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WO2024094811A1 - Technique de gestion de liaison latérale entre des dispositifs radio - Google Patents

Technique de gestion de liaison latérale entre des dispositifs radio Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2024094811A1
WO2024094811A1 PCT/EP2023/080599 EP2023080599W WO2024094811A1 WO 2024094811 A1 WO2024094811 A1 WO 2024094811A1 EP 2023080599 W EP2023080599 W EP 2023080599W WO 2024094811 A1 WO2024094811 A1 WO 2024094811A1
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
radio device
cot
responding
initiating
layer
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/EP2023/080599
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Zhang Zhang
Min Wang
Jan Christoffersson
Original Assignee
Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ)
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ) filed Critical Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ)
Publication of WO2024094811A1 publication Critical patent/WO2024094811A1/fr

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W72/00—Local resource management
    • H04W72/20—Control channels or signalling for resource management
    • H04W72/25—Control channels or signalling for resource management between terminals via a wireless link, e.g. sidelink
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W72/00—Local resource management
    • H04W72/12—Wireless traffic scheduling
    • H04W72/1221—Wireless traffic scheduling based on age of data to be sent
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W16/00—Network planning, e.g. coverage or traffic planning tools; Network deployment, e.g. resource partitioning or cells structures
    • H04W16/14—Spectrum sharing arrangements between different networks
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W88/00—Devices specially adapted for wireless communication networks, e.g. terminals, base stations or access point devices
    • H04W88/02—Terminal devices
    • H04W88/06—Terminal devices adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals

Definitions

  • the present disclosure relates to a technique for handling a sidelink between radio devices. More specifically, and without limitation, methods and devices are provided for sharing a channel occupancy time initiated by an initiating radio device with a responding radio device.
  • the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) defined sidelinks (SLs) in Release 12 as an adaptation of the Long Term Evolution (LTE) radio access technology for direct communication between two radio devices, also referred to as user equipment (U E), without going through a base station.
  • SLs Such device-to- device (D2D) communications through SLs are also referred to as proximity service (ProSe) and can be used for Public Safety communications.
  • D2D device-to- device
  • ProSe proximity service
  • 3GPP SL communications enable interworking of different public safety groups.
  • 3GPP has enriched SLs in Release 13 for public safety and commercial communication use-cases and, in Release 14, for vehicle-to-everything (V2X) scenarios.
  • V2X vehicle-to-everything
  • the SL may use unlicensed spectrum and/or 3GPP New Radio (NR).
  • NR 3GPP New Radio
  • NR-U 3GPP New Radio
  • LAA licensed-assisted access
  • DC dual connectivity
  • MAC medium access control
  • the document US 2021/0092 783 Al by Qualcomm Incorporated describes wireless communications systems related to channel occupancy time (COT) sharing among sidelink (SL) user equipment devices (UEs).
  • COT channel occupancy time
  • a first UE determines a COT in a shared radio frequency band for communicating a SL with a second UE.
  • the first UE transmits, to the second UE, the SL using first resources in the COT, the SL comprising COT sharing information for second resources in the COT.
  • the document EP 3 817 428 Al by Sony Corporation teaches that a user equipment (UE) accesses an unauthorized frequency band successfully, generates an indication representing whether sharing a channel occupancy time (COT) of the UE with other UE is permitted, and sends the indication to a base station or the other UE.
  • UE user equipment
  • a UE may implement a sub-channel-based occupancy time sharing for the unlicensed sidelink to improve resource usage.
  • the UE may gain access to the shared channel bandwidth for an occupancy time and may transmit a sharing indicator indicating a portion of resources of the shared channel bandwidth for the occupancy time.
  • the UE may transmit a time-division multiplexing sharing indicator to share a portion of slots of the occupancy time, a frequency-division multiplexing sharing indicator to share a portion of subchannels of the shared channel bandwidth, or some combination thereof.
  • a UE receiving the sharing indicator may identify the shared resources and may transmit in these shared resources (e.g., without performing a full contention process for an occupancy time).
  • the document CN 114 731 528 A by Nokia Networks describes a first terminal device that transmits information to second terminal device.
  • the information indicates a COT to be shared by the first device (i.e., the initiating device) and the determined one or more second devices (i.e., the responding devices).
  • this information is sent using sidelink channel information or upper layer messages.
  • a method aspect a method of handling a sidelink (SL) between an initiating radio device and a responding radio device is provided.
  • the method is performed by the initiating radio device.
  • the method comprises receiving a report from the responding radio device.
  • the report is indicative of data pending for transmission at the responding radio device.
  • the method further comprises transmitting a control signaling indicative of sharing a channel occupancy time (COT) initiated by the initiating radio device for the SL.
  • COT channel occupancy time
  • the first method aspect may be implemented alone or in combination with any one of the embodiments disclosed herein.
  • the first method aspect may further comprise any feature and/or any step disclosed herein in the context of below-mentioned second method aspect, or a feature and/or step corresponding thereto, e.g., a receiver counterpart to a transmitter feature or step.
  • a method of handling a sidelink (SL) between an initiating radio device and a responding radio device is provided.
  • the method is performed by the responding radio device.
  • the method comprises transmitting a report to the initiating radio device.
  • the report is indicative of data pending for transmission at the responding radio device.
  • the method further comprises receiving a control signaling indicative of sharing a channel occupancy time (COT) initiated by the initiating radio device for the SL.
  • the control signaling indicative of the sharing of the COT is received responsive to the transmitted report.
  • COT channel occupancy time
  • the second method aspect may be implemented alone or in combination with any one of the embodiments disclosed herein.
  • the second method aspect may further comprise any feature and/or any step disclosed herein in the context of the first method aspect, or a feature and/or step corresponding thereto, e.g., a receiver counterpart to a transmitter feature or step.
  • At least some method embodiments of any method aspect can trigger the sharing of the COT and/or can improve signaling efficiency since the control signaling does not amount to blindly granting a transmission resource.
  • This proactive approach can reduce or avoid the potential wastage of control signaling resources that could occur if the initiating device granted the responding device access to the COT blindly.
  • the embodiments of the technique trigger the sharing of the COT, but they can also significantly enhance the overall signaling efficiency of the radio devices and SL involved.
  • At least some method embodiments of any method aspect may determine whether to share a channel occupancy time (COT) or whether to use a shared COT, which may ensure that traffic is given the appropriate QoS treatment (e.g., the QoS of the traffic).
  • COT channel occupancy time
  • QoS treatment e.g., the QoS of the traffic
  • any "radio device” may be a user equipment (UE).
  • UE user equipment
  • Any one of the method aspects may be embodied by a method of COT information sharing between a medium access control (MAC) layer (or layer 2) and physical (PHY) layer (or layer 1).
  • MAC medium access control
  • PHY physical
  • the technique may be applied in the context of 3GPP New Radio (NR), optionally in shared or unlicensed spectrum.
  • NR 3GPP New Radio
  • a SL according to 3GPP LTE can provide a wide range of QoS levels. Therefore, at least some embodiments of the technique can ensure that radio resources (e.g., a shared COT) contested (e.g., by a listen-before-talk, LBT, process) for the SL are allocated appropriately for the QoS of the traffic.
  • radio resources e.g., a shared COT
  • LBT listen-before-talk
  • the technique may be implemented for SL relay selection.
  • the SL may be implemented using proximity services (ProSe), e.g. according to a 3GPP specification.
  • Any radio device may be a user equipment (UE), e.g., according to a 3GPP specification.
  • the SL may comprise one or more hops or relay radio devices.
  • at least one of the initiating radio device and the responding radio device may be a remote radio device (e.g., a remote UE).
  • the initiating radio device and/or the responding radio device may be wirelessly connected in an uplink (UL) and/or a downlink (DL) through a Uu interface to a radio access network (RAN), e.g. one or more base stations.
  • RAN radio access network
  • the SL may enable a direct radio communication between proximal radio devices, e.g., the initiating and responding radio devices, and optionally the relay radio device, using a PC5 interface. Services provided using the SL or the PC5 interface may be referred to as proximity services (ProSe).
  • ProSe proximity services
  • Any radio device (e.g., the initiating radio device and/or the responding radio device and/or the further radio device) supporting a SL may be referred to as ProSe- enabled radio device.
  • the initiating radio device and/or the responding radio device and/or the RAN and/or the further remote radio device may form, or may be part of, a radio network, e.g., according to the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) or according to the standard family IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi).
  • 3GPP Third Generation Partnership Project
  • Wi-Fi standard family IEEE 802.11
  • the RAN may comprise one or more base stations.
  • the radio network may be a vehicular, ad hoc and/or mesh network comprising two or more radio devices, e.g., acting as the initiating radio device and/or the responding radio device and/or the further remote radio device.
  • the radio devices may be a 3GPP user equipment (UE) or a Wi-Fi station (STA).
  • the radio device may be a mobile or portable station, a device for machinetype communication (MTC), a device for narrowband Internet of Things (NB-loT) or a combination thereof.
  • MTC machinetype communication
  • NB-loT narrowband Internet of Things
  • Examples for the UE and the mobile station include a mobile phone, a tablet computer and a self-driving vehicle.
  • Examples for the portable station include a laptop computer and a television set.
  • Examples for the MTC device or the NB-loT device include robots, sensors and/or actuators, e.g., in manufacturing, automotive communication and home automation.
  • the MTC device or the NB-loT device may be implemented in a manufacturing plant, household appliances and consumer electronics.
  • the roles of the radio devices being the initiating radio device and the responding radio device may or may not be mutually exclusive.
  • a first radio device may act as the initiating radio device in a first communication direction of the SL to a second radio device
  • the first radio device may act as the responding radio device in a second communication direction from the second radio device.
  • the initiating and the responding radio devices may be wirelessly connected or connectable (e.g., according to a radio resource control, RRC, state or active mode), optionally in a standalone manner or without a base station of the RAN.
  • the relay radio device may be wirelessly connected or connectable (e.g., according to 3GPP ProSe) with any one of the initiating and responding radio devices.
  • the RAN may be implemented by one or more base stations.
  • the base station may encompass any station that is configured to provide radio access to any of the radio devices.
  • the base stations may also be referred to as cell, transmission and reception point (TRP), radio access node or access point (AP).
  • TRP transmission and reception point
  • AP access point
  • the base station and/or the relay radio device may provide a data link to a host computer providing the user data to the remote radio device or gathering user data from the remote radio device.
  • Examples for the base stations may include a 3G base station or Node B (NB), 4G base station or eNodeB (eNB), a 5G base station or gNodeB (gNB), a Wi-Fi AP and a network controller (e.g., according to Bluetooth, ZigBee or Z-Wave).
  • NB Node B
  • eNB 4G base station or eNodeB
  • gNB 5G base station or gNodeB
  • Wi-Fi AP e.g., according to Bluetooth, ZigBee or Z-Wave.
  • the RAN or the SL may be implemented according to the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) and/or 3GPP New Radio (NR).
  • GSM Global System for Mobile Communications
  • UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunications System
  • LTE 3GPP Long Term Evolution
  • NR 3GPP New Radio
  • Any aspect of the technique may be implemented on a Physical Layer (PHY), a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer, a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, and/or a Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer of a protocol stack for the radio communication.
  • PHY Physical Layer
  • MAC Medium Access Control
  • RLC Radio Link Control
  • PDCP packet data convergence protocol
  • RRC Radio Resource Control
  • a protocol of a layer may also refer to the corresponding layer in the protocol stack.
  • a layer of the protocol stack may also refer to the corresponding protocol of the layer.
  • Any protocol may be implemented by a corresponding method.
  • a computer program product comprises program code portions for performing any one of the steps of the first and/or second method aspect disclosed herein when the computer program product is executed by one or more computing devices.
  • the computer program product may be stored on a computer-readable recording medium.
  • the computer program product may also be provided for download, e.g., via the radio network, the RAN, the Internet and/or the host computer.
  • the method may be encoded in a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) and/or an Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), or the functionality may be provided for download by means of a hardware description language.
  • FPGA Field-Programmable Gate Array
  • ASIC Application-Specific Integrated Circuit
  • an initiating radio device comprising memory operable to store instructions.
  • the initiating radio device further comprises processing circuitry (e.g., at least one processor and a memory) operable to execute the instructions, such that the initiating radio device is operable to perform the first method aspect is provided.
  • the initiating radio device is operable to receive a report from a responding radio device, the report being indicative of data pending for transmission at the responding radio device.
  • the initiating radio device is operable to transmit a control signaling indicative of sharing a channel occupancy time (COT) initiated by the initiating radio device for the SL.
  • the control signaling indicative of the sharing of the COT may be transmitted responsive to the received report.
  • COT channel occupancy time
  • the device may be further operable to perform any one of the steps of the first method aspect.
  • the first device aspect may further be operable to perform any of the steps disclosed in the context of the first method aspect.
  • an initiating radio device configured to perform the first method aspect.
  • the initiating radio device is configured to receive a report from a responding radio device, the report being indicative of data pending for transmission at the responding radio device.
  • the initiating radio device is configured to transmit a control signaling indicative of sharing a channel occupancy time (COT) initiated by the initiating radio device for the SL.
  • the control signaling indicative of the sharing of the COT is transmitted responsive to the received report.
  • COT channel occupancy time
  • the device may be further configured to perform any one of the steps of the first method aspect.
  • the first device aspect may further be configured to perform any of the steps of disclosed in the context of the first method aspect.
  • the second device aspect or the other second device aspect may further comprise any feature disclosed herein in the context of the first device aspect.
  • a responding radio device comprising memory operable to store instructions.
  • the responding radio device further comprises processing circuitry (e.g., at least one processor and a memory) operable to execute the instructions, such that the responding radio device is operable to perform the second method aspect.
  • the responding radio device is operable to transmit a report to an initiating radio device, the report being indicative of data pending for transmission at the responding radio device.
  • the responding radio device is operable to receive a control signaling indicative of sharing a channel occupancy time (COT) initiated by the initiating radio device for a sidelink (SL) between the initiating radio device and the responding radio device.
  • COT channel occupancy time
  • SL sidelink
  • the second device aspect may be further operable to perform any of the steps disclosed in the context of the second method aspect.
  • a responding radio device is provided, which is configured to perform the second method aspect.
  • the responding radio device is configured to transmit a report to an initiating radio device, the report being indicative of data pending for transmission at the responding radio device.
  • the responding radio device is configured to receive a control signaling indicative of sharing a channel occupancy time (COT) initiated by the initiating radio device for a sidelink (SL) between the initiating radio device and the responding radio device.
  • the control signaling indicative of the sharing of the COT is received responsive to the transmitted report.
  • COT channel occupancy time
  • SL sidelink
  • the device may be configured to perform any one of the steps of the second method aspect.
  • the other second device aspect may further be configured to perform any of the steps disclosed in the context of the second method aspect.
  • a communication system including a host computer.
  • the host computer comprises a processing circuitry configured to provide user data, e.g., included in the user data of the transmission initiating the COT and/or the user data of the response using the shared COT.
  • the host computer further comprises a communication interface configured to forward the user data to a cellular network (e.g., the RAN and/or the base station) for transmission to the initiating and/or responding UE.
  • a processing circuitry of the cellular network is configured to control any one of the steps of the first and/or second method aspects.
  • the initiating and/or responding UE comprises a radio interface and processing circuitry, which is configured to execute any one of the steps of the first and/or second method aspects.
  • the communication system may further include the initiating and/or responding UEs.
  • the cellular network may further include one or more base stations configured for radio communication with the initiating and/or responding UEs and/or to provide a data link between the initiating and/or responding UE and the host computer using the first and/or second method aspects.
  • the processing circuitry of the host computer may be configured to execute a host application, thereby providing the user data and/or any host computer functionality described herein.
  • the processing circuitry of the initiating and/or responding UE may be configured to execute a client application associated with the host application.
  • any one of the initiating and/or responding radio device devices e.g., the initiating and/or responding UEs
  • the communication system or any node or station for embodying the technique may further include any feature disclosed in the context of the method aspect, and vice versa.
  • any one of the units and modules disclosed herein may be configured to perform or initiate one or more of the steps of the first or second method aspect.
  • Fig. 1 shows a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a device for handling a sidelink between an initiating radio device and a responding radio device, which may be embodied by the responding radio device;
  • Fig. 2 shows a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a device for handling a sidelink between an initiating radio device and a responding radio device, which may be embodied by the initiating radio device;
  • Fig. 3 shows a flowchart for a method of handling a sidelink between an initiating radio device and a responding radio device, which method may be implementable by the device of Fig. 1;
  • Fig. 4 shows a flowchart for a method of handling a sidelink between an initiating radio device and a responding radio device, which method may be implementable by the device of Fig. 2;
  • Fig. 5 schematically illustrates an example of a radio network comprising embodiments of the devices of Figs. 1 and 2 for performing the methods of Figs. 3 and 4, respectively;
  • Fig. 6 schematically illustrates a first example of a time sequence of steps of the methods of Figs. 3 and 4;
  • Fig. 7 schematically illustrates a second example of a time sequence of steps of the method of Fig. 4 including slots and durations, when the COT is not shared
  • Fig. 8 schematically illustrates a third example of a time sequence of steps of the method of Figs. 3 or 4 including slots and durations, when the COT is shared;
  • Fig. 9 schematically illustrates a signaling diagram resulting from embodiments of the devices of Figs. 1 and 2 performing the methods of Figs. 4 and 5, respectively, in radio communication;
  • Fig. 10 shows a schematic block diagram of a responding radio device embodying the device of Fig. 1;
  • Fig. 11 shows a schematic block diagram of an initiating radio device embodying the device of Fig. 2;
  • Fig. 12 schematically illustrates an example telecommunication network connected via an intermediate network to a host computer
  • Fig. 13 shows a generalized block diagram of a host computer communicating via a base station or radio device functioning as a gateway with a user equipment over a partially wireless connection;
  • Figs. 14 and 15 show flowcharts for methods implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station or radio device functioning as a gateway and a user equipment.
  • WLAN Wireless Local Area Network
  • 3GPP LTE e.g., LTE-Advanced or a related radio access technique such as MulteFire
  • Bluetooth according to the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), particularly Bluetooth Low Energy, Bluetooth Mesh Networking and Bluetooth broadcasting, for Z-Wave according to the Z-Wave Alliance or for ZigBee based on IEEE 802.15.4.
  • SIG Bluetooth Special Interest Group
  • Fig. 1 schematically illustrates a block diagram of an embodiment of a device for handling a sidelink between an initiating radio device and a responding radio device.
  • the device is generically referred to by reference sign 100 or the second device aspect.
  • the device 100 (e.g., the responding radio device) comprises (e.g., by means of memory operable to store instructions and processing circuitry operable to execute the instructions) a transmit module 102 that transmits a report to the initiating radio device.
  • the report is indicative of data pending for transmission at the responding radio device.
  • the device 100 further comprises a receive module 104 that receives a control signaling indicative of sharing a channel occupancy time (COT) initiated by the initiating radio device for the SL.
  • the control signaling indicative of the sharing of the COT is received responsive to the transmitted report.
  • COT channel occupancy time
  • the device 100 may further comprise a signal module 106 that signals an availability of the COT from a signaling layer to a determining layer of a protocol stack of the responding radio device for determining whether to use the COT.
  • the device 100 may further comprise a determine module 108 that determines at the determining layer whether or not to transmit on the SL in the COT according to the control signaling.
  • the device 100 may further comprise a transmit module 110 that transmits a response to the initiating radio device in the COT according to the determination of the determining layer.
  • the device 100 comprises at least one of the modules 102, 104, 106, 108, 110 that perform below-mentioned corresponding steps 302, 304, 306, 308, and 310 of the first method aspect.
  • modules 102, 108, and 110 are optional modules.
  • Any of the modules of the device 100 may be implemented by units configured to provide the corresponding functionality.
  • the device 100 may also be referred to as, or may be embodied by, the responding radio device (or briefly: responding UE or receiving UE).
  • the responding radio device 100 and the initiating radio device may be in direct radio communication, e.g., at least for the transmitting and receiving steps.
  • the initiating radio device may be embodied by the below device 200.
  • Fig. 2 schematically illustrates a block diagram of an embodiment of a device for handling a sidelink between an initiating radio device and a responding radio device.
  • the device is generically referred to by reference sign 200 or the first device aspect.
  • the device 200 (e.g., the initiating radio device) comprises (e.g., in memory operable to store instructions and processing circuitry operable to execute the instructions) the following modules.
  • a receiving module 202 receives a report from a responding radio device, which is indicative of data pending for transmission at the responding radio device.
  • a transmit module 204 transmits a control signaling indicative of sharing a channel occupancy time (COT), which is initiated by the initiating radio device for the SL, wherein the control signaling indicative of the sharing of the COT is transmitted responsive to the received report.
  • the device 200 further comprises an initiate module 201 that initiates the COT by the initiating radio device for the SL.
  • the device 200 optionally comprises a signal module 203a that signals the data pendency at the responding radio device from the signaling layer of the protocol stack of the initiating radio device to the determining layer of the protocol stack of the initiating radio device for the determination whether to share the COT.
  • a signal module 203a that signals the data pendency at the responding radio device from the signaling layer of the protocol stack of the initiating radio device to the determining layer of the protocol stack of the initiating radio device for the determination whether to share the COT.
  • the device 200 optionally comprises a determine module 203 that determines at a determining layer of the protocol stack of the initiating radio device whether to share the COT, wherein the control signaling is selectively transmitted according to the determination.
  • the device 200 optionally comprises another signal module 203b that signals the sharing of the COT from the determining layer of the protocol stack of the initiating radio device to the signaling layer of the protocol stack of the initiating radio device for the transmitting of the control signaling.
  • the device 200 optionally comprises a receive module 210 that receives, responsive to the transmitted control signaling, a response from the responding radio device in the COT.
  • At least one of the modules 201, 202, 203a, 203, 203b, 204, and 210 may perform corresponding below-mentioned steps 401, 402, 403a, 403, 403b, 404, and 410 of the first method aspect.
  • the modules 201, 203a, 203, 203b, 204, and 210 are optional modules. In another example, the modules 202, 203, and 210 are optional modules.
  • modules of the device 200 may be implemented by units configured to provide the corresponding functionality.
  • the device 200 may also be referred to as, or may be embodied by, the initiating radio device (or briefly: initiating UE or transmitting UE).
  • the initiating radio device 200 and the responding radio device may be in direct radio communication, e.g., at least for the transmitting and receiving steps.
  • the responding radio device may be embodied by the above device 100.
  • Fig. 3 shows an example flowchart for a method 300 of handling a sidelink between an initiating radio device and a responding radio device.
  • the method 300 comprises the steps 302 and 304 indicated in Fig. 3.
  • the method further comprises at least one of the steps 306, 308, and 310.
  • the method 300 may be performed by the device 100.
  • the modules 102, 104, 106, 108, and 110 may perform the steps 302, 304, 306, 308, and 310, respectively.
  • Fig. 4 shows an example flowchart for a method 400 of handling a sidelink between an initiating radio device and a responding radio device.
  • the method 400 comprises the steps 402 and 404 indicated in Fig. 4.
  • the method further comprises at least one of the steps 401, 403a, 403, 403b, 404, and 410.
  • the method 400 may be performed by the device 200.
  • the modules 201, 202, 203a, 203, 203b, 204, and 210 may perform the steps 401, 402, 403a, 403, 403b, 404, and 410, respectively.
  • the COT (e.g., the availability of the COT) may be shared with a plurality of responding radio devices.
  • the transmitting of the control signaling may comprise broadcasting the control signaling.
  • the control signaling may also be referred to as the control signal.
  • the COT indicated by the control signaling may also be referred to as the shared COT, the remaining COT or the remaining transmission opportunity (TxOp).
  • the initiating radio device may also be referred to as the transmitting radio device.
  • the responding radio device may also be referred to as the receiving radio device.
  • the control signaling may be transmitted to the responding radio device.
  • the report may be received at a signaling layer of a protocol stack of the initiating radio device.
  • control signaling may be transmitted from a signaling layer of a protocol stack of the initiating radio device.
  • the signaling layer (and/or the protocol stack) receiving the report may be the signaling layer (and/or the protocol stack) transmitting the control signaling.
  • the method 400 may further comprise determining at a determining layer of the protocol stack of the initiating radio device whether to share the COT.
  • the control signaling may be selectively transmitted according to the determination.
  • the method 400 may further comprise signaling the data pendency at the responding radio device from the signaling layer of the protocol stack of the initiating radio device to the determining layer of the protocol stack of the initiating radio device for the determining whether to share the COT.
  • the method 400 may further comprise signaling the sharing of the COT from the determining layer of the protocol stack of the initiating radio device to the signaling layer of the protocol stack of the initiating radio device for the transmitting of the control signaling.
  • the control signaling may be configured to trigger a signaling of an availability of the COT from a signaling layer of a protocol stack of the responding radio device to a determining layer of the protocol stack of the responding radio device for determining whether to use the COT.
  • control signaling may be configured to trigger determining at the determining layer of the responding radio device whether or not to transmit on the SL in the COT according to the control signaling.
  • embodiments of the initiating radio device can enable the responding radio device to determine whether to use the COT.
  • the method 400 may further comprise receiving, responsive to the transmitted control signaling, a response from the responding radio device in the COT.
  • the response may be received from the responding radio device on a physical SL feedback channel (PSFCH) of the SL.
  • PSFCH physical SL feedback channel
  • the initiating radio device may determine to share the COT with the responding radio device if the PSFCH fulfills a temporal closeness condition relative to the PSSCH or PSCCH.
  • the determining layer of the protocol stack of the initiating radio device may determine to share the COT with the responding radio device if the PSFCH fulfills a temporal closeness condition relative to the PSSCH or PSCCH.
  • the initiating radio device may determine to share the COT with the responding radio device only if a transmission initiated by the initiating radio device on the PSSCH or PSCCH is with hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) enabled.
  • HARQ hybrid automatic repeat request
  • the response e.g., the PSFCH
  • the response may be received an integer number of slots after the last slot of the transmission initiating the COT.
  • the response may be received an integer number of slots after the minimum integer number of slots required by the responding radio device for processing the PSSCH or the PSCCH.
  • the initiating radio device may determine whether to share the COT with the responding radio device based on the received report being indicative of the data pending for transmission at the responding radio device.
  • the determining layer of the protocol stack of the initiating radio device may determine whether to share the COT with the responding radio device.
  • the report indicative of the data pending for transmission at the responding radio device may be indicative of a volume of the pending data.
  • the report indicative of the data pending for transmission at the responding radio device may be indicative of a priority of the pending data.
  • the report indicative of the data pending for transmission at the responding radio device may be indicative of a service associated with the pending data.
  • the report indicative of the data pending for transmission at the responding radio device may be indicative of an application associated with the pending data.
  • the report indicative of the data pending for transmission at the responding radio device may be indicative of a traffic type associated with the pending data.
  • the report indicative of the data pending for transmission at the responding radio device may be indicative of a quality of service (QoS) or a QoS class identifier (QCI) associated with the pending data.
  • QoS quality of service
  • QCI QoS class identifier
  • the report indicative of the data pending for transmission at the responding radio device may be indicative of a logical channel (LCH) or a logical channel group (LCG) associated with the pending data.
  • the report indicative of the data pending for transmission at the responding radio device may be indicative of a radio bearer associated with the pending data.
  • the report indicative of the data pending for transmission at the responding radio device may be indicative of a priority class associated with the responding radio device.
  • the initiating radio device may determine whether to share the COT with the responding radio device based on at least one of: the received report being indicative of the data pending for transmission at the responding radio device; a volume of the pending data; a priority of the pending data; a service associated with the pending data; an application associated with the pending data; a traffic type associated with the pending data; a quality of service (QoS) or a QoS class identifier (QCI) associated with the pending data; a logical channel (LCH) or a logical channel group (LCG) associated with the pending data; a radio bearer associated with the pending data; and a priority class associated with the responding radio device.
  • QoS quality of service
  • QCI QoS class identifier
  • At least one of the received report indicative of the pending data, the determination whether to share the COT, and the transmitted control signaling indicative of the sharing of the COT may be indicative or performed per service, per application, per traffic type, per LCH, per LCG, or per radio bearer.
  • the determination whether to share the COT may also be referred to as the decision whether to share the COT.
  • the COT may be initiated by the initiating radio device transmitting on a physical SL shared channel (PSSCH) or a physical SL control channel (PSCCH) of the SL.
  • PSSCH physical SL shared channel
  • PSCCH physical SL control channel
  • control signaling may be received from the initiating radio device and/or on the SL.
  • control signaling may be received on a physical SL control channel (PSCCH) of the SL.
  • PSCCH physical SL control channel
  • the COT may be used for transmitting data to the initiating radio device on the SL.
  • the COT may be used for transmitting data to the initiating radio device on a physical SL shared channel (PSSCH) of the SL.
  • PSSCH physical SL shared channel
  • control signaling indicative of the sharing of the COT is received at a signaling layer of a protocol stack of the responding radio device.
  • the method 300 may further comprise signaling an availability of the COT from the signaling layer to a determining layer of the protocol stack of the responding radio device for determining whether to use the COT.
  • the control signaling being received at the signaling layer may mean that the control signaling is a protocol data unit (PDU) of the signaling layer and/or that the control signaling is included in a service data unit (SDU) of the signaling layer and/or that the signaling layer terminates the reception of the control signaling.
  • the signaling layer may be the last layer processing the control signaling.
  • the control signaling indicative of the sharing of the COT may be received from the determining layer of the initiating radio device.
  • Receiving the control signaling from the determining layer of the initiating radio device may mean that the control signaling is a PDU of the signaling layer and/or that the control signaling is included in an SDU of the determining layer of the initiating radio device and/or that the signaling layer of the initiating radio device generates the control signaling.
  • the signaling layer of the initiating radio device may be the earliest layer processing (e.g., providing) the control signaling.
  • the control signaling may be configured to trigger the signaling from the signaling layer to the determining layer at the responding radio device, e.g. which may mean that the signaling layer receiving the control signaling at the responding radio device is different from the determining layer of the responding radio device.
  • the inter-layer signaling at the responding radio device may enable at least some embodiments of the responding radio device to determine whether to use the COT independently of the signaling layer used for the inter-radio device signaling (i.e., the control signaling from the initiating radio device to the responding radio device).
  • the responding radio device may have data pending (e.g., available) for transmission (e.g., to the initiating radio device or another radio device) at the determining layer.
  • the determining layer may determine to use the COT for the transmission of the pending data (e.g., to the initiating radio device or another radio device) if the determining layer has failed to access a channel for the transmitting of the pending data and/or depending on a quality of service (QoS) associated with the pending data (e.g., to fulfill the QoS associated with the pending data, optionally a latency requirement or packet delay budget).
  • QoS quality of service
  • At least some embodiments can reduce a time required for the determining whether to use the COT, e.g., by indicating the availability of the COT to the determining layer which has the information for the determination (e.g., the information as to the failed access to the channel or the data pending for the transmission or the QoS).
  • the control signaling instead of preemptively converting the control signaling to a message (e.g., a service data unit, SDU) of the determining layer at the initiating radio device, embodiments of the responding radio device can be informed more rapidly as to the availability of the shared COT.
  • the determining layer for the determination whether to use the COT may change with time (e.g., depending on where the data is pending and/or depending on a situation of the channel for the SL at the responding radio device). The change of the determining layer may be (e.g., for the initiating radio device) unpredictable. Accordingly, at least some embodiments of the responding radio device can signal the availability of the COT to the determining layer that is currently in charge of the determination.
  • the determination whether to use the COT may comprise determining whether to transmit on the SL using the COT.
  • the determination whether to use the COT may comprise determining which data is to be transmitted using the COT.
  • the determination whether to use the COT may comprise determining whether the COT is used for transmitting to the initiating radio device or another radio device.
  • the availability of the COT may be signaled from the signaling layer to the determining layer responsive to the receiving of the control signaling indicative of sharing the COT.
  • the inter-layer signaling may be implemented based on, or by extending, the 3GPP document TS 38.321, version 17.2.0.
  • the SL may be implemented according to the 3GPP document TS 37.213, version 17.2.0, on physical layer procedures for shared spectrum channel access.
  • the signaling layer may be a first layer (LI) or a physical layer (PHY layer) of the protocol stack of the responding radio device.
  • the determining layer may be a second layer (L2) or a medium access control layer (MAC layer) of the protocol stack of the responding radio device.
  • the control signaling may be, or may comprise, at least one of sidelink control information (SCI), a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), and radio resource control (RRC) signaling.
  • SCI sidelink control information
  • MAC medium access control
  • RRC radio resource control
  • the determining layer may be a first layer (LI) or a physical layer (PHY layer) of the protocol stack of the responding radio device.
  • the signaling layer may be a second layer (L2) or a medium access control layer (MAC layer) of the protocol stack of the responding radio device.
  • the method 300 may further comprise determining at the determining layer whether or not to transmit on the SL in the COT according to the control signaling. Alternatively or in addition, the method 300 may further comprise transmitting a response to the initiating radio device in the COT according to the determination of the determining layer. The response may be selectively transmitted to the initiating radio device according to the determination of the determining layer. Alternatively or in addition, the response may comprise the data pending for transmission.
  • the report may be transmitted by the signaling layer of the protocol stack of the responding radio device.
  • the report may be configured to trigger a signaling of the pendency of the data at the responding radio device from a signaling layer of a protocol stack of the initiating radio device to a determining layer of the protocol stack of the initiating radio device.
  • Transmitting the report by the signaling layer may mean that the report is a PDU of the signaling layer and/or that the report is included in an SDU of the signaling layer and/or that the signaling layer generates the report.
  • the signaling layer may be the earliest layer processing (e.g., providing) the report.
  • the report being configured to trigger the signaling from a signaling layer to the determining layer at the initiating radio device may mean that the signaling layer transmitting the report corresponds to a signaling layer of the initiating radio device that is different from the determining layer of the initiating radio device.
  • the SL and/or the COT may comprise a radio channel shared by multiple radio access technologies (RATs).
  • RATs radio access technologies
  • the COT may be initiated by a clear channel assessment (CCA) of a radio channel of the SL.
  • CCA clear channel assessment
  • the radio channel of the SL of the CCA may be the radio channel shared by multiple RATs (e.g. 5G New Radio, 4G Long Term Evolution, and/or Wi-Fi). Alternatively or in addition, the radio channel may be shared by, or available to, multiple operators. Alternatively or in addition, the radio channel may comprise shared or unlicensed spectrum.
  • RATs e.g. 5G New Radio, 4G Long Term Evolution, and/or Wi-Fi.
  • the radio channel may be shared by, or available to, multiple operators.
  • the radio channel may comprise shared or unlicensed spectrum.
  • the initiating radio device may perform the CCA.
  • the COT may be initiated by a listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure including a CCA (e.g., the afore-mentioned CCA) during a defer duration.
  • LBT listen-before-talk
  • the defer duration may comprise at least one of a fixed minimum duration; a number of consecutive time-slot durations; a backoff time randomly selected from a contention window (CW); and a fixed CW.
  • the defer duration may be a Distributed Coordination Function (DCF) Interframe Space (DIFS).
  • DCF Distributed Coordination Function
  • DIFS Interframe Space
  • SIFS Short Interframe Space
  • the LBT procedure may utilize a fixed CW (e.g., without random backoff), which may be referred to as a frame-based LBT. Accordingly, the initiating radio device and/or the responding radio device may be a frame-based equipment (FBE). Alternatively, the LBT may utilize a random backoff from a (e.g., binary exponential) CW, which may be referred to as load-based LBT. Accordingly, the initiating radio device and/or the responding radio device may be a load-based equipment (LBE).
  • a fixed CW e.g., without random backoff
  • the initiating radio device and/or the responding radio device may be a frame-based equipment (FBE).
  • the LBT may utilize a random backoff from a (e.g., binary exponential) CW, which may be referred to as load-based LBT.
  • the initiating radio device and/or the responding radio device may be a load-based equipment (LBE).
  • the defer duration (Td) may be the (e.g., minimum) time the initiating radio device has to wait after the channel becomes idle (i.e., clear or unoccupied).
  • At least one of the defer duration, the fixed duration, the number of consecutive slot durations, the minimum CW size, and the maximum CW size may depend on a priority class associated with (e.g., assigned to) the initiating radio device and/or the responding radio device.
  • the priority class may be an LBT priority class and/or a Channel Access Priority Class (CAPC). The smaller the number of the priority class number, the higher the priority.
  • the priority class may be assigned based on traffic type and/or are mapped to different QoS Class Indicators (QCIs).
  • a duration of the transmission shall not exceed a maximum COT (MCOT) starting from the shared COT.
  • the MCOT may depend on the priority class.
  • the control signaling may be further indicative of an identity of the initiating radio device.
  • control signaling may be indicative of an indicator indicating whether the COT is shared.
  • control signaling may be indicative of a channel access priority class associated with initiating radio device.
  • control signaling may be indicative of a maximum allowed gap between a transmission initiating the COT and the transmission using the shared COT.
  • the method 300 may further comprise any features or steps, or any feature or step corresponding thereto, disclosed in the context of the method 400.
  • the technique may be applied to uplink (UL), downlink (DL) or direct communications between radio devices, e.g., device-to-device (D2D) communications or sidelink (SL) communications.
  • UL uplink
  • DL downlink
  • D2D device-to-device
  • SL sidelink
  • Each of the responding radio device 100 and initiating radio device 200 may be a radio device.
  • any radio device may be a mobile or portable station and/or any radio device wirelessly connectable to a base station or RAN, or to another radio device.
  • the radio device may be a user equipment (UE), a device for machine-type communication (MTC) or a device for (e.g., narrowband) Internet of Things (loT).
  • UE user equipment
  • MTC machine-type communication
  • LoT narrowband
  • Two or more radio devices may be configured to wirelessly connect to each other, e.g., in an ad hoc radio network or via a 3GPP SL connection.
  • any base station may be a station providing radio access, may be part of a radio access network (RAN) and/or may be a node connected to the RAN for controlling the radio access.
  • the base station may be an access point, for example a Wi-Fi access point.
  • the radio devices are referred to as user equipments (UEs) herein below.
  • UEs user equipments
  • Any embodiment of any aspect may exchange COT and/or UE identity (ID) related information (e.g., the availability) between the MAC layer and the physical (PHY) layer as examples of the signaling and determining layers and/or may exchange signal information between the participating UEs (e.g., the initiating and responding UEs).
  • ID UE identity
  • PHY physical
  • the COT sharing information (e.g., the control signaling) is exchanged between the UEs in LI signaling and the information (e.g., the ability) is then passed to the MAC layer at the receiving UE (i.e., the responding UE) where the MAC layer (as the determining layer) takes this information into account when deciding whether to utilize the shared COT.
  • the information e.g., the ability
  • the COT sharing information (e.g., the control signaling) is exchanged between the UEs in or via a medium access control (MAC) control entity (CE), i.e. MAC CE, as a PDU of the signaling layer.
  • the information included in the control signaling (e.g., the availability of the COT) is passed to the physical layer (as an example of the determining layer) at the receiving UE.
  • the physical layer may take this information into account when determining (e.g., deciding) whether to utilize the shared COT.
  • Another aspect of the invention is how the transmitting UE (i.e., the initiating UE) may determine 403 whether to share a COT with a responding UE.
  • any embodiment of any aspect may include at least one of the following features: Firstly, criteria of the transmitting UE for determining whether to share a COT with a responding UE. Secondly, passing information regarding COT sharing and/or UE ID and/or available (e.g., pending) data between the signaling layer (e.g., physical or MAC layer) receiving the COT sharing information and the determining layer (e.g., the MAC or physical layer) determining whether to use a shared COT.
  • the signaling layer e.g., physical or MAC layer
  • the determining layer e.g., the MAC or physical layer
  • Fig. 5 schematically illustrates an example of a radio network 500 comprising embodiments of the initiating radio device 200 and the receiving radio device 100.
  • At least one of the initiating radio device 200 and the receiving radio device 100 is within radio coverage of a radio access network (RAN), e.g., a cell 504 of a base station 502 of the RAN.
  • RAN radio access network
  • LBT listen-before- talk
  • Mechanism e.g., requirements defined by regulations
  • the LBT mechanism mandates a device to sense for the presence of other users' transmissions in the channel before attempting to transmit.
  • the device performs clear channel assessment (CCA) checks on the channel using energy detection (ED) before transmitting. If the channel is found to be idle, i.e. energy detected is below a certain threshold, the device is allowed to transmit. Otherwise, if the channel is found to be occupied (i.e., LBT is failed), the device must defer from transmitting.
  • This mechanism reduces interferences and collisions to other systems and increases probabilities of successful transmissions.
  • TXOP transmission opportunity
  • the length of the TXOP depends on regulation and type of CCA that has been performed, but typically ranges from 1 ms to 10 ms. This duration is referred to as a Channel Occupancy Time (COT).
  • COT Channel Occupancy Time
  • NR-U supports two different LBT modes, dynamic and semi-static channel occupancy for two types of equipment: Load based Equipment (LBE) and Frame based equipment (FBE), respectively.
  • LBE Load based Equipment
  • FBE Frame based equipment
  • Embodiments of the initiating and responding radio devices may share the COT (e.g., a NR-U COT) using at least one of the following features and steps.
  • the COT e.g., a NR-U COT
  • a node e.g., NR-U gNB/UE, LTE-LAA eNB/UE, or Wi-Fi AP/STA
  • a clear channel assessment CCA
  • This procedure typically includes sensing the medium to be idle for a number of time intervals. Sensing the medium to be idle can be done in different ways, e.g. using energy detection, preamble detection or using virtual carrier sensing. Where the latter implies that the node reads control information from other transmitting nodes informing when a transmission ends.
  • TXOP transmission opportunity
  • the length of the TXOP depends on regulation and type of CCA that has been performed, but typically ranges from 1 ms to 10 ms. This duration is often referred to as a COT (Channel Occupancy Time).
  • Fig. 6 schematically illustrates time durations in which different steps of the methods 300 and 400 may be performed.
  • the channel for the SL may be occupied (or be busy) for some time 602.
  • the initiating UE 200 performs the CCA according to the step 401 in a defer duration 604, which may include a minimum duration 606, a predefined number of slots 608 and/or a contention window 610 (which may comprise a predefined number of slot durations 612), before the initiating UE 200 transmits according to the step 401 in the COT 614.
  • SIFS small time duration 606
  • aRxPHYDelay defines the duration needed by the PHY layer to deliver a packet to the MAC layer.
  • the parameter aMACProcessingDelay defines the duration that the MAC layer needs to trigger the PHY layer transmitting a response.
  • the parameter aRxTxTurnaroundTime defines the duration needed to turn the radio from reception into transmit mode.
  • the SIFS duration 606 is used to accommodate for the hardware delay to switch the direction from reception to transmission.
  • a similar gap 606 may be used to accommodate for the radio turnaround time will be allowed. For example, this will enable the transmission of PUCCH carrying UCI feedback as well as PUSCH carrying data and possible UCI within the same transmit opportunity (TXOP) acquired by the initiating gNB without the UE performing clear channel assessment before PUSCH/PUCCH transmission as long as the gap between DL and UL transmission is less than or equal to 16 ps. Operation in this manner is typically called "COT sharing". An example on COT sharing is illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8.
  • the initiating UE 200 transmits 401 after a successful CCA (e.g., a successful LBT procedure).
  • the initiating UE 200 may determine in the step 403 not to share the COT 614.
  • Fig. 8 schematically illustrates the COT (i.e., the transmission opportunity, TxOp) with COT sharing determined in the step 403, where CCA is performed by the initiating UE 200.
  • the gap between transmission 401 and transmission 310 of the response may be less than 16 ps.
  • initiating node e.g. gNB/UE in case of NR-U
  • respond nodes UEs/gNB
  • type 2 LBT a single observation duration
  • Type 2A Sensing for 25 ps (microseconds) immediately before the start of the transmission.
  • Type 2B Sensing for 16 ps immediately before the start of the transmission.
  • Type 2C Immediate transmission without sensing. The duration of the corresponding transmission is at most 584 ps.
  • the sidelink (SL) may be implemented according to 3GPP, which specified the LTE D2D (device-to-device) technology, also known as sidelink (SL) or the PC5 interface, as part of Release 12.
  • LTE D2D device-to-device
  • SL sidelink
  • the target use case was the Proximity Services (communication and discovery). Support was enhanced during Release 13.
  • the LTE sidelink was extensively redesigned to support vehicular communications (commonly referred to as V2X or V2V). Support was again enhanced during Release 15.
  • V2X vehicular communications
  • V2V vehicular communications
  • Support was again enhanced during Release 15.
  • the LTE SL uses broadcast communication. That is, transmission from a UE targets any receiver that is in range.
  • 3GPP introduced sidelink for the 5G new radio (NR).
  • the driving use case was vehicular communications with more stringent requirements than those typically served using the LTE SL.
  • the NR SL is capable of broadcast, groupcast, and unicast communications.
  • groupcast communication the intended receivers of a message are typically a subset of the vehicles near the transmitter, whereas in unicast communication, there is a single intended receiver.
  • HARQ. feedback based retransmission is supported for unicast and groupcast.
  • NR SL introduces 2 stage sidelink control information (SCI), the 1 st stage SCI is transmitted on PSCCH and used for the scheduling of PSSCH and 2 nd stage SCI on PSSCH.
  • PSCCH carrying 1 st stage SCI and the PSSCH scheduled by the 1 st stage SCI are transmitted in the same slot but in different symbols.
  • NR sidelink transmissions have the following two modes of resource allocations: Mode 1: Sidelink resources are scheduled by the gNB.
  • Mode 2 The UE autonomously selects sidelink resources from one or more (pre-)configured sidelink resource pools based on the channel sensing mechanism.
  • a UE can be configured to adopt either Mode 1 or Mode 2 resource allocation. In other cases, only Mode 2 can be adopted. Furthermore, a RRC CONNECTED mode 2 UE uses dedicated Tx resource pool configured by the gNB using dedicated RRC signaling, a RRC IDLE/INACTIVE mode 2 UE selects a common Tx resource pool to use from the set of common Tx resource pools configured by the gNB using common RRC signaling, an out of coverage mode 2 UE selects a common Tx resource pool to use from the set of preconfigured common Tx resource pools.
  • Any embodiment may perform SL unlicensed operation, e.g. according to at least one of the following steps.
  • a work item (Wl) on sidelink enhancement has been approved (RP-213678), and one of the objectives is to study and specify support of sidelink on unlicensed spectrum (SL-U).
  • RP-213678 work item on sidelink enhancement
  • SL-U sidelink on unlicensed spectrum
  • RANI made the following agreements regarding channel access for SL-U:
  • SL-U shared channel
  • FFS for further study
  • applicable SL channels and signals e.g., PSCCH/PSSCH, PSFCH, S-SSB
  • any restrictions e.g. whether the COT can be shared with a single UE or multiple UEs
  • NR sidelink operation as defined by the 3GPP document TS 37.213, version 17.2.0, for NR-U (wherever applicable) o FFS whether the downlink, uplink and/or semi-static multiple channel access procedure(s) (if supported) from NR-U should be used as a baseline and whether/how they are applied in SL mode 1 and mode 2 operation.
  • RANI made the following agreements regarding UE-to-UE COT sharing:
  • a responding SL UE can utilize a COT shared by a COT initiating UE when the responding SL UE is a target receiver of the at least COT initiating UE's PSSCH data transmission in the COT.
  • a responding SL UE can utilize a COT shared by a COT initiating UE when the responding SL UE is a target receiver of the COT initiating UE's transmission in the COT.
  • - FFS details of the channel type of the COT initiating UE's transmission - FFS any additional conditions o
  • Altl and Alt2 When a responding UE uses a shared COT for its transmission(s), the COT initiating UE is a target receiver of the responding UE's transmission(s).
  • Mode 1 UE can report a COT or related information to gNB for aiding Mode 1 RA
  • a UE 200 initiating a COT for its own transmissions 401 may decide 403 to share the COT to a responding UE 100 of its transmission 310.
  • the responding UE 100 may perform Type 2 channel access procedure as defined for NR-U prior to its transmission.
  • the COT initiating UE 200 should be a target receiver in the step 410 of the responding UE's transmission(s) 310.
  • At least some embodiments address issues related to the COT decision procedure, e.g., which layer of the responding UE 100 decides 308 the use of the shared COT, based on what information to make the decision 308, and/or the decision may change from time to time.
  • Embodiments can handle the COT in case the sharing decision 403 or using decision 308 is changed.
  • a COT is shared between a UE and the gNB.
  • the decision procedure of COT sharing and the relevant signaling are designed for the UE and the gNB, where the gNB serves the controlling role and the UE follows the gNB decision.
  • Such procedures and signaling messages cannot be directly reused for SL UE to UE COT sharing, due to the following reasons:
  • the two UEs are equally positioned in terms of COT sharing decision. In other words, both UE's opinions need to be considered in the procedure.
  • the UE behaviors of both sides need to be specified.
  • the embodiments of the subject technique can address the above issues and provide corresponding solutions.
  • FIG. 9 A signaling diagram schematically illustrating an implementation of the methods 300 and 400 is shown in Fig. 9.
  • Fig. 9 schematically illustrates main steps of an exemplary implementation of the methods 300 and 400.
  • SL NR sidelink
  • D2D device-to-device
  • LTE LTE
  • a SL UE and its serving gNB if the UE is in NW coverage
  • RAT radio access technology
  • all the embodiments apply without loss of meaning to any combination of RATs between the SL UE and its serving gNB.
  • the link or radio link over which the signals are transmitted between at least two UEs for D2D operation is called herein as the sidelink (SL).
  • the signals transmitted between the UEs for D2D operation are called herein as SL signals.
  • the term SL may also interchangeably be called as D2D link, V2X link, prose link, peer-to-peer link, PC5 link etc.
  • the SL signals may also interchangeably be called as V2X signals, D2D signals, prose signals, PC5 signals, peer-to-peer signals etc.
  • the unlicensed SL carrier can be in any unlicensed band, e.g., 2.5, 5, 6 GHz, FR1, FR2, 52.6 GHz-71GHz, or beyond 100 GHz.
  • a UE 200 which initiates SL transmissions in its proximity is denoted as initiating UE.
  • One or multiple other UEs 100 may receive and read the SL transmissions from the initiating UE 200.
  • These UEs 100 may provide a response (e.g., a feedback) in the step 310 and/or transmit 310 SL traffic to the initiating UE 200 in which case these UEs 100 are denoted as responding UEs.
  • destination is interchangeably used with the term “destination Layer2 ID”.
  • the initiating UE 200 determines whether to share a COT with a responding UE based on at least one of the following information:
  • the information may concern one or multiple services, application or traffic types. In this case, they may map to one or multiple logical channels, logical channel groups or radio bearers. b. The information may be per service, application or traffic types. c. The information may be per logical channel (LCH), logical channel group (LCG) or radio bearer (RB).
  • LCH logical channel
  • LCG logical channel group
  • RB radio bearer
  • the responding UE transmits the PSFCH in a first slot that includes PSFCH resources and is at least a number of slots (which is the minimum time gap e.g., required for the responding UE to process the PSSCH reception), of the resource pool after a last slot of the PSSCH reception.
  • the determination 403 is done by the MAC layer (as the determining layer) of the initiating UEs 200.
  • the MAC layer informs the physical layer (as the signaling layer) of the decision (i.e., the determination result) whether the COT sharing is enabled towards one or multiple responding UEs 100.
  • the determination 403 is done by the physical layer (as the determining layer) of the initiating UE 200. In this case, if the MAC layer (as the signaling layer) obtains 402 the information (e.g., the report) prior to the physical layer, the MAC layer may inform 403a the physical layer of the above information to assist the physical layer to make the determination 403.
  • the responding UE 100 may provide 302 the above information (e.g., the report) including 1) and 2) to the initiating UE 200 via one of the following signaling alternatives:
  • - Control PDU of a protocol layer e.g., SDAP, PDCP, RLC or an adaptation layer in case of SL relay
  • a protocol layer e.g., SDAP, PDCP, RLC or an adaptation layer in case of SL relay
  • - LI signaling e.g., signaling carried on the physical channel including PSSCH, PSCCH, or PSFCH etc.
  • the responding UE 100 may provide 302 the information to the initiating UE 200 before the initiating UE 200 decides 403 to share a COT with the responding UE 100.
  • the initiating UE 200 whenever the initiating UE 200 has determined 403 to share a COT to at least one responding UE 100, the initiating UE 200 signals 404 the COT information comprising at least one of the following:
  • LBT types i.e., LBT type 1 and/or LBT type 2 allowed for the responding UE to join the COT.
  • One of the two consecutive transmissions may be a transmission from the initiating UE to the responding UE o
  • One of the two consecutive transmissions may be a transmission from the responding UE to the initiating UE -
  • the types of the transmissions that the responding UE is allowed to use the shared COT o E.g., PSSCH, PSCCH, PSFCH, SLSS/PSBCH
  • the COT information (i.e., the control signaling) is sent 404 by the initiating UE 200 to the responding UE 100 via one of the following signaling alternatives:
  • - Control PDU of a protocol layer e.g., SDAP, PDCP, RLC or an adaptation layer in case of SL relay
  • a protocol layer e.g., SDAP, PDCP, RLC or an adaptation layer in case of SL relay
  • - LI signaling e.g., signaling carried on the physical channel including PSSCH, PSCCH, or PSFCH etc.
  • a responding UE 100 may decide 308 whether to use the shared COT.
  • the responding UE 100 may further send a signaling (e.g., PC5 RRC, control PDU, MAC CE or LI signaling) to the initiating UE indicating whether the responding agrees or not agreed to use the shared COT.
  • a signaling e.g., PC5 RRC, control PDU, MAC CE or LI signaling
  • a responding UE 100 when a responding UE 100 receives a LI signaling (e.g., SCI) from an initiating UE 200 indicating COT sharing information (i.e., the control signaling), the responding UE's physical layer informs 306 any one or more of the following information to its MAC layer:
  • a LI signaling e.g., SCI
  • COT sharing information i.e., the control signaling
  • the UE can use a shared COT.
  • the UE ID of the UE 200 e.g., a (source) layer 1 ID (which is the least significant bits (LSB) part (8 bits) of the layer 2 ID (24 bits)) of the initiating UE from which the COT sharing info is received.
  • a (source) layer 1 ID which is the least significant bits (LSB) part (8 bits) of the layer 2 ID (24 bits) of the initiating UE from which the COT sharing info is received.
  • the UE ID information of the UE 200 may be used by the MAC layer in the determining 308 which Destination L2 ID should be selected when using a (granted) resource for its transmission 310.
  • a responding UE 100 when a responding UE 100 receives a L2 signaling (e.g., MAC CE) from an initiating UE indicating COT sharing info, the responding UE's MAC layer informs 306 any one or more of the following info to its physical layer:
  • a L2 signaling e.g., MAC CE
  • the UE can use a shared with COT
  • the UE ID of the UE 200 e.g., a (source) layer 2 ID of the initiating UE 200 from which the COT sharing information is received 304.
  • the channel access priority class (CAPC) value of the shared COT obtained from the COT sharing information.
  • a responding UE 100 when a responding UE 100 receives an upper layer signaling (e.g., RRC or control PDU) from an initiating UE 200 indicating COT sharing information (i.e., the control signaling), the upper layer (as the signaling layer) of the responding UE 100 informs 306 the received information (e.g., the availability) to its lower layers (i.e., MAC and/or physical layer) as the determining layer(s).
  • an upper layer signaling e.g., RRC or control PDU
  • COT sharing information i.e., the control signaling
  • the responding UE's MAC layer may inform any one or more of the following info related to data intended for the initiating UE to its physical layer:
  • the responding UE has traffic to be transmitted where the initiating UE is one target receiver (denoted as the targeted traffic).
  • the responding UE has traffic to be transmitted where the initiating UE is not the target receiver (denoted as non-targeted traffic) and the traffic has higher priority than that of the targeted traffic.
  • the information may be informed 306 when receiving the relevant information (e.g., as mentioned in the second detailed embodiment) from the physical layer and/or when there is new traffic arrived from higher layer and/or when resource reselection is triggered by the MAC layer (which may be due to reason(s) other than new traffic arrival, see the fourth and fifth embodiment).
  • relevant information e.g., as mentioned in the second detailed embodiment
  • resource reselection is triggered by the MAC layer (which may be due to reason(s) other than new traffic arrival, see the fourth and fifth embodiment).
  • the physical layer as the determining layer determines 308 whether or not to use the shared COT.
  • the responding UE's physical layer may inform any one or more of the following information to its MAC layer:
  • the MAC layer may determine whether or not to use a shared COT potentially based on information informed 306 by the physical layer (i.e., the information in the third embodiment) and inform 306 the determination result to the physical layer.
  • the physical layer follows the MAC layer's determination on whether or not to use the shared COT when performing mode 2 resource (re)selection or CCA for mode 1 grant.
  • the MAC layer may inform the physical layer to perform mode 2 resource (re)selection or CCA for mode 1 grant w/o using the shared COT.
  • the physical layer may determine whether or not to use a shared COT (if any) during mode 2 resource (re)selection or CCA for mode 1 grant w/o additional inputs from the MAC layer (the info mentioned in the third or fourth embodiment), For mode 1, in case CCA for a mode 1 grant is performed using the shared COT while there is no traffic to be transmitted where the initiating UE is one target receiver UE, the responding UE may ignore that grant and its MAC layer may inform the physical layer to perform CCA for the subsequent mode 1 grant(s) w/o using the shared COT.
  • the MAC layer may trigger the physical layer to perform resource (re)selection and optionally indicate that the reason for the resource (re)selection is that the resources (re)selected with using the shared COT cannot be used.
  • the MAC layer when generating the grant, instead of randomly selecting from the resources provided by the physical layer, performs the selection depending on the traffic that it wants to transmit 310. For instance, if it wants to transmit 310 a traffic where the initiating UE 200 is not a target receiver, it selects from the resources where the shared COT is not used by physical layer, otherwise it may select any resource provided by physical layer or first select from the resources where the shared COT is used by physical layer as long as there are such resources remained.
  • the determination 308 by the responding UE 100 of whether to use the shared COT is done by either:
  • Fig. 10 shows a schematic block diagram for an embodiment of the device 100.
  • the device 100 comprises processing circuitry, e.g., one or more processors 1004 for performing the method 300 and memory 1006 coupled to the processors 1004.
  • the memory 1006 may be encoded with instructions that implement at least one of the modules 102, 104, 106, 108, and 110.
  • the one or more processors 1004 may be a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, microcode and/or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other components of the device 100, such as the memory 1006, responding radio device functionality.
  • the one or more processors 1004 may execute instructions stored in the memory 1006. Such functionality may include providing various features and steps discussed herein, including any of the benefits disclosed herein.
  • the expression "the device being operative to perform an action" may denote the device 100 being configured to perform the action.
  • the device 100 may be embodied by a responding radio device 1000, e.g., responding UE.
  • the responding radio device 1000 comprises a radio interface 1002 coupled to the device 100 for radio communication with one or more initiating radio devices, e.g., functioning as an initiating UE.
  • Fig. 11 shows a schematic block diagram for an embodiment of the device 200.
  • the device 200 comprises processing circuitry, e.g., one or more processors 1104 for performing the method 400 and memory 1106 coupled to the processors 1104.
  • the memory 1106 may be encoded with instructions that implement at least one of the modules 201, 202, 203a, 203, 203b, 204 and 210.
  • the one or more processors 1104 may be a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, microcode and/or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other components of the device 200, such as the memory 1106, initiating radio device functionality.
  • the one or more processors 1104 may execute instructions stored in the memory 1106.
  • Such functionality may include providing various features and steps discussed herein, including any of the benefits disclosed herein.
  • the expression "the device being operative to perform an action” may denote the device 200 being configured to perform the action. As schematically illustrated in Fig.
  • the device 200 may be embodied by an initiating radio device 1100 7 e.g., functioning as an initiating UE.
  • the initiating radio device 1100 comprises a radio interface 1102 coupled to the device 200 for radio communication with one or more responding radio devices, e.g., functioning as a responding UE.
  • a communication system 1200 includes a telecommunication network 1210, such as a 3GPP-type cellular network, which comprises an access network 1211, such as a radio access network, and a core network 1214.
  • the access network 1211 comprises a plurality of base stations 1212a, 1212b, 1212c, such as NBs, eNBs, gNBs or other types of wireless access points, each defining a corresponding coverage area 1213a, 1213b, 1213c.
  • Each base station 1212a, 1212b, 1212c is connectable to the core network 1214 over a wired or wireless connection 1215.
  • a first user equipment (UE) 1291 located in coverage area 1213c is configured to wirelessly connect to, or be paged by, the corresponding base station 1212c.
  • a second UE 1292 in coverage area 1213a is wirelessly connectable to the corresponding base station 1212a. While a plurality of UEs 1291, 1292 are illustrated in this example, the disclosed embodiments are equally applicable to a situation where a sole UE is in the coverage area or where a sole UE is connecting to the corresponding base station 1212.
  • Any of the UEs 1291 and 1292 may embody the device 100 and/or the device 200.
  • the telecommunication network 1210 is itself connected to a host computer 1230, which may be embodied in the hardware and/or software of a standalone server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server or as processing resources in a server farm.
  • the host computer 1230 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider, or may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider.
  • the connections 1221, 1222 between the telecommunication network 1210 and the host computer 1230 may extend directly from the core network 1214 to the host computer 1230 or may go via an optional intermediate network 1220.
  • the intermediate network 1220 may be one of, or a combination of more than one of, a public, private or hosted network; the intermediate network 1220, if any, may be a backbone network or the Internet; in particular, the intermediate network 1220 may comprise two or more sub-networks (not shown).
  • the communication system 1200 of Fig. 12 as a whole enables connectivity between one of the connected UEs 1291, 1292 and the host computer 1230.
  • the connectivity may be described as an over-the-top (OTT) connection 1250.
  • the host computer 1230 and the connected UEs 1291, 1292 are configured to communicate data and/or signaling via the OTT connection 1250, using the access network 1211, the core network 1214, any intermediate network 1220 and possible further infrastructure (not shown) as intermediaries.
  • the OTT connection 1250 may be transparent in the sense that the participating communication devices through which the OTT connection 1250 passes are unaware of routing of uplink and downlink communications. For example, a base station 1212 need not be informed about the past routing of an incoming downlink communication with data originating from a host computer 1230 to be forwarded (e.g., handed over) to a connected UE 1291. Similarly, the base station 1212 need not be aware of the future routing of an outgoing uplink communication originating from the UE 1291 towards the host computer 1230.
  • the performance or range of the OTT connection 1250 can be improved, e.g., in terms of increased throughput and/or reduced latency.
  • the host computer 1230 may indicate to the RAN 1211 or any one of the initiating or responding UEs acting as a relay radio device (e.g., on an application layer) the QoS of the traffic, optionally which may be included in the control signaling in the step 404 and/or the report in the step 302.
  • a host computer 1310 comprises hardware 1315 including a communication interface 1316 configured to set up and maintain a wired or wireless connection with an interface of a different communication device of the communication system 1300.
  • the host computer 1310 further comprises processing circuitry 1318, which may have storage and/or processing capabilities.
  • the processing circuitry 1318 may comprise one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions.
  • the host computer 1310 further comprises software 1311, which is stored in or accessible by the host computer 1310 and executable by the processing circuitry 1318.
  • the software 1311 includes a host application 1312.
  • the host application 1312 may be operable to provide a service to a remote user, such as a UE 1330 connecting via an OTT connection 1350 terminating at the UE 1330 and the host computer 1310.
  • the host application 1312 may provide user data, which is transmitted using the OTT connection 1350.
  • the user data may depend on the location of the UE 1330.
  • the user data may comprise auxiliary information or precision advertisements (also: ads) delivered to the UE 1330.
  • the location may be reported by the UE 1330 to the host computer, e.g., using the OTT connection 1350, and/or by the base station 1320, e.g., using a connection 1360.
  • the communication system 1300 further includes a base station 1320 provided in a telecommunication system and comprising hardware 1325 enabling it to communicate with the host computer 1310 and with the UE 1330.
  • the hardware 1325 may include a communication interface 1326 for setting up and maintaining a wired or wireless connection with an interface of a different communication device of the communication system 1300, as well as a radio interface 1327 for setting up and maintaining at least a wireless connection 1370 with a UE 1330 located in a coverage area (not shown in Fig. 13) served by the base station 1320.
  • the communication interface 1326 may be configured to facilitate a connection 1360 to the host computer 1310.
  • the connection 1360 may be direct, or it may pass through a core network (not shown in Fig.
  • the hardware 1325 of the base station 1320 further includes processing circuitry 1328, which may comprise one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions.
  • the base station 1320 further has software 1321 stored internally or accessible via an external connection.
  • the communication system 1300 further includes the UE 1330 already referred to.
  • Its hardware 1335 may include a radio interface 1337 configured to set up and maintain a wireless connection 1370 with a base station serving a coverage area in which the UE 1330 is currently located.
  • the hardware 1335 of the UE 1330 further includes processing circuitry 1338, which may comprise one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions.
  • the UE 1330 further comprises software 1331, which is stored in or accessible by the UE 1330 and executable by the processing circuitry 1338.
  • the software 1331 includes a client application 1332.
  • the client application 1332 may be operable to provide a service to a human or non-human user via the UE 1330, with the support of the host computer 1310.
  • an executing host application 1312 may communicate with the executing client application 1332 via the OTT connection 1350 terminating at the UE 1330 and the host computer 1310.
  • the client application 1332 may receive request data from the host application 1312 and provide user data in response to the request data.
  • the OTT connection 1350 may transfer both the request data and the user data.
  • the client application 1332 may interact with the user to generate the user data that it provides.
  • the host computer 1310, base station 1320 and UE 1330 illustrated in Fig. 13 may be identical to the host computer 1230, one of the base stations 1212a, 1212b, 1212c and one of the UEs 1291, 1292 of Fig. 12, respectively.
  • the inner workings of these entities may be as shown in Fig. 13, and, independently, the surrounding network topology may be that of Fig. 12.
  • the OTT connection 1350 has been drawn abstractly to illustrate the communication between the host computer 1310 and the UE 1330 via the base station 1320, without explicit reference to any intermediary devices and the precise routing of messages via these devices.
  • Network infrastructure may determine the routing, which it may be configured to hide from the UE 1330 or from the service provider operating the host computer 1310, or both. While the OTT connection 1350 is active, the network infrastructure may further take decisions by which it dynamically changes the routing (e.g., on the basis of load balancing consideration or reconfiguration of the network).
  • the wireless connection 1370 between the UE 1330 and the base station 1320 is in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure.
  • One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of OTT services provided to the UE 1330 using the OTT connection 1350, in which the wireless connection 1370 forms the last segment. More precisely, the teachings of these embodiments may reduce the latency and improve the data rate and thereby provide benefits such as better responsiveness and improved QoS.
  • a measurement procedure may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency, QoS and other factors on which the one or more embodiments improve.
  • the measurement procedure and/or the network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection 1350 may be implemented in the software 1311 of the host computer 1310 or in the software 1331 of the UE 1330, or both.
  • sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in association with communication devices through which the OTT connection 1350 passes; the sensors may participate in the measurement procedure by supplying values of the monitored quantities exemplified above, or supplying values of other physical quantities from which software 1311, 1331 may compute or estimate the monitored quantities.
  • the reconfiguring of the OTT connection 1350 may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing etc.; the reconfiguring need not affect the base station 1320, and it may be unknown or imperceptible to the base station 1320.
  • measurements may involve proprietary UE signaling facilitating the host computer's 1310 measurements of throughput, propagation times, latency and the like.
  • the measurements may be implemented in that the software 1311, 1331 causes messages to be transmitted, in particular empty or "dummy" messages, using the OTT connection 1350 while it monitors propagation times, errors etc.
  • Fig. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment.
  • the communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which may be those described with reference to Figs. 12 and 13. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to Fig. 14 will be included in this paragraph.
  • the host computer provides user data.
  • the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application.
  • the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE.
  • Fig. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment.
  • the communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which may be those described with reference to Figs. 12 and 13. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to Fig. 15 will be included in this paragraph.
  • the host computer provides user data.
  • the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application.
  • the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE.
  • the transmission may pass via the base station, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure.
  • the UE receives the user data carried in the transmission.
  • At least some embodiments of the technique enable the layers to interact to exchange COT sharing information (i.e., inter-layer signaling), which may be used determining (e.g., deciding) as to whether the COT is shared (e.g., at the side of the initiating radio device) and/or as to whether the shared COT is used (e.g., at the side of the responding radio device).
  • the inter-layer signaling may be based on and/or may be an extension of 3GPP technical specifications, e.g. 3GPP document TS 38.321, version 17.2.0.
  • Same or further embodiments of the initiating radio device may determine whether to share a COT for improving performance of the SL on unlicensed spectrum (SL-U).
  • Embodiments of the technique may be implemented according existing versions of the 3GPP documents TS 38.331, version 17.2.0; TS 36.331, version 17.2.0; TS 38.300, version 17.2.0; TS 36.300, version 17.2.0; TS 38.314, version 17.1.0; TS 36.314, version 17.0.0, TR 32.846, version 17.0.0, or extended version thereof, e.g., for Release 18.
  • the technique may be implemented according to 3GPP LTE and/or NR.
  • the technique may be embodied by UEs for LTE and or NR and/or a ProSe Function or lnter-5G Direct Discovery Name Management Function (5G DDNMF).
  • 5G DDNMF lnter-5G Direct Discovery Name Management Function
  • the COT indicated by the control signaling may also be referred to as the shared COT, the remaining COT or the remaining transmission opportunity (TxOp).
  • the initiating radio device may also be referred to as the transmitting radio device.
  • the responding radio device may also be referred to as the receiving radio device.
  • the control signaling being received at the signaling layer may mean that the control signaling is a protocol data unit (PDU) of the signaling layer and/or that the control signaling is included in a service data unit (SDU) of the signaling layer and/or that the signaling layer terminates the reception of the report.
  • the signaling layer may be the last layer processing the report.
  • the inter-layer signaling at the responding radio device may enable at least some embodiments of the responding radio device to determine whether to use the COT independently of the signaling layer used for the inter-radio device signaling (i.e., the control signaling from the initiating radio device to the responding radio device).
  • the responding radio device may have data pending (e.g., available) for transmission (e.g., to the initiating radio device or another radio device) at the determining layer.
  • the determining layer may determine to use the COT for the transmission of the pending data (e.g., to the initiating radio device or another radio device) if the determining layer has failed to access a channel for the transmitting of the pending data and/or depending on a quality of service (QoS) associated with the pending data (e.g., to fulfill the QoS associated with the pending data, optionally a latency requirement or packet delay budget).
  • QoS quality of service
  • the inter-layer signaling at least some embodiments can reduce a time required for the determining whether to use the COT, e.g., by indicating the availability of the COT to the determining layer which has the information for the determination (e.g., the information as to the failed access to the channel or the data pending for the transmission or the QoS).
  • the control signaling instead of preemptively converting the control signaling to a message (e.g., a service data unit, SDU) of the determining layer at the initiating radio device, embodiments of the responding radio device can be informed more rapidly as to the availability of the shared COT.
  • a message e.g., a service data unit, SDU
  • the determining layer for the determination whether to use the COT may change with time (e.g., depending on where the data is pending and/or depending on a situation of the channel for the SL at the responding radio device).
  • the change of the determining layer may be (e.g., for the initiating radio device) unpredictable. Accordingly, at least some embodiments of the responding radio device can signal the availability of the COT to the determining layer that is currently in charge of the determination.
  • the determination whether to use the COT may comprise determining whether to transmit on the SL using the COT. Alternatively or in addition, the determination whether to use the COT may comprise determining which data is to be transmitted using the COT. Alternatively or in addition, the determination whether to use the COT may comprise determining whether the COT is used for transmitting to the initiating radio device or another radio device.
  • the availability of the COT may be signaled from the signaling layer to the determining layer responsive to the receiving of the control signaling indicative of sharing the COT.
  • the inter-layer signaling may be implemented based on, or by extending, the 3GPP document TS 38.321, version 17.2.0.
  • the SL may be implemented according to the 3GPP document TS 37.213, version 17.2.0, on physical layer procedures for shared spectrum channel access.
  • the signaling layer is a first layer, LI, or a physical layer, PHY layer, of the protocol stack of the responding radio device (100; 1000; 1291; 1292; 1330)
  • the determining layer is a second layer, L2, or a medium access control layer, MAC layer, of the protocol stack of the responding radio device (100; 1000; 1291; 1292; 1330).
  • the control signaling may be, or may comprise, at least one of sidelink control information (SCI), a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), and radio resource control (RRC) signaling.
  • SCI sidelink control information
  • MAC medium access control
  • RRC radio resource control
  • determining layer is a first layer, LI, or a physical layer, PHY layer, of the protocol stack of the responding radio device (100; 1000; 1291; 1292; 1330)
  • the signaling layer is a second layer, L2, or a medium access control layer, MAC layer, of the protocol stack of the responding radio device (100; 1000; 1291; 1292; 1330).
  • the response may be selectively transmitted to the initiating radio device according to the determination of the determining layer.
  • the response may comprise the data pending for transmission.
  • the radio channel may be shared by, or available to, multiple operators. Alternatively or in addition, the radio channel may comprise shared or unlicensed spectrum.
  • the initiating radio device may perform the CCA.
  • the COT (614) is initiated by a list-before-talk, LBT, procedure including a or the CCA during a defer duration (604), optionally wherein the defer duration (604) comprises at least one of: a fixed minimum duration (606); a number of consecutive time-slot durations (608); a backoff time randomly selected from a contention window, CW (610); and a fixed contention window, CW (610).
  • the defer duration may be a Distributed Coordination Function (DCF) Interframe Space (DIFS).
  • DCF Distributed Coordination Function
  • DIFS Interframe Space
  • SIFS Short Interframe Space
  • the LBT procedure may utilize a fixed CW (e.g., without random backoff), which may be referred to as a frame-based LBT. Accordingly, the initiating radio device and/or the responding radio device may be a frame-based equipment (FBE). Alternatively, the LBT may utilize a random backoff from a (e.g., binary exponential) CW, which may be referred to as load-based LBT. Accordingly, the initiating radio device and/or the responding radio device may be a load-based equipment (LBE).
  • a fixed CW e.g., without random backoff
  • the initiating radio device and/or the responding radio device may be a frame-based equipment (FBE).
  • the LBT may utilize a random backoff from a (e.g., binary exponential) CW, which may be referred to as load-based LBT.
  • the initiating radio device and/or the responding radio device may be a load-based equipment (LBE).
  • the defer duration (Td) may be the (e.g., minimum) time the initiating radio device has to wait after the channel becomes idle (i.e., clear or unoccupied).
  • At least one of the defer duration, the fixed duration, the number of consecutive slot durations, the minimum CW size, and the maximum CW size may depend on a priority class associated with (e.g., assigned to) the initiating radio device and/or the responding radio device.
  • the priority class may be an LBT priority class and/or a Channel Access Priority Class (CAPC). The smaller the number of the priority class number, the higher the priority.
  • the priority class may be assigned based on traffic type and/or are mapped to different QoS Class Indicators (QCIs).
  • a duration of the transmission shall not exceed a maximum COT (MCOT) starting from the shared COT.
  • MCOT may depend on the priority class.
  • control signaling is received (304) from the initiating radio device (200; 1100; 1291; 1292; 1330) and/or on the SL, optionally on a physical SL control channel, PSCCH, of the SL; and/or wherein the COT (614) is used for transmitting data to the initiating radio device (200; 1100; 1291; 1292; 1330) on the SL, optionally on a physical SL shared channel, PSSCH of the SL.
  • control signaling is further indicative of an identity of the initiating radio device (200; 1100; 1291; 1292; 1330).
  • the report being indicative of data pending at the responding radio device (100; 1000; 1291; 1292; 1330) for the transmission (310), optionally wherein the control signaling indicative of the sharing of the COT (614) is received (304) responsive to the transmitting (302) of the report.
  • Transmitting the report by the signaling layer may mean that the report is a PDU of the signaling layer and/or that the report is included in an SDU of the signaling layer and/or that the signaling layer generates the report.
  • the signaling layer may be the earliest layer processing (e.g., providing) the report.
  • the report being configured to trigger the signaling from a signaling layer to the determining layer at the initiating radio device may mean that the signaling layer transmitting the report corresponds to a signaling layer of the initiating radio device that is different from the determining layer of the initiating radio device.
  • Receiving the control signaling from the signaling layer of the initiating radio device may mean that the report is a PDU of the signaling layer and/or that the report is included in an SDU of the signaling layer of the initiating radio device and/or that the signaling layer of the initiating radio device generates the control signaling.
  • the signaling layer of the initiating radio device may be the earliest layer processing (e.g., providing) the control signaling.
  • the control signaling may be configured to trigger the signaling from the signaling layer to the determining layer at the responding radio device, e.g. which may mean that the signaling layer receiving the control signaling at the responding radio device is different from the determining layer of the responding radio device.
  • control signaling is indicative of at least one of: an indicator indicating whether the COT (614) is shared; a channel access priority class associated with initiating radio device (200; 1100; 1291; 1292; 1330); and a maximum allowed gap between the transmission (401) initiating the COT (614) and the transmission (310) using the shared COT (614).
  • COT channel occupancy time
  • the COT (and/or the availability of the COT) may be shared with a plurality responding radio devices.
  • the transmitting of the control signaling may comprise broadcasting the control signaling.
  • control signaling is configured to trigger at least one of: a signaling of an availability of the COT (614) from a signaling layer of a protocol stack of the responding radio device (100; 1000; 1291; 1292; 1330) to a determining layer of the protocol stack of the responding radio device (100; 1000; 1291; 1292; 1330) for determining whether to use the COT (614); and determining at the determining layer of the responding radio device (100; 1000; 1291; 1292; 1330) whether or not to transmit on the SL in the COT (614) according to the control signaling.
  • embodiments of the initiating radio device can enable the responding radio device to determine whether to use the COT.
  • a computer program product comprising program code portions for performing the steps of any one of the embodiments 1 to 12 and/or 13 to 24 when the computer program product is executed on one or more computing devices (1104; 1204), optionally stored on a computer-readable recording medium (1106; 1206).
  • a responding radio device (100; 1000; 1291; 1292; 1330) comprising memory operable to store instructions and processing circuitry operable to execute the instructions, such that the responding radio device (100; 1000; 1291; 1292; 1330) is operable to: receive a control signaling indicative of sharing a channel occupancy time, COT (614), initiated by an initiating radio device (200; 1100; 1291; 1292; 1330) for a SL, the control signaling being received (304) at a signaling layer of a protocol stack of the responding radio device (100; 1000; 1291; 1292; 1330); and signal an availability of the COT (614) from the signaling layer to a determining layer of the protocol stack of the responding radio device (100; 1000; 1291; 1292; 1330) for determining (308) whether to use the COT (614).
  • a responding radio device (100; 1000; 1291; 1292; 1330), configured to: receive a control signaling indicative of sharing a channel occupancy time, COT (614), initiated by an initiating radio device (200; 1100; 1291; 1292; 1330) for a SL, the control signaling being received (304) at a signaling layer of a protocol stack of the responding radio device (100; 1000; 1291; 1292; 1330); and signal an availability of the COT (614) from the signaling layer to a determining layer of the protocol stack of the responding radio device (100; 1000; 1291; 1292; 1330) for determining (308) whether to use the COT (614).
  • COT channel occupancy time
  • An initiating radio device (200; 1100; 1291; 1292; 1330) comprising memory operable to store instructions and processing circuitry operable to execute the instructions, such that the initiating radio device (200; 1100; 1291; 1292; 1330) is operable to: receive a report from a responding radio device (100; 1000; 1291; 1292;
  • the report being indicative of data pending for transmission at the responding radio device (100; 1000; 1291; 1292; 1330); and transmit a control signaling indicative of sharing a channel occupancy time, COT (614), initiated by the initiating radio device for the SL, wherein the control signaling indicative of the sharing of the COT (614) is transmitted responsive to the received report.
  • COT channel occupancy time
  • An initiating radio device (200; 1100; 1291; 1292; 1330), configured to: receive a report from a responding radio device (100; 1000; 1291; 1292;
  • the report being indicative of data pending for transmission at the responding radio device (100; 1000; 1291; 1292; 1330); and transmit a control signaling indicative of sharing a channel occupancy time, COT (614), initiated by the initiating radio device for the SL, wherein the control signaling indicative of the sharing of the COT (614) is transmitted responsive to the received report.
  • COT channel occupancy time
  • the initiating radio device (200; 1100; 1291; 1292; 1330) of embodiment 32 further configured to perform the steps of any one of embodiments 14 to 24.
  • the communication system (1200; 1300) of embodiment 34 further including the UE (100; 200; 1000; 1100; 1291; 1292; 1330).

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
  • Signal Processing (AREA)
  • Mobile Radio Communication Systems (AREA)

Abstract

L'invention concerne une technique de gestion de liaison latérale (SL) entre un dispositif radio initiateur (200; 1100; 1291; 1292; 1330) et un dispositif radio répondant (100; 1000; 1291; 1292; 1330). Selon un aspect de procédé de la technique mise en œuvre par le dispositif radio initiateur (200; 1100; 1291; 1292; 1330), un rapport provenant du dispositif radio répondant (100; 1000; 1291; 1292; 1330) est reçu (402). Le rapport indique des données en attente de transmission au niveau du dispositif radio répondant (100; 1000; 1291; 1292; 1330). Une signalisation de commande est transmise (404) en réponse au rapport reçu (402). La signalisation de commande est indicative du partage d'un temps d'occupation de canal, COT (614), initié (401) par le dispositif radio initiateur (200; 1100; 1291; 1292; 1330) pour la SL.
PCT/EP2023/080599 2022-11-03 2023-11-02 Technique de gestion de liaison latérale entre des dispositifs radio WO2024094811A1 (fr)

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US20210092783A1 (en) 2019-09-25 2021-03-25 Qualcomm Incorporated Channel occupancy time (cot) sharing for sidelink
EP3817428A1 (fr) 2018-07-31 2021-05-05 Sony Corporation Dispositif électronique, procédé de communication sans fil et support d'informations lisible par ordinateur
US20210136783A1 (en) * 2019-10-30 2021-05-06 Qualcomm Incorporated Reversed sidelink communication initiated by receiving user equipment
US20210400732A1 (en) 2020-06-18 2021-12-23 Qualcomm Incorporated Sub-channel-based occupancy time sharing for unlicensed sidelink
CN114731528A (zh) 2021-06-22 2022-07-08 上海诺基亚贝尔股份有限公司 共享信道占用时间的机制
US20220312379A1 (en) * 2021-03-24 2022-09-29 Qualcomm Incorporated Sub-resource pool for transmission of new radio sidelink over unlicensed bands

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