Detailed Description
The subject matter described herein will now be discussed with reference to several exemplary embodiments. It should be understood that these embodiments are discussed only for the purpose of enabling those skilled in the art to better understand and thereby implement the subject matter described herein, and do not set forth any limitations on the scope of the subject matter.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises," "comprising," "includes" and/or "including," when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
It should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, the functions/acts noted may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two functions or acts shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the functions/acts may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality/acts involved.
As used herein, the term "communication network" refers to a network that conforms to any suitable communication standard, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-advanced (LTE-a), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), and the like. Further, communication between the terminal device and the network devices in the communication network may be performed according to any suitable generation communication protocol, including but not limited to first generation (1G), second generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G), 4.5G, future fifth generation (5G) communication protocols, and/or any other protocol currently known or to be developed in the future.
Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied to various communication systems. Given the rapid development of communications, there will, of course, also be future types of communication techniques and systems that may embody the present disclosure. The scope of the present disclosure should not be limited to only the above-described systems. For purposes of illustration, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to a 5G communication system.
The term "network device" as used herein includes, but is not limited to, Base Stations (BSs), gateways, registration management entities, and other suitable devices in a communication system. The term "base station" or "BS" denotes a node B (NodeB or NB), evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB), NR NB (also known as gbb), Remote Radio Unit (RRU), Radio Header (RH), Remote Radio Head (RRH), relay, low power node (e.g., femto, pico, etc.).
The term "terminal device" as used herein includes, but is not limited to, "User Equipment (UE)" and other suitable terminal devices capable of communicating with a network device. For example, the "terminal device" may refer to a terminal, a Mobile Terminal (MT), a Subscriber Station (SS), a portable subscriber station, a Mobile Station (MS), or an Access Terminal (AT).
The term "circuitry" as used herein may refer to one or more or all of the following:
(a) a purely hardware circuit implementation (such as an implementation in analog and/or digital circuitry only), and
(b) a combination of hardware circuitry and software, such as (as applicable):
(i) combinations of analog and/or digital hardware circuitry and software/firmware, and
(ii) a hardware processor (including a digital signal processor) with software, any portions of software and memory that work together to cause a device such as a mobile phone or server to perform various functions, and
(c) hardware circuitry and/or a processor, such as a microprocessor or a portion of a microprocessor, that requires software (e.g., firmware) to operate but may not exist when operation is not required.
This definition of "circuitry" applies to all uses of the term in this application, including in any claims. As another example, as used in this application, the term "circuitry" also encompasses only a portion of an implementation of a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware. The term "circuitry" also encompasses (e.g., and where applicable to the particular claim element (s)) a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in a server, a cellular network device, or other computing or network device. .
As described above, V2X has been proposed. In Long Term Evolution (LTE) V2X release 14/15, sidelink transmission operates in a broadcast mode from a physical layer perspective, which is the broadcast requirement of basic road security services based on the target V2X traffic type. In NR V2X, a wider variety of V2X traffic types and a large number of advanced V2X use cases, such as vehicle squadrons, extended sensors, advanced driving, and remote driving, can be supported. These different sidelink transmissions may include broadcast, multicast, and unicast transmissions. Due to the newly introduced unicast and multicast transmission of the V2X sidelink, how to effectively support unicast/multicast, especially in terms of resource allocation, needs to be studied.
There is much discussion regarding NR V2X side chain communication. It has been agreed to define at least two resource allocation modes (i.e., mode 1 and mode 2), and for mode 2, four sub-modes are also defined, including modes 2a, 2b, 2c, and 2 d. Specifically, in mode 1, the base station schedules sidelink resources for the terminal device by dynamic scheduling (i.e., through physical layer Downlink Control Information (DCI) signaling) or semi-static scheduling (i.e., resource configuration through Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling and activation/release by DCI). In mode 2c, the terminal device is allocated resources with similar type 1NR configuration grants for sidelink transmissions, i.e. resource configuration and activation/release (if any) is performed by RRC signalling.
Within NR network coverage, the network may configure dedicated resource pools for V2X side link unicast/multicast transmissions. To avoid the heavy signaling burden of dynamic scheduling, semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) of mode 1 or mode 2c may be used to deliver "configured sidelink grants" for V2X unicast/multicast sidelink transmissions (note that SPS mode 1 and sub-mode 2c are similar to type 2 and type 1NR configured UL grants, respectively). That is, some dedicated resource pools are configured by the base station with RRC signals for unicast/multicast sidelink transmissions, and the activation/release of resource pools is done by the base station with physical layer DCI signals (SPS mode 1) or higher layer RRC signals (mode 2 c).
However, there are some technical problems to be solved. For example, how to allocate resources in the resource pool to sidelink transmission to avoid collisions still needs to be resolved.
According to embodiments of the present disclosure, a new scheme for allocating resources to sidelink transmissions is provided. Each terminal device is assigned a channel access opportunity specific to the terminal device. The amount of resources allocated to the terminal devices is adjusted based on the amount of traffic of the sidelink between the terminal devices. In this way, collisions are avoided and traffic variations are accommodated.
Fig. 1 shows a schematic diagram of acommunication system 100 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented.Communication system 100, which is part of a communication network, includes terminal device 110-1, terminal devices 110-2, a. (collectively, "terminal device(s) 110", where N is an integer), terminal device 110-N, andnetwork device 120. It should be noted thatcommunication system 100 may also include other elements that are omitted for clarity.Network device 120 may communicate withterminal device 110. It should be understood that the number of terminal devices and network devices shown in fig. 1 is given for illustrative purposes and does not imply any limitation.Communication system 100 may include any suitable number of network devices and terminal devices. As shown in fig. 1, terminal device 110-2, and terminal device 110-3 may communicate with each other through a sidelink. For example, terminal device 110-1 may communicate with terminal device 110-2 via a unicast side link. End device 110-1 may communicate with end device 110-2.
Communications incommunication system 100 may be implemented in accordance with any suitable communication protocol, including, but not limited to, first-generation (1G), second-generation (2G), third-generation (3G), fourth-generation (4G), and fifth-generation (5G) cellular communication protocols, wireless local network communication protocols such as Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)802.11, and/or the like, and/or any other protocol currently known or to be developed in the future. Moreover, the communication may utilize any suitable wireless communication technique including, but not limited to, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Duplex (FDD), Time Division Duplex (TDD), Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), and/or any other technique now known or later developed.
FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram ofinteractions 200 between terminal device 110-1, terminal device 110-2, andnetwork device 120, according to an embodiment of the disclosure. It should be noted that theinteraction 200 may be implemented on any suitable terminal device.
In some embodiments, terminal device 110-1 determines 205 a data transmission to terminal device 110-2. For example, terminal device 110-1 may determine that a data packet needs to be sent to terminal device 110-2 via the unicast sidelink. Alternatively, terminal device 110-1 may determine a data packet that needs to be transmitted between multiple terminal devices (e.g., terminal devices 110-2, …, terminal device 110-N). In this case, the terminal device 110-1 needs to transmit the data packet via the multicast side chain.
Terminal device 110-1 sends 210 a resource request for transmission to networkdevice 120. The resource request may include a type of transmission. For example, the resource request may indicate that the transmission is a unicast sidelink transmission or a multicast sidelink transmission. The resource request may also include the number of terminal devices in the group if the transmission type is multicast sidelink transmission. For example, if terminal device 110-1 sends a data packet to terminal device 110-2 and terminal device 110-3, the resource request may indicate that the number of terminal devices in the group is three.
In other embodiments, the resource request may also include the type of service being transmitted. For example, if terminal device 110-1 is to send an image to other terminal devices, the resource request may include that the service type is image transmission.
Alternatively or additionally, the resource request may indicate an amount of resources required for terminal device 110-1 to perform the transmission. In some embodiments, the resource request may include an accurate amount. In other embodiments, the resource request may only indicate whether the amount of required resources is large or small.
Network device 120 determines 215 a resource based on the resource request. For example,network device 120 may determine a plurality of physical resource blocks for sidelink transmissions associated with terminal device 110-1. As described above, the resource request may indicate an amount of resources required for terminal device 110-1 to perform the transmission.Network device 120 may determine resources based on the amount needed. In this way, the resources allocated to terminal device 110-1 adapt to traffic changes.
The resources may be shared by the terminal devices associated with the transmission. For example, if the transmission belongs to a unicast sidelink transmission, the resource is shared by terminal device 110-1 and terminal device 110-2. If the transmission belongs to multicast side-link transmission, the resources are shared by the terminal devices involved in multicast.
Network device 120 determines 220 a configuration of the resource. The configuration indicates a basic resource unit in the time domain and a number of basic resource units of a channel access opportunity for sidelink transmission. A basic resource unit may refer to a Time Resource Unit (TRU) of a basic time resource unit of a channel access opportunity. In some embodiments, the basic resource unit may be one slot. In other embodiments, the basic resource unit may be half of one slot. The duration of the resource unit may also be associated with the traffic volume. The network device sends 225 the configuration of the resource to the terminal device 110-1. The configuration may be transmitted via higher layer signaling, such as RRC signaling. In some embodiments, the configuration may indicate a number of consecutive basic resource units of a transmission period. For example, the configuration may indicate a Basic Resource Group (BRG) that is a set of consecutive time resource units of channel access opportunities for all relevant terminal devices. The number may be two for unicast sidelink transmission and equal to the number of end devices in the group for multicast sidelink transmission.
Fig. 3A illustrates a schematic diagram of resource configurations for unicast sidelink transmission, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in fig. 3A,resource 3010 is shared by terminal device 110-1 and terminal device 110-2. Theresource 3010 includes 12basic resource units 3020, and these 12 basic resource units are divided into 6resource groups 3030. Fig. 4A illustrates a schematic diagram of resource acknowledgement for multicast side link transmission in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 4A,resources 4010 are shared among a group of end devices, e.g., end device 110-1, end devices 110-2, …, end device 110-N. For illustrative purposes only, the number of the group of terminal devices is four, that is, the number of the terminal devices of the basic resource unit in one transmission period is four. Theresources 4010 include 12basic resource units 4020, which are divided into threeresource groups 4030.
In some embodiments, network device may send 230 the periodicity of terminal device 110-1 to terminal device 110-1. In other embodiments, the periodicity may be sent by a head terminal device in the group of terminal devices. The periodicity may be terminal device specific. The periodicity may indicate a time resource offset within the base resource group. For unicast sidelink transmission, the offset value may be 0 and/or 1. For multicast sidelink transmission, the offset value may be 0, 1, K-1, where K is the number of end devices in the group.
Terminal device 110-1 determines 235 a set of basic resource units allocated to itself as a channel access opportunity. In some embodiments, terminal device 110-1 may determine the set of basic resource units based on a periodicity and a number of consecutive basic resource units. In this way, collisions are avoided without introducing more signalling. The term "channel access opportunity" as used herein refers to a basic resource unit that a terminal device may use with one or more subsequent basic resource units for sidelink transmissions. All these basic resource units constitute a basic resource group(s).
For example, for unicast sidelink transmission, the offset of terminal device 110-1 is 0 and the number of consecutive basic resource units in one transmission cycle is 2. Thus, as shown in fig. 3B, terminal device 110-1 may determine that basic resource unit 3040-1, basic resource unit 3040-2, basic resource unit 3040-3, basic resource unit 3040-4, basic resource unit 3040-5, and basic resource unit 3040-6 are allocated to terminal device 110-1 as a channel access opportunity, which means that terminal device 110-1 may access a basic resource group starting from these basic resource units for sidelink transmission. More specifically, basic resource unit 3040-1, basic resource unit 3040-2, basic resource unit 3040-3, basic resource unit 3040-4, basic resource unit 3040-5, and basic resource unit 3040-6 are potential channel access opportunities for terminal device 110-1. For example, if terminal device 110-1 accesses a channel from basic resource unit 3040-1, terminal device 110-1 may use basic resource unit 3040-1 and basic resource unit 3050-1 for its sidelink transmissions. In this case, the basic resource unit 3040-1 and the basic resource unit 3050-1 form a basic resource group indicated by 3030. Terminal device 110-1 may use multiple contiguous sets of basic resources for its sidelink transmissions depending on the amount of sidelink data.
Similarly, terminal device 110-2 may determine that basic resource unit 3050-1, basic resource unit 3050-2, basic resource unit 3050-3, 3 basic resource unit 050-4, basic resource unit 3050-5, and basic resource unit 3050-6 are allocated to terminal device 110-2 as a channel access opportunity, meaning that terminal device 110-2 may access a basic resource set for sidelink transmission starting from these basic resource units.
As shown in fig. 3B, terminal device 110-1 may transmit control information on physical side link control channel (PSCCH)3060 using base unit resources 3040-1. Terminal device 110-2 may transmit control information on physical side link control channel (PSCCH)3070 using basic unit resources 3050-2.
For multicast side-link transmission, as shown in fig. 4B, terminal device 110-1 may determine that basic resource unit 4040-1, basic resource unit 4040-2, and basic resource unit 4040-3 are allocated to terminal device 110-1 as a channel access opportunity, which means that terminal device 110-1 may access the basic resource set starting from these basic resource units. Terminal device 110-2 may determine that basic resource unit 4050-1, basic resource unit 4050-2, and basic resource unit 4050-3 are allocated to terminal device 110-2 as a channel access opportunity, meaning that terminal device 110-2 may access the basic resource set starting from these basic resource units. Terminal device 110-3 may determine that basic resource unit 4060-1, basic resource unit 4060-2, and basic resource unit 4060-3 are allocated to terminal device 110-3 as a channel access opportunity, meaning that terminal device 110-3 may access the basic resource set starting from these basic resource units. Terminal device 110-4 may determine that basic resource unit 4070-1, basic resource unit 4070-2, and basic resource unit 4070-3 are allocated to terminal device 110-4 as a channel access opportunity, meaning that terminal device 110-4 may access the basic resource set starting from these basic resource units.
As shown in fig. 4B, terminal device 110-1 may transmit control information on physical side link control channel (PSCCH)4080 using base unit resources 4040-1. Terminal device 110-2 may transmit control information on physical side link control channel (PSCCH)4090 using base unit resource 4050-2. Terminal device 110-3 may transmit control information on physical side link control channel (PSCCH)4095 using base unit resource 4060-3.
In some embodiments, terminal device 110-1 may determine 240 whether a previous base unit was used. For example, terminal device 110-1 may determine whether the basic resource unit 3050-1 is used. Terminal device 110-1 may transmit data on a set of time resources starting at 3040-2 if basic resource unit 3050-1 is not used. For example, if the basic resource unit 3050-1 is not used, the terminal device 110-1 may transmit data on the basic time resource unit 3040-2 and the basic time resource unit 3050-2. Terminal device 110-1 may not transmit data on the set of time resources starting from 3040-2 if basic resource unit 3050-1 is used. In some embodiments, terminal device 110-1 may perform energy measurements to determine whether a previous basic resource unit was used. Alternatively, terminal device 110-1 may determine whether the previous basic resource unit was used based on the decoded sidelink control information.
Terminal device 110-1 transmits 245 data using the set of base resources(s) starting from the device-specific base resource unit. For example, as shown in fig. 3B, terminal device 110-1 may perform sidelink transmission on the basic resource group(s) starting from basic resource unit 3040-1, basic resource unit 30401-2, basic resource unit 3040-3, basic resource unit 3040-4, basic resource unit 3040-5, or basic resource unit 3040-6. As shown in fig. 4B, terminal device 110-1 may perform sidelink transmissions at a base resource group starting from base resource unit 4040-1, base resource unit 4040-2, or base resource unit 4040-3.
In some embodiments, terminal device 110-2 may send 250 feedback to terminal device 110-1. Terminal device 110-2 may transmit feedback onPSCCH 3080 using basic unit resources 3050-2 if terminal device 110-1 transmits data to terminal device 110-2 on a basic set of resources starting from basic unit resources 3040-1. Terminal device 110-1 may transmit feedback onPSCCH 3090 using basic unit resources 3040-4 if terminal device 110-2 transmits data to terminal device 110-1 on a basic resource set starting with basic unit resources 3050-2. If terminal device 110-1 transmits data to other terminal devices (e.g., terminal device 110-2, terminal device 110-3, and terminal device 110-4) on a basic set of resources starting with basic unit resource 4040-1, the other terminal devices may transmit feedback of the different PRB(s) or the same PRB(s) to terminal device 110-1.
In some embodiments, if terminal device 110-1 receives a NACK, terminal device 110-1 may retransmit 255 data on the next available basic resource unit. Note that an available basic resource unit here means that its previous basic resource unit is not used, and thus the basic resource group(s) starting from the available resource unit can be used by terminal device 110-1 for sidelink transmission. Terminal device 110-1 may perform channel sensing to determine whether the basic resource unit is unused.
In some embodiments, if the sidelink transmission for unicast mode and/or multicast mode has been completed, end device 110-1 may send 260 another request to release resources. Alternatively,network device 120 may set a timer to release the resources.
Fig. 5 shows a flow diagram of amethod 500 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.Method 500 may be implemented on any suitable terminal device.Method 500 is described as being implemented at terminal device 110-1 for purposes of illustration only.
In some embodiments, terminal device 110-1 may determine data to transmit to another terminal device (e.g., terminal device 110-2). In some embodiments, terminal device 110-1 may determine that a data packet needs to be sent to terminal device 110-2 via a unicast sidelink. Alternatively, terminal device 110-1 may determine a data packet that needs to be sent between multiple terminal devices (e.g., terminal devices 110-2, …, terminal device 110-N). In this case, the terminal device 110-1 needs to transmit the data packet via the multicast side chain.
Atblock 520, terminal device 110-1 sends a resource request tonetwork device 120 for transmission of data. The resource request may include a type of transmission. For example, the resource request may indicate that the transmission is a unicast sidelink transmission or a multicast sidelink transmission. The resource request may also include the number of terminal devices in the group if the transmission type is multicast side link transmission. For example, if terminal device 110-1 sends a data packet to terminal device 110-2 and terminal device 110-3, the resource request may indicate that the number of terminal devices in the group is three.
In other embodiments, the resource request may also include the type of service being transmitted. For example, if terminal device 110-1 is to send an image to other terminal devices, the resource request may include that the service type is image transmission.
Alternatively or additionally, the resource request may indicate an amount of resources required for terminal device 110-1 to perform the transmission. In some embodiments, the resource request may include an accurate amount. In other embodiments, the resource request may simply indicate whether the amount of resources needed is large or small. In this way, the resources allocated to terminal device 110-1 adapt to traffic changes.
Atblock 530, terminal device 110-1 receives a configuration of resources. The resources are shared by terminal device 110-1 and other terminal devices with which terminal device 110-1 may communicate via a sidelink. For example, a resource may be a plurality of Physical Resource Blocks (PRBs). In some embodiments, the configuration of resources may be transmitted via higher layer signaling, such as RRC signaling.
The configuration indicates a duration of the basic resource unit in the time domain and a number of the basic resource units in the transmission period. The basic resource unit may refer to a Time Resource Unit (TRU) which is a basic time resource unit of a channel access opportunity. In some embodiments, the basic resource unit may be one slot. In other embodiments, the basic resource unit may be half of one slot.
In some embodiments, the configuration may indicate a number of consecutive basic resource units within a transmission period. For example, the configuration may include a Basic Resource Group (BRG) indicating a group of consecutive time resource elements as channel access opportunities for all relevant terminal devices. For unicast sidelink transmission, the number may be two, and for multicast sidelink transmission, the number may be equal to the number of end devices in the group.
Atblock 540, terminal device 110-1 determines a set of basic resource units allocated to the terminal device as channel access opportunities. In some embodiments, terminal device 110-1 may determine the set of basic resource units based on a periodicity and a number of consecutive basic resource units. In this way, collisions are avoided without introducing more signalling.
For example, for unicast sidelink transmission, the offset of terminal device 110-1 is 0 and the number of consecutive basic resource units in one transmission cycle is 2. Thus, as shown in fig. 3B, terminal device 110-1 may determine that basic resource unit 3040-1, basic resource unit 30401-2, basic resource unit 3040-3, basic resource unit 3040-4, basic resource unit 3040-5, and basic resource unit 3040-6 are allocated to terminal device 110-1 as channel access opportunities, which means that terminal device 110-1 may access the basic resource group(s) starting from these basic resource units for its sidelink transmission.
In some embodiments, terminal device 110-1 may determine whether a previous base unit was used. For example, terminal device 110-1 may determine whether the basic resource unit 3050-1 is used. If the basic resource unit 3050-1 is not used, the terminal device 110-1 may transmit data in the basic resource group(s) starting from the basic resource unit 3040-2. For example, if the basic resource unit 3050-1 is not used, the terminal device 110-1 may transmit data on a basic resource set including the basic resource unit 3040-2 and the basic resource unit 3050-2. If the basic resource unit 3050-1 is used, the terminal device 110-1 may not transmit data on the basic resource set starting from the basic resource unit 3040-2. In some embodiments, terminal device 110-1 may perform energy measurements to determine whether a previous basic resource unit was used. Alternatively, terminal device 110-1 may determine whether the previous basic resource unit was used based on the decoded sidelink control information.
In some embodiments, terminal device 110-2 may send 250 feedback to terminal device 110-1. In some embodiments, if terminal device 110-1 receives a NACK, terminal device 110-1 may retransmit 255 data on the set of basic resources starting with the next available basic resource unit. An available basic resource unit means that a previous basic resource unit of the basic resource unit is not used.
In some embodiments, if the sidelink transmission for unicast mode and/or multicast mode has been completed, end device 110-1 may send 260 another request to release. Alternatively,network device 120 may set a timer to release the resources.
In some embodiments, an apparatus (e.g., terminal device 110-1) for performingmethod 500 may include respective means for performing respective steps inmethod 500. These components may be implemented in any suitable manner. For example, it may be implemented by a circuit or a software module.
In some embodiments, the apparatus comprises: means for sending a request to the network device for resources for transmitting data from the first terminal device to the at least one second terminal device via a sidelink between the first terminal device and the at least one second terminal device; means for receiving from a network device a configuration of resources to be shared by a first terminal device and at least one second terminal device, the configuration indicating at least a duration of a basic resource unit in a time domain; and means for determining a set of basic resource units based on the configuration, the set of basic resource units being allocated to the first terminal device as channel access opportunities for transmission of the data.
In some embodiments, the request indicates at least one of: the type of transmission, the amount of resources, and the number of a group of terminal devices associated with the transmission, the group of terminal devices comprising at least a first terminal device and at least a second terminal device.
In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for determining whether another base resource unit is being used for another side link transmission, the other base resource unit preceding one of the set of base resource units; and means for performing a transmission using resources starting from one of the set of basic resource units in response to determining that another basic resource unit is unused.
In some embodiments, the configuration further indicates a number of consecutive basic resource units in a channel access opportunity period for sidelink transmissions between the first terminal device and the at least one second terminal device.
In some embodiments, the means for determining the set of basic resource units comprises means for obtaining a periodicity of the first terminal device in a resource to be shared by the first terminal device and at least one second terminal device; and means for determining a set of basic resource units based on the periodicity and the number of consecutive basic resource units, the set of basic resource units being allocated to the terminal device as channel access opportunities.
In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for receiving feedback from at least one second terminal device for transmission via the sidelink; and means for retransmitting, in response to receiving a NACK from the at least one second terminal device, the data using a set of base resources starting with another available base resource unit in the set of base resource units.
In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for sending another request to the network device to release the resource in response to completion of the sidelink transmission between the first terminal and the at least one second terminal device.
Fig. 6 shows a flow diagram of amethod 600 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.Method 600 may be implemented on any suitable network device.Method 600 is described as being implemented atnetwork device 120 for purposes of illustration only.
Atblock 610,network device 120 receives a resource request to transmit data from a first terminal device to at least one second terminal device via a sidelink between terminal device 110-1 and terminal device 110-2. The resource request may include a type of transmission. For example, the resource request may indicate that the transmission is a unicast sidelink transmission or a multicast sidelink transmission. The resource request may also include the number of terminal devices in the group if the transmission type is multicast side link transmission.
Atblock 620, thenetwork device 120 determines a configuration of resources to be shared by the first terminal device and the at least one second terminal device based on the request. In some embodiments,network device 120 may determine a plurality of physical resource blocks for sidelink transmissions associated with terminal device 110-1. As described above, the resource request may indicate an amount of resources required for terminal device 110-1 to perform the transmission.Network device 120 may determine resources based on the required number. In this way, the resources allocated to terminal device 110-1 adapt to traffic changes.
The resources may be shared by the terminal devices associated with the transmission. For example, if the transmission belongs to a unicast sidelink transmission, the resource is shared by terminal device 110-1 and terminal device 110-2. If the transmission belongs to multicast side-link transmission, the resources are shared by the terminal devices involved in multicast.
The configuration indicates a duration of the basic resource unit in the time domain and a number of the basic resource units in the transmission period. The basic resource unit may refer to a Time Resource Unit (TRU) which is a basic time resource unit of a channel access opportunity. In some embodiments, the basic resource unit may be one slot. In other embodiments, the basic resource unit may be half of one slot. The duration of the resource unit may also be associated with the traffic volume. The network device sends 225 the resource configuration to terminal device 110-1. The configuration may be transmitted via higher layer signaling, such as RRC signaling. In some embodiments, the configuration may indicate a number of consecutive basic resource units of a period of channel access opportunities for sidelink transmissions. For example, the configuration may indicate a Basic Resource Group (BRG) that is a set of consecutive time resource units of channel access opportunities for all relevant terminal devices. The number may be two for unicast sidelink transmission and equal to the number of end devices in the group for multicast sidelink transmission.
Atblock 630,network device 120 sends the configuration to terminal device 110-1. The configuration may be transmitted by higher layer signaling, such as RRC signaling. In some embodiments, network device may send 230 the periodicity of terminal device 110-1 to terminal device 110-1. In other embodiments, the periodicity may be transmitted by a leader terminal device in the group of terminal devices. The periodic pattern may be terminal device specific.
In some embodiments, an apparatus (e.g., network device 120) for performingmethod 600 may include respective means for performing respective steps inmethod 600. These components may be implemented in any suitable manner. For example, it may be implemented by a circuit or a software module.
In some embodiments, the apparatus comprises means for receiving a request from a first terminal device for resources for transmitting data from the first terminal device to at least one second terminal device via a sidelink between the first terminal device and the at least one second terminal device; and means for determining, based on the request, a configuration of resources to be shared by the first terminal device and the at least one second terminal device, the configuration indicating at least a duration of the basic resource unit in the time domain; and means for sending the configuration to the first terminal device.
In some embodiments, the request indicates at least one of: the type of transmission, the amount of resources, and the number of a group of terminal devices associated with the transmission, the group of terminal devices comprising at least a first terminal device and at least a second terminal device.
In some embodiments, wherein the configuration further indicates a number of consecutive basic resource units in a channel access opportunity period for sidelink transmission between the first terminal device and the at least one second terminal device, and the apparatus further comprises: means for transmitting, to the first terminal device, a periodicity of the first terminal device in a resource to be shared by the first terminal device and the at least one second terminal device.
In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises: means for sending an indication to release the resource in response to receiving another request to release the resource from the first terminal device.
Fig. 7 is a simplified block diagram of adevice 700 suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. Thedevice 700 may be implemented at aregistration management entity 730.Device 700 may also be implemented onnetwork device 120. As shown,device 700 includes one ormore processors 710, one ormore memories 720 coupled toprocessors 710, one or more transmitters and/or receivers (TX/RX)740 coupled toprocessors 710.
Theprocessor 710 may be of any type suitable to the local technology network, and may include one or more of general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, Digital Signal Processors (DSPs) and processors based on a multi-core processor architecture, as non-limiting examples. Thedevice 700 may have multiple processors, such as application specific integrated circuit chips, that are time dependent from a clock synchronized with the main processor.
Thememory 720 may be of any type suitable for local technology networks and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as non-transitory computer-readable storage media, semiconductor-based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory and removable memory, as non-limiting examples.
Thememory 720 stores at least a portion of theprogram 730. TX/RX 740 is used for bi-directional communication. TX/RX 740 has at least one antenna to facilitate communication, although in practice the access nodes referred to in this application may have multiple antennas. A communication interface may represent any interface necessary to communicate with other network elements.
Theprogram 730 is assumed to include program instructions that, when executed by the associatedprocessor 710, enable thedevice 700 to operate in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, as discussed herein with reference to fig. 2 and 6. That is, embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by computer software that may be executed by theprocessor 710 of thedevice 700, or by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware.
While this specification contains many specific implementation details, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of any disclosure or of what may be claimed, but rather as descriptions of features specific to particular disclosures of particular implementations. Certain features that are described in this specification in the context of separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination. Furthermore, although features may be described above as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to a subcombination or variation of a subcombination.
Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. And (6) obtaining the result. In some cases, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Moreover, the separation of various system components in the embodiments described above should not be understood as requiring such separation in all embodiments, and it should be understood that the described program components and systems can generally be integrated together in a single software product or packaged into multiple software products.
Various modifications, adaptations, and other embodiments of the present disclosure may become apparent to those skilled in the relevant arts in view of the foregoing description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Any and all modifications will still fall within the scope of the non-limiting and exemplary embodiments of this disclosure. Moreover, other embodiments of the present disclosure set forth herein will occur to those skilled in the art to which these embodiments of the present disclosure pertain having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings.
Therefore, it is to be understood that the embodiments of the disclosure are not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.