WO2023246544A1

WO2023246544A1 - Communication method and apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO2023246544A1
Application number: PCT/CN2023/099671
Authority: WO
Inventors: 姚楚婷; 徐海博; 才宇; 彭文杰
Original assignee: 华为技术有限公司
Priority date: 2022-06-24
Filing date: 2023-06-12
Publication date: 2023-12-28
Also published as: CN117320190A

Abstract

The present application relates to a communication method and apparatus. The method comprises: a remote device receiving a first deactivation command, which is used for the remote device to deactivate an indirect connection path of the remote device, wherein the remote device communicates with an access network device by means of a direct connection path; and the remote device deactivating the indirect connection path according to the first deactivation command. In the embodiments of the present application, there is no need to release an indirect connection path, but a remote device deactivates the indirect connection path according to a first deactivation command. Since the indirect connection path is not released, if a path needs to be subsequently added to the remote device, the indirect connection path can be reactivated, such that signaling overheads required in the activation process are less than signaling overheads required in a path establishment process, and a communication time delay is also relatively short.

Description

A communication method and device

Cross-references to related applications

This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application submitted to the State Intellectual Property Office of China on June 24, 2022, with application number 202210738953.2 and application title "A method for activation and deactivation", the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference. Pending application; this application claims priority to a Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of China on July 29, 2022, with application number 202210904404.8 and the application title "A communication method and device", the entire content of which is incorporated by reference in this application.

Technical field

The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular, to a communication method and device.

Background technique

It is currently supported that remote user equipment (user equipment, UE) can connect to the network through a relay, that is, communicate with the network through an indirect path. Furthermore, it is expected to support the remote UE to communicate simultaneously through the indirect path and the indirect path, so as to increase the communication capacity of the remote UE.

In a scenario where the remote UE communicates simultaneously through direct paths and indirect paths, if the remote UE's traffic volume becomes smaller, the base station may release one of the paths. If the subsequent traffic volume becomes larger again, the base station may add the path again. . The process of releasing a path and adding a path involves a lot of signaling interaction processes, and the overhead is high.

Contents of the invention

Embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and device for reducing signaling overhead.

The first aspect provides a first communication method, which can be executed by a remote device, or by other devices that include remote device functions, or by a chip system (or chip) or other functional modules, and the chip system or The functional module can realize the function of the remote device, and the chip system or the functional module is, for example, provided in the remote device. The remote device is, for example, a terminal device or a network device. The method includes: receiving a first deactivation command, the first deactivation command being used by the remote device to deactivate a non-direct connection path of the remote device, wherein the remote device communicates with the remote device through a direct connection path. Access network equipment communicates; deactivate the indirect path according to the first deactivation command.

In the embodiment of the present application, it is not necessary to release the indirect path, but the remote device only needs to activate the indirect path according to the first deactivation command. Since the indirect path is not released, if you want to add a path to the remote device later, you can just reactivate the indirect path. The activation process requires less signaling overhead than the path establishment process. is small, and the communication delay is also small. In addition, compared with the release process, the deactivation process does not need to release the corresponding configuration, thereby also reducing the delay caused by the release process.

In an optional implementation, receiving the first deactivation command includes: receiving the first deactivation command from the access network device through the direct connection path; or, receiving the first deactivation command from the access network device through the indirect connection path. The path receives the first deactivation command from the access network device; or, receives the first deactivation command from the relay device, wherein the remote device passes through The relay device communicates with the access network device. The access network device can instruct the remote device to deactivate the indirect path through a direct path or an indirect path, or the access network device can also instruct the remote device to activate the indirect path. The relay device instructs the remote device to deactivate the indirect path, and the relay device instructs the remote device to deactivate the indirect path. The method is more flexible.

In an optional implementation, after receiving the first deactivation command from the access network device through the direct connection path or the indirect connection path, the method further includes: Send a second deactivation command, the second deactivation command is used by the relay device to deactivate the non-directly connected path, wherein the remote device passes the relay on the non-directly connected path. The device communicates with the access network device. If the access network device directly instructs the remote device to deactivate the non-direct path, because the non-direct path also involves a relay device, the remote device can further instruct the relay device to deactivate the non-direct path. This enables both the remote device and the relay device to stop using the indirect path.

In an optional implementation, the second deactivation command is a PC5 RRC message, or a PC5 MAC CE, or a SRAP control PDU. Or there may be other implementation methods for the second deactivation command, which are not limited.

In an optional implementation, the first deactivation command from the access network device is an RRC message, PDCP control PDU or MAC CE. Or there may be other ways to implement the first deactivation command without any restrictions.

In an optional implementation, the first deactivation command is used to deactivate the indirect path of the remote device, including: the MAC CE is used to deactivate the indirect path corresponding to The cell of the MAC CE is used to deactivate the non-directly connected path; or, the MAC CE is used to deactivate the non-directly connected path, and is not used to deactivate the cell corresponding to the non-directly connected path. For example, if the first deactivation command is MAC CE, the existing MAC CE can be used to implement the function of the first deactivation command. The existing MAC CE can be used to deactivate the cell corresponding to the indirect path. By deactivating the cell, the indirect path in the cell can be deactivated. Alternatively, MAC CE can also be newly defined. The newly defined MAC CE can be used to deactivate the non-directly connected path without having to activate the cell where the non-directly connected path is located, making the deactivation process more targeted. If there are other transmission paths in the cell, the newly defined MAC CE can be used to deactivate the indirect path and retain other transmission paths.

In an optional implementation, if the MAC CE is used to deactivate the non-directly connected path and is not used to deactivate the cell corresponding to the non-directly connected path, the MAC CE also includes the The identification of the relay device. The remote device may have one or more indirect paths, so the MAC CE includes the identity of the relay device, which can indicate which indirect path should be activated.

In an optional implementation manner, the remote device includes a PDCP entity, and after deactivating the indirect path, the method further includes: the PDCP entity stops sending messages corresponding to the indirect path. The relay device sends data, and the PDCP entity performs data recovery to recover untransmitted data on the indirect path. After the indirect path is deactivated, the PDCP entity of the remote device can stop sending data to the relay device corresponding to the indirect path to deactivate the indirect path. In addition, before the indirect path is deactivated, the PDCP entity may have sent data to the relay device corresponding to the indirect path, and these data may not be able to reach the remote device because the indirect path is deactivated. end device, which may cause packet loss. Therefore, optionally, the PDCP entity can also perform data recovery to recover untransmitted data on the indirect link. Through the data recovery process, the data that has been submitted to the indirect path can be recovered. For example, the PDCP entity can transmit the recovered data through the transmission path (such as the direct path) that has not been deactivated by the remote device, thereby reducing the Small packet loss rate.

In an optional implementation, the first deactivation command includes first indication information, and the first indication information is used to instruct the PDCP entity to perform data recovery. The behavior of the PDCP entity may be triggered by the first deactivation command. For example, the first deactivation command includes first indication information, and the first indication information may instruct the PDCP entity to perform data recovery. Explicit instructions are provided through the first instruction information, so that the remote device can make the corresponding behavior more clear.

In an optional implementation, after deactivating the indirect path, the method further includes: rebuilding the The PC5 RLC entity of the remote device. Because the indirect path is deactivated, the remote device's PC5 RLC entity can be reestablished.

In an optional implementation, the first deactivation command includes second indication information, and the second indication information is used to instruct the remote device to reestablish the PC5 RLC entity. The behavior of the PC5 RLC entity can be triggered by the first deactivation command. For example, the first deactivation command includes second indication information, and the second indication information may indicate reestablishing the PC5 RLC entity. Explicit instructions are provided through the second instruction information, so that the remote device can more clearly understand the corresponding behavior. Optionally, the first indication information and the second indication information may be the same information, or they may be different information.

In an optional implementation, the remote device includes a MAC entity. After deactivating the indirect path, the method further includes: the MAC entity determines the DRX configuration; or, the MAC entity Modify the DRX configuration, where the DRX cycle indicated by the modified DRX configuration is greater than the DRX cycle applied before the modification. For example, the MAC entity may determine a DRX configuration with a larger DRX cycle, or modify the DRX cycle of the DRX configuration to a larger cycle. Because the indirect path has been deactivated and data is no longer transmitted on the indirect path, the DRX cycle can be larger to reduce the time the remote device is in the active state, so that the remote device can be in the active state for more time. Sleep state to save power consumption of the remote device.

In an optional implementation, before receiving the first deactivation command, the method further includes: receiving a first RRC reconfiguration message from the access network device, and the first RRC reconfiguration message The message is used to configure the indirect path and the direct path. Multiple transmission paths of the remote device can be configured through the first RRC reconfiguration message.

In an optional implementation, the first RRC reconfiguration message includes one or more morethanoneRLC information elements, the one or more morethanoneRLC information elements include a first morethanoneRLC information element, and the first morethanoneRLC information element The element includes the configuration information of the non-direct path and the configuration information of the direct path, wherein the configuration information of the non-direct path includes the identification of the relay device corresponding to the non-direct path; or, the The first RRC reconfiguration message includes a plurality of morethanoneRLC information elements, a second morethanoneRLC information element among the plurality of morethanoneRLC information elements includes the configuration information of the direct path, and the first RRC reconfiguration message also includes the The configuration information of the indirect path and the morethanonepath information element, the morethanonepath information element is used to indicate the primary path and/or the secondary path; or the first RRC reconfiguration message includes the sideline SRAP configuration information element, the sideline The SRAP configuration information element includes information about the RLC entity corresponding to the directly connected path and information about the RLC entity corresponding to the indirect path. The first RRC reconfiguration message can configure multiple transmission paths in different ways, such as through morethanoneRLC cell configuration, or through morethanoneRLC cell configuration and the newly defined morethanonepath cell configuration, or through sideline SRAP configuration cell configuration, etc. More flexible.

In the second aspect, a second communication method is provided, which method can be executed by a relay device, or by other devices including the function of a relay device, or by a chip system (or chip) or other functional modules, and the chip system or The functional module can realize the function of the relay device, and the chip system or the functional module is, for example, provided in the relay device. The relay device is, for example, a terminal device or a network device. The method includes: receiving a second deactivation command, the second deactivation command being used by the relay device to deactivate the indirect path that the relay device serves for the remote device; according to the second deactivation command to deactivate the indirect path.

In an optional implementation, receiving the second deactivation command includes: receiving the second deactivation command from an access network device; or receiving the second deactivation command from a remote device.

In an optional implementation, after receiving the second deactivation command from the access network device, the The method further includes: sending a first deactivation command to the remote device, where the first deactivation command is used by the remote device to deactivate the indirect path.

In an optional implementation, the first deactivation command is a PC5 RRC message, or a PC5 MAC CE, or a SRAP control PDU.

In an optional implementation, the second deactivation command from the access network device is an RRC message, SRAP control PDU or MAC CE.

In an optional implementation, the second deactivation command further includes an identification of the remote device.

In an optional implementation, the relay device includes a SRAP entity. After deactivating the indirect path, the method further includes: the SRAP entity discards data corresponding to the indirect path. . After the indirect path is deactivated, the SRAP entity of the relay device can discard the data corresponding to the indirect path to deactivate the indirect path.

In an optional implementation manner, the second deactivation command includes third indication information, and the third indication information is used to instruct the SRAP entity to deactivate the indirect path. The behavior of the SRAP entity may be triggered by a second deactivation command. For example, the second deactivation command includes third indication information, and the third indication information may instruct the SRAP entity to deactivate the indirect path, or instruct the SRAP entity to discard data corresponding to the indirect path. Explicit instructions are provided through the third instruction information, making the corresponding behavior of the relay device clearer.

In an optional implementation, after deactivating the indirect path, the method further includes: reestablishing the PC5 RLC entity of the relay device.

In an optional implementation, the second deactivation command includes fourth indication information, and the fourth indication information is used to instruct reestablishment of the PC5 RLC entity. Optionally, the third indication information and the fourth indication information may be the same information, or they may be different information.

In an optional implementation, the relay device includes a MAC entity. After deactivating the indirect path, the method further includes: the MAC entity determines the DRX configuration; or the MAC entity modifies DRX configuration, wherein the DRX cycle indicated by the modified DRX configuration is greater than the DRX cycle applied before the modification.

Regarding the technical effects brought by the second aspect or some optional implementations, reference may be made to the introduction of the technical effects of the first aspect or corresponding implementations.

In the third aspect, a third communication method is provided, which method can be executed by a remote device, or by other devices including remote device functions, or by a chip system (or chip) or other functional modules, and the chip system or The functional module can realize the function of the remote device, and the chip system or the functional module is, for example, provided in the remote device. The remote device is, for example, a terminal device or a network device. The method includes: receiving a first activation command through a first path, the first activation command being used to activate a second path, the first path being a first indirect path, the second path being a direct path or A second indirect path; activate the second path according to the first activation command.

In this embodiment of the present application, after the transmission path is deactivated, it can be activated again. Since the corresponding device does not release the configuration information of the transmission path when the transmission path is deactivated, the device can activate the transmission path based on the saved configuration information, which can save the signaling overhead and delay caused by establishing the transmission path. Through the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application, the status of the transmission path can be flexibly changed, which is beneficial to service transmission and is also beneficial to saving the power consumption of the equipment.

In an optional implementation, receiving the first activation command through the first path includes: receiving the first activation command from the access network device through the first path; or, through the first path Receive the first activation command from a first relay device, where the first relay device is a relay device corresponding to the first path. The access network device may directly instruct the remote device to activate the second path, or may instruct the first relay device to activate the second path, and the first relay device instructs the remote device to activate the second path. The method is more flexible.

In an optional implementation, if the second path is the second indirect path, after receiving the first activation command from the access network device, the method further includes: The second relay device sends a third activation command, the third activation command is used to activate the second indirect path, and the second relay device is the relay device corresponding to the second indirect path. If the second path is an indirect path, the indirect path also involves a corresponding relay device. Therefore, the remote device can instruct the second relay device to activate the second indirect path, so that both the remote device and the second relay device can start using the second indirect path.

In an optional implementation, the first activation command from the access network device is an RRC message or a PDCP control PDU.

In an optional implementation, the first activation command from the first relay device is a PC5 RRC message, sideline MAC CE or SRAP control PDU.

In an optional implementation, if the second path is the direct path, the first activation command includes the identification of the cell corresponding to the direct path; or, if the second path is For a second indirect path, the first activation command includes one or more of the following: the identifier of the second relay device corresponding to the second indirect path, the side of the second indirect path corresponding to the second indirect path. Line carrier information, or the logical channel identifier corresponding to the second indirect path. The first activation command may include information about the second path, so that the remote device knows which transmission path the second path is.

In an optional implementation, if the second path is the directly connected path, activating the second path according to the first activation command includes one or more of the following: The cell corresponding to the path monitors the downlink control channel; the cell corresponding to the direct path performs random access; or the PDCP entity included in the remote device transmits data to the RLC entity corresponding to the direct path.

In an optional implementation, if the second path is the second indirect path, activating the second path according to the first activation command includes one or more of the following: The PDCP entity included in the remote device transmits data to the SRAP entity corresponding to the second indirect path; the SRAP entity included in the remote device corresponding to the second indirect path transmits data to the second indirect path. The RLC entity corresponding to the connection path transmits data; or, the MAC entity included in the remote device deactivates or modifies the DRX configuration, wherein the DRX cycle indicated by the modified DRX configuration is smaller than the DRX cycle applied before the modification. The PDCP entity of the remote device may start to use the second indirect path, for example, to transmit data to the SRAP entity corresponding to the second indirect path. The SRAP entity of the remote device may start to use the second indirect path, for example, to transmit data to the RLC entity corresponding to the second indirect path. The MAC entity of the remote device can disable the DRX configuration or modify the DRX cycle of the DRX configuration to be smaller to meet the data transmission requirements on the indirect path.

The fourth aspect provides a fourth communication method, which method can be executed by the first relay device, or by other devices including the function of the first relay device, or by a chip system (or chip) or other functional modules, The chip system or functional module can realize the function of the first relay device, and the chip system or functional module is, for example, provided in the first relay device. The first relay device is, for example, a terminal device or a network device. Wherein, the first relay device is a relay device corresponding to the first indirect path. The method includes: receiving a second activation command from an access network device, the second activation command being used to activate a second path, the first path being a first indirect path served by the first relay device , the second path is a direct path or a second indirect path; sending a first activation command to a remote device, where the first activation command is used to activate the second path, and the remote device is the The remote device corresponding to the second indirect path.

In an optional implementation, the first activation command is a PC5 RRC message or SRAP control PDU or MAC CE.

In an optional implementation, the second activation command is an RRC message or SRAP control PDU or MAC CE.

Regarding the technical effects brought by the fourth aspect or various optional implementations, reference may be made to the introduction of the technical effects of the third aspect or corresponding implementations.

The fifth aspect provides a fifth communication method, which method can be executed by the second relay device, or by other devices including the function of the second relay device, or by a chip system (or, chip) or other functional modules, The chip system or functional module can realize the function of the second relay device, and the chip system or functional module is, for example, provided in the second relay device. The second relay device is, for example, a terminal device or a network device. The second relay device is a relay device corresponding to the second indirect path. The method includes: receiving a third activation command from a remote device, the third activation command being used to activate a second path, the first path being a first non-direct path, and the second path being a second non-direct path. Direct path; activate the second path according to the third activation command. The remote device may activate the second path after receiving the first activation command from the access network device or the first relay device. If the second path is a second indirect path, the second indirect path also involves the second relay device, so the remote device can instruct the second relay device to activate the second indirect path, so that the remote device The second indirect path may be used with the second relay device.

In an optional implementation, the third activation command is an RRC message or SRAP control PDU or MAC CE.

In an optional implementation, activating the second path according to the third activation command includes: the SRAP entity included in the second relay device transmits data corresponding to the second path; and/or , the MAC entity included in the second relay device deactivates or modifies the DRX configuration, wherein the DRX cycle indicated by the modified DRX configuration is smaller than the DRX cycle applied before the modification.

Regarding the technical effects brought by the fifth aspect or various optional implementations, reference may be made to the introduction of the technical effects of the third aspect or corresponding implementations.

A sixth aspect provides a communication device. The communication device may be the remote device described in any one of the above first to fifth aspects. The communication device has the function of the above-mentioned remote device. The communication device is, for example, a remote device, or a larger device including the remote device, or a functional module in the remote device, such as a baseband device or a chip system. In an optional implementation, the communication device includes a baseband device and a radio frequency device. In another optional implementation, the communication device includes a processing unit (sometimes also called a processing module) and a transceiver unit (sometimes also called a transceiver module). The transceiver unit can realize the sending function and the receiving function. When the transceiver unit realizes the sending function, it can be called a sending unit (sometimes also called a sending module). When the transceiver unit realizes the receiving function, it can be called a receiving unit (sometimes also called a sending module). receiving module). The sending unit and the receiving unit can be the same functional module, which is called the sending and receiving unit, and the functional module can realize the sending function and the receiving function; or the sending unit and the receiving unit can be different functional modules, and the sending and receiving unit is responsible for these functions. The collective name for functional modules.

In an optional implementation, the transceiver unit (or the receiving unit) is configured to receive a first deactivation command, and the first deactivation command is used by the remote device to deactivate the A non-direct connection path of a remote device, wherein the remote device communicates with the access network device through a direct connection path; the processing unit is configured to deactivate the non-direct connection according to the first deactivation command. path.

In an optional implementation, the transceiver unit (or the receiving unit) is configured to receive a first activation command through a first path, and the first activation command is used to activate a second path, and the The first path is a first indirect path, and the second path is a direct path or a second indirect path; the processing unit is configured to activate the second path according to the first activation command.

In an optional implementation, the communication device further includes a storage unit (sometimes also called a storage module), The processing unit is configured to be coupled to the storage unit and execute the program or instructions in the storage unit to enable the communication device to execute the remote method described in any one of the first to fifth aspects. Device functionality.

In a seventh aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device may be the relay device described in any one of the above first to fifth aspects. The communication device has the function of the above-mentioned relay device. The communication device is, for example, a relay device, or a larger device including a relay device, or a functional module in the relay device, such as a baseband device or a chip system. In an optional implementation, the communication device includes a baseband device and a radio frequency device. In another optional implementation, the communication device includes a processing unit (sometimes also called a processing module) and a transceiver unit (sometimes also called a transceiver module). Regarding the implementation of the transceiver unit, please refer to the introduction in the sixth aspect.

In an optional implementation, the transceiver unit (or the receiving unit) is configured to receive a second deactivation command, and the second deactivation command is used by the relay device to deactivate the The relay device is a non-directly connected path serving the remote device; the processing unit is configured to deactivate the non-directly connected path according to the second deactivation command.

In an optional implementation, the transceiver unit (or the receiving unit) is configured to receive a second activation command from the access network device, where the second activation command is used to activate the second path, The first path is a first indirect path served by the first relay device, and the second path is a direct path or a second indirect path; the transceiver unit (or, the sending unit ), used to send a first activation command to a remote device, where the first activation command is used to activate the second path, and the remote device is the remote device corresponding to the second indirect path.

In an optional implementation, the transceiver unit (or the receiving unit) is used to receive a third activation command from a remote device, where the third activation command is used to activate the second path, so The first path is a first indirect path, and the second path is a second indirect path; the processing unit is configured to activate the second path according to the third activation command.

In an optional implementation, the communication device further includes a storage unit (sometimes also called a storage module), the processing unit is configured to be coupled with the storage unit and execute the program in the storage unit or Instructions enable the communication device to perform the function of the relay device described in any one of the above first to fifth aspects.

In an eighth aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device may be a remote device, or a chip or chip system used in remote equipment; or the communication device may be a relay device, or a chip system used for relaying. A chip or a chip system in the device; or the communication device can be a first relay device, or a chip or a chip system used in the relay device; or the communication device can be a second relay device, or a chip system. Chip or chip system used in relay equipment. The communication device includes a communication interface and a processor, and optionally, a memory. Wherein, the memory is used to store computer programs, and the processor is coupled to the memory and the communication interface. When the processor reads the computer program or instructions, it causes the communication device to execute the remote device or relay device or the third party in the above aspects. A method performed by a relay device or a second relay device.

A ninth aspect provides a first communication system, including a remote device and a relay device, wherein the remote device is used to perform the communication method as described in the first aspect, and the relay device is used to perform the communication method as described in the second aspect. the communication method described above.

A tenth aspect provides a second communication system, including a remote device and a first relay device, wherein the remote device is used to perform the communication method as described in the third aspect, and the first relay device is used to perform as The communication method described in the fourth aspect.

Optionally, the second communication system further includes a second relay device, configured to perform the communication method described in the fifth aspect.

In an eleventh aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided. The computer-readable storage medium is used to store computer programs or instructions. When executed, the remote device or the relay device or the first The method performed by the relay device or the second relay device is implemented.

A twelfth aspect, a computer program product containing instructions is provided, which when run on a computer enables the methods described in the above aspects to be implemented.

In a thirteenth aspect, a chip system is provided, including a processor and an interface. The processor is configured to call and run instructions from the interface, so that the chip system implements the methods of the above aspects.

Description of the drawings

Figures 1A and 1B are schematic diagrams of two application scenarios according to embodiments of the present application;

Figures 2 and 3 are flow charts of two communication methods provided by embodiments of the present application;

Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of a device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of yet another device provided by an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed ways

In order to make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the embodiments of the present application clearer, the embodiments of the present application will be described in further detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device is a device with wireless transceiver function, which can be a fixed device, a mobile device, a handheld device (such as a mobile phone), a wearable device, a vehicle-mounted device, or a wireless device built into the above device (such as , communication module, modem, or chip system, etc.). The terminal device is used to connect people, objects, machines, etc., and can be widely used in various scenarios, including but not limited to the following scenarios: cellular communication, device-to-device communication (device-to-device, D2D), car-to-everything (vehicle to everything, V2X), machine-to-machine/machine-type communications (M2M/MTC), Internet of things (IoT), virtual reality (VR) , augmented reality (AR), industrial control, self-driving, remote medical, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wear, smart transportation , terminal equipment for smart cities, drones, robots and other scenarios. The terminal equipment may sometimes be called user equipment (UE), terminal, access station, UE station, remote station, wireless communication equipment, or user device, etc. For convenience of description, in the embodiment of this application, the terminal device is described by taking a UE as an example.

The network equipment in the embodiment of the present application may include, for example, access network equipment and/or core network equipment. The access network device is a device with a wireless transceiver function and is used to communicate with the terminal device. The access network equipment includes but is not limited to base station (base transceiver station (BTS), Node B, eNodeB/eNB, or gNodeB/gNB), transmission reception point (TRP), third generation Base stations for the subsequent evolution of the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP), access nodes, wireless relay nodes, wireless backhaul nodes, etc. in wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) systems. The base station may be: a macro base station, a micro base station, a pico base station, a small station, a relay station, etc. Multiple base stations can support networks with the same access technology or networks with different access technologies. A base station may contain one or more co-located or non-co-located transmission and reception points. The access network device may also be a wireless controller, a centralized unit (CU), and/or a distributed unit (DU) in a cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenario. The access network device may also be a server or the like. For example, the access network equipment in vehicle to everything (V2X) technology can be a road side unit (RSU). The following description takes the access network equipment as a base station as an example. The base station can communicate with the terminal device or communicate with the terminal device through the relay station. Terminal devices can work with different access technologies communicate with multiple base stations. The core network equipment is used to implement functions such as mobility management, data processing, session management, policy and billing. The names of devices that implement core network functions in systems with different access technologies may be different, and the embodiments of this application do not limit this. Taking the 5G system as an example, the core network equipment includes: access and mobility management function (AMF), session management function (SMF), policy control function (PCF) or User plane function (UPF), etc.

In the embodiment of the present application, the communication device used to implement the function of the network device may be a network device, or may be a device that can support the network device to implement the function, such as a chip system, and the device may be installed in the network device. In the technical solution provided by the embodiment of the present application, the technical solution provided by the embodiment of the present application is described by taking the device for realizing the functions of the network device being a network device as an example.

In the embodiments of this application, the number of nouns means "singular noun or plural noun", that is, "one or more", unless otherwise specified. "At least one" means one or more, and "plurality" means two or more. "And/or" describes the relationship between associated objects, indicating that there can be three relationships, for example, A and/or B, which can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone, where A, B can be singular or plural. The character "/" generally indicates that the related objects are in an "or" relationship. For example, A/B means: A or B. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions thereof refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of a single item (items) or a plurality of items (items). For example, at least one of a, b, or c means: a, b, c, a and b, a and c, b and c, or a and b and c, where a, b, c Can be single or multiple.

The ordinal words such as "first" and "second" mentioned in the embodiment of this application are used to distinguish multiple objects and are not used to limit the size, content, order, timing, priority or importance of multiple objects. For example, the first deactivation command and the second deactivation command can be the same deactivation command, or they can be different deactivation commands. Moreover, such names do not indicate the content or sending of the two deactivation commands. Differences in order, sender/receiver, priority or importance, etc. In addition, the numbering of steps in the various embodiments introduced in this application is only to distinguish different steps and is not used to limit the order between steps. For example, S201 may occur before S202, or may occur after S202, or may occur simultaneously with S202.

The technical solution provided by the embodiments of this application can be applied to the fourth generation mobile communication technology (the 4th generation, 4G) system, such as the long term evolution (LTE) system, or can be applied to the fifth generation mobile communication technology ( the 5th generation, 5G) system, such as the new radio (NR) system, or can also be applied to the next generation mobile communication system or other similar communication systems, such as the 6th generation mobile communication technology (the 6th generation, 6G ) system, etc., there are no specific restrictions. In addition, the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of this application can be applied to device-to-device (D2D) scenarios, such as NR-D2D scenarios, etc., or can be applied to vehicle to everything (V2X) scenarios, such as NR -V2X scenarios or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), etc. Alternatively, the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of this application can be used in fields such as intelligent driving, assisted driving, or intelligent connected vehicles. If applied to a D2D scenario, both the relay device and the remote device may be UE; if applied to a non-D2D scenario, one of the relay device or the remote device may be a UE, and the other device may be Network equipment (such as access network equipment), or remote equipment and relay equipment may also be network equipment. The remote device involved in various embodiments later in this application is, for example, a UE or a network device; the relay device is, for example, a UE or a network device.

This application relates to a UE to network relay mechanism, which can be used to improve the coverage of cellular networks. Please refer to FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B , which are schematic diagrams of two application scenarios according to embodiments of the present application. Among them, relay equipment It is within the coverage of the access network device of the cellular network, that is, the relay device can directly communicate with the access network device through the Uu interface; the remote device can communicate with the relay device through the PC5 interface, and the remote device can be in the access network. It can be within the coverage of network equipment or outside the coverage of access network equipment. For data, the remote device can send the data to the relay device, and then the relay device forwards the data of the remote device to the access network device through the Uu interface; or, the data from the core network to be sent to the remote UE arrives. The access network device sends the data to the relay device through the Uu interface, and the relay device forwards the data to the remote device through the PC5 interface. For signaling, the remote device can send signaling to the access network device through the relay device; or the remote device can receive signaling from the access network device through the relay device.

In Figure 1A, there is an indirect path between the remote device and the access network device. In addition, the remote device is also connected to the access network device through a direct path. In Figure 1B, the remote device is connected to the access network device. There are two indirect paths between devices (indirect path 1 corresponding to relay device 1 and indirect path 2 corresponding to relay device 2). In addition, the remote device can also communicate with the connected device through a direct path. The access network device is connected (Figure 1B takes this as an example), or there may not be a direct path between the remote UE and the access network device. In other words, one or more indirect paths may be maintained between the remote device and the access network device, which are not limited by the embodiments of this application.

In order to better introduce the embodiments of the present application, the methods provided by the embodiments of the present application are introduced below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings corresponding to various embodiments of the present application, all steps indicated by dotted lines are optional steps. The methods provided by various embodiments of the present application can be applied to the network architecture shown in Figure 1A or Figure 1B. It should be noted that Figure 1A and Figure 1B take the direct path and indirect path of the remote device connected to the same access network device as an example. In various embodiments of the present application, the cells of the direct path and the indirect path are connected to the same access network device. The cell where the relay device on the indirect path is located may be the same cell or a different cell. If they are different cells, the two cells may belong to the same access network device or may belong to different access networks. Network access equipment.

In addition, in various embodiments of this application, the cells of different indirect paths may be the same cell or different cells. If they are different cells, these different cells may belong to the same access network device. , may also belong to different access network equipment. In various embodiments of the present application, different non-directly connected paths maintained by a remote UE may correspond to the same relay UE, that is, the same relay UE may also correspond to different non-directly connected paths; or, different non-directly connected paths may correspond to the same relay UE. Direct paths may also correspond to different relay UEs.

In various embodiments of this application, "entity" can also be replaced by "layer". For example, the "RLC entity" may also be called the "RLC layer", the "PDCP entity" may also be called the "PDCP layer", the "MAC entity" may also be called the "MAC layer", etc.

In various embodiments of this application, the "direct path" refers to the path through which the remote device communicates with the access network device (or with the cell provided by the access network device) through the Uu interface, not through the relay device; "Indirect path" refers to the path through which the remote device communicates with the access network device (or with the cell provided by the access network device) through the relay device. In addition, "path" can also be replaced by "link". For example, a "directly connected path" can also be called a "directly connected link", and an "indirectly connected path" can also be called an "indirectly connected link".

In various embodiments of the present application, device A sends a message to device B. For device B, the message can be considered to be from device A. The sending process may be direct sending, or may be indirect sending (for example, forwarding through other devices).

In various embodiments of the present application, deactivating a transmission path refers to stopping end-to-end data transmission on the transmission path. In addition, a transmission path is deactivated, but the configuration of the transmission path will be retained and will not be released. When you want to transmit through the deactivated transmission path, you need to "activate" the path first. path. When the transmission path is activated (for example, an activation command is received), the reserved configuration can be enabled without the need for the network to issue the configuration again.

In order to solve the technical problems to be solved by this application, various embodiments of this application provide a variety of methods. Please refer to Figure 2 below, which is a flow chart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. For example, the remote device involved in the embodiment of this application is the remote device in Figure 1A or Figure 1B; the access network device involved in the embodiment of this application is the access network device in Figure 1A or Figure 1B; The relay device involved in the embodiment of the present application is the relay device in Figure 1A, or the relay device 1 or relay device 2 in Figure 1B.

S201. The remote device receives the first deactivation command.

For example, the remote device maintains at least two paths, and the at least two paths include, for example, a direct path and an indirect path. It can be understood that the remote device can communicate with the access network device through the direct connection path, and in addition, the remote device can also communicate with the access network device through the indirect connection path. The first deactivation command may indicate deactivation of the indirect path. The receiving end of the first deactivation command is a remote device. The remote device can deactivate the indirect path according to the first deactivation command. Therefore, it can also be considered that the first deactivation command can be used by the remote device to deactivate the indirect path. Indirect path. Optionally, if the indirect path is not the primary path of the remote device, for example, the secondary path of the remote device, the solution provided by the embodiment of the present application can be implemented; if the If the indirect path is the main path of the remote device, deactivation does not need to be supported. That is, the embodiment of the present application can be applied to the scenario of deactivating the auxiliary path.

S201 can be implemented in different ways.

1. The first implementation method.

In S201, the access network device may send a first deactivation command to the remote device, and the remote device receives the first deactivation command from the access network device. For example, when the traffic volume of the remote device is small, the access network device may send a first deactivation command to reduce the transmission path maintained by the remote device and save power consumption of the remote device. For example, the access network device may send the first deactivation command to the remote device through the direct path or the indirect path. Wherein, if the access network device sends the first deactivation command through the indirect path, the first deactivation command is, for example, a radio resource control (RRC) command or a packet data convergence protocol (packet data convergence protocol, PDCP) control (control) protocol data unit (protocol data unit, PDU), etc. Or, if the access network device sends the first deactivation command through the direct path, the first deactivation command is, for example, an RRC command, a PDCP control PDU, or a media access control (media access control, MAC) control element (control element, CE), etc.

If the first deactivation command is a MAC CE, the format of the MAC CE may be the same as the format of the MAC CE used to deactivate the secondary cell (secondary cell, SCell). For example, the MAC CE can indicate the cell corresponding to the indirect path, or in other words, the MAC CE can be used to deactivate the cell corresponding to the indirect path. By deactivating the cell corresponding to the indirect path, the indirect path can be deactivated. The cell corresponding to the indirect path is, for example, the cell accessed by the relay device on the indirect path.

Or, if the first deactivation command is MAC CE, the format of the MAC CE may also be newly defined. For example, the MAC CE is used to deactivate the indirect path, but not to deactivate the corresponding indirect path. community. If the remote device maintains multiple indirect paths, the first deactivation command may be used to deactivate all or part of the multiple indirect paths. Optionally, if the first deactivation command is used to deactivate part of the indirect paths among the plurality of indirect paths, the first deactivation command may include the relay device corresponding to the part of the indirect paths. to indicate which indirect paths are to be activated. For example, the identifier of the relay device is the layer (L) 2 identity number (identity, ID) of the relay device. If the remote device has multiple paths in the cell corresponding to the indirect path, then In this way, the corresponding indirect path can be deactivated without deactivating the cell, so that the remote device can continue to work on other paths in the cell.

Optionally, in the first implementation of S201, the method may also include S202: the remote device sends a second deactivation command to the relay device, and accordingly, the relay device receives the second deactivation command from the remote device. Activate command. The second deactivation command may be used by the relay device to deactivate the indirect path. For example, S202 may occur after S201. In addition, the method may also include S203: the relay device deactivates the indirect path according to the second deactivation command. For example, S203 may occur after S202. Equivalently, the access network device instructs the remote device to deactivate the non-directly connected path. Since the non-directly connected path involves the remote device and the relay device on the non-directly connected path, the remote device can send a request to the intermediate device. The relay device sends a second deactivation command, so that the relay device can deactivate the indirect path according to the second deactivation command. For example, the second deactivation command is a PC5 RRC command, a PC5 MAC CE or a sidelink relay adaptation protocol (SRAP) control PDU, etc.

Or, in the first implementation of S201, the method may also include S204: the access network device sends a second deactivation command to the relay device, and accordingly, the relay device receives the second deactivation command from the access network device. Activate command. The second deactivation command may be used by the relay device to deactivate the indirect path. In addition, this method can also include S203, please refer to the previous introduction. Equivalently, the access network device respectively instructs the remote device and the relay device to deactivate the non-directly connected path, so that the relay device can deactivate the non-directly connected path according to the second deactivation command without the need for the remote device to activate the non-directly connected path. The relay device sends a deactivation command. A relay device may provide relay services to multiple remote devices, so optionally, the second deactivation command may include the identifier of the remote device, so that the relay device can clearly identify which remote device needs to be "deactivated". The indirect path corresponding to the end device. For example, the identifier of the remote device includes the local ID or L2ID of the remote device. For example, the second deactivation command is an RRC command, SRAP control PDU or MAC CE, etc.

For example, the access network device may send the second deactivation command to the relay device through the direct path or the indirect path. Among them, S201 and S204 can be executed at the same time, or S201 can be executed before S204, then these two commands can be sent through a direct path or an indirect path, or the two commands can also be sent through different paths; or , S204 can be executed before S201, then the second deactivation command can be sent through the direct path or the indirect path, and the first activation command can preferably be sent through the direct path, because at this time the relay device may have started to execute the In the deactivation operation of the indirect path, if the first deactivation command continues to be sent through the indirect path, the first deactivation command may not reach the remote end due to the deactivation of the indirect path by the relay device. equipment. Alternatively, even if S204 is executed before S201, the first deactivation command may be sent through an indirect path or a direct path, without any specific limitation.

2. The second implementation method.

In S201, the relay device may send a first deactivation command to the remote device, and the remote device receives the first deactivation command from the relay device. For example, the first deactivation command is PC5 RRC command, PC5 MAC CE or SRAPcontrol PDU, etc.

Optionally, in the second implementation of S201, the method may also include S205: the access network device sends a second deactivation command to the relay device, and accordingly, the relay device receives the third deactivation command from the access network device. 2. Deactivate the command. For example, S205 occurs before S201. Wherein, the access network device may send the second deactivation command to the relay device through the direct path or the indirect path. The second deactivation command may be used by the relay device to deactivate the indirect path. In addition, this method can also include S203, please refer to the previous introduction. For example, S203 occurs after S205, and S203 and S201 can occur at the same time, or S203 occurs before S201, or S203 occurs after S201. Equivalently, the access network device instructs the relay device corresponding to the indirect path to deactivate the indirect path, because the indirect path also involves to the remote device, the relay device can send the first deactivation command to the remote device, so that the remote device can deactivate the indirect path according to the second deactivation command. For example, the second deactivation command is an RRC command, SRAP control PDU or MAC CE, etc.; the first deactivation command is, for example, a PC5 RRC command, PC5 MAC CE or SRAP control PDU, etc.

That is to say, the access network device can instruct the remote device and/or the relay device to deactivate the indirect path through various methods, which is more flexible.

Optionally, before S201, S204, or S205, or before the access network device sends a deactivation command (such as the first deactivation command and/or the second deactivation command), the method may also include S206: The access network device sends the first RRC reconfiguration message to the remote device, and accordingly, the remote device receives the first RRC reconfiguration message from the access network device. The first RRC reconfiguration message may be used to configure the direct path and the indirect path. The first RRC reconfiguration message is to configure the directly connected path and the indirect path. There can be multiple configuration methods, as shown in the following examples.

For example, one configuration method is that the first RRC reconfiguration message may include one or more more than one RLC (morethanoneRLC) information elements, and the one or more morethanoneRLC information elements may include the first morethanoneRLC information element. The first morethanoneRLC information element It can include configuration information of indirect paths and configuration information of direct paths. The configuration information of the indirect path included in the first morethanoneRLC information element may include the identification of the relay device corresponding to the indirect path to indicate the indirect path. Optionally, the configuration information of the indirect path may also include the identifier of the logical channel corresponding to the indirect path. The identifier of the logical channel is, for example, the identifier of the logical channel on the PC5 interface. Optionally, the first morethanoneRLC information element may indicate the primary path and/or the secondary path of the remote device, for example, indicate that the directly connected path is the primary path. The number of first morethanoneRLC cells may be one or more. If the number of first morethanoneRLC cells is multiple, the plurality of morethanoneRLC cells may include configuration information of directly connected paths and indirect paths. configuration information. In this way, by modifying the first morethanoneRLC information element, the first morethanoneRLC information element can be configured to configure an indirect path.

For another example, another configuration method is that the first RRC reconfiguration message may include multiple morethanoneRLC information elements. The multiple morethanoneRLC information elements may include a second morethanoneRLC information element. The second morethanoneRLC information element may include the configuration of the direct path. Information, the number of second morethanoneRLC cells can be one or more. In addition, the first RRC reconfiguration message may also include configuration information of the indirect path and the first information element. The number of the first cell may be one or more. For example, the first cell may be a more than one path cell, or the first cell may also have other names. For example, the configuration information of the indirect path included in the first RRC reconfiguration message is not located in the second morethanoneRLC information element and the morethanonepath information element. That is, the first RRC reconfiguration message includes the configuration information of the indirect path, but the first The second morethanoneRLC information element and the morethanonepath information element in the RRC reconfiguration message do not include the configuration information of the indirect path. The morethanonepath information element may indicate the primary path and/or secondary path of the remote device, for example, indicating the direct path as the primary path. Optionally, the morethanonepath information element may also include information about the indicated path. For example, if the morethanonepath information element indicates a direct path (for example, indicates a direct path as a primary path, or indicates a direct path as a secondary path), then the morethanonepath information element may include the identity of the cell corresponding to the direct path; for another example, If the morethanonepath information element indicates an indirect path (for example, indicates an indirect path as a primary path, or indicates an indirect path as a secondary path), then the morethanonepath information element may include the identification of the PC5 logical channel corresponding to the indirect path. and/or the identification of the relay device corresponding to the indirect path, such as the L2ID of the relay device.

For another example, another configuration method is that the first RRC reconfiguration message includes sidelink SRAP configuration. (SL-SRAP-Config) information element. The sidelink SRAP configuration information element may include information about the RLC entity corresponding to the direct path, and information about the RLC entity corresponding to the indirect path. For example, the sideline SRAP configuration information element includes the identifier of the data radio bearer (DRB) and the logical channel identifier (LCID) corresponding to the RLC entity. The DRB can correspond to the PDCP entity, which is equivalent to the sideline SRAP configuration. The information element may include the correspondence between the PDCP entity and the RLC entity. In this embodiment of the present application, the SRAP configuration information element may include the correspondence between the PDCP entity of the remote device and the RLC entity corresponding to the direct path, and may also include the correspondence between the PDCP entity and the RLC entity corresponding to the indirect path. For example, one implementation method is that the SRAP configuration information element includes the correspondence between the identifier of the DRB corresponding to the PDCP entity and the LCID of the RLC entity corresponding to the direct path, and includes the corresponding relationship between the DRB corresponding to the PDCP entity. Identifies the correspondence between the LCIDs of the RLC entities corresponding to the indirect paths. If the first RRC reconfiguration message is to configure multiple indirect paths for the remote device, the SRAP configuration information element may include the connection between the RLC entities corresponding to the multiple indirect paths and the PDCP entity of the remote device. corresponding relationship.

In addition, the access network device can also configure multiple transmission paths for the remote device through other methods, which are not limited by the embodiments of this application.

S207. The remote device deactivates the indirect path according to the first deactivation command.

Among them, S207 can occur before S202, or after S202, or at the same time as S202. S207 can occur before S204, after S204, or simultaneously with S204. S207 can occur before S203, or after S203, or at the same time as S203.

After the remote device deactivates the indirect path, it can no longer use the indirect path to transmit data. However, the remote device can continue to retain the configuration of the indirect path. If the indirect path needs to be activated later, the remote device can re-enable the configuration of the indirect path. The same is true for the relay device. After the relay device deactivates the indirect path in S203, it can no longer use the indirect path to transmit data. However, the relay device can continue to retain the configuration of the indirect path. If the indirect path needs to be activated later, the relay device can re-enable the configuration of the indirect path. Optionally, if all indirect paths connected to the relay device are deactivated, the Uu port communication of the relay device can also be deactivated, that is, the configuration on the Uu port can be retained but transmission stopped. Since the remote device and the relay device do not release the configuration of the indirect path, when the indirect path is activated again, the signaling interaction process caused by re-establishing the transmission path between devices can be reduced, saving signaling. The overhead can also reduce the transmission delay.

After deactivating the indirect path, the remote device and/or relay device will have corresponding processing procedures, which are introduced below.

1. The processing process of the remote device. For example, the processing process of the remote device may include processing actions of one or more entities of the PDCP entity, RLC entity (such as PC5 RLC entity) or MAC entity (such as PC5 MAC entity) of the remote device. The remote device can receive multiple indication information respectively, indicating the behaviors of multiple entities respectively, or can also indicate the behaviors of multiple entities based on one deactivation.

The PDCP entity of the remote device can stop sending data to the relay device corresponding to the indirect path. If the indirect path is deactivated and no longer transmits data, the PDCP entity may stop sending data to the relay device corresponding to the indirect path. In addition, before the indirect path is deactivated, the PDCP entity may have sent data to the relay device corresponding to the indirect path, and these data may not be able to reach the remote device because the indirect path is deactivated. end device, which may cause packet loss. Therefore, optionally, the PDCP entity can also perform data recovery to recover untransmitted data on the indirect link. The untransmitted data includes, for example, data that has been sent to the relay device. Among them, the data sent to the relay device may include the PDCP The data that the entity has submitted to the lower layer protocol entity (such as RLC entity, SRAP entity) needs to be transmitted through the indirect path. It can be seen that through the data recovery process, the data that has been submitted to the indirect path can be recovered. For example, the PDCP entity can transmit the recovered data through the transmission path (such as the direct path) that has not been deactivated by the remote device, so that Can reduce packet loss rate.

Wherein, the behavior of the PDCP entity may be triggered by the first deactivation command. For example, the first deactivation command may include first indication information, and the first indication information may instruct the PDCP entity to perform data recovery. The first indication information may occupy one or more bits, for example. Optionally, the first deactivation command can also set the transmission path (such as a direct path) of the remote device that has not been deactivated as the primary path (primary path), and can set the threshold (threshold) to infinity. This prevents the PDCP entity from transmitting data to the relay device corresponding to the indirect path. Among them, the threshold can be used by the remote device to select a transmission path. For example, if the amount of data to be sent by the remote device is less than the threshold, the data can only be sent on the primary path; or if the amount of data to be sent by the remote device is greater than the threshold, the data can be sent on the primary path and/or the secondary path. Send data on (secondary path). The first deactivation command has set the non-deactivated path of the remote device as the main path, and set the threshold to infinity. Then the remote device can be controlled to only send data on the main path and no longer Data is sent using an indirect path (secondary path) that has been deactivated. At this time, for example, the first deactivation command is an RRC command, and for example, the RRC command is an RRC reconfiguration (RRC reconfiguration) message. Alternatively, the first deactivation command may also be a message of other types, with no specific limitation.

Alternatively, the behavior of the PDCP entity may not be explicitly triggered. Instead, if the remote device determines to deactivate the non-directly connected path, the PDCP entity of the remote device may perform the above behavior.

The RLC entity of the remote device can be rebuilt. For example, the behavior of the RLC entity may be triggered by a first deactivation command. For example, the first deactivation command may include second indication information, and the second indication information may indicate reestablishing the RLC entity. The second indication information may occupy one or more bits, for example. At this time, for example, the first deactivation command is an RRC command, and for example, the RRC command is an RRC reconfiguration message. Alternatively, the first deactivation command can also be other types of messages, such as PC5 RRC command, etc., without any specific limitation.

Alternatively, the behavior of the RLC entity may not be explicitly triggered. Instead, if the remote device determines to deactivate the indirect path, the RLC entity of the remote device may perform the above behavior.

The MAC entity of the remote device can determine the discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration or modify the DRX configuration. For example, a set of DRX configurations may include information such as the DRX cycle (or the duration of the DRX cycle) and/or duration (on duration). First, the process of determining the DRX configuration by the MAC entity is introduced. When determining the DRX configuration, the MAC entity may determine to apply the DRX configuration with a larger DRX cycle. Because the indirect path has been deactivated and data is no longer transmitted on the indirect path, the DRX cycle can be larger to reduce the time the remote device is in the active state, so that the remote device can be in the active state for more time. Sleep state to save power consumption of the remote device.

For example, the MAC entity (or the remote device) is preconfigured with multiple sets of DRX configurations, or the protocol predefines multiple sets of DRX configurations. When the indirect path is not deactivated, the MAC entity applies one of them. A set of DRX configurations, such as a first DRX configuration. After the indirect path is deactivated, the MAC entity can determine the DRX configuration, for example, determine whether to replace the first DRX configuration. Optionally, if there are multiple sets of DRX configurations, the DRX cycle of at least one DRX configuration is greater than the DRX cycle of the first DRX configuration, then the MAC entity can select one set of DRX configurations from at least one DRX configuration to replace the first DRX configuration. Configuration, for example, if the MAC entity selects the second DRX configuration, the MAC entity may start applying the second DRX configuration and stop applying the first DRX configuration. For example, the second DRX configuration is the DRX configuration with the largest DRX cycle among at least one set of DRX configurations. Among them, if at least one If the number of DRX configurations with the largest DRX cycle in a set of DRX configurations is greater than 1, the MAC entity can randomly select a set of DRX configurations from them as the second DRX configuration.

For another example, the MAC entity (or the remote device) is pre-configured with one or more sets of DRX configurations, or the protocol pre-defines one or more sets of DRX configurations. When the indirect path is not deactivated, , the DRX configuration is not applied to the MAC entity. After the indirect path is deactivated, the MAC entity can determine the DRX configuration. For example, determining the DRX configuration at this time can also be understood as enabling the DRX configuration. Optionally, if there are multiple sets of DRX configurations, the MAC entity can select the DRX configuration with the largest DRX cycle, such as the second DRX configuration, from the multiple sets of DRX configurations, and enable the second DRX configuration. Among them, if the number of DRX configurations with the largest DRX cycle among the multiple sets of DRX configurations is greater than 1, the MAC entity can randomly select one set of DRX configurations as the second DRX configuration. Or, if there is only one set of DRX configuration (for example, the DRX configuration is the default DRX configuration), the MAC entity does not need to perform the selection process, but just applies the DRX configuration.

The following describes the process of modifying the DRX configuration by the MAC entity of the remote device. For example, before the indirect path is deactivated, a set of DRX configuration has been applied to the MAC entity. After the indirect path is deactivated, the MAC entity can modify the DRX configuration, for example, modify the DRX cycle of the DRX configuration to make the DRX cycle longer. Optionally, the MAC entity can modify the DRX cycle of the DRX configuration based on the cycle of PC5 keep alive message (PC5 keep alive message). For example, the cycle of PC5 keep alive message is 5 seconds (s). PC5 keep-alive information is similar to heartbeat information. The PC5 keep-alive information can be sent periodically between the remote device and the relay device to maintain the connection between the remote device and the relay device. In the embodiment of this application, although the indirect path is deactivated, the connection between the remote device and the relay device can continue to be maintained. Therefore, the MAC entity can modify the DRX cycle according to the cycle of the PC5 keepalive information. For example, the modified DRX cycle is made the same as the cycle of the PC5 keep-alive information, so that the DRX configuration can not only meet the need to maintain the connection, but also save the power consumption of the device.

2. Processing process of relay equipment. For example, the processing process of the relay device may include processing actions of one or more entities of the relay device's SRAP entity, RLC entity (eg, PC5 RLC entity), or MAC entity (eg, PC5 MAC entity).

Optionally, the SRAP entity of the relay device can discard the data corresponding to the indirect path. Because the indirect path has been deactivated, the SRAP entity can stop transmitting data on the indirect path. If there is data corresponding to the indirect path that has not yet been transmitted in the SRAP entity, the SRAP entity can discard the data. For example, discard data packets whose SRAP headers include the ID of the remote device on the deactivated transmission path. In addition, the SRAP entity may also store an association between the configuration information of the remote device and the configuration information of the Uu interface. The association indicates that the data of the remote device is transmitted through the configuration corresponding to the configuration information of the Uu interface. Optionally, the SRAP entity can retain the association relationship. If the indirect path is reactivated in the future, the SRAP entity can directly apply the association relationship without re-establishing the association relationship.

For example, the behavior of the SRAP entity may be triggered by a second deactivation command. For example, the second deactivation command may include third indication information, and the third indication information may instruct the SRAP entity to deactivate the indirect path, or instruct the SRAP entity to discard data corresponding to the indirect path. The third indication information may occupy one or more bits, for example. At this time, for example, the second deactivation command is an RRC command, for example, the RRC command is an RRC reconfiguration message, or the second deactivation command can also be other messages, such as a PC5 RRC command, etc., and there is no specific limit. Alternatively, the behavior of the SRAP entity may not be explicitly triggered. Instead, if the relay device determines to deactivate the non-directly connected path, the SRAP entity of the relay device may perform the above behavior.

Alternatively, after the indirect path is deactivated, the SRAP entity may not perform operations. For example, access network equipment When the device determines that the SRAP entity of the relay device does not include data corresponding to the indirect path, it can then perform the deactivation process, such as performing the above S201 to S205 and S207. In this case, the SRAP entity may not perform an operation, for example, there is no need to perform an operation of discarding data corresponding to the indirect path.

The RLC entity of the relay device can be rebuilt. For this process, please refer to the previous introduction to the behavior of the RLC entity of the remote device.

The MAC entity of the relay device can determine the DRX configuration or modify the DRX configuration. For this content, please refer to the previous introduction to the behavior of the MAC entity of the remote device.

The above steps describe the process of deactivating the indirect path, and the embodiments of the present application can also protect the process of deactivating the direct path. For example, the remote device maintains a direct path and an indirect path. If the direct path is a secondary path, the direct path can be deactivated. For example, the access network device may send a third deactivation command to the remote device to instruct the deactivation of the direct path, or the deactivation of the cell corresponding to the direct path, or the deactivation of the cell corresponding to the direct path. The secondary cell group (SCG) in which it is located. After receiving the third deactivation command, the remote device can deactivate the direct path. For example, the third deactivation command is a MAC CE, and the MAC CE can instruct to deactivate the direct path, or instruct to deactivate the cell corresponding to the direct path; or the third deactivation command is an RRC reconfiguration message, and the RRC reconfiguration message The message includes the SCG state (scg-state). If the RRC reconfiguration message includes scg-state, it indicates that the SCG is deactivated.

In the embodiment of the present application, it is not necessary to release the corresponding transmission path, but the remote device only needs to activate the transmission path according to the deactivation command. Since the transmission path has not been released, if the transmission path needs to be added to the remote device later, the transmission path can be reactivated. The activation process requires less signaling overhead than the process of establishing the transmission path. is small, and the communication delay is also small. In addition, compared with the release process, the deactivation process does not need to release the corresponding configuration, thereby also reducing the delay caused by the release process. Moreover, after the indirect path is deactivated, the remote device and/or the relay device can determine or modify the DRX configuration to make the DRX cycle longer to save power consumption of the device.

The embodiment shown in Figure 2 describes the process of deactivating a transmission path. After the transmission path is deactivated, it may be reactivated. For this reason, the embodiment of the present application provides another communication method to introduce how to activate the transmission path. Please refer to Figure 3 for a flow chart of this method. For example, the remote device involved in the embodiment of this application is the remote device in Figure 1A or Figure 1B; the access network device involved in the embodiment of this application is the access network device in Figure 1A or Figure 1B; The first relay device involved in the embodiment of this application is the relay device in Figure 1A. Or, if a second relay device is also involved, the first relay device involved in the embodiment of this application is the relay device in Figure 1B. The relay device 1 in Figure 1B is the relay device 2 in Figure 1B.

Optionally, the embodiment shown in Fig. 3 can be applied in combination with the embodiment shown in Fig. 2. For example, the embodiment shown in Fig. 3 occurs after the embodiment shown in Fig. 2 is completed; or, the embodiment shown in Fig. 3 The embodiment may not be combined with the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 , for example, other methods may be used to deactivate the second path, and after deactivation, the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 may be executed to activate the second path.

S301. The remote device receives the first activation command through the first path. The first activation command can be used to activate the second path.

For example, the remote device maintains a first path, and the first path is, for example, an indirect path, which may be called a first indirect path. It can be understood that the remote device can communicate with the access network device through the indirect path. The first activation command may indicate activating the second path. The receiving end of the first activation command is a remote device, and the remote device can activate the second path according to the first activation command. Therefore, it can also be considered that the first activation command can be used by the remote device to activate the second path. The second path is a direct path or an indirect path. For example, the indirect path as the second path is called a second indirect path.

Optionally, if the second path is a directly connected path, the first activation command may include the identifier of the cell corresponding to the directly connected path, such as the NR cell identifier (NCI), physical cell identifier (physical) of the cell. cell identifier, PCI), or one or more of NR cell global identifier (NR cell global identifier, NCGI). Alternatively, if the second path is a second indirect path, the first activation command may include one or more of the following: the relay device corresponding to the second indirect path (for example, called the second relay device) Identify, the information of the sidelink (SL) carrier corresponding to the second indirect path, or the LCID corresponding to the second indirect path, and the second indirect path can be indicated by one or more of the above items.

S301 can be implemented in different ways.

1. The first implementation method.

In S301, the access network device may send the first activation command to the remote device through the first path, and the remote device receives the first activation command from the access network device through the first path. For example, when the business volume of the remote device is large, the access network device may send a first activation command to increase the transmission path maintained by the remote device to meet the service transmission requirements. The first activation command is, for example, an RRC command or a PDCP control PDU. The RRC command is, for example, an RRC reconfiguration message.

If the second path is a second indirect path, optionally, in the first implementation of S301, the method may also include S302: the remote device sends a third activation command to the second relay device, correspondingly , the second relay device receives the third activation command from the remote device. The third activation command may be used by the second relay device to activate the second indirect path. In addition, the method may also include S303: the second relay device activates the second indirect path according to the third activation command. Equivalently, the access network device instructs the remote device to activate the second indirect path. Since the second indirect path involves the remote device and the second relay device on the second indirect path, the remote device The end device may send a third activation command to the second relay device, so that the second relay device may activate the second indirect path according to the third activation command. For example, the third activation command is PC5 RRC command, PC5 MAC CE or SRAP control PDU, etc.

Optionally, when the second path is a second indirect path, the processing actions involved in activating the second indirect path by the second relay device may include the SRAP entity and/or the MAC entity of the relay device (for example, PC5 MAC entity) processing behavior.

According to the introduction of the embodiment shown in Figure 2, when a transmission path is deactivated, the SRAP entity of the relay device can discard the data corresponding to the transmission path, for example, discard the remote data on the deactivated path included in the SRAP header. Packet with end device ID. In the embodiment of the present application, the second indirect path is activated, so the SRAP entity of the second relay device may not discard the data corresponding to the second indirect path, that is, stop discarding the second indirect path included in the SRAP header. packet with the remote device ID on the path to transmit data on the second indirect path. Because the second indirect path is activated, the SRAP entity can transmit data on the second indirect path.

For example, the behavior of the SRAP entity may be triggered by a third activation command. For example, the third activation command may include fourth indication information, and the fourth indication information may instruct the SRAP entity to activate the second indirect path, or instruct the SRAP entity not to discard data corresponding to the second indirect path. The fourth indication information may occupy one or more bits, for example. At this time, for example, the third activation command is the PC5 RRC command, etc., and there are no specific restrictions. Alternatively, the behavior of the SRAP entity may not be explicitly triggered. Instead, if the second relay device determines to activate the second indirect path, the SRAP entity of the second relay device may perform the above behavior.

The MAC entity of the second relay device can disable the DRX configuration or modify the DRX configuration. For example, the MAC entity of the second relay device uses the DRX configuration before the second indirect path is activated. Then when the second indirect path is activated, the second relay device can stop using the DRX configuration, that is, stop using the DRX mechanism to ensure data normal transmission of data.

Alternatively, the MAC entity of the second relay device may modify the DRX configuration. For example, before the second indirect path is activated, a set of DRX configuration has been applied to the MAC entity. If the second indirect path is activated, the MAC entity can modify the DRX configuration, for example, modify the DRX cycle of the DRX configuration to make the DRX cycle shorter to ensure normal transmission of data and reduce the packet loss rate. Optionally, the MAC entity may modify the DRX cycle of the DRX configuration according to the cycle of the service transmitted by the second indirect path, for example, so that the modified DRX cycle is consistent with the cycle of the service transmitted by the second indirect path. The same, so that the DRX configuration can meet the data transmission requirements.

2. The second implementation method.

In S301, the first relay device may send the first activation command to the remote device through the first path, and the remote device receives the first activation command from the first relay device through the first path. The first relay device is a relay device corresponding to the first indirect path. For example, the first deactivation command is PC5 RRC command, PC5 MAC CE or SRAP control PDU, etc.

Optionally, in the second implementation of S301, the method may also include S304: the access network device sends a second activation command to the first relay device. Correspondingly, the first relay device receives the command from the access network. Second activation command for the device. The second activation command may indicate activating the second path, or instruct the remote device to activate the second path, or instruct the remote device to forward the second activation command (for example, the second activation command is a SRAP control PDU, and the SRAP control PDU includes the remote device. The identification of the terminal device; alternatively, the first relay device may also determine and forward the second activation command based on the LCID corresponding to the second activation command). Then in S301, the first relay device may generate a first activation command according to the second activation command, and send the first activation command to the remote device through the first path; or, the first relay device may also transmit the first activation command through the first path. Forward the second activation command to the remote device, where the first activation command is the second activation command. For example, the second activation command is an RRC command, SRAP control PDU or MAC CE, etc. Wherein, the first activation command and the second activation command can be the same type of message. For example, the second activation command is SRAP control PDU, then the first activation command can also be SRAP control PDU; or the second activation command is an RRC command, Then the first activation command may be the PC5 RRC command; or, if the second activation command is MAC CE, the first activation command may be PC5 MAC CE. Alternatively, the first activation command and the second activation command may also be different types of messages. For example, the second activation command is a MAC CE command and the first activation command is a PC5 RRC command. There is no specific limitation.

If the second path is a second indirect path, optionally, after S304, the method may also include S302 and S303. For these two steps, please refer to the previous introduction.

In other words, the access network device can directly send the activation command to the remote device, or it can send the activation command to the remote device through the relay device. The method is more flexible.

S305. The remote device activates the second path according to the first activation command.

Among them, S305 can occur before S302, or after S302, or at the same time as S302.

For example, after deactivating the second path, the remote device can continue to retain the configuration of the second path. Therefore, in S305, the remote device only needs to re-enable the configuration of the second path, and there is no need to re-establish the second path. For example, if the second path is a second indirect path, the same is true for the second relay device. After the second relay device deactivates the second indirect path, it can continue to retain the second indirect path. Configuration, in S303 introduced above, the second relay device can re-enable the configuration of the second indirect path. Since the remote device (or the remote device and the second relay device) does not release the configuration of the second path, signaling between devices caused by re-establishing the transmission path can be reduced when the second path is activated again. The interactive process saves signaling overhead and reduces transmission delay.

The remote device can activate the second path through corresponding methods, which are introduced below.

1. The second path is a direct path.

When the second path is a direct path, the remote device's behavior of activating the direct path may include one or more of the following: monitoring the downlink control channel in the cell corresponding to the direct path, and communicating with the cell corresponding to the direct path. Random access, or the PDCP entity of the remote device transmits data to the RLC entity corresponding to the direct path in the remote device.

Among them, the remote device monitors the downlink control channel in the cell corresponding to the direct path, for example, monitors the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) in the cell.

The remote device performs random access to the cell corresponding to the direct path. For example, the remote device can monitor the PDCCH in the cell. If the PDCCH command (order) is received, the remote device can perform random access to the cell. For example, the remote device can send a random access preamble to the cell; or, after receiving the first activation command, the remote device can perform random access with the cell, for example, send a random access preamble to the cell. The cell sends the preamble.

2. The second path is the second indirect path.

When the second path is a second indirect path, the processing behavior involved in activating the second path by the remote device may include the PDCP entity, RLC entity (such as PC5 RLC entity) or MAC entity (such as PC5 MAC entity) of the remote device. The processing behavior of one or more entities in the entity).

The PDCP entity of the remote device may transmit data to the SRAP entity corresponding to the second indirect path in the remote device.

Wherein, the behavior of the PDCP entity may be triggered by the first activation command. For example, the first activation command may include fifth indication information, and the fifth indication information may instruct the PDCP entity to transmit data corresponding to the second indirect path. The fifth indication information may occupy one or more bits, for example. Optionally, the first activation command can also set the threshold smaller, so that the PDCP entity can transmit data to the relay device corresponding to the second indirect path. As introduced earlier, this threshold can be used by the remote device to select a transmission path. For example, if the amount of data to be sent by the remote device is less than the threshold, the data can only be sent on the primary path; or if the amount of data to be sent by the remote device is greater than the threshold, the data can be sent on the primary path and/or the secondary path. Send data on. For example, the first path is the primary path of the remote device, the second indirect path is the secondary path of the remote device, and the first activation command sets the threshold smaller, then the remote device can either Data is sent on the path, or data can be sent on the second indirect path. At this time, for example, the first deactivation command is an RRC command, and for example, the RRC command is an RRC reconfiguration message. Alternatively, the first deactivation command may also be a message of other types, with no specific limitation.

Alternatively, the behavior of the PDCP entity may not be explicitly triggered. Instead, if the remote device determines to activate the second indirect path, the PDCP entity of the remote device may perform the above behavior.

The SRAP entity of the remote device may transmit data to the RLC entity corresponding to the second indirect path in the remote device, or the SRAP entity may transmit data to the RLC entity associated with the SRAP entity in the remote device. Optionally, the data sent by the SRAP entity to the RLC entity may include a SRAP header, and the SRAP header may include the identifier of the remote device, such as the local ID of the remote device.

For example, the behavior of the SRAP entity may be triggered by a first activation command. For example, the first activation command may include sixth indication information, and the sixth indication information may instruct the SRAP entity to activate the second indirect path, or instruct the SRAP entity not to discard data corresponding to the second indirect path. The sixth indication information may occupy one or more bits, for example. At this time, for example, the first activation command is an RRC command, for example, the RRC command is an RRC reconfiguration message, or the first activation command can also be other messages, such as a PC5 RRC command, etc., and is not specifically limited. Alternatively, the behavior of the SRAP entity may not be explicitly triggered. Instead, if the remote device determines to activate the second indirect path, the SRAP entity of the remote device may perform the above behavior.

The MAC entity of the remote device can disable the DRX configuration or modify the DRX configuration. For this, please refer to the introduction to the behavior of the MAC entity of the second relay device in S303.

The above steps describe the process of activating the second path through an indirect path. The embodiments of the present application can also protect the process of activating the second path through a direct path. For example, the access network device may send a third activation command to the remote device through a direct path to instruct the activation of the second path, or the activation of the cell corresponding to the second path, or the activation of the SCG where the cell corresponding to the second path is located. . After receiving the third activation command, the remote device can activate the second path. For example, the third activation command is a MAC CE, which can indicate activation of the direct path, or the activation of the cell corresponding to the direct path; or the third activation command is an RRC reconfiguration message, and the RRC reconfiguration message does not include scg -state, or if the second path is an indirect path, the RRC reconfiguration message may not include the status information of the cell group corresponding to the second relay device. Wherein, if the RRC reconfiguration message does not include scg-state, it indicates that the SCG is activated; or, if the RRC reconfiguration message does not include the status information of the cell group corresponding to the second relay device, it indicates that the cell group is activated.

Figure 4 shows a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 400 may be the remote device or the circuit system of the remote device in the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 or the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, and is used to implement the remote device corresponding to the above method embodiment. method. Alternatively, the communication device 400 may be the relay device or the circuit system of the relay device in the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, used to implement the method corresponding to the relay device in the above method embodiment. Alternatively, the communication device 400 may be the first relay device or the circuit system of the first relay device in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, used to implement the steps corresponding to the first relay device in the above method embodiment. method. Alternatively, the communication device 400 may be the second relay device or the circuit system of the second relay device in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, used to implement the steps corresponding to the second relay device in the above method embodiment. method. For specific functions, please refer to the description in the above method embodiment. Among them, for example, one circuit system is a chip system.

The communication device 400 includes at least one processor 401 . The processor 401 can be used for internal processing of the device to implement certain control processing functions. Optionally, processor 401 includes instructions. Optionally, processor 401 can store data. Alternatively, different processors may be independent devices, may be located in different physical locations, and may be located on different integrated circuits. Alternatively, different processors may be integrated into one or more processors, for example, on one or more integrated circuits.

Optionally, communication device 400 includes one or more memories 403 for storing instructions. Optionally, the memory 403 may also store data. The processor and memory can be provided separately or integrated together.

Optionally, the communication device 400 includes a communication line 402 and at least one communication interface 404. Among them, because the memory 403, the communication line 402, and the communication interface 404 are all optional, they are all represented by dotted lines in FIG. 4 .

Optionally, the communication device 400 may also include a transceiver and/or an antenna. The transceiver may be used to send information to or receive information from other devices. The transceiver may be called a transceiver, a transceiver circuit, an input/output interface, etc., and is used to implement the transceiver function of the communication device 400 through an antenna. Optionally, the transceiver includes a transmitter and a receiver. For example, the transmitter can be used to generate a radio frequency signal from a baseband signal, and the receiver can be used to convert the radio frequency signal into a baseband signal.

The processor 401 may include a general central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, Application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits used to control the execution of the program of the present application.

Communication line 402 may include a path that carries information between the above-mentioned components.

Communication interface 404 uses any device such as a transceiver for communicating with other devices or communication networks, such as Ethernet, radio access network (RAN), wireless local area networks (WLAN), Cable access network, etc.

Memory 403 may be a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device that can store static information and instructions, a random access memory (random access memory (RAM)) or other type that can store information and instructions. A dynamic storage device can also be an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disk storage, optical disc storage (including compressed optical discs, laser discs, optical discs, digital versatile discs, Blu-ray discs, etc.), disk storage media or other magnetic storage devices, or can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be used by a computer Any other medium for access, but not limited to this. The memory 403 may exist independently and be connected to the processor 401 through a communication line 402. Alternatively, the memory 403 can also be integrated with the processor 401.

Among them, the memory 403 is used to store computer execution instructions for executing the solution of the present application, and is controlled by the processor 401 for execution. The processor 401 is used to execute computer execution instructions stored in the memory 403, thereby implementing the embodiment shown in Figure 2 or the steps performed by the remote device described in the embodiment shown in Figure 3, or, implementing the steps shown in Figure 2 The steps performed by the relay device described in the embodiment, or the steps performed by the first relay device described in the embodiment shown in Figure 3, or the steps described in the embodiment shown in Figure 3 are implemented. The steps performed by the second relay device.

Optionally, the computer-executed instructions in the embodiments of the present application may also be called application codes, which are not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present application.

In specific implementation, as an embodiment, the processor 401 may include one or more CPUs, such as CPU0 and CPU1 in FIG. 4 .

In specific implementation, as an embodiment, the communication device 400 may include multiple processors, such as the processor 401 and the processor 405 in FIG. 4 . Each of these processors may be a single-CPU processor or a multi-CPU processor. A processor here may refer to one or more devices, circuits, and/or processing cores for processing data (eg, computer program instructions).

When the device shown in Figure 4 is a chip, such as a chip of a remote device, a chip of a relay device, a chip of a first relay device, or a chip of a second relay device, then the chip includes a processor 401 (which may also include a processor 405), a communication line 402, a memory 403 and a communication interface 404. Specifically, the communication interface 404 may be an input interface, a pin or a circuit, etc. Memory 403 may be a register, cache, etc. The processor 401 and the processor 405 may be a general CPU, a microprocessor, an ASIC, or one or more integrated circuits for controlling program execution of the communication method of any of the above embodiments.

Embodiments of the present application can divide the device into functional modules according to the above method examples. For example, each functional module can be divided into corresponding functional modules, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing module. The above integrated modules can be implemented in the form of hardware or software function modules. It should be noted that the division of modules in the embodiment of the present application is schematic and is only a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For example, in the case where each functional module is divided according to each function, FIG. 5 shows a schematic diagram of a device. The device 500 may be the remote device or relay involved in the above method embodiments. The device or the first relay device or the second relay device, or is a chip in the remote device or a chip in the relay device or a chip in the first relay device or a chip in the second relay device. The device 500 includes a sending unit 501, a processing unit 502 and a receiving unit 503.

It should be understood that the device 500 can be used to implement the steps performed by the remote device or the relay device or the first relay device or the second relay device in the communication method of the embodiment of the present application. For relevant features, refer to Figure 2 above. The embodiment shown or the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 will not be described again here.

Optionally, the functions/implementation processes of the sending unit 501, the receiving unit 503 and the processing unit 502 in Figure 5 can be implemented by the processor 401 in Figure 4 calling computer execution instructions stored in the memory 403. Alternatively, the function/implementation process of the processing unit 502 in Figure 5 can be implemented by the processor 401 in Figure 4 calling the computer execution instructions stored in the memory 403. The functions/implementation of the sending unit 501 and the receiving unit 503 in Figure 5 The process can be implemented through the communication interface 404 in Figure 4.

Optionally, when the device 500 is a chip or a circuit, the functions/implementation processes of the sending unit 501 and the receiving unit 503 can also be implemented through pins or circuits.

This application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores a computer program or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are run, the remote device or relay device or the remote device or the relay device in the aforementioned method embodiment is implemented. A method performed by the first relay device or the second relay device. In this way, the functions described in the above embodiments can be implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application essentially or contributes to the technical solution or the part of the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes a number of instructions. So that a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) executes all or part of the steps of the methods described in various embodiments of this application. Storage media include: U disk, mobile hard disk, ROM, RAM, magnetic disk or optical disk and other media that can store program code.

This application also provides a computer program product. The computer program product includes: computer program code. When the computer program code is run on a computer, it causes the computer to execute the remote device or relay device in any of the foregoing method embodiments. Or a method performed by the first relay device or the second relay device.

The embodiment of the present application also provides a processing device, including a processor and an interface; the processor is configured to execute the remote device or the relay device or the first relay device or the second intermediate device involved in any of the above method embodiments. The method executed by the relay device.

In the above embodiments, it may be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are generated in whole or in part. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored in or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another, e.g., the computer instructions may be transferred from a website, computer, server, or data center Transmission to another website, computer, server or data center by wired (such as coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (such as infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) means. The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server, data center, etc. that contains one or more available media integrated. The available media may be magnetic media (eg, floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape), optical media (eg, DVD), or semiconductor media (eg, solid state disk (SSD)), etc.

The various illustrative logic units and circuits described in the embodiments of the present application can be programmed by general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (digital signal processors, DSPs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), and field programmable A field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to implement or operate the functions described. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor. Alternatively, the general-purpose processor may also be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors combined with a digital signal processor core, or any other similar configuration. accomplish.

The steps of the method or algorithm described in the embodiments of this application can be directly embedded in hardware, a software unit executed by a processor, or a combination of the two. The software unit can be stored in RAM, flash memory, ROM, erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), EEPROM, register, hard disk, removable disk, CD-ROM or any other form in the field in the storage medium. For example, the storage medium can be connected to the processor, so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and can store and write information to the storage medium. Optionally, the storage medium can also be integrated into the processor. The processor and the storage medium can be installed in the ASIC, and the ASIC can be installed in the terminal device. Optionally, the processor and the storage medium may also be provided in different components in the terminal device.

These computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing device, causing a series of operating steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable device to produce computer-implemented processing, thereby executing on the computer or other programmable device. Instructions provide steps for implementing the functions specified in a process or processes of a flowchart diagram and/or a block or blocks of a block diagram.

The content in the various embodiments of this application can be referenced to each other. If there are no special instructions or logical conflicts, the terminology and/or descriptions between different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced to each other. The technical features in different embodiments New embodiments can be formed based on their internal logical relationships.

It can be understood that in the embodiment of the present application, the remote device and/or the relay device and/or the first relay device and/or the second relay device can perform some or all of the steps in the embodiment of the present application. These steps The or operations are only examples. In the embodiments of the present application, other operations or variations of various operations may also be performed. In addition, various steps may be performed in a different order than those presented in the embodiments of the present application, and it may not be necessary to perform all operations in the embodiments of the present application.

Claims

A communication method, characterized in that it is applied to a remote device, and the method includes:

Receive a first deactivation command. The first deactivation command is used by the remote device to deactivate a non-direct connection path of the remote device, wherein the remote device communicates with the access network device through a direct connection path. communication;

The indirect path is deactivated according to the first deactivation command.
The method according to claim 1, characterized in that receiving the first deactivation command includes:

Receive the first deactivation command from the access network device through the direct path; or,

Receive the first deactivation command from the access network device through the indirect path; or,

The first deactivation command is received from a relay device, wherein the remote device communicates with the access network device through the relay device on the indirect path.
The method according to claim 2, characterized in that, after receiving the first deactivation command from the access network device through the direct path or the indirect path, the method further includes:

Send a second deactivation command to the relay device, where the second deactivation command is used by the relay device to deactivate the non-directly connected path, wherein the remote device passes through The relay device communicates with the access network device.
The method according to claim 3, characterized in that the second deactivation command is a PC5 radio resource control RRC message, or a PC5 media access control MAC control element CE, or a sidelink relay adaptation protocol SRAP Control protocol data unit PDU.
The method according to any one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that the first deactivation command from the access network device is an RRC message, Packet Data Convergence Protocol PDCP control PDU or MAC CE.
The method according to claim 5, characterized in that the first deactivation command is used to deactivate the indirect path of the remote device, including:

The MAC CE is used to deactivate the non-directly connected path by deactivating the cell corresponding to the non-directly connected path; or,

The MAC CE is used to deactivate the non-directly connected path, and is not used to deactivate the cell corresponding to the non-directly connected path.
The method according to claim 6, characterized in that, if the MAC CE is used to deactivate the non-directly connected path and is not used to deactivate the cell corresponding to the non-directly connected path, the MAC CE also includes The identification of the relay device.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the remote device includes a PDCP entity, and after deactivating the indirect path, the method further includes:

The PDCP entity stops sending data to the relay device corresponding to the non-directly connected path, and the PDCP entity performs data recovery to recover the untransmitted data on the non-directly connected path.
The method according to claim 8, wherein the first deactivation command includes first indication information, and the first indication information is used to instruct the PDCP entity to perform data recovery.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that, after deactivating the indirect path, the method further includes:

Reestablish the PC5 radio link control RLC entity of the remote device.
The method according to claim 10, characterized in that the first deactivation command includes second indication information, and the second indication information is used to instruct the remote device to reestablish the PC5 RLC entity.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the remote device includes a MAC entity, and after deactivating the indirect path, the method further includes:

The MAC entity determines the discontinuous reception DRX configuration; or,

The MAC entity modifies the DRX configuration, wherein the DRX cycle indicated by the modified DRX configuration is greater than the DRX cycle applied before the modification.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that, before receiving the first deactivation command, the method further includes:

Receive a first RRC reconfiguration message from the access network device, where the first RRC reconfiguration message is used to configure the indirect path and the direct path.
The method according to claim 13, characterized in that:

The first RRC reconfiguration message includes one or more more than one RLC information elements, the one or more more than one RLC information elements include a first more than one RLC information element, and the first more than one RLC information element includes the indirect path The configuration information and the configuration information of the direct path, wherein the configuration information of the indirect path includes the identification of the relay device corresponding to the indirect path; or,

The first RRC reconfiguration message includes a plurality of morethanoneRLC information elements, a second morethanoneRLC information element among the plurality of morethanoneRLC information elements includes the configuration information of the direct path, and the first RRC reconfiguration message also includes the The configuration information of the indirect path and more than one path morethanonepath information element, the morethanonepath information element is used to indicate the primary path and/or the secondary path; or,

The first RRC reconfiguration message includes a sideline SRAP configuration information element, the sideline SRAP configuration information element includes information about the RLC entity corresponding to the direct path, and includes information about the RLC entity corresponding to the indirect path. information.
A communication method, characterized in that it is applied to relay equipment, and the method includes:

Receive a second deactivation command, the second deactivation command is used by the relay device to deactivate the indirect path that the relay device serves for the remote device;

According to the second deactivation command, the indirect path is deactivated.
The method according to claim 15, characterized in that receiving the second deactivation command includes:

Receive the second deactivation command from the access network device; or,

The second deactivation command is received from the remote device.
The method according to claim 16, characterized in that, after receiving the second deactivation command from the access network device, the method further includes:

Send a first deactivation command to the remote device, where the first deactivation command is used by the remote device to deactivate the indirect path.
The method according to claim 17, characterized in that the first deactivation command is a PC5 RRC message, or a PC5 MAC CE, or a SRAP control PDU.
The method according to any one of claims 16 to 18, characterized in that the second deactivation command from the access network device is an RRC message, SRAP control PDU or MAC CE.
The method according to any one of claims 15 to 19, wherein the second deactivation command further includes an identification of the remote device.
The method according to any one of claims 15 to 20, characterized in that the relay device includes a SRAP entity, and after deactivating the indirect path, the method further includes:

The SRAP entity discards the data corresponding to the indirect path.
The method according to claim 21, characterized in that the second deactivation command includes third indication information, and the third indication information is used to instruct the SRAP entity to deactivate the indirect path.
The method according to any one of claims 15 to 22, characterized in that, after deactivating the indirect path, the method further includes:

Rebuild the PC5 RLC entity of the relay device.
The method according to claim 23, characterized in that the second deactivation command includes fourth indication information, and the fourth indication information is used to indicate reestablishing the PC5 RLC entity.
The method according to any one of claims 15 to 24, wherein the relay device includes a MAC entity, and after deactivating the indirect path, the method further includes:

The MAC entity determines the DRX configuration; or

The MAC entity modifies the DRX configuration, wherein the DRX cycle indicated by the modified DRX configuration is greater than the DRX cycle applied before the modification.
A communication device, characterized in that it includes a processor and a memory, the memory is coupled to the processor, and the processor is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 14, or to execute the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 14. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 25.
A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that the computer-readable storage medium is used to store a computer program. When the computer program is run on a computer, it causes the computer to execute any one of claims 1 to 14. The method described in any one of claims 15 to 25, or causing the computer to execute the method described in any one of claims 15 to 25.
A chip system, characterized in that the chip system includes:

A processor and an interface. The processor is configured to call and run instructions from the interface. When the processor executes the instructions, the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 14 is implemented, or the method as claimed in claim 1 is implemented. The method described in any one of 15 to 25.
A computer program product, characterized in that the computer program product includes a computer program, which when the computer program is run on a computer, causes the computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 14, or The computer is caused to execute the method according to any one of claims 15 to 25.