Method, device and non-transistory machine-readable medium for Non-Internet Protocol traffic communication by User-Equipment-to User-Equipment relay

A network device in a communication network, comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a memory communicatively coupled to the processor and adapted to store instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the network device to:
• receive a first Direct Communication Request from a source User Equipment, UE, the first Direct Communication request indicating the establishment of a Non-Internet Protocol, Non-IP, communication link with the source UE, the first Direct Communication Request including a first source UE identifier for the source UE and a first target UE identifier for a target UE;
• generate a first relay identifier for the relay used in the Non-IP communication link between the source UE and the target UE;
• maintain a mapping between the first relay identifier, the first source UE identifier, and the first target UE identifier;
• receive a Non-IP traffic packet from the source UE, including the first relay identifier as a destination identifier;
• and
• forward the Non-IP traffic packet to the target UE based on the mapping between the first relay identifier and the first source UE identifier and the first target UE identifier, wherein the Non-IP traffic is not IP encapsulated.

A non-transitory machine-readable medium having a computer program stored thereon, which when executed by a set of one or more processors of a network device, causes the network device to:

• receive a first Direct Communication Request from a source User Equipment, UE, the first Direct Communication request indicating the establishment of a Non-Internet Protocol, Non-IP, communication link with the source UE, the first Direct Communication Request including a first source UE identifier for the source UE and a first target UE identifier for a target UE;
• generate a first relay identifier for the relay used in the Non-IP communication link between the source UE and the target UE;
• maintain a mapping between the first relay identifier, the first source UE identifier, and the first target UE identifier;
• receive a Non-IP traffic packet from the source UE, including the first relay identifier as a destination identifier;
• and
• forward the Non-IP traffic packet to the target UE based on the mapping between the first relay identifier and the first source UE identifier and the first target UE identifier, wherein the Non-IP traffic is not IP encapsulated.