Electronic apparatus, information processing device and information processing method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10715993-B2
Application number	US-201716302673-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 20, 2017
Priority date	May 19, 2016
Publication date	Jul 14, 2020
Grant date	Jul 14, 2020

Abstract

An electronic apparatus used on a user equipment side includes a processing circuit. The processing circuit is configured to select the mode of the relay discovery process of user equipment. In the relay discovery process, the mode determines whether the user equipment, when acting as a relay device, discovers a relayed device or is discovered by a relayed device, or whether the user equipment, when acting as a relayed device, discovers a relay device or is discovered by a relay device. After a connection is established between the relay device and the relayed device, the relayed device obtains a communication service via the relay device by means of a proximity service communication. The processing circuit is further configured to perform control, so that the user equipment carries out the relay discovery process according to the selected mode.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An electronic device for user equipment side, comprising:
a processing circuitry configured to:
select a mode of a relay discovering process of a user equipment, wherein the mode determines, in the relay discovering process, whether to discover a remote device or to be discovered by the remote device when the user equipment serves as a relay device, or whether to discover the relay device or to be discovered by the relay device when the user equipment serves as the remote device, wherein after a connection is established between the relay device and the remote device, the remote device obtains a communication service via the relay device through a Proximity-based Service communication; and
control the user equipment to perform the relay discovering process in accordance with the selected mode and to receive a signal from a base station,
wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to select the mode according to a result from a detection of discovery signals from other user equipment and according to a reception of an indication of the mode from a base station, and
wherein the detection and the selection are performed individually for each carrier configured for the Proximity-based Service communication, and wherein the user equipment pre-selects the discovery mode for each configured carrier.

2. The electronic device according to claim 1 , wherein the mode is selected from a first mode and a second mode:
in the first mode, a first discovery signal is transmitted by the relay device, a response to the first discovery signal is made by the remote device intended to establish a connection with the relay device; and
in the second mode, a second discovery signal is transmitted by the remote device, a response to the second discovery signal is made by the relay device intended to establish a connection with the remote device.

3. The electronic device according to claim 2 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: control the user equipment to detect the first discovery signal in a case where the user equipment serves as the remote device; and
the selection comprises: selecting the first mode if an intensity of the first discovery signal is higher than a first threshold.

4. The electronic device according to claim 2 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: control the user equipment to detect the second discovery signal in a case where the user equipment serves as the relay device; and
the selection comprises: selecting the second mode if an intensity of the second discovery signal is higher than a second threshold.

5. The electronic device according to claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to control the user equipment to transmit information indicating a position of the user equipment to the base station, and
the mode indicated by the base station is determined by the base station according to relay discovering modes of user equipments in a predetermined area where the user equipment lies.

6. The electronic device according to claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: in a case where the mode has been selected,
control the user equipment to detect discovery signals from other user equipments; and
switch the selection of the mode according to a variation of the discovery signals from other user equipments.

7. The electronic device according to claim 2 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:
control the user equipment to detect the intensity of the second discovery signal in a case where the first mode has been selected and the user equipment serves as the relay device; and
switch to the second mode if the intensity of the second discovery signal is higher than a third threshold and an increasing rate of the intensity of the second discovery signal is greater than a fourth threshold.

8. The electronic device according to claim 2 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:
control the user equipment to detect the intensity of the second discovery signal in a case where the second mode has been selected and the user equipment serves as the relay device; and
switch to the first mode if the intensity of the second discovery signal is lower than a fifth threshold and a decreasing rate of the intensity of the second discovery signal is greater than a sixth threshold.

9. The electronic device according to claim 2 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:
control the user equipment to detect the intensity of the first discovery signal in a case where the first mode has been selected and the user equipment serves as the remote device; and
switch to the second mode if the intensity of the first discovery signal is lower than a seventh threshold and a decreasing rate of the intensity of the first discovery signal is greater than an eighth threshold.

10. The electronic device according to claim 2 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:
control the user equipment to detect the intensity of the first discovery signal in a case where the second mode has been selected and the user equipment serves as the remote device; and
switch to the first mode if the intensity of the first discovery signal is higher than a ninth threshold and an increasing rate of the intensity of the first discovery signal is greater than a tenth threshold.

11. The electronic device according to claim 5 , wherein the switching of the mode is performed only if a switching condition is satisfied continuously over a predetermined hysteresis time.

12. The electronic device according to claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: in a case where a relay connection has been established, adjust a parameter for relay discovering according to a communication quality of the relay connection.

13. The electronic device according to claim 12 , wherein the communication quality comprises a PC5 link quality between the relay device and the remote device, and/or
wherein the parameter comprises a transmission period of a relay discovery signal.

14. The electronic device according to claim 12 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to: in a case where two or more relay connections have been established, adjust the parameter according to an average communication quality of the two or more relay connections.

15. An information processing method for user equipment side, comprising:
selecting a mode of a relay discovering process of a user equipment, wherein the mode determines, in the relay discovering process, whether to discover a remote device or to be discovered by the remote device when the user equipment serves as a relay device, or whether to discover the relay device or to be discovered by the relay device when the user equipment serves as the remote device, wherein after a connection is established between the relay device and the remote device, the remote device obtains a communication service via the relay device through a Proximity-based Service communication; and
performing the relay discovering process in accordance with the selected mode and receiving a signal from a base station,
wherein the mode is selected according to a result from a detection of discovery signals from other user equipment and according to a reception of an indication of the mode from a base station, and
wherein the detection and the selection are performed individually for each carrier configured for the Proximity-based Service communication, and wherein the user equipment pre-selects the discovery mode for each configured carrier.

Assignees

• Sony Corp

Inventors

• Xu Xiaodong
• Xiao Yunqiu
• Zhang Yi
• Hu Bingshan

Classifications

• H04L67/51

  Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services · CPC title

• Y02D30/70

  in wireless communication networks · CPC title

• H04W4/00

  Services specially adapted for wireless communication networks; Facilities therefor · CPC title

• H04W8/005 Primary

  Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals · CPC title

• H04W88/04

  adapted for relaying to or from another terminal or user · CPC title