CN118285124A

CN118285124A - Activation state determining method, device and equipment and storage medium

Info

Publication number: CN118285124A
Application number: CN202280004719.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 杨星
Original assignee: Beijing Xiaomi Mobile Software Co Ltd
Current assignee: Beijing Xiaomi Mobile Software Co Ltd
Priority date: 2022-10-31
Filing date: 2022-10-31
Publication date: 2024-07-02
Also published as: WO2024092427A1

Abstract

The present disclosure proposes an activation state determining method, apparatus, and storage medium, the method comprising: in response to receiving a first message sent by the remote UE, entering an active state to monitor a side uplink SL between the remote UE and the relay UE; the first message is used for requesting a specific flow or transmitting in a first transmission mode; in response to a particular condition being met, stopping the activation state; the specific condition includes any one of the specific flow being executed, the specific flow being refused to be executed, the relay UE transmitting the message through the first transmission scheme, and the relay UE transmitting the message through the second transmission scheme. The method can ensure that the relay UE is in an activated state in the whole process of requesting the specific flow by the remote UE, avoid the situation that the specific flow requested by the remote UE is not completed yet, ensure that the relay UE enters the SL DRX sleep state, ensure the on-time execution of the specific flow requested by the remote UE, avoid the delay of the specific flow and ensure the communication stability of SL.

Description

Activation state determining method, device and equipment and storage medium

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to an activation state determining method, apparatus, and device, and a storage medium.

Background

In a communication system, direct communication between User Equipments (UEs) is achieved by introducing a side-link (Sidelink, SL) communication scheme. And, in order to save the power consumption of the SL UE, discontinuous reception (Discontinuous Reception, DRX) of the SL is introduced, i.e. the receiving UE listens to SCI (sidelink control information, side-uplink control information) of the second phase on the logical channel only in active state. Further, the UE may not directly communicate with the base station, but communication with the base station may be achieved through a relay of another UE. Wherein a UE not connected to the base station is called a remote UE (remote UE), a UE providing a relay function is called a relay UE (relay UE), and the remote UE and the relay UE can communicate through SL unicast.

In the related art, a remote UE in an idle state may send a radio resource control (Radio Resource Control, RRC) establishment request message to a relay UE, so that the relay UE forwards the RRC establishment request message to a base station, forwards an RRC establishment message sent by the base station to the remote UE, and when the remote UE completes a connection establishment procedure, sends an RRC connection establishment completion message to the relay UE, and the relay UE forwards the RRC connection establishment completion message to the base station to notify the base station that the connection establishment procedure is completed; and the remote UE in the inactive state may send an RRC resume request message to the relay UE, so that the relay UE forwards the RRC resume request message to the base station, and forwards the RRC resume message sent by the base station to the remote UE, and when the remote UE completes the connection resume procedure, the remote UE also sends an RRC connection resume complete message to the relay UE, and then the relay UE forwards the RRC connection resume complete message to the base station to notify the base station that the connection resume procedure is completed; and when the remote UE fails in connection, an RRC reestablishment request message may be sent to the relay UE, so that the relay UE forwards the RRC reestablishment request message to the base station, and forwards the RRC reestablishment message sent by the base station to the remote UE.

However, in the related art, after the relay UE sends the RRC setup/resume/reestablish message to the remote UE, the relay UE may enter the SL DRX sleep state, that is, the setup/resume/reestablish procedure is not completed yet, and the relay UE may enter the SL DRX sleep state, so that the RRC connection setup/resume/reestablish complete message forwarded by the remote UE cannot be received, which may cause a delay in the connection setup/connection resume/connection reestablish procedure, thereby affecting the communication stability of SL.

Disclosure of Invention

The activation state determining method, device and equipment and storage medium are used for solving the technical problem that a method in the related technology affects the communication stability of SL.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides an activation state determining method, which is performed by a remote UE, including:

In response to receiving a first message sent by a remote UE, the relay UE enters an active state to monitor a side uplink SL between the remote UE and the relay UE; the first message is used for requesting a specific flow or transmitting in a first transmission mode;

In response to a specific condition being met, the relay UE ceases to activate state; the specific condition includes any one of the specific flow execution completion, the specific flow refused to be executed, the relay UE transmitting the message through the first transmission mode, and the relay UE transmitting the message through the second transmission mode.

In the disclosure, when a relay UE receives a first message sent by a remote UE and used for requesting a specific flow or transmitting the first message in a first transmission mode, it is indicated that the remote UE requests the specific flow from the relay UE; when the relay UE transmits a message in a first transmission mode, the specific flow of the remote UE request is refused to be executed; when the relay UE transmits the message through the second transmission mode, it is indicated that the execution of the specific procedure requested by the remote UE is completed. As can be seen from this disclosure, when the remote UE requests a specific procedure, the relay UE enters an active state, and when the execution of the specific procedure requested by the remote UE is completed or is refused to be executed, the relay UE stops the active state. The relay UE is ensured to be in an activated state in the whole process of the specific flow requested by the remote UE, so that the condition that the specific flow requested by the remote UE is not completed yet and the relay UE enters the SL DRX sleep state is avoided, the on-time execution of the specific flow requested by the remote UE is ensured, the delay of the specific flow is avoided, and the communication stability of SL is ensured.

Optionally, the specific flow includes at least one of:

a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection establishment procedure;

an RRC connection recovery procedure;

RRC connection reestablishment procedure.

Optionally, the relay UE enters an active state, including:

upon receiving the first message, the relay UE immediately enters an active state.

Optionally, the relay UE enters an active state, including:

starting a timer after receiving the first message;

In response to the timer expiring, the relay UE enters an active state.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

And receiving the timing duration configured by the network equipment for the timer.

Optionally, the relay UE is in a deactivated state, including any one of the following:

responding to the relay UE to receive a second message sent by the remote UE, and stopping the activation state by the relay UE;

and in response to the relay UE sending a third message to the remote UE, the relay UE halts the activation state.

Optionally, the second message is transmitted through a second transmission manner or used for indicating that the specific process is executed.

Optionally, the third message is transmitted through the first transmission manner or is used to indicate that the specific procedure is refused to be executed.

Optionally, the first transmission mode includes at least one of the following:

transmitting through a first bearer;

Transmitting over a particular logical channel;

RLC transmissions are controlled over the first radio link.

Optionally, the second transmission mode includes at least one of the following:

Transmitting through a second bearer;

Transmitting over a particular logical channel;

Transmitted over the second RLC.

Optionally, the first message for requesting a specific flow includes at least one of:

An RRC setup request message;

An RRC resume request message;

RRC reestablishment request message.

Optionally, the second message for indicating that the specific flow is performed includes at least one of the following:

RRC setup complete message;

RRC resume complete message;

RRC reestablishment complete message.

Optionally, the third message for indicating that the specific procedure is refused to be performed includes an RRC refusal message.

Optionally, the first bearer includes a signaling radio bearer SRB0; the first RLC includes SL-RLC0.

Optionally, the second bearer includes SRB1; the second RLC includes SL-RLC1.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides an activation state determining method, which is performed by a relay UE, including:

The timing duration of the timer is configured to the relay UE.

In a third aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a communication apparatus configured in a relay UE, including:

The processing module is used for responding to the received first message sent by the remote UE, and the relay UE enters an activated state so as to monitor a side uplink SL between the remote UE and the relay UE; the first message is used for requesting a specific flow or transmitting in a first transmission mode;

The processing module is further configured to, in response to a specific condition being satisfied, deactivate the relay UE; the specific condition includes any one of the specific flow execution completion, the specific flow refused to be executed, the relay UE transmitting the message through the first transmission mode, and the relay UE transmitting the message through the second transmission mode.

In a fourth aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a communication apparatus configured in a network device, comprising:

And the receiving and transmitting module is used for configuring the timing duration of the timer to the relay UE.

In a fifth aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a communication device comprising a processor, which when invoking a computer program in memory, performs the method of the first aspect described above.

In a sixth aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a communication device comprising a processor that, when invoking a computer program in memory, performs the method of the second aspect described above.

In a seventh aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a communication apparatus comprising a processor and a memory, the memory having a computer program stored therein; the processor executes the computer program stored in the memory to cause the communication device to perform the method of the first aspect described above.

In an eighth aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a communication apparatus comprising a processor and a memory, the memory having a computer program stored therein; the processor executes the computer program stored in the memory to cause the communication device to perform the method of the second aspect described above.

In a ninth aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a communications apparatus comprising a processor and interface circuitry for receiving code instructions and transmitting to the processor, the processor being configured to execute the code instructions to cause the apparatus to perform the method of the first aspect described above.

In a tenth aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a communications device comprising a processor and interface circuitry for receiving code instructions and transmitting to the processor, the processor being configured to execute the code instructions to cause the device to perform the method of the second aspect described above.

In an eleventh aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a communication system, which includes the communication device of the third aspect to the communication device of the fourth aspect, or which includes the communication device of the fifth aspect to the communication device of the sixth aspect, or which includes the communication device of the seventh aspect to the communication device of the eighth aspect, or which includes the communication device of the ninth aspect to the communication device of the tenth aspect.

In a twelfth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a computer readable storage medium storing instructions for use by a network device as described above, which when executed cause the terminal device to perform the method of any one of the first to second aspects.

In a thirteenth aspect, the present disclosure also provides a computer program product comprising a computer program which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of any one of the first to second aspects described above.

In a fourteenth aspect, the present disclosure provides a chip system comprising at least one processor and an interface for supporting a network device to implement the functions involved in the method of any one of the first to second aspects, e.g. to determine or process at least one of data and information involved in the above method. In one possible design, the system-on-chip further includes a memory to hold the necessary computer programs and data for the source and secondary nodes. The chip system can be composed of chips, and can also comprise chips and other discrete devices.

In a fifteenth aspect, the present disclosure provides a computer program which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of any one of the first to second aspects above.

Drawings

The foregoing and/or additional aspects and advantages of the present disclosure will become apparent and readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

fig. 1 is a schematic architecture diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a method for determining activation status according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a method for determining activation status according to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a method for determining activation status according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of a method for determining activation status according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of a method for determining activation status according to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of a method for determining activation status according to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a user device provided by one embodiment of the present disclosure;

Fig. 11 is a block diagram of a network side device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

Reference will now be made in detail to exemplary embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. When the following description refers to the accompanying drawings, the same numbers in different drawings refer to the same or similar elements, unless otherwise indicated. The implementations described in the following exemplary embodiments do not represent all implementations consistent with the embodiments of the present disclosure. Rather, they are merely examples of apparatus and methods consistent with aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure as detailed in the accompanying claims.

The terminology used in the embodiments of the disclosure is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the embodiments of the disclosure. As used in this disclosure of embodiments and the appended claims, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It should also be understood that the term "and/or" as used herein refers to and encompasses any or all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

It should be understood that although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used in embodiments of the present disclosure to describe various information, these information should not be limited to these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one type of information from another. For example, the first information may also be referred to as second information, and similarly, the second information may also be referred to as first information, without departing from the scope of embodiments of the present disclosure. The words "if" and "if" as used herein may be interpreted as "at … …" or "at … …" or "in response to a determination", depending on the context.

Embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail below, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like or similar reference numerals refer to the like or similar elements throughout. The embodiments described below by referring to the drawings are exemplary and intended for the purpose of explaining the present disclosure and are not to be construed as limiting the present disclosure.

For ease of understanding, the terms involved in the present application are first introduced.

1. Fifth generation mobile communication technology (5th generation mobile networks,5G)

5G is a new generation broadband mobile communication technology with high speed, low time delay and large connection characteristics, and is a network infrastructure for realizing man-machine object interconnection.

2. Side link (Sidelink, SL)

A link for direct communication between terminal devices.

3. Remote UE

UEs that do not communicate directly with the base station but communicate with the base station through other UEs.

4. Relay UE

UE for implementing relay communication between other UE and base station.

In order to better understand an activation state determining method disclosed in an embodiment of the present disclosure, a communication system to which the embodiment of the present disclosure is applicable is first described below.

Referring to fig. 1, fig. 1 is a schematic architecture diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the disclosure. The communication system may include, but is not limited to, a network device, a remote terminal device, and a relay terminal device, and the number and form of devices shown in fig. 1 are only for example and not limiting the embodiments of the present disclosure, and may include two or more network devices and two or more terminal devices in practical applications. The communication system shown in fig. 1 is exemplified as including a network device 11, a remote UE12, and a relay UE 13.

It should be noted that the technical solution of the embodiment of the present disclosure may be applied to various communication systems. For example: long term evolution (long term evolution, LTE) system, fifth generation (5th generation,5G) mobile communication system, 5G New Radio (NR) system, or other future new mobile communication system, etc.

The network device 11 in the embodiment of the present disclosure is an entity for transmitting or receiving signals at the network side. For example, the network device 11 may be an evolved NodeB (eNB), a transmission and reception point (transmission reception point, TRP), a next generation NodeB (gNB) in an NR system, a base station in other future mobile communication systems, or an access node in a wireless fidelity (WIRELESS FIDELITY, wiFi) system, etc. The embodiments of the present disclosure do not limit the specific technology and specific device configuration employed by the network device. The network device provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure may be composed of a Central Unit (CU) and a Distributed Unit (DU), where the CU may also be referred to as a control unit (control unit), the structure of the CU-DU may be used to split the protocol layers of the network device, such as a base station, and the functions of part of the protocol layers are placed in the CU for centralized control, and the functions of part or all of the protocol layers are distributed in the DU, so that the CU centrally controls the DU.

The remote UE12 and the relay UE13 in the embodiments of the present disclosure may be an entity on the user side for receiving or transmitting signals, such as a mobile phone. The terminal device may also be referred to as a terminal device (terminal), a User Equipment (UE), a Mobile Station (MS), a mobile terminal device (MT), etc. The terminal device may be an automobile with communication function, a smart car, a mobile phone (mobile phone), a wearable device, a tablet computer (Pad), a computer with wireless transceiving function, a Virtual Reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (augmented reality, AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal device in industrial control (industrial control), a wireless terminal device in unmanned-driving (self-driving), a wireless terminal device in teleoperation (remote medical surgery), a wireless terminal device in smart grid (SMART GRID), a wireless terminal device in transportation security (transportation safety), a wireless terminal device in smart city (SMART CITY), a wireless terminal device in smart home (smart home), or the like. The embodiment of the present disclosure does not limit the specific technology and the specific device configuration adopted by the terminal device.

It may be understood that, the communication system described in the embodiments of the present disclosure is for more clearly describing the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure, and is not limited to the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure, and those skilled in the art can know that, with the evolution of the system architecture and the appearance of new service scenarios, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure are equally applicable to similar technical problems.

The activation state determination method, apparatus, device and storage medium provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 2 is a flowchart of an activation state determining method provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure, where the method is performed by a relay UE, and as shown in fig. 2, the activation state determining method may include the following steps:

Step 201, in response to receiving the first message sent by the remote UE, the relay UE enters an active state to monitor a side uplink (Sidelink, SL) between the remote UE and the relay UE.

Wherein, in one embodiment of the present disclosure, the first message may be a message for requesting a specific flow or a message transmitted through a first transmission manner.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the specific flow may be at least one of the following:

an RRC connection establishment procedure;

an RRC connection recovery procedure;

RRC connection reestablishment procedure.

And, in one embodiment of the present disclosure, the first message for requesting a specific flow may include at least one of the following:

An RRC setup request message;

An RRC resume request message;

RRC reestablishment request message.

Further, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, the first transmission manner may include at least one of the following:

transmitting through a first bearer;

Transmitting over a particular logical channel;

Transmitted over a first radio link control (Radio Link Control, RLC).

Wherein the first bearer may comprise a signaling radio bearer (SIGNALLING RADIO BEARER, SRB) 0; the first RLC may include SL-RLC0; the specific logical channel may be any one logical channel or any of several logical channels, and may be predetermined based on a protocol.

Further, it should be noted that, for the relay UE, if the message received from the remote UE is the first message for requesting the specific flow, the relay UE may know the content and the purpose of the first message, and then the relay UE may directly determine that the remote UE requests the specific flow based on the first message; and if the message received by the relay UE from the remote UE is the first message transmitted by the first transmission mode, the relay UE cannot know the content and the purpose of the first message, and the relay UE can determine the content and the purpose of the first message only by the transmission mode of the first message, wherein in one embodiment of the present disclosure, when the transmission mode of the first message is the first transmission mode, it means that the remote UE requests a specific flow.

It can be seen that, in one embodiment of the present disclosure, when the relay UE receives the first message sent by the remote UE and used for requesting the specific flow or receives the first message sent by the remote UE through the first transmission manner, it indicates that the remote UE requests the specific flow, at this time, the remote UE should forward the first message to the network device (such as the base station), and the relay UE should act as a relay to implement subsequent interaction between the remote UE and the network device, so as to complete the specific flow requested by the remote UE. But due to the discontinuous reception (Discontinuous Reception, DRX) mechanism of SL, the relay UE will only monitor SL of the relay UE and the remote UE in the active state.

Therefore, in one embodiment of the present disclosure, when the relay UE receives the first message sent by the remote UE and used for requesting a specific flow or transmitting the first message in the first transmission manner, the relay UE should enter an active state, and in the active state, the relay UE will monitor SL between the remote UE and the relay UE, so that it can be ensured that the relay UE can successfully receive the message sent by the remote UE, and further ensure that the relay UE can successfully perform a relay function between the remote UE and the network device, and ensure that the specific flow requested by the remote UE can be successfully performed.

Step 202, the relay UE stops the activation state in response to the specific condition being satisfied.

Among other things, in one embodiment of the present disclosure, the particular condition may include any of the following:

The specific flow is executed;

The specific flow is refused to be executed;

the relay UE transmits the message in a first transmission mode;

the relay UE transmits the message through the second transmission mode.

Among them, in one embodiment of the present disclosure, the above-mentioned "the relay UE transmits the message through the first transmission manner" means that: the relay UE transmitting a message to the remote UE via the first transmission scheme, and when the relay UE transmits the message via the first transmission scheme, the relay UE: the specific procedure requested by the remote UE is refused to be performed. The related description about the first transmission mode can be described with reference to the above embodiments.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the above-mentioned "the relay UE transmits the message through the second transmission manner" means that: the relay UE receives the message transmitted by the remote UE through the second transmission mode. The second transmission mode may include at least one of the following:

Transmitting through a second bearer;

Transmitting over a particular logical channel;

Transmitted over the second RLC.

Wherein the second bearer may include SRB1 and the second RLC may include SL-RLC1; the specific logical channel may be any one logical channel or any of several logical channels, and may be predetermined based on a protocol.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, when the relay UE transmits a message through the second transmission manner, it is illustrated that: the execution of the specific flow requested by the remote UE is completed.

And, a detailed description of how the relay UE transmits the message through the first transmission manner and how the message is transmitted through the second transmission manner will be described in the following embodiments.

It can be seen from the above that the above "specific conditions" are essentially: when the execution of the specific flow requested by the remote UE is completed, or the execution of the specific flow requested by the remote UE is refused. In this disclosure, the relay UE may stop the active state mainly when the specific flow requested by the remote UE is executed or the specific flow requested by the remote UE is refused to be executed.

Based on this, in one embodiment of the present disclosure, the start time of the active state of the remote UE is: when the remote UE requests a specific flow; the stopping time of the activation state of the remote UE is: when the execution of the specific flow requested by the remote UE is completed or refused to be executed. Therefore, in the whole process of requesting the specific flow by the remote UE, the relay UE is in an activated state, so that the situation that the specific flow requested by the remote UE is not completed yet and the relay UE enters the SL DRX sleep state can be avoided, the on-time execution of the specific flow requested by the remote UE is ensured, the delay of the specific flow is avoided, and the communication stability of SL is ensured.

In summary, in the method for determining an activation state provided in the present disclosure, in response to a relay UE receiving a first message sent by a remote UE, the relay UE enters an activation state to monitor SL between the remote UE and the relay UE; the first message is used for requesting a specific flow or transmitting in a first transmission mode; in response to a specific condition being met, the relay UE ceases to activate state; the specific condition includes any one of the specific flow being executed, the specific flow being refused to be executed, the relay UE transmitting the message through the first transmission scheme, and the relay UE transmitting the message through the second transmission scheme. In the disclosure, when the relay UE receives a first message sent by the remote UE and used for requesting a specific flow or transmitting the first message in a first transmission mode, it is indicated that the remote UE requests the specific flow from the relay UE; when the relay UE transmits a message in a first transmission mode, the specific flow of the remote UE request is refused to be executed; when the relay UE transmits the message through the second transmission mode, it is indicated that the execution of the specific procedure requested by the remote UE is completed. As can be seen from this disclosure, when the remote UE requests a specific procedure, the relay UE enters an active state, and when the execution of the specific procedure requested by the remote UE is completed or is refused to be executed, the relay UE stops the active state. The relay UE is ensured to be in an activated state in the whole process of the specific flow requested by the remote UE, so that the condition that the specific flow requested by the remote UE is not completed yet and the relay UE enters the SL DRX sleep state is avoided, the on-time execution of the specific flow requested by the remote UE is ensured, the delay of the specific flow is avoided, and the communication stability of SL is ensured.

Fig. 3 is a flowchart of an activation state determining method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure, where the method is performed by a relay UE, and as shown in fig. 3, the activation state determining method may include the following steps:

Step 301, in response to receiving a first message sent by the remote UE, the relay UE immediately enters an active state to monitor a side uplink SL between the remote UE and the relay UE; the first message is used to request a specific flow or transmitted via a first transmission means.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, when the relay UE receives the first message sent by the remote UE, the relay UE immediately enters the active state, which can be understood that the first message triggers the relay UE to enter the active state.

Further details regarding step 301 are described with reference to the above embodiments.

Fig. 4 is a flowchart of an activation state determining method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure, where the method is performed by a relay UE, and as shown in fig. 4, the activation state determining method may include the following steps:

Step 401, a timer is started in response to receiving a first message sent by the remote UE.

Step 402, in response to the timer timeout, the relay UE enters an active state.

From the foregoing, it can be seen that the relay UE enters the active state to monitor SL between the remote UE and the relay UE, so as to ensure that the relay UE can successfully receive the message sent by the remote UE, thereby enabling the relay UE to successfully perform a relay function between the remote UE and the network device, and ensuring that a specific procedure requested by the remote UE can be successfully performed.

However, it should be noted that after the relay UE receives the first message sent by the remote UE, the relay UE will forward the first message to the network device first, receive a response message of the network device to the first message, and then send the response message to the remote UE, and receive a message returned by the remote UE. It can be seen that, after the relay UE receives the first message sent by the remote UE, it is not required to immediately receive the message from the remote UE, but it is required to receive the message from the remote UE after a period of time. Based on this, in one embodiment of the present disclosure, after the relay UE receives the first message sent by the remote UE, the relay UE may not immediately enter the active state, but may first time a period based on a timer, and when the timer expires, the relay UE delays entering the active state again, so that the time in which the relay UE is in the active state may be shortened, and the electric quantity is saved. Also, in one embodiment of the present disclosure, the timing duration of the timer satisfies the following condition: the timing duration is smaller than or equal to the shortest interval between two adjacent interactions between the relay UE and the remote UE, so that when the relay UE is delayed to enter the active state after the timer is overtime, the normal interaction between the relay UE and the remote UE is not influenced, and the communication stability of SL is ensured.

Further, in one embodiment of the present disclosure, the timing duration of the timer may be configured by the network device to the relay UE, such as may be configured by the network device to the relay UE through an RRC message.

Fig. 5 is a flowchart of an activation state determining method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure, where the method is performed by a relay UE, and as shown in fig. 5, the activation state determining method may include the following steps:

Step 501, in response to the relay UE receiving the second message sent by the remote UE, the relay UE stops activating the state.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the second message may be a message transmitted through the second transmission manner or a message for indicating that the specific flow is performed.

Specifically, the second message for indicating that the specific flow is performed may include at least one of the following:

RRC setup complete message;

RRC resume complete message;

RRC reestablishment complete message.

Further, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, the second transmission manner may include at least one of the following:

Transmitting through a second bearer;

Transmitting over a particular logical channel;

Transmitted over the second RLC.

Wherein the second bearer may comprise SRB1; the second RLC may include SL-RLC1; the specific logical channel may be any one logical channel or any of several logical channels, and may be predetermined based on a protocol.

Further, it should be noted that, for the relay UE, if the message received from the remote UE is the above-mentioned second message for indicating that the specific flow is performed, the relay UE may know the content and the purpose of the second message, and then the relay UE may directly determine that the specific flow requested by the remote UE is performed based on the second message; and if the message received by the relay UE from the remote UE is the second message transmitted by the second transmission mode, the relay UE cannot know the content and the purpose of the second message, and the relay UE can determine the content and the purpose of the second message only by the transmission mode of the second message, wherein in one embodiment of the present disclosure, when the transmission mode of the second message is the second transmission mode, it means that the specific flow requested by the remote UE is executed.

It can be known that, in one embodiment of the present disclosure, when the relay UE receives the second message sent by the remote UE through the second transmission manner or receives the second message sent by the remote UE and used for indicating that the specific flow is performed, the remote UE requests that the specific flow is performed, and then the remote UE forwards the second message to the network device (such as the base station) to inform the network device that the specific flow requested by the remote UE is performed, and the relay UE does not need to monitor the SL link between the relay UE and the remote UE any more, at this time, the relay UE may stop the active state, so that the power consumption may be saved.

Fig. 6 is a flowchart of an activation state determining method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure, where the method is performed by a relay UE, and as shown in fig. 6, the activation state determining method may include the following steps:

step 601, in response to the relay UE sending a third message to the remote UE, the relay UE stops the activation state.

Wherein, in one embodiment of the present disclosure, the third message may be a message transmitted through the first transmission manner or a message for indicating that the specific flow is refused to be performed.

Specifically, the third message for indicating that the specific procedure is refused to be performed may include an RRC refusal message.

And, the description about the first transmission manner may be described with reference to the above-described embodiments.

Further, it should be noted that, for the relay UE, if the message received from the remote UE is the third message for indicating that the specific flow is refused to be executed, the relay UE may know the content and the purpose of the third message, and then the relay UE may directly determine that the specific flow requested by the remote UE is refused to be executed based on the third message; and if the message received by the relay UE from the remote UE is the third message transmitted by the first transmission mode, the relay UE cannot know the content and the purpose of the third message, and the relay UE can determine the content and the purpose of the third message only by the transmission mode of the third message, wherein in one embodiment of the present disclosure, when the relay UE sends the third message to the remote UE by the first transmission mode, it means that the specific flow requested by the remote UE is refused to be executed.

It can be seen that, in one embodiment of the present disclosure, when the relay UE sends the third message to the remote UE through the first transmission manner or sends the third message to the remote UE, which indicates that the specific flow is refused to be executed, the specific flow requested by the remote UE is terminated, and at this time, the relay UE does not need to monitor the SL link between the relay UE and the remote UE, and the relay UE may stop the active state, so that power consumption may be saved.

As can be seen from the foregoing, in the present disclosure, the activation state start time of the relay UE is: when the relay UE receives the first message sent by the remote UE, or after the relay UE receives the first message sent by the remote UE, a timer is started, and when the timer expires. The stop time of the activation state of the relay UE is: when the relay UE receives the second message sent by the remote UE, or when the relay UE sends the third message to the remote UE.

Based on this, the activation time of the relay UE may be, for example: starting from the relay UE receiving the first message sent by the remote UE (e.g., receiving the message sent by the remote UE through SL-RLC 0), stopping until receiving the second message sent by the remote UE (e.g., receiving the message sent by the remote UE through SL-RLC 1). Or the activation time of the relay UE may be: starting from the relay UE receiving the first message sent by the remote UE (e.g., receiving the message sent by the remote UE through SL-RLC 0), until the relay UE stops sending the third message to the remote UE (e.g., sending the message to the remote UE through SL-RLC 0).

Furthermore, it should be noted that, when the start time of the active state of the relay UE in the present disclosure is after the relay UE receives the first message sent by the remote UE, since the relay UE can only receive the message sent by the remote UE when in the active state, when the relay UE receives the first message sent by the remote UE (i.e., before the start time of the active state of the relay UE in the present disclosure), the relay UE is also in the active state, but the active state in which the relay UE receives the first message sent by the remote UE does not conflict with the active state of the relay UE determined in the present disclosure. Specifically, in a communication system, there are a plurality of different flows to control the activation time (i.e., start time and stop time) of the activation state of the UE, and the activation times of the UEs controlled by the different flows may be coincident or not. The start time of the activation state of the flow control in the disclosure is mainly "when the relay UE receives the first message sent by the remote UE, or after the relay UE receives the first message sent by the remote UE, the timer is started, and the stop time is mainly" when the relay UE receives the second message sent by the remote UE, or when the relay UE sends the third message to the remote UE "when the relay UE receives the first message sent by the remote UE, where the activation state of the relay UE is not controlled by the flow of the disclosure but controlled by other flows, and the start time and the stop time of the activation state of the relay UE do not conflict with the activation time of the activation state of the disclosure.

Fig. 7 is a flowchart of an activation state determining method provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure, where the method is performed by a network device, and as shown in fig. 7, the activation state determining method may include the following steps:

Step 701, configuring the timing duration of the timer to the relay UE.

Wherein, in one embodiment of the disclosure, the timer is mainly used for: when the relay UE receives the first message sent by the remote UE, the relay UE does not immediately enter the active state, but delays entering the active state based on the timing duration of the timer.

Specifically, as can be seen from the foregoing, the relay UE enters the active state to monitor SL between the remote UE and the relay UE, so as to ensure that the relay UE can successfully receive the message sent by the remote UE, thereby enabling the relay UE to successfully perform a relay function between the remote UE and the network device, and ensuring that a specific process requested by the remote UE can be successfully performed.

In summary, in the method for determining an activation state provided in the present disclosure, the network device configures a timing duration of a timer to the relay UE, so that the relay UE may determine a start time of an activation state of the relay UE based on the timing duration of the timer, and at the same time, the relay UE may determine a stop time of the activation state of the relay UE. In the present disclosure, when the remote UE requests a specific procedure, the relay UE enters an active state, and when the execution of the specific procedure requested by the remote UE is completed or is refused to be executed, the relay UE stops the active state. The relay UE is ensured to be in an activated state in the whole process of the specific flow requested by the remote UE, so that the condition that the specific flow requested by the remote UE is not completed yet and the relay UE enters the SL DRX sleep state is avoided, the on-time execution of the specific flow requested by the remote UE is ensured, the delay of the specific flow is avoided, and the communication stability of SL is ensured.

Fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the disclosure, where, as shown in fig. 8, the device may include:

In summary, in the communication device provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure, in response to the relay UE receiving the first message sent by the remote UE, the relay UE enters an active state to monitor SL between the remote UE and the relay UE; the first message is used for requesting a specific flow or transmitting in a first transmission mode; in response to a specific condition being met, the relay UE ceases to activate state; the specific condition includes any one of the specific flow being executed, the specific flow being refused to be executed, the relay UE transmitting the message through the first transmission scheme, and the relay UE transmitting the message through the second transmission scheme. In the disclosure, when the relay UE receives a first message sent by the remote UE and used for requesting a specific flow or transmitting the first message in a first transmission mode, it is indicated that the remote UE requests the specific flow from the relay UE; when the relay UE transmits a message in a first transmission mode, the specific flow of the remote UE request is refused to be executed; when the relay UE transmits the message through the second transmission mode, it is indicated that the execution of the specific procedure requested by the remote UE is completed. As can be seen from this disclosure, when the remote UE requests a specific procedure, the relay UE enters an active state, and when the execution of the specific procedure requested by the remote UE is completed or is refused to be executed, the relay UE stops the active state. The relay UE is ensured to be in an activated state in the whole process of the specific flow requested by the remote UE, so that the condition that the specific flow requested by the remote UE is not completed yet and the relay UE enters the SL DRX sleep state is avoided, the on-time execution of the specific flow requested by the remote UE is ensured, the delay of the specific flow is avoided, and the communication stability of SL is ensured.

Optionally, in one embodiment of the disclosure, the specific flow includes at least one of:

a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection establishment procedure;

an RRC connection recovery procedure;

RRC connection reestablishment procedure.

Optionally, in one embodiment of the disclosure, the processing module is further configured to:

Optionally, in one embodiment of the disclosure, the processing module further includes:

starting a timer after receiving the first message;

In response to the timer expiring, the relay UE enters an active state.

Optionally, in one embodiment of the disclosure, the apparatus is further configured to:

Optionally, in an embodiment of the disclosure, the second message is transmitted through a second transmission manner or is used to indicate that the specific flow is performed.

Optionally, in an embodiment of the disclosure, the third message is transmitted through a first transmission manner or is used to indicate that the specific procedure is refused to be performed.

Optionally, in one embodiment of the disclosure, the first transmission mode includes at least one of:

transmitting through a first bearer;

Transmitting over a particular logical channel;

RLC transmissions are controlled over the first radio link.

Optionally, in one embodiment of the disclosure, the second transmission mode includes at least one of:

Transmitting through a second bearer;

Transmitting over a particular logical channel;

Transmitted over the second RLC.

Optionally, in one embodiment of the disclosure, the first message for requesting a specific flow includes at least one of:

An RRC setup request message;

An RRC resume request message;

RRC reestablishment request message.

Optionally, in one embodiment of the disclosure, the second message for indicating that the specific flow is performed includes at least one of:

RRC setup complete message;

RRC resume complete message;

RRC reestablishment complete message.

Optionally, in one embodiment of the disclosure, the third message for indicating that the specific procedure is refused to be performed includes an RRC refusal message.

Optionally, in one embodiment of the disclosure, the first bearer includes a signaling radio bearer SRB0; the first RLC includes SL-RLC0.

Optionally, in one embodiment of the disclosure, the second bearer includes SRB1; the second RLC includes SL-RLC1.

Fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the disclosure, where, as shown in fig. 9, the device may include:

In summary, in the communication apparatus provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure, the network device configures the timing duration of the timer to the relay UE, so that the relay UE may determine the start time of the active state based on the timing duration of the timer, and at the same time, the relay UE may also determine the stop time of the active state. In the present disclosure, when the remote UE requests a specific procedure, the relay UE enters an active state, and when the execution of the specific procedure requested by the remote UE is completed or is refused to be executed, the relay UE stops the active state. The relay UE is ensured to be in an activated state in the whole process of the specific flow requested by the remote UE, so that the condition that the specific flow requested by the remote UE is not completed yet and the relay UE enters the SL DRX sleep state is avoided, the on-time execution of the specific flow requested by the remote UE is ensured, the delay of the specific flow is avoided, and the communication stability of SL is ensured.

Referring to fig. 10, fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 1000 according to an embodiment of the application. The communication device 1000 may be a network device, a terminal device, a chip system, a processor, or the like that supports the network device to implement the above method, or a chip, a chip system, a processor, or the like that supports the terminal device to implement the above method. The device can be used for realizing the method described in the method embodiment, and can be particularly referred to the description in the method embodiment.

The communications device 1000 may include one or more processors 1001. The processor 1001 may be a general purpose processor or a special purpose processor, or the like. For example, a baseband processor or a central processing unit. The baseband processor may be used to process communication protocols and communication data, and the central processor may be used to control communication devices (e.g., base stations, baseband chips, terminal equipment chips, DUs or CUs, etc.), execute computer programs, and process data of the computer programs.

Optionally, the communication device 1000 may further include one or more memories 1002, on which a computer program 1004 may be stored, and the processor 1001 executes the computer program 1004, so that the communication device 1000 performs the method described in the above method embodiments. Optionally, the memory 1002 may also store data. The communication device 1000 and the memory 1002 may be provided separately or may be integrated.

Optionally, the communication device 1000 may further comprise a transceiver 1005, an antenna 1006. The transceiver 1005 may be referred to as a transceiver unit, a transceiver circuit, or the like, for implementing a transceiver function. The transceiver 1005 may include a receiver, which may be referred to as a receiver or a receiving circuit, etc., for implementing a receiving function, and a transmitter; the transmitter may be referred to as a transmitter or a transmitting circuit, etc., for implementing a transmitting function.

Optionally, one or more interface circuits 1007 may also be included in the communications apparatus 1000. The interface circuit 1007 is used to receive code instructions and transmit them to the processor 1001. The processor 1001 executes the code instructions to cause the communication device 1000 to perform the method described in the method embodiments described above.

In one implementation, a transceiver for implementing the receive and transmit functions may be included in the processor 1001. For example, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit, or an interface circuit. The transceiver circuitry, interface or interface circuitry for implementing the receive and transmit functions may be separate or may be integrated. The transceiver circuit, interface or interface circuit may be used for reading and writing codes/data, or the transceiver circuit, interface or interface circuit may be used for transmitting or transferring signals.

In one implementation, the processor 1001 may store a computer program 1003, where the computer program 1003 runs on the processor 1001, and may cause the communication device 1000 to execute the method described in the above method embodiment. The computer program 1003 may be solidified in the processor 1001, in which case the processor 1001 may be implemented by hardware.

In one implementation, the communications apparatus 1000 can include circuitry that can implement the functions of transmitting or receiving or communicating in the foregoing method embodiments. The processors and transceivers described in this disclosure may be implemented on integrated circuits (INTEGRATED CIRCUIT, ICs), analog ICs, radio frequency integrated circuits RFICs, mixed signal ICs, application SPECIFIC INTEGRATED Circuits (ASICs), printed circuit boards (printed circuit board, PCBs), electronic devices, and the like. The processor and transceiver may also be fabricated using a variety of IC process technologies such as complementary metal oxide semiconductor (complementary metal oxide semiconductor, CMOS), N-type metal oxide semiconductor (NMOS), P-type metal oxide semiconductor (PMOS), bipolar junction transistor (bipolar junction transistor, BJT), bipolar CMOS (BiCMOS), silicon germanium (SiGe), gallium arsenide (GaAs), etc.

The communication apparatus described in the above embodiment may be a network device or a terminal device, but the scope of the communication apparatus described in the present application is not limited thereto, and the structure of the communication apparatus may not be limited by fig. 10. The communication means may be a stand-alone device or may be part of a larger device. For example, the communication device may be:

(1) A stand-alone integrated circuit IC, or chip, or a system-on-a-chip or subsystem;

(2) A set of one or more ICs, optionally including storage means for storing data, a computer program;

(3) An ASIC, such as a Modem (Modem);

(4) Modules that may be embedded within other devices;

(5) A receiver, a terminal device, an intelligent terminal device, a cellular phone, a wireless device, a handset, a mobile unit, a vehicle-mounted device, a network device, a cloud device, an artificial intelligent device, and the like;

(6) Others, and so on.

For the case where the communication device may be a chip or a chip system, reference may be made to the schematic structural diagram of the chip shown in fig. 11. The chip shown in fig. 11 includes a processor 1101 and an interface 1102. Wherein the number of processors 1101 may be one or more, and the number of interfaces 1102 may be a plurality.

Optionally, the chip further comprises a memory 1103, the memory 1103 being used for storing the necessary computer programs and data.

Those of skill in the art will further appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks (illustrative logical block) and steps (steps) described in connection with the embodiments of the application may be implemented by electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design requirements of the overall system. Those skilled in the art may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation is not to be understood as beyond the scope of the embodiments of the present application.

The application also provides a readable storage medium having stored thereon instructions which when executed by a computer perform the functions of any of the method embodiments described above.

The application also provides a computer program product which, when executed by a computer, implements the functions of any of the method embodiments described above.

In the above embodiments, it may be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product comprises one or more computer programs. When the computer program is loaded and executed on a computer, the flow or functions according to the embodiments of the present application are fully or partially produced. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable apparatus. The computer program may be stored in or transmitted from one computer readable storage medium to another, for example, by wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (digital subscriber line, DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) means from one website, computer, server, or data center. 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 an integration of one or more available media. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., a high-density digital video disc (digital video disc, DVD)), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., a solid-state disk (solid-state drive STATE DISK, SSD)), or the like.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that: the first, second, etc. numbers referred to in the present application are merely for convenience of description and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application, but also to indicate the sequence.

At least one of the present application may also be described as one or more, and a plurality may be two, three, four or more, and the present application is not limited thereto. In the embodiment of the application, for a technical feature, the technical features of the technical feature are distinguished by a first, a second, a third, a, B, a C, a D and the like, and the technical features described by the first, the second, the third, the a, the B, the C, the D are not in sequence or in order of magnitude.

The correspondence relation shown in each table in the application can be configured or predefined. The values of the information in each table are merely examples, and may be configured as other values, and the present application is not limited thereto. In the case of the correspondence between the configuration information and each parameter, it is not necessarily required to configure all the correspondence shown in each table. For example, in the table of the present application, the correspondence relation shown by some rows may not be configured. For another example, appropriate morphing adjustments, e.g., splitting, merging, etc., may be made based on the tables described above. The names of the parameters indicated in the tables may be other names which are understood by the communication device, and the values or expressions of the parameters may be other values or expressions which are understood by the communication device. When the tables are implemented, other data structures may be used, for example, an array, a queue, a container, a stack, a linear table, a pointer, a linked list, a tree, a graph, a structure, a class, a heap, a hash table, or a hash table.

Predefined in the present application may be understood as defining, predefining, storing, pre-negotiating, pre-configuring, curing, or pre-sintering.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, or combinations of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the solution. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application.

It will be clear to those skilled in the art that, for convenience and brevity of description, specific working procedures of the above-described systems, apparatuses and units may refer to corresponding procedures in the foregoing method embodiments, and are not repeated herein.

The foregoing is merely illustrative of the present application, and the present application is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art will readily recognize that variations or substitutions are within the scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

An activation state determination method, characterized in that the method is performed by a relay user equipment UE, comprising:

In response to receiving a first message sent by a remote UE, the relay UE enters an active state to monitor a side uplink SL between the remote UE and the relay UE; the first message is used for requesting a specific flow or transmitting in a first transmission mode;

In response to a specific condition being met, the relay UE ceases to activate state; the specific condition includes any one of the specific flow execution completion, the specific flow refused to be executed, the relay UE transmitting the message through the first transmission mode, and the relay UE transmitting the message through the second transmission mode.
The method of claim 1, wherein the particular procedure comprises at least one of:

a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection establishment procedure;

an RRC connection recovery procedure;

RRC connection reestablishment procedure.
The method of claim 1, wherein the relay UE entering an active state comprises:

upon receiving the first message, the relay UE immediately enters an active state.
The method of claim 1, wherein the relay UE entering an active state comprises:

starting a timer after receiving the first message;

In response to the timer expiring, the relay UE enters an active state.
The method of claim 4, wherein the method further comprises:

And receiving the timing duration configured by the network equipment for the timer.
The method of claim 1, wherein the relay UE ceases to be active, comprising any one of:

responding to the relay UE to receive a second message sent by the remote UE, and stopping the activation state by the relay UE;

and in response to the relay UE sending a third message to the remote UE, the relay UE halts the activation state.
The method of claim 6, wherein the second message is transmitted via a second transmission means or is used to indicate that the particular procedure execution is complete.
The method of claim 6, wherein the third message is transmitted via a first transmission means or is used to indicate that the particular procedure is denied execution.
The method of claim 1 or 8, wherein the first transmission means comprises at least one of:

transmitting through a first bearer;

Transmitting over a particular logical channel;

RLC transmissions are controlled over the first radio link.
The method of claim 7, wherein the second transmission means comprises at least one of:

Transmitting through a second bearer;

Transmitting over a particular logical channel;

Transmitted over the second RLC.
The method of claim 1, wherein the first message requesting a particular flow comprises at least one of:

An RRC setup request message;

An RRC resume request message;

RRC reestablishment request message.
The method of claim 7, wherein the second message indicating that the particular procedure execution is complete comprises at least one of:

RRC setup complete message;

RRC resume complete message;

RRC reestablishment complete message.
The method of claim 8, wherein the third message indicating that the particular procedure is denied execution comprises an RRC reject message.
The method of claim 9, wherein the first bearer comprises a signaling radio bearer, SRB0; the first RLC includes SL-RLC0.
The method of claim 10, wherein the second bearer comprises SRB1; the second RLC includes SL-RLC1.
A method of activation state determination, the method performed by a network device, comprising:

The timing duration of the timer is configured to the relay UE.
A communication apparatus configured in a relay UE, comprising:

The processing module is used for responding to the received first message sent by the remote UE, and the relay UE enters an activated state so as to monitor a side uplink SL between the remote UE and the relay UE; the first message is used for requesting a specific flow or transmitting in a first transmission mode;

The processing module is further configured to, in response to a specific condition being satisfied, deactivate the relay UE; the specific condition includes any one of the specific flow execution completion, the specific flow refused to be executed, the relay UE transmitting the message through the first transmission mode, and the relay UE transmitting the message through the second transmission mode.
A communication apparatus configured in a network device, comprising:

And the receiving and transmitting module is used for configuring the timing duration of the timer to the relay UE.
A communication device, characterized in that the device comprises a processor and a memory, wherein the memory has stored therein a computer program, which processor executes the computer program stored in the memory to cause the device to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 15, or which processor executes the computer program stored in the memory to cause the device to perform the method according to claim 16.
A communication device, comprising: processor and interface circuit, wherein

The interface circuit is used for receiving code instructions and transmitting the code instructions to the processor;

The processor for executing the code instructions to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 15 or for executing the code instructions to perform the method of claim 16.
A computer readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed, cause the method of any one of claims 1 to 15 to be implemented, or which, when executed, cause the method of claim 16 to be implemented.