Communications device, infrastructure equipment, and methods

Circuitry for a communications device, comprising

• transmitter circuitry configured to transmit signals to one or more other communications devices via a wireless access interface in accordance with a device-to-device communications protocol 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;
• receiver circuitry configured to receive signals from the one or more other communications devices via the wireless access interface in accordance with the device-to-device communications protocol 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
• controller circuitry for controlling the transmitter circuitry and the receiver circuitry 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 circuitry and the receiver circuitry are configured with the controller circuitry to
• receive the signals representing data transmitted by an out-of-coverage communications device which is not able to transmit signals to the infrastructure;
• transmit the signals representing the data received from the out-of-coverage communications device to the infrastructure equipment, or
• receive the signals from the infrastructure equipment representing the data for the out-of-coverage communications device, and
• transmit the signals to the out-of-coverage communications device, the communications device acting as an active relay node for the out-of-coverage communications device, wherein the signals received by the receiver from the out-of-coverage communications device and the signals transmitted by the communications device to the out-of-coverage communications device have been transmitted via predetermined communications resources of the wireless access interface according to the device-to-device communications protocol, the signals transmitted by the out-of-coverage communications device and the communications device including an identifier which identifies the signals to the communications device.

Circuitry for a communications device, comprising

• transmitter circuitry configured to transmit signals to one or more other communications devices via a wireless access interface in accordance with a device-to-device communications protocol 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,
• receiver circuitry configured to receive signals from the one or more other communications devices via the wireless access interface in accordance with the device-to-device communications protocol 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
• controller circuitry for controlling the transmitter circuitry and the receiver circuitry 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 circuitry and the receiver circuitry are configured with the controller circuitry to
• receive the signals representing data transmitted by an out-of-coverage communications device which is not able to transmit signals to the infrastructure,
• measure a signal strength of one or more signals transmitted by the out-of-coverage communications device, and
• transmit an indication of the measured signal strength to the infrastructure equipment, wherein the signals received by the receiver from the out-of-coverage communications device and the signals transmitted by the communications device to the out-of-coverage communications device have been transmitted via predetermined communications resources of the wireless access interface according to the device-to-device communications protocol, and the signals can be received by one or more other in-coverage communications devices, which, with the out-of-coverage communications device and the communications device form a group of communications devices which communicate using the device-to-device communications protocol, and subject to predetermined conditions, to receive from the infrastructure equipment an indication that the communications device is to act as an active relay node for the out-of-coverage communications device.