Communications device, infrastructure equipment, mobile communications network and methods

A communications device, comprising

• a transmitter configured to transmit signals to one or more other communications devices via a wireless access interface to perform device-to-device communications and to transmit signals via the wireless access interface to an infrastructure equipment of a mobile communications network when within a radio coverage area of the infrastructure equipment,
• a receiver configured to receive signals from the one or more other communications devices via the wireless access interface and to receive signals via the wireless access interface from the infrastructure equipment of the mobile communications network when within the radio coverage area of the infrastructure equipment, and
• a controller for controlling the transmitter and the receiver to transmit or to receive the signals via the wireless access interface to transmit or to receive data represented by the signals, and the transmitter and the receiver are configured with the controller
• to receive an indication that the communications device is an in-coverage communications device to act as a target relay node for an out-of-coverage communications device,
• to receive signals representing up-link data from an out-of-coverage communications device in accordance with a device to device communications for the infrastructure equipment of the mobile communications network, and
• to transmit signals representing the up-link data to infrastructure equipment, or
• to receive signals representing down-link data from the infrastructure equipment, and
• to transmit signals representing the down-link data to the out-of-coverage communications device in accordance with a device to device communications.

A communications device, comprising

• a transmitter configured to transmit signals to one or more other communications devices via a wireless access interface to perform device-to-device communications and to transmit signals via the wireless access interface to an infrastructure equipment of a mobile communications network when within a radio coverage area of the infrastructure equipment,
• a receiver configured to receive signals from the one or more other communications devices via the wireless access interface and to receive signals via the wireless access interface from the infrastructure equipment of the mobile communications network when within the radio coverage area of the infrastructure equipment, and
• a controller for controlling the transmitter and the receiver to transmit or to receive the signals via the wireless access interface to transmit or to receive data represented by the signals, and the transmitter and the receiver are configured with the controller
• to receive signals representing up-link data from an out-of-coverage communications device in accordance with a device to device communications for the infrastructure equipment of the mobile communications network, and
• to transmit signals representing the up-link data to infrastructure equipment, or
• to receive signals representing down-link data from the infrastructure equipment, and
• to transmit signals representing the down-link data to the out-of-coverage communications device in accordance with a device to device communications to act as a source relay to the out-of-coverage communications device,
• subject to predetermined conditions, to transmit a request to one or more other in-coverage communications devices or the infrastructure equipment to transmit a beacon signal to the out-of-coverage communications device, so that, based upon a signal quality of the beacon signal received from the one or more other in-coverage communications devices, one of the one or more other in-coverage communications devices can be selected to act as a target relay for the out-of-coverage communications device.

A method of transmitting data from a communications device to an infrastructure equipment of a mobile communications network or receiving data from an infrastructure equipment by a communications device, the method comprising

• subject to predetermined conditions,
• receiving one or more beacon signals from one or more in-coverage communications devices which can act as a relay node for the communications device when out-of-coverage so that the receiver cannot receive the signals from the infrastructure equipment or transmit the signals to the infrastructure equipment, or
• transmitting a beacon signal to the one or more other in-coverage communications devices which can act as a relay node for the communications device when out-of-coverage, and
• transmitting the signals representing the data to one of the other in-coverage communications devices to act as a target relay node for transmitting the data to the infrastructure equipment, or
• receiving the signals representing the data from one of the other in-coverage communications devices acting as a target relay node which have been received from the infrastructure equipment.