Capability indication method, route setup method, mobile terminal, and network device

• US 10,575,251 B2
• Filed: 02/15/2018
• Issued: 02/25/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 08/20/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Cao, Yongzhao, Guo, Fangfu, Gu, Lei, Zhang, Chi
• Primary Examiner(s): Islam, Rownak
• Application Number:
  US15/898,090
• Publication Number:
  US 20180176863A1
• Time in Patent Office: 740 Days
• Field of Search: 370311
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/10 based on available power or energy
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/22 using selective relaying for reaching a BTS [Base Transceiver Station] or an access point
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/246 Connectivity information discovery
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/12 using downlink control channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0219 where the power saving management affects multiple terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/02 Selection of wireless resources by user or terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/20 Control channels or signalling for resource management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/51 based on terminal or device properties
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/14 Direct-mode setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/36 for reassigning the resources associated with the released connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/04 adapted for relaying to or from another terminal or user
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

The embodiments of the present disclosure relates to the communications field, and discloses a capability indication method, a route setup method, a mobile terminal, and a network device, so as to save electricity of a mobile terminal in a D2D mesh network. A specific solution is as follows: A network device sends first indication information to a mobile terminal, where the first indication information is used to indicate that a communications network in which the network device is located supports communication between mobile terminals having a multi-hop capability, and the mobile terminal having the multi-hop capability is a mobile terminal having a capability of directly communicating with one or more mobile terminals. Embodiments of the present disclosure are applied to D2D communication.

Claims

1. A capability indication method, comprising:

sending, by a network device, first indication information to a mobile terminal, the first indication information indicating whether a communications network in which the network device is located supports, in a first cell in which the mobile terminal is located, communication between mobile terminals having a multi-hop capability;

wherein the sending the first indication information to the mobile terminal causes the mobile terminal to perform a valid multi-hop operation and avoid performing an invalid multi-hop operation in response to the first indication information indicating that the communications network supports multi-hop communication between the mobile terminals in the first cell; and

wherein the sending the first indication information to the mobile terminal causes the mobile terminal to reselect a second cell supporting multi-hop communication in response to the first indication information indicating that the communications network does not support multi-hop communication between the mobile terminals in the first cell.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein sending the first indication information to the mobile terminal comprises performing at least one of:

sending, by the network device, a system message to the mobile terminal, wherein the system message carries the first indication information and comprises at least one of a master information block (MIB) or a system information block (SIB);

or

sending, by the network device, a dedicated radio resource control (RRC) message to the mobile terminal, wherein the dedicated RRC message carries the first indication information.

3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

receiving second indication information from the mobile terminal indicating the mobile terminal has the multi-hop capability.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises after sending, by the network device, the first indication information to the mobile terminal:

receiving, by the network device, first related information from the mobile terminal, wherein the first related information is used for applying to the network device for a multi-hop resource and/or indicating that the mobile terminal has a multi-hop requirement.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises, after sending, by the network device, the first indication information to the mobile terminal:

receiving, by the network device, second related information from the mobile terminal, wherein the second related information applies to the network device for release of a multi-hop resource and/or indicates that the mobile terminal has no multi-hop requirement.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the valid multi-hop operation is a route setup operation comprising setting up a route through a second mobile terminal in the first cell to a target device for one-to-one communication with the target device prior to the one-to-one communication with the target device, wherein the target device is one of another network device or a third terminal in the first cell.

7. A capability indication method, comprising:

receiving, by a mobile terminal, first indication information from a network device the first indication information indicating whether a communications network in which the network device is located supports, in a first cell in which the mobile terminal is located, communication between mobile terminals having a multi-hop capability;

performing, by the mobile terminal, a valid multi-hop operation and avoiding performing an invalid multi-hop operation in response to the first indication information indicating that the communications network supports multi-hop communication between the mobile terminals in the first cell; and

reselecting, by the mobile terminal, a second cell supporting multi-hop communication in response to the first indication information indicating that the communications network does not support multi-hop communication between the mobile terminals in the first cell.

8. The method according to claim 7, further comprising:

sending, by the mobile terminal, second indication information to the network device for indicating that the mobile terminal has the multi-hop capability.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the second indication information is carried on a dedicated radio resource control (RRC) message.

10. The method according to claim 7, wherein the method further comprises, after receiving, by the mobile terminal, the first indication information from the network device:

sending, by the mobile terminal, first related information to the network device, wherein the first related information is used for applying to the network device for a multi-hop resource and/or for indicating that the mobile terminal has a multi-hop requirement.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the first related information is carried on a dedicated RRC message.

12. The method according to claim 10, further comprising, before sending, by the mobile terminal, the first related information to the network device:

determining, by the mobile terminal, that the mobile terminal has the multi-hop requirement and/or determining that a multi-hop capability switch is in an enabled state.

13. The method according to claim 12, further comprising:

determining, by the mobile terminal, that the mobile terminal has no multi-hop requirement and/or determining that the multi-hop capability switch is in a disabled state; and

sending, by the mobile terminal, second related information to the network device, wherein the second related information is used for applying to the network device for release of the multi-hop resource and/or indicating that the mobile terminal has no multi-hop requirement.

14. A communication apparatus, comprising:

a memory storing instructions; and

a processor coupled to the memory to execute the instructions to;

receive first indication information from a network device, the first indication information indicating whether a communications network in which the network device is located supports, in a first cell in which a mobile terminal is located, communication between mobile terminals having a multi-hop capability;

perform a valid multi-hop operation and avoid performing an invalid multi-hop operation in response to the first indication information indicating that the communications network supports multi-hop communication between the mobile terminals in the first cell; and

reselect a second cell supporting multi-hop communication in response to the first indication information indicating that the communications network does not support multi-hop communication between the mobile terminals in the first cell.

15. The apparatus according to the claim 14, wherein the processor further executes the instructions to:

send second indication information to the network device for indicating that the mobile terminal has the multi-hop capability.

16. The apparatus according to the claim 15, wherein the second indication information is carried on a dedicated radio resource control (RRC) message.

17. The apparatus according to the claim 14, wherein the processor further executes the instructions to:

send first related information to the network device, wherein the first related information is used for applying to the network device for a multi-hop resource and/or indicating that the mobile terminal has a multi-hop requirement.

18. The apparatus according to the claim 17, wherein the first related information is carried on a dedicated RRC message.

19. The apparatus according to the claim 17, wherein the processor further executes the instructions to:

determine that the mobile terminal has the multi-hop requirement and/or determine that a multi-hop capability switch is in an enabled state.

20. The apparatus according to the claim 19, wherein the processor further executes the instructions to:

determine that the mobile terminal has no multi-hop requirement and/or determine that the multi-hop capability switch is in a disabled state; and

send second related information to the network device, wherein the second related information is used for applying to the network device for release of the multi-hop resource and/or for indicating that the mobile terminal has no multi-hop requirement.