit, configured to set the candidate relay device to a low priority in the first switching priority when a connection mode corresponding to the candidate relay device is different from a connection mode of the user terminal and the target relay device to be switched; and the priority integration unit is used for determining first switching priorities of the plurality of candidate relay devices.

Since each functional module of the reselection strategy generating apparatus of the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure corresponds to a step of the foregoing exemplary embodiment of the reselection strategy generating method, for details not disclosed in the embodiment of the apparatus of the present disclosure, please refer to the foregoing embodiment of the reselection strategy generating method of the present disclosure.

It should be noted that although in the above detailed description several modules or units of a device for action execution are mentioned, such a division is not mandatory. Indeed, the features and functionality of two or more modules or units described above may be embodied in one module or unit in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. Conversely, the features and functions of one module or unit described above may be further divided into a plurality of modules or units to be embodied.

In addition, in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, an electronic device capable of implementing the foregoing relay device reselection method, relay device switching method, and reselection policy generation method is also provided.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the various aspects of the present disclosure may be implemented as a system, method, or program product. Accordingly, various aspects of the disclosure may be embodied in the following forms, namely: an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, micro-code, etc.) or an embodiment combining hardware and software aspects may be referred to herein as a "circuit," module "or" system.

An electronic device 1400 according to such an embodiment of the present disclosure is described below with reference to fig. 14. The electronic device 1400 shown in fig. 14 is merely an example and should not be construed as limiting the functionality and scope of use of the disclosed embodiments.

As shown in fig. 14, the electronic device 1400 is embodied in the form of a general purpose computing device. Components of electronic device 1400 may include, but are not limited to: the at least one processing unit 1410, the at least one memory unit 1420, a bus 1430 connecting the different system components (including the memory unit 1420 and the processing unit 1410), and a display unit 1440.

Wherein the storage unit stores program code that is executable by the processing unit 1410, such that the processing unit 1410 performs steps according to various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure described in the above section of the "exemplary method" of the present specification. For example, the processing unit 1410 may perform step S110 shown in fig. 1, and send a relay device reselection request to the application management network element, so that the application management network element configures a relay device reselection policy for the user terminal according to the relay device reselection request; the application management network element is used for configuring a relay equipment reselection strategy for the user terminal; step S120, receiving a relay equipment reselection strategy sent by an application management network element; the relay device reselection strategy comprises first switching priorities of a plurality of candidate relay devices; step S130, determining a target relay device discovery process by executing a relay device reselection strategy sent by the application management network element, and determining the target relay device from a plurality of candidate relay devices according to the target relay device discovery process. Or the processing unit 1410 may perform sending the relay to-be-switched broadcast to the user terminal when the user terminal sends the relay device reselection request to the application management network element. Or the processing unit 1410 may perform step S610 shown in fig. 6, and receive a relay device reselection request sent by the user terminal; step S620, configuring a relay equipment reselection strategy for the user terminal according to the relay equipment reselection request; the relay device reselection strategy comprises first switching priorities of a plurality of candidate relay devices; step S630, sending the relay device reselection policy to the user terminal.

The memory unit 1420 may include readable media in the form of volatile memory units, such as Random Access Memory (RAM) 1421 and/or cache memory 1422, and may further include Read Only Memory (ROM) 1423.

The memory unit 1420 may also include a program/utility 1424 having a set (at least one) of program modules 1425, such program modules 1425 including, but not limited to: an operating system, one or more application programs, other program modules, and program data, each or some combination of which may include an implementation of a network environment.

Bus 1430 may be a local bus representing one or more of several types of bus structures including a memory unit bus or memory unit controller, a peripheral bus, an accelerated graphics port, a processing unit, or using any of a variety of bus architectures.

The electronic device 1400 may also communicate with one or more external devices 1470 (e.g., keyboard, pointing device, bluetooth device, etc.), one or more devices that enable a user to interact with the electronic device 1400, and/or any device (e.g., router, modem, etc.) that enables the electronic device 1400 to communicate with one or more other computing devices. Such communication may occur through an input/output (I/O) interface 1450. Also, electronic device 1400 may communicate with one or more networks such as a Local Area Network (LAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), and/or a public network, such as the Internet, through network adapter 1460. As shown, the network adapter 1460 communicates with other modules of the electronic device 1400 via the bus 1430. It should be appreciated that although not shown, other hardware and/or software modules may be used in connection with electronic device 1400, including, but not limited to: microcode, device drivers, redundant processing units, external disk drive arrays, RAID systems, tape drives, data backup storage systems, and the like.

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

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon a program product capable of implementing the method described above in the present specification is also provided. In some possible embodiments, the various aspects of the present disclosure may also be implemented in the form of a program product comprising program code for causing a terminal device to carry out the steps according to the various exemplary embodiments of the disclosure as described in the "exemplary methods" section of this specification, when the program product is run on the terminal device.

The computer readable signal medium may include a data signal propagated in baseband or as part of a carrier wave with readable program code embodied therein. Such a propagated data signal may take any of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to, electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. A readable signal medium may also be any readable medium that is not a readable storage medium and that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

Program code embodied on a readable medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

Program code for carrying out operations of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java, C++ or the like and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the "C" programming language or similar programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computing device, partly on the user's device, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computing device, partly on a remote computing device, or entirely on the remote computing device or server. In the case of remote computing devices, the remote computing device may be connected to the user computing device through any kind of network, including a Local Area Network (LAN) or a Wide Area Network (WAN), or may be connected to an external computing device (e.g., connected via the Internet using an Internet service provider).

Furthermore, the above-described figures are only schematic illustrations of processes included in the method according to the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, and are not intended to be limiting. It will be readily appreciated that the processes shown in the above figures do not indicate or limit the temporal order of these processes. In addition, it is also readily understood that these processes may be performed synchronously or asynchronously, for example, among a plurality of modules.

Other embodiments of the disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the disclosure disclosed herein. This application is intended to cover any adaptations, uses, or adaptations of the disclosure following, in general, the principles of the disclosure and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice within the art to which the disclosure pertains. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the disclosure being indicated by the following claims.

Claims

1. A relay device reselection method, applied to a user terminal, the method comprising:

Sending a relay equipment reselection request to an application management network element, so that the application management network element configures a relay equipment reselection strategy for a user terminal according to the relay equipment reselection request; the application management network element is used for configuring a relay equipment reselection strategy for the user terminal;

Receiving a relay equipment reselection strategy sent by the application management network element; wherein the relay device reselection policy includes a first switching priority of a plurality of candidate relay devices;

Determining a target relay device discovery process by executing a relay device reselection strategy sent by the application management network element, and determining a target relay device in the plurality of candidate relay devices according to the target relay device discovery process;

the determining a target relay device discovery process by executing the relay device reselection policy sent by the application management network element, and determining a target relay device from the plurality of candidate relay devices according to the target relay device discovery process, includes:

acquiring a routing strategy issued by a strategy control network element;

determining target relay equipment in the plurality of candidate relay equipment according to the routing strategy and the relay equipment reselection strategy sent by the application management network element;

The determining a target relay device in the plurality of candidate relay devices according to the routing policy and the relay device reselection policy sent by the application management network element includes:

determining a second switching priority of the plurality of candidate relay devices according to the routing strategy;

Determining the switching priority of the plurality of candidate relay devices according to the second switching priority of the plurality of candidate relay devices and the first switching priority of the plurality of candidate relay devices;

And determining a target relay device in the plurality of candidate relay devices according to the switching priority of the plurality of candidate relay devices.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the sending the relay device reselection request to the application management network element comprises:

Acquiring the signal strength of a communication interface corresponding to the user terminal;

And when the signal intensity of the communication interface corresponding to the user terminal is smaller than or equal to the signal intensity threshold value, the user terminal sends a relay equipment reselection request to the application management network element.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining a target relay device from the plurality of candidate relay devices according to the target relay device discovery procedure comprises:

Transmitting relay equipment switching broadcast according to the relay equipment reselection strategy, so that the target relay equipment transmits relay switching response information according to the relay equipment switching broadcast;

And receiving relay switching response information sent by the target relay device so as to determine the target relay device from the plurality of candidate relay devices.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining a target relay device from the plurality of candidate relay devices according to the target relay device discovery procedure comprises:

Discovering a relay to-be-switched broadcast sent by a plurality of candidate relay devices; the relay to-be-switched broadcast is used for indicating equipment information related to the candidate relay equipment and the relay equipment reselection strategy;

and determining target relay equipment according to the relay equipment reselection strategy and the relay to-be-switched broadcast sent by the plurality of candidate relay equipment.

5. A reselection strategy generation method, characterized by being applied to an application management network element, the method comprising:

receiving a relay equipment reselection request sent by a user terminal;

configuring a relay equipment reselection strategy for the user terminal according to the relay equipment reselection request; wherein the relay device reselection policy includes a first switching priority of a plurality of candidate relay devices;

Sending a relay equipment reselection strategy to a user terminal, so that the user terminal determines a target relay equipment discovery process by executing the relay equipment reselection strategy sent by the application management network element, and determining target relay equipment in the plurality of candidate relay equipment according to the target relay equipment discovery process;

The determining a target relay device from the plurality of candidate relay devices according to the target relay device discovery procedure includes:

acquiring a routing strategy issued by a strategy control network element;

6. The method of claim 5, wherein configuring a relay device reselection policy for the user terminal based on the relay device reselection request comprises:

Determining continuity of service according to the relay device reselection request and the plurality of candidate relay devices; wherein the continuity includes unsupported continuity and supported continuity;

and configuring a relay equipment reselection strategy for the user terminal according to the continuity of the service.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein configuring a relay device reselection policy for a user terminal based on continuity of the service comprises:

When the continuity of the service is not supported, determining a connection mode of the user terminal and target relay equipment to be switched;

determining a first switching priority of the plurality of candidate relay devices according to the connection mode of the user terminal and the target relay device to be switched and the connection modes corresponding to the plurality of candidate relay devices;

and generating the relay equipment reselection strategy according to the first switching priority of the candidate relay equipment.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the connection manner of the ue with the target relay device to be switched includes:

The user terminal is connected with the target relay equipment to be switched through a two-layer relay mode; or (b)

And the user terminal is connected with the target relay equipment to be switched through a relay mode of three layers of support N3 IWFs.

9. The method according to claim 7, wherein the determining the first switching priority of the plurality of candidate relay devices according to the connection method of the user terminal and the target relay device to be switched and the connection method corresponding to the plurality of candidate relay devices includes:

Setting the candidate relay equipment as a high priority in the first switching priority when the connection mode corresponding to the candidate relay equipment is the same as the connection mode of the user terminal and the target relay equipment to be switched;

Setting the candidate relay equipment as a low priority in the first switching priority when the connection mode corresponding to the candidate relay equipment is different from the connection mode of the user terminal and the target relay equipment to be switched;

a first switching priority of the plurality of candidate relay devices is determined.

10. A relay device reselection apparatus, for application to a user terminal, the apparatus comprising:

A reselection request sending module, configured to send a relay device reselection request to an application management network element, so that the application management network element configures a relay device reselection policy for a user terminal according to the relay device reselection request; the application management network element is used for configuring a relay equipment reselection strategy for the user terminal;

The reselection strategy receiving module is used for receiving the relay equipment reselection strategy sent by the application management network element; wherein the relay device reselection policy includes a first switching priority of a plurality of candidate relay devices;

The target equipment determining module is used for determining a target relay equipment discovery process by executing a relay equipment reselection strategy sent by the application management network element, and determining target relay equipment in the plurality of candidate relay equipment according to the target relay equipment discovery process;

the target device determination module is configured to:

acquiring a routing strategy issued by a strategy control network element;

the determining, according to the routing policy and the relay device reselection policy sent by the application management network element, a target relay device from the plurality of candidate relay devices, configured to:

11. A reselection policy generating apparatus for application to an application management network element, the apparatus comprising:

the reselection request receiving module is used for receiving a relay equipment reselection request sent by the user terminal;

the reselection strategy configuration module is used for configuring a relay equipment reselection strategy for the user terminal according to the relay equipment reselection request; wherein the relay device reselection policy includes a first switching priority of a plurality of candidate relay devices;

A reselection policy sending module, configured to send a relay device reselection policy to a user terminal, so that the user terminal determines a target relay device discovery procedure by executing the relay device reselection policy sent by the application management network element, and determines a target relay device from the plurality of candidate relay devices according to the target relay device discovery procedure;

the reselection strategy sending module is configured to:

acquiring a routing strategy issued by a strategy control network element;

12. A computer readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored, characterized in that the program, when being executed by a processor, implements the method according to any one of claims 1-9.

13. An electronic device, comprising:

One or more processors; and

A memory for storing one or more programs that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to implement the method of any of claims 1-9.