Selection between cellular communication link and device-to-device (D2D) communication link for communication between user equipment (UE) devices

A transmitting user equipment (UE) device comprising:

• a receiver to receive cellular channel characteristic information from a base station, the cellular channel characteristic information indicative of at least a portion of a cellular communication link through the base station and between the transmitting UE device and a receiving UE device, the receiver to receive a device-to-device (D2D) signal from the receiving UE device over a D2D channel;
• a controller to determine, based on the D2D signal, D2D channel characteristic information indicative of a D2D communication link between the transmitting UE device and the receiving UE device, the controller to select a transmission link from the cellular communication link and the D2D communication link for transmitting data from the transmitting UE device to the receiving UE device, the controller selecting the transmission link based at least in part on the cellular channel characteristic information and the D2D channel characteristic information.

A transmitting user equipment (UE) device comprising:

• a receiver to receive power control information from a base station and to receive a device-to-device (D2D) signal from a receiving UE device over a D2D channel;
• a controller to determine, based on the power control information, cellular channel characteristic information indicative of at least a portion of a cellular communication link through the base station and between the transmitting UE device and a receiving UE device, the controller to determine, based on the D2D signal, D2D channel characteristic information indicative of a D2D communication link between the transmitting UE device and the receiving UE device, the controller to select a transmission link from the cellular communication link and the D2D communication link for transmitting data from the transmitting UE device to the receiving UE device, the controller selecting the transmission link based at least in part on the cellular channel characteristic information and the D2D channel characteristic information.