MULTI-HOP CONNECTION ESTABLISHMENT BETWEEN D2D DEVICE OF ESTABLISHED D2D NETWORK AND NOT CONNECTED D2D DEVICE

摘要

A communication network for Device-to-Device (D2D) communications via at least one intermediate D2D communication device of the D2D communication network is described. A method is performed by the D2D communication device that includes receiving, from the at least one intermediate D2D communication device, a broadcast type message comprising an identifier of the another D2D communication device. A determination is made, based on the received identifier, whether to connect to the another D2D communication device. A unicast type message comprising the received identifier is sent to the at least one intermediate D2D communication device for connecting the D2D communication device and the D2D communication device to one another. These operations may allow the connection establishment to be performed in a robust, easy, efficient and energy-efficient way.