WO2018082054A1

WO2018082054A1 - Communication method and communication device

Info

Publication number: WO2018082054A1
Application number: PCT/CN2016/104751
Authority: WO
Inventors: 肖潇; 曹振臻
Original assignee: 华为技术有限公司
Priority date: 2016-11-04
Filing date: 2016-11-04
Publication date: 2018-05-11

Abstract

A communication method and a communication device, for use in ensuring the service continuity when a Remote UE leaves the coverage of a Relay UE on the premise that a "UE-network" relay technology is implemented and power consumption of the Remote UE is reduced as far as possible. The method comprises: a first terminal communicates with a network device by using a second terminal as a relay device; and when the first terminal determines that the quality of a direct-connection link between the first terminal and the second terminal is lower than a threshold of the quality of the direct-connection link, the first terminal triggers the handover of data transmission from the direct-connection link between the first terminal and the second terminal to an uplink and/or downlink communication link between the first terminal and the network device.

Description

Communication method and communication device

Technical field

The present invention relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a communication method and a communication device.

Background technique

With the advent and increasing popularity of smart watches, smart bracelets, and smart glasses, wearable devices have become a popular electronic product worldwide. Wearable device-based applications and communication technologies for wearable devices have become a research hotspot in the global telecommunications industry.

As a typical application scenario of a wearable device, a wearable device such as a smart watch, a wristband, or a watch usually establishes a wireless connection with a cellular network and communicates through a smart phone, so that the user can directly pass through each of the wearable devices. Application (Application, referred to as APP), and the network to send and receive various types of multimedia business data, to avoid the inconvenience caused by the smart phone, inconvenient to carry and other issues, convenient and fast.

Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of wearable device communication. The wearable device such as a smart watch or smart glasses transmits data to the smart phone through a through link; then, the smart phone acts as a relay terminal (Relay User), and the data passes through the cellular uplink (Uplink). The base station is sent to the Long Term Evolution (LTE) system to complete the transmission of wearable data. The base station sends data to the Relay UE through the downlink (Downlink), and the relay UE sends the data to the wearable device through the through link to complete data reception of the wearable device. Corresponding to the Relay UE, from the perspective of communication technology, the wearable device is generally referred to as a Remote User Equipment (Remote UE). On the direct link between the Relay UE and the Remote UE, short-range communication technologies including Bluetooth, Wifi, and LTE D2D (Device-to-Device) are usually used for data transmission. A communication method in which a wearable device performs relay transmission through a UE, which is also referred to as a UE-to-Network Relay.

In addition, wearable device communication has the following two characteristics:

First, low power consumption requirements: Because the size of wearable devices such as smart bracelets, watches, glasses, etc. is very small, their battery capacity is usually very limited, so it has high power saving requirements, and short-range communication between UEs is better than Long-distance communication between the device and the base station saves power. Therefore, the wearable device should use the "UE-network" method as much as possible. First, the Remote UE uses short-range communication technology to transmit data to the Relay UE through the through link, and then the Relay UE forwards the data to the base station to achieve the end. May save power.

Second, the business continuity requirement: The most important service type and application scenario of the wearable device is a voice call, which usually has high requirements for service continuity. In view of the fact that the wearable device may interrupt the connection with the Relay UE due to the communication range of the Relay UE (which may also be the coverage of the Relay UE), it is necessary to switch to the cellular uplink and downlink to directly communicate with the base station. In this process, the data transmission of the wearable device is required to be as short as possible to maintain business continuity.

Communication solution for wearable devices

The direct link between the Remote UE and the Relay UE adopts a short-distance direct-pass technology based on wifi, and the "UE-network" relay transmission method is the currently used "wifi" hotspot technology, that is, the smart phone is turned on. The "wifi hotspot" function, the wearable device transmits data to the wifi hotspot via wifi, and then transmits the data to the cellular base station by the wifi hotspot; or the base station sends the data to the wifi hotspot, and the data is sent by the wifi hotspot to the wearable device through the wifi. . Figure 2 shows a schematic diagram of the process of "UE-network" relay transmission. However, when the Remote UE is gradually away from the Relay UE, the wifi signal is gradually weakened, and the coverage of the Relay UE may be removed, resulting in interruption of communication with the Relay UE. At this time, the Remote UE will establish a connection with the base station and further continue data transmission and reception through the uplink/downlink of the base station. However, after the Remote UE finds that the connection with the wifi hotspot is disconnected, the connection establishment with the base station is initiated, and only after the connection with the base station is established, the uplink/downlink of the base station can continue to communicate with the base station, which is The data transmission is interrupted during the process of establishing a connection between the Remote UE and the base station, and the interruption time can be as long as several seconds, which seriously affects the communication performance.

Communication scheme 2 for wearable devices

3GPP standardizes the "UE-network" relay technology based on LTE D2D in the Release-13 protocol version. The direct link between the Relay UE and the Remote UE is a short-distance communication technology based on LTE D2D, and the air interface corresponding to the through link is referred to as a “PC5 interface”. Specifically, the system is A number of "resource pools" are defined on the through link; a resource pool is a collection of "time-frequency" resources. The remote UE uses the resources in the resource pool to send data to the Relay UE, and the relay UE forwards the data to the base station through the uplink of the cellular network, or the base station sends the data to the Remote UE through the relay UE relay.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a “UE-network” relay mode based on LTE D2D. In the existing “UE-network” relay mode based on LTE D2D, the Remote UE determines data transmission and reception according to the link quality with the base station. path. Specifically, the Remote UE located outside the coverage of the base station or covering the edge of the base station usually connects with the Relay UE and performs data transmission and reception with the base station by means of “UE-network” relay. However, when the Remote UE moves from the coverage of the base station or the coverage edge to the coverage, if there is acceptable cellular link quality (such as RSRP/RSRP), the cellular connection will be established with the base station, and The uplink and downlink between the base stations perform subsequent data transmission and reception, and terminate the data transmission and reception through the Relay UE even if it is still within the coverage of the Relay UE. In other words, in the existing LTE D2D-based "UE-network" relay technology, the Remote UE transmits the uplink and downlink as much as possible, that is, even if the Remote UE is within the coverage of the Relay UE, as long as it Can communicate using the cellular uplink and downlink, and will not transfer data through the Relay UE. However, the communication distance between the Relay UE and the base station is much longer than the distance between the Relay UE and the Reote UE, and thus the transmission power consumption is high. Therefore, the existing "UE-network" relay technology based on LTE D2D may cause the Remote UE to generate high transmission power consumption, and is particularly unsuitable for devices with limited battery capacity such as wearable devices.

Therefore, the existing LTE D2D-based "UE-network" relay technology has a disadvantage in that it will cause excessively high Remote UE transmission power consumption, and is particularly unsuitable for a battery capacity limited device such as a wearable device.

It can be seen that how to make the "UE-network" relay technology ensure the service continuity when the Remote UE leaves the Relay UE coverage under the premise of saving the power consumption of the Remote UE is a technical problem to be solved.

Summary of the invention

The embodiment of the present invention provides a communication method and a communication device, which are used to implement the "UE-network" relay technology, and ensure the service continuity of the Remote UE when leaving the Relay UE under the premise of saving the power consumption of the Remote UE as much as possible.

The specific technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present invention are as follows:

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a communication method, including: a first terminal communicating with a network device by using a second terminal as a relay device; and determining, by the first terminal, the first terminal and the second terminal The pass-through link quality is lower than the pass-through link quality threshold, triggering to switch data transmission from the direct link between the first terminal and the second terminal to the first terminal and the network device Uplink and/or downlink communication links between. Comparing the quality of the through link between the first terminal and the second terminal with the quality of the through link, triggering the data transmission from the through when the quality of the through link is lower than the quality threshold of the through link Switching the link to an uplink and/or downlink communication link between the first terminal and the network device, thereby enabling data transmission to be switched to where communication between the first terminal and the second terminal can continue The uplink and/or downlink communication link between the first terminal and the network device ensures service continuity of communication between the first terminal and the network device, and communicates with the network device by using a relay manner as much as possible. The purpose of saving the power of the first terminal as much as possible is achieved.

In a possible implementation manner, the pass-through link quality threshold is configured by the network device to the first terminal, or pre-configured in the first terminal. Thereby, a pass-through link quality threshold can be configured for the first terminal.

In a possible implementation manner, before the first terminal communicates with the network device by using the second terminal as the relay device, the first terminal establishes a radio resource control RRC connection with the network device by using the second terminal. Thereby, the first terminal can enable the data transmission and reception of the relay mode with the network device through the second terminal, instead of adopting the uplink or downlink of the cellular network.

In a possible implementation, the first terminal triggers to switch data transmission from a direct link between the first terminal and the second terminal to an uplink between the first terminal and the network device. And a downlink communication link, comprising: the first terminal triggering using a cell radio network temporary identifier C-RNTI dedicated to the first terminal, and transmitting data from the first terminal to the second terminal The pass-through link switches to an uplink and/or downlink communication link between the first terminal and the network device.

In a possible implementation manner, after the first terminal establishes a radio resource control RRC connection with the network device, the first terminal triggers to switch data transmission from the direct link between the first terminal and the second terminal to Before the uplink and/or downlink communication link between the first terminal and the network device, the first terminal acquires, by using the second terminal, the C that is allocated by the network device to the first terminal -RNTI. Thereby, the required parameters can be provided for switching data transmissions from the through link to the uplink and/or downlink communication links between the first terminal and the network device.

In a possible implementation manner, the first terminal acquires, by using the second terminal, the C-RNTI that is allocated by the network device to the first terminal, where the first terminal acquires by using the second terminal. The RRC connection reconfiguration message sent by the network device, where the RRC connection reconfiguration message carries the C-RNTI allocated to the first terminal.

In a possible implementation manner, before the first terminal acquires, by the second terminal, the C-RNTI that is allocated by the network device to the first terminal, the first terminal passes the second terminal to the The network device sends a direct link pre-interrupt indication, where the direct link pre-interrupt indication is used to indicate that communication between the first terminal and the second terminal is about to be interrupted. Thereby, the network device can be triggered to allocate the C-RNTI to the first terminal through the through link pre-interrupt indication.

In a possible implementation manner, before the first terminal determines that the pass-through link quality is lower than a pass-through link quality threshold, the first terminal acquires the through-link configured by the network device by using the second terminal Quality threshold.

In a possible implementation manner, the first terminal establishes a radio resource control RRC connection with the network device by using the second terminal, where the first terminal sends an RRC connection request message to the second terminal, where The second terminal sends the RRC connection request message to the network device; the first terminal receives an RRC connection setup message that is sent by the network device by using the second terminal, and the first terminal sends the The second terminal sends an RRC connection setup complete message, and the second terminal sends the RRC connection setup complete message to the network device. Thereby, the first terminal establishes an RRC connection with the network device by using the second terminal as the relay device.

In a possible implementation manner, the RRC connection request message, the RRC connection setup message, and the RRC connection setup complete message respectively carry indication information of the first terminal. Thereby enabling the second terminal and the network device to distinguish the RRC message from the first terminal.

In a second aspect, the embodiment of the present invention provides a communication method, including: the network device uses the second terminal as a relay device to communicate with the first terminal; and the network device switches to use the first terminal and the network device Data transmission between the uplink and/or downlink communication link and the first terminal, wherein the first terminal determines that the direct link between the first terminal and the second terminal is of low quality After the pass-through link quality threshold, triggering to switch data transmission from the direct link between the first terminal and the second terminal to uplink and/or downlink between the first terminal and the network device Communication link.

In a possible implementation, before the network device communicates with the first terminal by using the second terminal as the relay device, the method further includes: the network device establishing a radio resource with the first terminal by using the second terminal Control RRC connection.

In a possible implementation manner, after the network device establishes a radio resource control RRC connection with the first terminal by using the second terminal, the network device switches to pass between the first terminal and the network device. Before the uplink and/or downlink communication link performs data transmission with the first terminal, the method further includes:

And the network device allocates, by using the second terminal, the cell radio network temporary identifier C-RNTI dedicated to the first terminal to the first terminal.

In a possible implementation manner, the network device, by using the second terminal, to allocate, to the first terminal, a cell radio network temporary identifier C-RNTI dedicated to the first terminal, including:

The network device sends an RRC connection reconfiguration message to the first terminal by using the second terminal, where the RRC connection reconfiguration message carries the C-RNTI allocated to the first terminal.

In a possible implementation, before the network device allocates the first terminal-specific cell radio network temporary identifier C-RNTI to the first terminal by using the second terminal, the method further includes:

The network device receives, by the second terminal, a through link pre-interrupt indication sent by the first terminal, where the through link pre-interrupt indication is used to indicate between the first terminal and the second terminal Communication is about to break.

In a possible implementation manner, before the network device switches to data transmission with the first terminal by using an uplink and/or downlink communication link between the first terminal and the network device, the method further includes :

The network device configures the through link quality threshold to the first terminal by using the second terminal.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a terminal, where the terminal has the function of implementing the foregoing first aspect and the method implementation of the second aspect, where the function may be implemented by hardware or by hardware. Corresponding software implementations that include one or more modules corresponding to the functions described above.

In a fourth aspect, the embodiment of the present invention provides a network device, where the terminal has the function of implementing the network device in the implementation of the foregoing first aspect and the second aspect, and the function may be implemented by hardware or by hardware. Corresponding software implementations that include one or more modules corresponding to the functions described above.

According to a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a terminal, including a processor, a memory, and a transceiver, wherein a preset program is stored in the memory, and the processor reads a program in the memory, and executes the first according to the program. Aspect method.

In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a network device, including a processor, a memory, and a transceiver, where a preset program is stored in the memory, and the processor reads a program in the memory, and executes the foregoing according to the program. Two ways.

DRAWINGS

1 is a schematic diagram of a prior art wearable device communication;

2 is a schematic diagram of a process of a relay transmission of a UE-network in the prior art;

3 is a schematic diagram of a “UE-network” relay mode based on LTE D2D in the prior art;

4 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario of an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a communication process according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.

6 is a schematic flowchart of maintaining service continuity in an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic flowchart of another process for maintaining service continuity according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.

FIG. 8 is a schematic flowchart of another process for maintaining service continuity according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.

FIG. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a network device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of another terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of another network device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

detailed description

The present invention will be further described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which FIG.

In order to implement the "UE-network" relay technology, and to ensure the service continuity of the Remote UE when leaving the Relay UE, the embodiment of the present invention provides a communication method and a communication device. The embodiment of the present invention establishes a communication connection with the base station directly before the Remote UE is about to leave the coverage of the Relay UE, to avoid communication interruption, and when the Remote UE is located in the coverage of the Relay UE, the relay UE transits as much as possible. Data transmission and reception is performed using "UE-network" relay technology to save transmission power consumption.

The application scenario of the present invention is as shown in FIG. 4. The scenario mainly includes a first terminal 401, a second terminal 402, and a network device 403, where the first terminal is in the coverage of the second terminal, and the second terminal is used as a relay. Communicate with network devices. The embodiment of the present invention is improved based on the "UE-network" relay technology of LTE D2D.

In the following embodiments, it is assumed that the first terminal is a Remote UE and the second terminal is a Relay UE.

In the embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 5, the detailed method for communicating the Remote UE with the network device is as follows:

Step 501: The first terminal communicates with the network device by using the second terminal as a relay device.

In a specific implementation, before the first terminal communicates with the network device by using the second terminal as the relay device, the first terminal establishes radio resource control (Radio Resource Control) with the network device by using the second terminal. RRC) connection.

In a specific implementation, the first UE and the second terminal perform Relay UE discovery and connection establishment based on the LTE D2D technology on the sidelink. That is, the first terminal discovers the terminal existing around the first terminal through the Relay Discovery Message broadcasted by the second terminal on the through link, and the terminal that can cover the first terminal in the surrounding terminal is used as the terminal. a second terminal; the first terminal sends a direct communication request to the second terminal, and after the second terminal performs authentication and security verification on the first terminal according to the direct communication request, the direct link between the first terminal and the second terminal The path establishes a connection, and then the first terminal and the second terminal can perform direct data interaction through the connection established on the through link.

Specifically, the specific process of the first terminal establishing an RRC connection with the network device by using the second terminal is: the first terminal sends an RRC connection request message to the second terminal, where the second terminal The RRC connection request message is sent to the network device; the first terminal receives an RRC connection setup message that is sent by the network device by using the second terminal, and the first terminal sends an RRC connection to the second terminal. And establishing, by the second terminal, the RRC connection setup complete message to the network device. The RRC connection request message, the RRC connection setup message, and the RRC connection setup complete message respectively carry indication information of the first terminal.

In a specific implementation manner, the second terminal needs to distinguish whether the data received from the first terminal is the service data or the RRC message as the control signaling, and the specific implementation manner is: Packet Data Protocol Convergence corresponding to the RRC message. The protocol data unit (Protocol Data Unit) of the protocol layer uses the value of the dedicated PDCP SDU Type, so that the second terminal can determine, according to the value, whether the encapsulated in the corresponding PDCP PDU is from the first terminal or the network device. The RRC message that needs to be sent to the first terminal; or the RRC message sent by the first terminal or the RRC message sent by the first terminal to the second terminal adopts a dedicated logical channel identifier. (Logical Channel Identifier, LCID). This is only an example. The application can also be distinguished in other ways. It is not listed here.

Step 502: The first terminal determines that the quality of the direct link between the first terminal and the second terminal is lower than the quality of the through link, and triggers data transmission from the first terminal and the second terminal. The pass-through link between the two switches to an uplink and/or downlink communication link between the first terminal and the network device.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the quality of the through link may be characterized by a combination of one or more of the following parameters: Slinking Reference Signal Received Power (S-RSRP), Relay in LTE D2D technology Discover the signal strength of the message, etc. It should be noted that, for example, only the parameters in the LTE D2D technology that can be used to characterize the communication quality of the through link can be used as the through link quality. In addition, in the embodiment of the present invention, the measurement manner of the quality of the through link is not limited. Specifically, the measurement may be performed according to the configuration of the network device, for example, periodically according to the configured measurement period.

In a specific implementation, the pass-through link quality threshold is configured by the network device to the first terminal, or pre-configured in the first terminal. Specifically, the first terminal acquires the through link quality threshold configured by the network device by using the second terminal. In the embodiment of the present invention, when the quality of the through link between the first terminal and the second terminal is lower than the quality threshold of the through link, the first terminal and the second terminal are configured by the reasonable configuration of the quality threshold of the through link. The communication can be continued, so as to ensure that the first terminal can perform data transmission with the network device by using the second terminal as the relay device in the process of establishing the RRC connection with the base station, thereby ensuring that the first terminal is leaving the second terminal. Business continuity when covering.

In a specific implementation, the first terminal triggers the Cell Radio Network Temporary Identity (C-RNTI), which is used by the first terminal, to transmit data from the first terminal and the second terminal. The pass-through link between the two ends is switched to an uplink and/or downlink communication link between the first terminal and the network device, and the network device performs data transmission through an uplink and/or downlink communication link.

The first terminal establishes a radio resource control RRC connection with the network device by using the second terminal. After receiving, the first terminal acquires, by the second terminal, the C-RNTI allocated by the network device to the first terminal.

In a specific implementation, the first terminal acquires an RRC connection reconfiguration message sent by the network device by using the second terminal, where the RRC connection reconfiguration message carries a location allocated to the first terminal. Said C-RNTI.

Specifically, the first terminal sends a through link pre-interrupt indication to the network device by using the second terminal, where the direct link pre-interrupt indication is used to indicate the first terminal and the second terminal The communication between the two is about to be interrupted; the network device allocates the C-RNTI to the first terminal through the second terminal. For example, if the signal strength of the first terminal on the through link is lower than a preset threshold or leaves the coverage of the second terminal, it is determined that the communication between the first terminal and the second terminal is about to be interrupted.

Step 503: The network device switches to perform data transmission with the first terminal by using an uplink and/or downlink communication link between the first terminal and the network device.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the first terminal determines that the quality of the direct link between the first terminal and the second terminal is lower than the quality threshold of the through link in the process of performing data communication between the second terminal and the network device. Transmitting the data transmission from the through link to the uplink and/or downlink communication link between the first terminal and the network device, so that the first terminal can be avoided because the power of the first terminal is saved as much as possible Mobility causes data transmission interruption, which ensures the business continuity of the first terminal.

The process of maintaining business continuity provided by the implementation of the present invention is exemplified below by three specific embodiments.

The first specific embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, the specific process of maintaining business continuity is as follows:

Step 1. The Remote UE and the Relay UE perform Relay UE discovery and connection establishment based on the existing LTE D2D technology on the direct link.

This step directly multiplexes the related mechanisms and process implementations in the existing LTE D2D-based "UE-network" relay technology. Specifically, the Relay Discovery Message broadcasted by the Remote UE over the direct link through the Relay UE (Relay Discovery Message) ), discovering the Relay UE that exists around, and Located in the coverage of the Relay UE; the Remote UE sends a direct communication request to the Relay UE, and the Remote UE authenticates and securely authenticates the Remote UE. After the Remote UE establishes a connection with the Relay UE's direct communication link, the Remote UE Direct data interaction with the Relay UE.

After performing this step, the Remote UE can perform data transmission and reception with the Relay UE on the through link, and then realize data transmission with the base station through the "UE-network" relay technology.

Step 2: The Remote UE measures the quality of the through link between the Remote UE and the Relay UE by using the correlation signal strength with the Relay UE.

Specifically, the quality of the pass-through link has multiple manifestations, including but not limited to the following, and the short-link reference signal received power (S-RSRP) strength or Relay discovery message in the LTE D2D. Signal strength. The Remote UE obtains the quality of the through link between the Remote UE and the Relay UE by measuring the signal strength of the through link reference signal received power or the Relay discovery message.

Optionally, the Remote UE periodically and continuously performs measurement of the quality of the through link. The specific measurement period is configured by the base station by using a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message (RRC Connection Reconfiguration), and the measurement period depends on the implementation of the network device, and is not specifically limited herein.

Step 3: The Remote UE adopts a “UE-network” relay technology, and establishes an RRC connection with the base station by means of relay UE relay.

In this step, the RRC connection establishment process multiplexes the RRC connection establishment related procedure and the RRC message in the existing LTE system, and the only difference is that the Remote UE performs the RRC message interaction related to the RRC connection establishment by the relay UE in the relay UE transit mode. Instead of directly interacting with the base station through the uplink and downlink of the cellular network of the LTE system, the RRC message is directly exchanged.

In a specific implementation, the Remote UE sends an RRC Connection Request message to the Relay UE through the through link, and the Relay UE forwards the RRC connection request message to the base station through the uplink; the base station uses the downlink to The Relay UE sends an RRC Connection Setup message, and the Relay UE forwards the RRC connection setup message to the Remote UE; the Remote UE sends the RRC Connection Setup Complete to the Relay UE. The Connection Setup Complete message is forwarded by the Relay UE to the base station to complete the RRC connection establishment process of the Remote UE.

Optionally, the Relay UE distinguishes whether the data received from the Remote UE is service data or an RRC message as control signaling. The specific distinguishing method is that the value of the dedicated PDCP SDU Type (for example, "111" is used in the Protocol Data Unit (PDU) of the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) protocol layer corresponding to the RRC message. The relay UE can determine, by using the value, that the encapsulated data in the PDCP PDU is from the Remote UE, or that the encapsulated data in the PDCP PDU is sent by the base station to the Remote UE; or the RRC sent to the Remote UE or sent to the Remote UE. The message is identified by a dedicated Logical Channel Identifier (LCID). It should be noted that the description is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.

It should be noted that after the RRC connection is established, the Remote UE can only perform data transmission and reception based on the “UE-network” relay by using the Relay UE and the base station, instead of directly performing uplink and downlink communication with the base station.

Step 4: After the RRC connection of the Remote UE is established, the base station sends an RRC Connection Reconfiguration (RRC Connection Reconfiguration) message to the Remote UE by using the relay UE transit mode, where the RRC connection reconfiguration message includes at least: a pass-through link quality threshold. And the C-RNTI dedicated to Remote UE.

Similarly, the base station sends the RRC connection reconfiguration message to the Remote UE by means of relay UE relay. The relay UE may use the method listed in step 3 to determine that the RRC connection reconfiguration message is received from the base station, instead of the service data, and forward the RRC connection reconfiguration message to the Remote UE.

The RRC connection reconfiguration message includes at least a pass-through link quality threshold and a C-RNTI. Optionally, the RRC connection reconfiguration message may also include other information in the RRC connection reconfiguration message in other existing LTE systems.

The specific parameters used by the through link correspond to step 2 (eg, S-RSRP strength, signal strength of Relay discovery message, or others). Specifically, the specificity of the quality threshold of the through link is taken. The value depends on the specific implementation of the base station, and is not specifically limited herein.

Step 5: The Remote UE determines whether the measured pass-through link quality is lower than the pass-through link quality threshold configured by the base station, and if yes, the Remote UE initiates an RRC connection establishment procedure with the base station, and uses the C allocated by the base station. - RNTI, the data transmission is transferred from the Relay UE through link to the uplink and downlink of the cellular network, and the subsequent data is directly transmitted and received with the base station.

In this step, if the quality of the pass-through link measured by the Remote UE is lower than the pass-through link quality threshold configured by the base station, the Remote UE is triggered to establish an RRC connection with the base station, and the service data is from the Relay link being used ("UE - Network "relay" is switched to the uplink and downlink of the cellular network, and subsequent data transmission is directly performed with the base station.

In particular, the pass-through link quality is lower than the pass-through link quality threshold configured by the base station, indicating that the Remote UE signal is weak, and may soon leave the coverage of the Relay UE, thereby triggering an RRC connection establishment process between the Remote UE and the base station, and Data is transferred to the uplink and downlink of the cellular network for transmission.

In the specific embodiment, the reasonable quality of the pass-through link quality threshold between the Remote UE and the Relay UE is such that the quality of the direct link between the Remote UE and the Relay UE is not lower than the quality of the pass-through link. Communicating with the Relay UE, and making the quality of the direct link between the Remote UE and the Relay UE lower than the pass-through link quality threshold, and the data transmission based on the "UE-network" relay by the Relay UE is not interrupted. In the case of establishing an RRC connection with the base station, the Remote UE can still perform data transmission based on the “UE-network” relay through the Relay UE during the establishment of the RRC connection with the base station. Business continuity when the Remote UE leaves the Remote UE.

In a second specific embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, the specific process of maintaining business continuity is as follows:

Steps 1 to 3 are the same as the first embodiment.

Step 4: After the RRC connection of the Remote UE is established, the base station sends an RRC connection reconfiguration message to the Remote UE by using the relay UE transit mode, where the RRC connection reconfiguration message includes at least a pass link quality threshold.

Compared with step 4 of the first embodiment, the base station in this step does not need to allocate a dedicated UE for the Remote UE. C-RNTI.

Step 5: The Remote UE reports the through link quality measurement report to the base station by means of the Relay UE transit.

The pass-through link quality can be reported by the existing RRC message measurement report (MeasurmentReport). The specific reporting frequency can be configured by the base station through the RRC connection reconfiguration message (as in step 4), depending on the network implementation. No specific restrictions are imposed.

Step 6a: The base station determines, according to the measurement report of the Remote UE, whether the quality of the direct link between the Remote UE and the Relay UE is lower than the pass-through link quality threshold configured in step 4, and if yes, configures a dedicated C for the Remote UE. -RNTI.

That is, in the specific embodiment, the pass-through link quality between the Remote UE and the Relay UE is lower than the configured pass-through link quality threshold, and the trigger base station configures the dedicated C-RNTI for the Remote UE.

Step 6b, the Remote UE determines whether the quality of the through link with the remaining Relay UE is lower than the pass link quality threshold configured in step 4, and if yes, and has received the C-RNTI configured by the base station, the Remote UE initiates The RRC connection with the base station is established, and the data transmission is transferred from the direct link of the Relay UE to the uplink and downlink of the cellular network by using the C-RNTI allocated by the base station, and the subsequent data is directly transmitted and received with the base station.

In this specific embodiment, the condition that the Remote UE allows to use the uplink and downlink of the cellular network for communication is that the quality of the through link with the Relay UE is lower than the quality of the through link configured by the base station, and the configuration of the base station is received. C-RNTI, these two conditions are indispensable.

In a third specific embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, the specific process of maintaining business continuity is as follows:

The specific embodiment is different from the second embodiment in that the third embodiment does not require the Remote UE to report the measurement report of the through link quality to the base station through the Relay UE.

Steps 1 to 4 are the same as the second embodiment.

In the step 5, the remote UE determines whether the quality of the through link between the remaining and the relay UE is lower than the quality of the through link configured in the step 4, and if yes, reports the through link to the base station through the relay UE transit mode. Interrupt indication message.

The remote UE finds that the quality of the direct link is lower than the quality of the pass-through link configured by the base station, and triggers the remote UE to send a direct link pre-interrupt indication message to the base station, where the direct link pre-interrupt indication message is used to notify the base station of the Remote UE. The signal on the through link is weak, the communication with the Relay UE is about to be interrupted, and the coverage of the Relay UE is about to leave.

Optionally, the direct link pre-interrupt indication message may be sent to the base station by using an RRC message, or may be sent to the base station by using a Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol layer control element (Control Element, CE). No specific restrictions are imposed.

In this embodiment, the remote UE does not need to perform measurement reporting on the through link to the base station because the direct link pre-interrupt indication message is introduced.

Step 6a: After receiving the through link pre-interrupt indication message, the base station configures a dedicated C-RNTI for the Remote UE.

In this embodiment, the base station pre-interrupt indication message triggers the base station to configure a dedicated C-RNTI for the Remote UE.

Step 6b: The Remote UE receives the C-RNTI configured by the base station, and uses the C-RNTI allocated by the base station to transfer the data transmission from the Relay UE through link to the uplink and downlink of the UE, and directly performs subsequent data transmission and reception with the base station.

Based on the same inventive concept, an embodiment of the present invention provides a terminal. For a specific implementation of the terminal, refer to the related description of the first terminal in the method embodiment, and the repeated description is not repeated. As shown in FIG. 9, the terminal is mainly include:

The communication module 901 is configured to communicate with the network device by using the second terminal as a relay device;

The processing module 902 is configured to determine that a pass-through link quality between the terminal and the second terminal is lower than a pass-through link quality threshold, and trigger a data transmission from the terminal to the second terminal The link switches to an uplink and/or downlink communication link between the terminal and the network device.

Based on the same inventive concept, an embodiment of the present invention provides a network device. For a specific implementation of the network device, refer to the related description of the network device in the method embodiment, and details are not repeated herein. As shown in FIG. 10, the network is not shown. The equipment mainly includes:

The communication module 1001 is configured to communicate with the first terminal by using the second terminal as a relay device.

The processing module 1002 is configured to switch the communication module to perform data transmission with the first terminal by using an uplink and/or downlink communication link between the first terminal and the network device, where After determining that the direct link quality between the first terminal and the second terminal is lower than a pass-through link quality threshold, the first terminal triggers data transmission from the first terminal to the second terminal The pass-through link switches to an uplink and/or downlink communication link between the first terminal and the network device.

Based on the same inventive concept, an embodiment of the present invention provides a terminal. For a specific implementation of the terminal, refer to the related description of the first terminal in the method embodiment, and the repeated description is not repeated. As shown in FIG. 11, the terminal mainly The processor 1101 is configured to receive and transmit data under the control of the processor 1101. The memory 1102 stores a preset program, and the processor 1101 reads the memory 1102. Program, according to the program to perform the following process:

Instructing the transceiver to communicate with the network device by using the second terminal as a relay device;

Determining that a pass link quality between the terminal and the second terminal is lower than a pass link quality threshold, triggering switching data transmission from a pass link between the terminal and the second terminal to the An uplink and/or downlink communication link between the terminal and the network device.

Specifically, the processor is configured to perform the functions of the processing module of the terminal in the above embodiment, and the processor controls the transceiver to perform the functions of the communication module of the terminal in the above embodiment.

Based on the same inventive concept, an embodiment of the present invention provides a network device. For the specific implementation of the network device, refer to the related description of the network device in the method embodiment, and details are not repeated herein. As shown in FIG. 12, the network is not shown. The device mainly includes a processor 1201 for receiving and transmitting data under the control of the processor 1201, a preset program stored in the memory 1202, and a processor 1201 reading the memory 1202. In the program, follow the procedure to perform the following process:

Instructing the transceiver to communicate with the first terminal by using the second terminal as a relay device;

Switching the transceiver to perform data transmission with the first terminal through an uplink and/or downlink communication link between the first terminal and the network device, wherein the first terminal determines the After the pass-through link quality between the first terminal and the second terminal is lower than the pass-through link quality threshold, triggering to switch data transmission from the direct link between the first terminal and the second terminal to the An uplink and/or downlink communication link between the first terminal and the network device.

Specifically, the processor is configured to perform the functions of the processing module of the network device in the above embodiment, and the processor controls the transceiver to perform the functions of the processing module in the above embodiment.

In a specific implementation, the network device is a base station.

11 to 12, the processor, the memory and the transceiver are connected by a bus, and the bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, specifically represented by one or more processors and memories represented by the processor. The various circuits of the memory are linked together. The bus architecture can also link various other circuits such as peripherals, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art and, therefore, will not be further described herein. The bus interface provides an interface. The transceiver can be a plurality of components, including a transmitter and a receiver, providing means for communicating with various other devices on a transmission medium. The processor is responsible for managing the bus architecture and the usual processing, and the memory can store the data that the processor uses when performing operations.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that embodiments of the present invention can be provided as a method, system, or computer program product. Accordingly, the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment, or a combination of software and hardware. Moreover, the invention can take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including but not limited to disk storage and optical storage, etc.) including computer usable program code.

The present invention has been described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (system), and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each flow and/or block of the flowchart illustrations and/or FIG. These computer program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing device to produce a machine for the execution of instructions for execution by a processor of a computer or other programmable data processing device. Means for implementing the functions specified in one or more of the flow or in a block or blocks of the flow chart.

The computer program instructions can also be stored in a computer readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing device to operate in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readable memory produce an article of manufacture comprising the instruction device. The apparatus implements the functions specified in one or more blocks of a flow or a flow and/or block diagram of the flowchart.

These computer program instructions can also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing device such that a series of operational steps are performed on a computer or other programmable device to produce computer-implemented processing for execution on a computer or other programmable device. The instructions provide steps for implementing the functions specified in one or more of the flow or in a block or blocks of a flow diagram.

It is apparent that those skilled in the art can make various modifications and variations to the invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention cover the modifications and modifications of the invention

Claims

A communication method, comprising:

The first terminal communicates with the network device by using the second terminal as a relay device;

Determining, by the first terminal, that the quality of the direct link between the first terminal and the second terminal is lower than a quality of the through link, triggering data transmission from the first terminal and the second terminal The pass-through link between the two ends is switched to an uplink and/or downlink communication link between the first terminal and the network device.
The method of claim 1, wherein the pass-through link quality threshold is configured by the network device to the first terminal or pre-configured in the first terminal.
The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein before the first terminal communicates with the network device by using the second terminal as the relay device, the method further includes:

The first terminal establishes a radio resource control RRC connection with the network device by using the second terminal.
The method of claim 3, wherein the first terminal triggers switching data transmission from a direct link between the first terminal and the second terminal to the first terminal and the Uplink and/or downlink communication links between network devices, including:

Transmitting, by the first terminal, a cell radio network temporary identifier C-RNTI dedicated to the first terminal, and switching data transmission from a direct link between the first terminal and the second terminal to the first terminal An uplink and/or downlink communication link between the terminal and the network device.
The method according to claim 4, wherein the first terminal triggers transmission of data from the first terminal and the second terminal after the second terminal establishes a radio resource control RRC connection with the network device. The method further includes: before the switching of the direct link to the uplink and/or downlink communication link between the first terminal and the network device, the method further includes:

Obtaining, by the second terminal, the C-RNTI allocated by the network device to the first terminal by using the second terminal.
The method of claim 5 wherein said first terminal passes said second The acquiring, by the terminal, the C-RNTI that is allocated by the network device to the first terminal includes:

The first terminal acquires an RRC connection reconfiguration message sent by the network device by using the second terminal, where the RRC connection reconfiguration message carries the C-RNTI allocated to the first terminal.
The method according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the method further comprises: before the first terminal acquires, by the second terminal, the C-RNTI allocated by the network device to the first terminal, the method further include:

Transmitting, by the second terminal, a through link pre-interrupt indication to the network device by using the second terminal, where the direct link pre-interrupt indication is used to indicate communication between the first terminal and the second terminal It is about to be interrupted.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the method further includes: before the first terminal determines that the quality of the through link is lower than a quality threshold of the through link, the method further includes:

The first terminal acquires the through link quality threshold configured by the network device by using the second terminal.
The method according to any one of claims 3 to 7, wherein the first terminal establishes a radio resource control RRC connection with the network device by using the second terminal, including:

The first terminal sends an RRC connection request message to the second terminal, and the second terminal sends the RRC connection request message to the network device;

Receiving, by the first terminal, an RRC connection setup message that is sent by the network device by using the second terminal;

The first terminal sends an RRC connection setup complete message to the second terminal, and the second terminal sends the RRC connection setup complete message to the network device.
The method according to claim 9, wherein the RRC connection request message, the RRC connection setup message, and the RRC connection setup complete message respectively carry indication information of the first terminal.
A communication method, comprising:

The network device communicates with the first terminal by using the second terminal as a relay device;

The network device switches to perform data transmission with the first terminal by using an uplink and/or downlink communication link between the first terminal and the network device, where the first terminal determines After the pass-through link quality between the first terminal and the second terminal is lower than the pass-through link quality threshold, triggering to switch data transmission from the direct link between the first terminal and the second terminal to the An uplink and/or downlink communication link between the first terminal and the network device.
The method of claim 11, wherein the method further comprises: before the network device communicates with the first terminal by using the second terminal as the relay device, the method further comprising:

The network device establishes a radio resource control RRC connection with the first terminal by using the second terminal.
The method according to claim 12, wherein after the network device establishes a radio resource control RRC connection with the first terminal by the second terminal, the network device switches to pass the first terminal and Before the uplink and/or downlink communication link between the network devices and the first terminal perform data transmission, the method further includes:

And the network device allocates, by using the second terminal, the cell radio network temporary identifier C-RNTI dedicated to the first terminal to the first terminal.
The method according to claim 13, wherein the network device allocates, by the second terminal, the first terminal-specific cell radio network temporary identifier C-RNTI to the first terminal, including:

The network device sends an RRC connection reconfiguration message to the first terminal by using the second terminal, where the RRC connection reconfiguration message carries the C-RNTI allocated to the first terminal.
The method according to claim 13 or 14, wherein the network device allocates, by the second terminal, the first terminal-specific cell radio network temporary identifier C-RNTI to the first terminal, The method also includes:

The network device receives, by the second terminal, a through link pre-interrupt indication sent by the first terminal, where the through link pre-interrupt indication is used to indicate between the first terminal and the second terminal Communication is about to break.
The method according to any one of claims 11 to 15, wherein the network device switches to an uplink and/or downlink communication link between the first terminal and the network device and the first Before a terminal performs data transmission, the method further includes:

The network device configures the through link quality threshold to the first terminal by using the second terminal.
A terminal, characterized in that it comprises:

a communication module, configured to communicate with the network device by using the second terminal as a relay device;

a processing module, configured to determine that a pass-through link quality between the terminal and the second terminal is lower than a pass-through link quality threshold, triggering a data transmission from a straight-through chain between the terminal and the second terminal The way switches to an uplink and/or downlink communication link between the terminal and the network device.
The terminal according to claim 17, wherein the communication module is further configured to:

Before the second terminal is used as the relay device to communicate with the network device, establish a radio resource control RRC connection with the network device by using the second terminal.
The terminal according to claim 18, wherein the processing module is specifically configured to:

And triggering, by using the terminal-specific cell radio network temporary identifier C-RNTI, to switch data transmission from a direct link between the terminal and the second terminal to an uplink between the terminal and the network device / or downlink communication link.
The terminal according to claim 19, wherein the communication module is further configured to:

Acquiring, by the second terminal, the C-RNTI allocated by the network device to the terminal.
The terminal according to claim 20, wherein the communication module is specifically configured to:

Obtaining, by the second terminal, an RRC connection reconfiguration message sent by the network device, where the RRC connection reconfiguration message carries the C-RNTI allocated to the terminal.
The terminal according to claim 20 or 21, wherein the communication module is further configured to:

Before the second terminal acquires the C-RNTI allocated by the network device to the terminal, sending, by the second terminal, a through link pre-interrupt indication to the network device, where the through link is pre-interrupted The indication is used to indicate that communication between the terminal and the second terminal is about to be interrupted.
The terminal according to any one of claims 17 to 22, wherein the communication module is further configured to:

Acquiring, by the second terminal, the through link quality threshold of the network device configuration.
The terminal according to any one of claims 18 to 22, wherein the communication module is specifically configured to:

Sending an RRC connection request message to the second terminal, where the second terminal sends the RRC connection request message to the network device;

Receiving, by the network device, an RRC connection setup message sent by the second terminal;

And sending an RRC connection setup complete message to the second terminal, where the second terminal sends the RRC connection setup complete message to the network device.
A network device, comprising:

a communication module, configured to communicate with the first terminal by using the second terminal as a relay device;

a processing module, configured to switch the communication module to perform data transmission with the first terminal by using an uplink and/or downlink communication link between the first terminal and the network device, where After determining that the quality of the through link between the first terminal and the second terminal is lower than a quality threshold of the through link, the terminal triggers data transmission from between the first terminal and the second terminal. The pass-through link switches to an uplink and/or downlink communication link between the first terminal and the network device.
The network device according to claim 25, wherein the communication module is further configured to:

Before the second terminal is used as the relay device to communicate with the first terminal, establish a radio resource control RRC connection with the first terminal by using the second terminal.
The network device according to claim 26, wherein the communication module is further configured to:

After the second terminal establishes a radio resource control RRC connection with the first terminal, switching to an uplink and/or downlink communication link between the first terminal and the network device, and the first terminal Before the data transmission is performed, the first terminal-specific cell radio network temporary identifier C-RNTI is allocated to the first terminal.
The network device according to claim 27, wherein said communication module is specifically used to:

And transmitting, by the second terminal, an RRC connection reconfiguration message to the first terminal, where the RRC connection reconfiguration message carries the C-RNTI allocated to the first terminal.
The network device according to claim 27 or 28, wherein the communication module is further configured to:

Receiving, by the second terminal, the through link pre-interrupt indication sent by the first terminal, before the second terminal allocates the first terminal-specific cell radio network temporary identifier C-RNTI to the first terminal The through link pre-interrupt indication is used to indicate that communication between the first terminal and the second terminal is about to be interrupted.
The network device according to any one of claims 25 to 29, wherein the communication module is further configured to: configure, by the second terminal, the through link quality threshold to the first terminal.