EP-4738930-A1 - RELAY COMMUNICATION METHOD AND APPARATUS, AND COMMUNICATION DEVICE, COMMUNICATION SYSTEM AND STORAGE MEDIUM

Abstract

Disclosed in the embodiments of the present disclosure are a relay communication method and apparatus. The method comprises: receiving a first message transmitted by a second terminal, wherein the first message comprises an identifier of the second terminal; and transmitting the first message to a first network element by means of an access network device, wherein the identifier of the second terminal is used for retrieving, from subscription data stored in a second network element, subscription data corresponding to the second terminal, and the subscription data corresponding to the second terminal is used for indicating that the second terminal supports store-and-forward communication with a first terminal, such that when there is no end-to-end connection between an ambient power-enabled Internet of Things device and a network, the ambient power-enabled Internet of Things device can communicate with the network by means of a relay terminal, and regardless of whether the connection between the relay terminal and the network is available or unavailable, the ambient power-enabled Internet of Things device can communicate with the network successfully, thereby effectively improving the communication efficiency of a system.

Inventors

• ZHU, CHUNHUI

Assignees

• Beijing Xiaomi Mobile Software Co., Ltd.

Dates

Publication Date

20260506

Application Date

20230629

Claims (20)

1. A relay communication method, performed by a first terminal, comprising: receiving a first message sent by a second terminal, wherein the first message comprises an identifier of the second terminal; and sending the first message to a first network element via an access network device, wherein the identifier of the second terminal is used to retrieve a subscription corresponding to the second terminal from subscriptions stored in a second network element, and the subscription corresponding to the second terminal is used to indicate that the second terminal supports a store-and-forward communication with the first terminal.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving a second message sent by the first network element via the access network device, wherein the second message is used to indicate that the store-and-forward communication between the second terminal and the first terminal is authorized; and sending the second message to the second terminal.
3. The method of claim 1 or 2, further comprising: sending a third message to the first network element via the access network device, wherein the third message comprises an identifier of the first terminal, the identifier of the first terminal is used to retrieve a subscription corresponding to the first terminal from the subscriptions stored in the second network element, and the subscription corresponding to the first terminal is used to indicate that the first terminal supports the store-and-forward communication with the second terminal; and receiving a fourth message sent by the first network element via the access network device, wherein the fourth message is used to indicate that the store-and-forward communication between the first terminal and the second terminal is authorized.
4. The method of claim 3, further comprising: sending a fifth message to the second terminal, wherein the fifth message is used to instruct the second terminal to perform the store-and-forward communication with the first terminal.
5. The method of any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising: in a case where a connection between the first terminal and the access network device is not available, receiving and storing information sent by the second terminal.
6. The method of any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising: in a case where a connection between the first terminal and the access network device is available, sending information sent by the second terminal and stored by the first terminal to the access network device; and/or receiving information sent by the second terminal, and forwarding the information sent by the second terminal to the access network device.
7. A relay communication method, performed by a second terminal, comprising: sending a first message to a first terminal, wherein the first message is used to be sent by the first terminal to a first network element via an access network device, the first message comprises an identifier of the second terminal, the identifier of the second terminal is used to retrieve a subscription corresponding to the second terminal from subscriptions stored in a second network element, and the subscription corresponding to the second terminal is used to indicate that the second terminal supports a store-and-forward communication with the first terminal.
8. The method of claim 7, further comprising: receiving a second message sent by the first terminal, wherein the second message is sent by the first network element to the first terminal via the access network device, and the second message is used to indicate that the store-and-forward communication between the second terminal and the first terminal is authorized.
9. The method of claim 8, further comprising: receiving a fifth message sent by the first terminal, wherein the fifth message is used to instruct the second terminal to perform the store-and-forward communication with the first terminal.
10. The method of any one of claims 7 to 9, further comprising: in a case where a connection between the first terminal and the access network device is not available, sending information sent to the first terminal, wherein the information is stored in the first terminal.
11. The method of any one of claims 7 to 9, further comprising: in a case where a connection between the first terminal and the access network device is available, forwarding, by the first terminal, information stored in the first terminal to the access network device; and/or in a case where a connection between the first terminal and the access network device is available, sending information to the first terminal, wherein the information is forwarded by the first terminal to the access network device.
12. A relay communication method, performed by a first network element, comprising: receiving a first message sent by a first terminal via an access network device, wherein the first message comprises an identifier of a second terminal; and sending a sixth message to a second network element, wherein the sixth message comprises the identifier of the second terminal, the identifier of the second terminal is used to retrieve a subscription corresponding to the second terminal from subscriptions stored in the second network element, and the subscription corresponding to the second terminal is used to indicate that the second terminal supports a store-and-forward communication with the first terminal.
13. The method of claim 12, further comprising: sending a second message to the first terminal via the access network device, wherein the second message is sent by the first terminal to the second terminal, and the second message is used to indicate that the store-and-forward communication between the second terminal and the first terminal is authorized.
14. The method of claim 1 or 2, further comprising: receiving a third message sent by the first terminal via the access network device, wherein the third message comprises an identifier of the first terminal; sending a seventh message to the second network element, wherein the seventh message comprises the identifier of the first terminal, the identifier of the first terminal is used to retrieve a subscription corresponding to the first terminal from the subscriptions stored in the second network element, and the subscription corresponding to the first terminal is used to indicate that the first terminal supports the store-and-forward communication with the second terminal; and sending a fourth message to the first terminal via the access network device, wherein the fourth message is used to indicate that the store-and-forward communication between the first terminal and the second terminal is authorized.
15. A relay communication method, performed by a second network element, comprising: receiving a sixth message sent by a first network element, wherein the sixth message comprises an identifier of a second terminal; and retrieving, according to the identifier of the second terminal, a subscription corresponding to the second terminal from stored subscriptions, wherein the subscription corresponding to the second terminal is used to indicate that the second terminal supports a store-and-forward communication with a first terminal, and wherein the identifier of the second terminal is comprised in a first message sent by the first terminal to the first network element via an access network device.
16. The method of claim 15, further comprising: receiving a seventh message sent by the first network element, wherein the seventh message comprises an identifier of the first terminal; and retrieving, according to the identifier of the first terminal, a subscription corresponding to the first terminal from the stored subscriptions, wherein the subscription corresponding to the first terminal is used to indicate that the first terminal supports the store-and-forward communication with the second terminal, and wherein the identifier of the first terminal is comprised in a third message sent by the first terminal to the first network element via the access network device.
17. A relay communication method, performed by a core network device, comprising: receiving a first message sent by a first terminal via an access network device, wherein the first message comprises an identifier of a second terminal, the identifier of the second terminal is used to retrieve a subscription corresponding to the second terminal from subscriptions stored in the core network device, and the subscription corresponding to the second terminal is used to indicate that the second terminal supports a store-and-forward communication with the first terminal.
18. The method of claim 17, further comprising: sending a second message to the first terminal via the access network device, wherein the second message is sent by the first terminal to the second terminal, and the second message is used to indicate that the store-and-forward communication between the second terminal and the first terminal is authorized.
19. The method of claim 17 or 18, further comprising: receiving a third message sent by the first terminal via the access network device, wherein the third message comprises an identifier of the first terminal, the identifier of the first terminal is used to retrieve a subscription corresponding to the first terminal from the stored subscriptions in the core network device, and the subscription corresponding to the first terminal is used to indicate that the first terminal supports the store-and-forward communication with the second terminal; and sending a fourth message to the first terminal via the access network device, wherein the fourth message is sent by the first terminal to the second terminal, and the fourth message is used to indicate that the store-and-forward communication between the first terminal and the second terminal is authorized.
20. A relay communication method, comprising: sending, by a first network element, a sixth message to a second network element, wherein the sixth message comprises an identifier of a second terminal; and retrieving, by the second network element, according to the identifier of the second terminal, a subscription corresponding to the second terminal from stored subscriptions, wherein the subscription corresponding to the second terminal is used to indicate that the second terminal supports a store-and-forward communication with a first terminal, and wherein the identifier of the second terminal is comprised in a first message sent by the first terminal to the first network element via an access network device.

Description

FIELD The present disclosure relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular relates to a relay communication method and a relay communication apparatus, a communication device, a communication system and a storage medium. BACKGROUND Ambient power-enabled Internet of Things (A-IoT) is an IoT service with an IoT device powered by energy harvesting, while the IoT device may be either battery-less or equipped with limited energy storage capability. Typically, an A-IoT device doesn't have a conventional battery. The device itself uses energy harvested from wireless radio waves or any other form of energy that can be harvested in particular cases. SUMMARY Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a relay communication method and a relay communication apparatus, which may solve a problem of how to support communication when there is no end-to-end connection between an A-IoT device and a network in the related art. According to a first aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a relay communication method, performed by a first terminal, including: receiving a first message sent by a second terminal, in which the first message includes an identifier of the second terminal; andsending the first message to a first network element via an access network device, in which the identifier of the second terminal is used to retrieve a subscription corresponding to the second terminal from subscriptions stored in a second network element, and the subscription corresponding to the second terminal is used to indicate that the second terminal supports a store-and-forward communication with the first terminal. According to a second aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a relay communication method, performed by a second terminal, including: sending a first message to a first terminal,in which the first message is used be sent by the first terminal to a first network element via an access network device, the first message includes an identifier of the second terminal, the identifier of the second terminal is used to retrieve a subscription corresponding to the second terminal from subscriptions stored in a second network element, and the subscription corresponding to the second terminal is used to indicate that the second terminal supports a store-and-forward communication with the first terminal. According to a third aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a relay communication method, performed by a first network element, including: receiving a first message sent by a first terminal via an access network device, in which the first message includes an identifier of the second terminal; andsending a sixth message to a second network element, in which the sixth message includes the identifier of the second terminal, the identifier of the second terminal is used to retrieve a subscription corresponding to the second terminal from subscriptions stored in the second network element, and the subscription corresponding to the second terminal is used to indicate that the second terminal supports a store-and-forward communication with the first terminal. According to a fourth aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a relay communication method, performed by a second network element, including: receiving a sixth message sent by a first network element, in which the sixth message includes an identifier of a second terminal; andretrieving, according to the identifier of the second terminal, a subscription corresponding to the second terminal from stored subscriptions, in which the subscription corresponding to the second terminal is used to indicate that the second terminal supports a store-and-forward communication with a first terminal, andin which the identifier of the second terminal is included in a first message sent by the first terminal to the first network element via an access network device. With the solution proposed in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the first message sent by the second terminal is received, in which the first message includes the identifier of the second terminal; and the first message is sent to the first network element via the access network device, in which the identifier of the second terminal is used to retrieve the subscription corresponding to the second terminal from subscriptions stored in the second network element, and the subscription corresponding to the second terminal is used to indicate that the second terminal supports the store-and-forward communication with the first terminal. Therefore, communication with the network may be performed via a relay terminal in a case where there is no end-to-end connection between an A-IoT device and the network, and communication between the A-IoT device and the network may be performed successfully in a case where the connection between the relay terminal and the network is available or unavailable, thereby effectivel