Electronic devices with adaptive device-to-device communication switching

Abstract

A communications network may include a relay device that receives device-to-device (D2D) signals. In an ad hoc mode, the relay may consume relatively little power while receiving relatively few messages from relatively few transmitting devices in the D2D signals. In an organized mode, the device may consume relatively high power while receiving many messages from many transmitting devices in the D2D signals. A receiver on the device may transition from the ad hoc mode to the organized mode in response to a first criterion and may transition from the organized mode to the ad hoc mode in response to a second switching criterion. This may allow the device to balance communications load and power consumption while relaying messages such as emergency messages received over D2D signals given that the signals may arrive rarely or in clusters due to an unforeseen event.