Communication method and terminal device

Abstract

A communication method and a terminal device are provided. The communication method comprises the step of transmitting a first sidelink channel to a second terminal device via a first sidelink by a first terminal device, wherein the first sidelink channel comprises first COT sharing information, and the first COT sharing information satisfies one or more of the following: that the first COT sharing information is carried in a first PSSCH of the first sidelink channel; and that the first COT sharing information comprises second COT sharing information and third COT sharing information, wherein the second COT sharing information corresponds to a first communication mode and the third COT sharing information corresponds to a second communication mode.

Description

Technology Field

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of communication, and more specifically, to a communication method and a terminal device. Background Technology

[0002] In the unlicensed spectrum, a sidelink terminal device acquires channel resources through a mechanism such as listen before talk (LBT). The terminal device can use the channel resources to perform sidelink communication within the channel occupancy time (COT).

[0003] Resources within the COT can also be shared with other terminal devices. The method for performing COT sharing is an urgent issue that needs to be resolved.

[0004] The present application provides a communication method and a terminal device. Various aspects of the embodiments of the present application are described below.

[0005] According to a first embodiment, a communication method is provided, the method comprising: transmitting a first sidelink channel to a second terminal device via a first sidelink by a first terminal device, wherein the first sidelink channel comprises first COT shared information, and the first COT shared information satisfies one or more of the following: the first COT shared information is carried in a first physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) of the first sidelink channel; and the first COT shared information comprises second COT shared information and third COT shared information, wherein the second COT shared information corresponds to a first communication mode and the third COT shared information corresponds to a second communication mode.

[0006] According to a second embodiment, a communication method is provided, the method comprising: receiving a first sidelink channel transmitted by a first terminal device by a second terminal device and through a first sidelink, wherein the first sidelink channel comprises first COT sharing information, and the first COT sharing information satisfies one or more of the following: the first COT sharing information is carried in a first PSSCH of the first sidelink channel; and the first COT sharing information comprises second COT sharing information and third COT sharing information, wherein the second COT sharing information corresponds to a first communication mode and the third COT sharing information corresponds to a second communication mode.

[0007] According to a third embodiment, a communication method is provided, the method comprising: transmitting a first sidelink channel by a first terminal device, wherein the first sidelink channel comprises first COT sharing information, the first COT sharing information is used to indicate that the first terminal device has allocated a first resource within the COT to a second terminal device; and the first resource is determined based on one or more of the following information: whether the second terminal device is a terminal device within a communication cluster in which the first terminal device is located; and a priority corresponding to the second terminal device.

[0008] According to a fourth embodiment, a communication method is provided, the method comprising: receiving a first sidelink channel by a second terminal device, wherein the first sidelink channel comprises first COT sharing information, and the first COT sharing information is used to indicate that the first terminal device has allocated a first resource within the COT to the second terminal device; and the first resource is determined based on one or more of the following information: whether the second terminal device is a terminal device within a communication cluster in which the first terminal device is located; and a priority corresponding to the second terminal device.

[0009] According to a fifth embodiment, a terminal device is provided, wherein the terminal device is a first terminal device and includes a communication module configured to transmit a first sidelink channel to a second terminal device through a first sidelink, wherein the first sidelink channel includes first COT sharing information, and the first COT sharing information satisfies one or more of the following: that the first COT sharing information is carried in a first PSSCH of the first sidelink channel; and that the first COT sharing information includes second COT sharing information and third COT sharing information, wherein the second COT sharing information corresponds to a first communication mode and the third COT sharing information corresponds to a second communication mode.

[0010] According to a sixth embodiment, a terminal device is provided, the terminal device is a second terminal device and includes a communication module configured to receive a first sidelink channel transmitted by the first terminal device via a first sidelink, wherein the first sidelink channel includes first COT sharing information, and the first COT sharing information satisfies one or more of the following: the first COT sharing information is carried in a first PSSCH of the first sidelink channel; and the first COT sharing information includes second COT sharing information and third COT sharing information, wherein the second COT sharing information corresponds to a first communication mode and the third COT sharing information corresponds to a second communication mode.

[0011] According to a seventh embodiment, a terminal device is provided, wherein the terminal device is a first terminal device and includes a communication module configured to transmit a first sidelink channel, wherein the first sidelink channel includes first COT sharing information, and the first COT sharing information is used to indicate that the first terminal device has allocated a first resource within the COT to a second terminal device; the first resource is determined based on one or more of the following information: whether the second terminal device is a terminal device within the communication cluster where the first terminal device is located; and a priority corresponding to the second terminal device.

[0012] According to the eighth aspect, a terminal device is provided, the terminal device is a second terminal device and includes a communication module configured to receive a first sidelink channel, wherein the first sidelink channel includes first COT sharing information, and the first COT sharing information is used to indicate that the first terminal device has allocated a first resource within the COT to the second terminal device; the first resource is determined based on one or more of the following information: whether the second terminal device is a terminal device within the communication cluster where the first terminal device is located; and a priority corresponding to the second terminal device.

[0013] According to a ninth embodiment, a communication device is provided, the device comprises a memory and a processor, wherein the memory is configured to store a program and the processor is configured to call a program in the memory to perform a method according to any one of the first to fourth embodiments.

[0014] According to the tenth embodiment, a device is provided, and the device includes a processor configured to call a program from memory to perform a method according to any one of the first to fourth embodiments.

[0015] According to the eleventh embodiment, a chip is provided, and the chip includes a processor configured to call a program from memory to enable a device on which the chip is installed to perform a method according to any one of the first to fourth embodiments.

[0016] According to the 12th embodiment, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, and the computer-readable storage medium stores a program that enables a computer to perform a method according to any one of the first to fourth embodiments.

[0017] According to the 13th embodiment, a computer program product is provided, and the computer program product includes a program that enables a computer to perform a method according to any one of the first to fourth embodiments.

[0018] According to the 14th embodiment, a computer program is provided, wherein the computer program enables the computer to perform a method according to any one of the first to fourth embodiments.

[0019] In an embodiment of the present application, when a first terminal device performs sidelink communication with a second terminal device, COT sharing information is carried in a sidelink channel. The method for sharing COT sharing information proposed in an embodiment of the present application helps to improve the utilization rate of sidelink channel resources. Brief explanation of the drawing

[0020] FIG. 1 is an exemplary diagram of a wireless communication system to which an embodiment of the present application is applicable. Figure 2 is an exemplary diagram of NR-V2X communication. Figure 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a single slot of a sidelink resource pool. Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of a frame structure that does not carry PSFCH. Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of a frame structure carrying PSFCH. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of the interaction between terminal devices in a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a frame structure including COT-SI without carrying PSFCH according to an embodiment of the present application. FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a frame structure carrying PSFCH and including COT-SI according to an embodiment of the present application. FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a frame structure having a COT-SI divided into two parts without carrying a PSFCH according to an embodiment of the present application. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a frame structure having a COT-SI divided into two parts and carrying a PSFCH according to an embodiment of the present application. Figure 11 is a schematic structural diagram of the COT resources acquired by the terminal device through LBT. FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of communication between terminal devices in a communication method according to another embodiment of the present application. Figure 13 is an exemplary diagram of a unicast communication system in SL-U. Figure 14 is an exemplary diagram of a group cast communication system in SL-U. FIG. 15 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present application. FIG. 16 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application. Specific details for implementing the invention

[0021] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application will be described clearly and completely below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Clearly, the described embodiments are only a part, rather than all, of the embodiments of the present application. For ease of understanding, terms and communication processes related to the present application are described below with reference first to FIGS. 1 through 5.

[0022] FIG. 1 is an exemplary diagram of the system architecture of a wireless communication system (100) to which an embodiment of the present application is applicable. The wireless communication system (100) may include a network device (110) and terminal devices (121 to 129). The network device (110) may provide communication coverage for a specific geographical area and may communicate with terminals within the coverage area.

[0023] In some implementations, terminal devices can communicate with each other via a sidelink (SL). Sidelink communication may also be referred to as proximity service (ProSe) communication, unilateral communication, sidelink communication, device-to-device (D2D) communication, or similar terms.

[0024] In other words, sidelink data is transmitted between terminal devices via the sidelink. Sidelink data may include data and / or control signaling. In some implementations, sidelink data may be, for example, a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH), PSSCH, a PSCCH demodulation reference signal (DMRS), a PSSCH DMRS, or a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH).

[0025] With reference to FIG. 1, several common sidelink communication scenarios are described below. Depending on whether the terminal devices in the sidelink are within the coverage of the network device, sidelink communication may include three scenarios. In Scenario 1, the terminal devices perform sidelink communication within the coverage of the network device. In Scenario 2, some of the terminal devices perform sidelink communication within the coverage of the network device. In Scenario 3, the terminal devices perform sidelink communication outside the coverage of the network device.

[0026] As illustrated in FIG. 1, in Scenario 1, terminal devices (121 and 122) can communicate with each other via a sidelink, and both terminal devices (121 and 122) are within the coverage of the network device (110), that is, both terminal devices (121 and 122) are within the coverage of the same network device (110). In this scenario, the network device (110) can transmit configuration signaling to the terminal devices (121 and 122), and accordingly, the terminal devices (121 and 122) communicate with each other via a sidelink based on the configuration signaling.

[0027] As illustrated in FIG. 1, in Scenario 2, terminal devices (123 and 124) can communicate with each other via a side link, and terminal device (123) is within the coverage of network device (110), while terminal device (124) is outside the coverage of network device (110). In this scenario, terminal device (123) receives configuration information from network device (110) and communicates via the side link based on the configuration of configuration signaling. However, since terminal device (124) is outside the coverage of network device (110), terminal device (124) cannot receive configuration information from network device (110). In this case, terminal device (124) can obtain the configuration of the side link communication based on pre-configured configuration information and / or configuration information transmitted by terminal device (123) within the coverage area in order to communicate with terminal device (123) via the side link based on the acquired configuration.

[0028] In some cases, the terminal device (123) can transmit configuration information to the terminal device (124) via a physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH) to configure the terminal device (124) to communicate via a sidelink.

[0029] As illustrated in FIG. 1, in Scenario 3, all terminal devices (125 to 129) are outside the coverage of the network device (110) and cannot communicate with the network device (110). In this case, all terminal devices can perform sidelink communication based on pre-configured information.

[0030] In some cases, terminal devices (127 to 129) located outside the coverage of a network device may form a communication cluster, and terminal devices (127 to 129) within the communication cluster may communicate with each other. In addition, a terminal device (127) within the communication cluster may also act as a central control node referred to as a cluster header (CH). Accordingly, other terminal devices within the communication cluster may be referred to as "cluster members."

[0031] A terminal device (127) as a CH may have one or more of the following functions: responsible for setting up a communication cluster; joining and leaving a cluster member; resource coordination, allocation of sidelink transmission resources to a cluster member, and receiving sidelink feedback information from a cluster member; resource coordination with another communication cluster; and other functions.

[0032] It should be noted that FIG. 1 illustrates a network device and a plurality of terminal devices by way of example. Optionally, the wireless communication system (100) may include a plurality of network devices, and the coverage of each network device may include another number of terminal devices, but this is not limited to this embodiment of the present application.

[0033] Optionally, the wireless communication system (100) may further include other network entities, such as a network controller and a mobility management entity, which are not limited to this embodiment of the application.

[0034] It should be understood that the technical solution of the embodiments of the present application may be applied to various communication systems, e.g., 5th generation (5G) systems or new radio (NR) systems, long term evolution (LTE) systems, LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) systems, and LTE time division duplex (TDD) systems. The technical solution provided in the present application may also be applied to future communication systems such as 6th generation mobile communication systems and satellite communication systems.

[0035] In the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device may also be referred to as user equipment (UE), access terminal, subscriber unit, subscriber station, mobile, mobile station (MS), mobile terminal (MT), remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, wireless communication device, user agent, or user device. In the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device may be a device capable of connecting people, objects, and machines, such as a handheld device or a vehicle-mounted device having a wireless connection function, providing voice and / or data connection to a user. In the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device may be a mobile phone, a tablet computer (pad), a notebook computer, a palmtop computer, a mobile internet device (MID), a wearable device, a vehicle, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a wireless terminal in autonomous driving, a wireless terminal in remote medical surgery, a wireless terminal in a smart grid, a wireless terminal in traffic safety, a wireless terminal in a smart city, a wireless terminal in a smart home, or something similar. Optionally, the terminal device may be used to serve as a base station. For example, a terminal device can act as a scheduling entity that provides sidelink signals between terminal devices in Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) or D2D. For instance, a mobile phone and a vehicle communicate with each other using sidelink data. A mobile phone and a smart home device communicate with each other without relaying communication signals through a base station.

[0036] In the embodiments of the present application, the network device may be a device for communicating with a terminal device. The network device may also be referred to as an access network device or a wireless access network device. For example, the network device may be a base station. In the embodiments of the present application, the network device may be a radio access network (RAN) node (or device) that connects the terminal device to a wireless network. Base stations may broadly cover various names such as, for example, the following, or may be interchangeable with the following: Node B, evolved Node B (eNB), next generation Node B (gNB), relay station, transmitting and receiving point (TRP), transmitting point (AP), access point (AP), master eNodeB (MeNB), secondary eNB (SeNB), multi-standard radio (MSR) node, home base station, network controller, access node, radio node, transmitting node, transceiver node, base band unit (BBU), remote radio unit (RRU), active antenna unit (AAU), remote radio head (RRH), central unit (CU), distributed unit (DU), and positioning node. A base station may be a macro base station, a micro base station, a relay node, a donor node, or something similar, or a combination thereof. Alternatively, a base station may be a communication module, a modem, or a chip arranged in the device or device described above.Alternatively, the base station may be a mobile switching center, a device assuming the function of a base station in D2D, V2X, and machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, a network-side device in a 6G network, a device assuming the function of a base station in a future communication system, or something similar. The base station may support networks of the same or different access technologies. The specific technology and specific device type used by the network device are not limited to the embodiments of this application.

[0037] Base stations can be fixed or mobile. For example, a helicopter or drone can be configured to act as a mobile base station, and one or more cells can move according to the location of the mobile base station. In another example, a helicopter or drone can be configured to act as a device that communicates with another base station.

[0038] In some deployments, the network device in the embodiments of the present application may be a CU or a DU, or the network device includes a CU and a DU. The gNB may further include an AAU.

[0039] Network devices and terminal devices may be deployed on the ground, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; deployed on water; or deployed in the sky on aircraft, hot air balloons, and satellites. In the embodiments of this application, the scenarios in which network devices and terminal devices are located are not limited.

[0040] It should be understood that in this application, all or part of the functions of the communication device may also be implemented by software functions executed in hardware, or by virtualization functions instantiated on a platform (such as a cloud platform).

[0041] Communication mode for sidelink

[0042] With the development of sidelink communication technology, sidelink communication technology is related to the exchange of information between various terminal devices. Taking the V2X communication system (200) illustrated in FIG. 2 as an example, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication between terminal device (201) and terminal device (202) is related to the exchange of information between the vehicles themselves. Vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication, vehicle-to-network (V2N) communication, and vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P) communication between terminal device (201) and terminal devices (203 to 205) are each related to the exchange of information between the vehicle and an external system.

[0043] The gradual expansion of the scope of information exchange imposes higher demands on communication systems. For example, communication systems are required to support higher throughput, lower latency, higher reliability, wider coverage, and more flexible resource allocation. Taking the development of V2X as an example, in LTE-V2X, only the broadcast mode is supported for sidelink communication between terminal devices. In NR-V2X, three communication modes—broadcast, group cast, and unicast—can be supported.

[0044] Broadcast is the most basic communication mode in sidewalk communication. In the case of the broadcast transmission mode, sidelink data can be received by any terminal device in the vicinity of the terminal device as the transmitter end. For example, referring to FIG. 1, assuming that the terminal device (125) transmits sidelink data in broadcast mode as the transmitter end, any of the terminal devices (121 to 124) and terminal devices (126 to 129) around the terminal device (125) can be used as the receiver end of the sidelink data.

[0045] Group cast communication is used to support the exchange of information between terminal devices within a specific group (or referred to as a communication cluster) to assist in negotiation and decision-making among terminal devices within the group. Sidelink group cast has two transmission types. Type 1 is for managed groups with stable connection relationships, which have clear ID information and group member information. Type 2 is for connectionless groups formed in a non-connection manner, for example, dynamically formed group casts based on distance, which require that the communication distance of the current service be clearly indicated.

[0046] In the case of the transmission mode of a group cast, sidelink data may be received by all terminal devices within the communication cluster. Alternatively, sidelink data may be received by all terminal devices within a specific transmission distance. For example, referring to FIG. 1, in the case of a communication cluster including terminal devices (127 to 129), when terminal device (127) transmits sidelink data in group cast mode, all other terminal devices (128, 129) within the communication cluster are terminal devices that receive sidelink data. In another example, referring to FIG. 1, assuming that terminal devices within a preset range include terminal devices (127 to 129), when terminal device (127) transmits sidelink data in a group cast manner, all other terminal devices (128 and 129) within the preset range are terminal devices that receive sidelink data.

[0047] Unicast communication enables sidelink communication between two terminal devices. Taking NR-V2X as an example, radio resource control (RRC) signaling based on the PC5 interface enables reliable communication between one terminal device and another terminal device.

[0048] In the case of a unicast transmission mode, there is generally only one terminal device receiving sidelink data. Referring to FIG. 1, terminal device (121) and terminal device (122) can communicate in a unicast transmission mode. For example, when terminal device (121) performs sidelink communication with terminal device (122), terminal device (122) receives sidelink data only as a receiving device. Sidelink data may include PSSCH and PSCCH. Through demodulation, terminal device (122) can obtain sidelink control information (SCI) related to sidelink transmission and scheduling. SCI can help terminal device (122) receive and decode sidelink information.

[0049] In some communication systems (e.g., NR-V2X), sidelink unicast and groupcast services support a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) mechanism through acknowledgment (ACK) and negative acknowledgment (NACK). For groupcast services, NACK-only HARQ may also be used. In addition, a blind retransmission mechanism is also supported. Sidelink HARQ feedback is transmitted over the PSFCH by the terminal device at the receiving end to the terminal device at the transmitting end.

[0050] Resource pool for sidelinks

[0051] In some communication systems (e.g., NR), two resource configuration modes for sidelink resources, namely Mode 1 and Mode 2, are defined. In Mode 1, the network device schedules sidelink resources for terminal devices. For example, in FIG. 1, terminal devices (121 to 123) are within the coverage of the network device (110), and the network device (110) can allocate sidelink resources for the terminal devices (121 to 123).

[0052] In Mode 2, the terminal device independently selects a sidelink resource from the resource pool. In this mode, the processes performed by the terminal device include a resource probing process and / or a resource selection process. In the resource probing process, the terminal device can detect the occupancy of the sidelink resource by demodulating the SCI. Alternatively, the terminal device can detect the occupancy of the sidelink resource by measuring the received power of the sidelink. For example, the terminal devices (124 to 129) of FIG. 1 are outside the coverage of the network device (110), and the terminal devices (124 to 129) can each independently select a sidelink resource in Mode 2.

[0053] A sidelink resource pool to which embodiments of the present application are applicable is described below, using an NR-V2X resource pool as an example with reference to FIG. 3. A subchannel can be understood as the minimum granularity of the PSSCH resource allocation specified in NR-V2X. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the sidelink resource pool includes M subchannels, namely, subchannel 0, subchannel 1, ..., and subchannel M-1. Each subchannel is N SubCHsize It can be composed of physical resource blocks (PRB), where N SubCHsizeThe value of is 10, 12, 15, 20, 25, 50, 75, or 100. In the time domain, the terminal device M×N in a specific slot. SubCHsize It can be composed of PRB, and M×N SubCHsize A PRB can be used for a single transmission. If the resource pool contains T slots, the resource pools that a terminal device can independently select are M×N. SubCHsize ×T PRB.

[0054] For example, in the case of unicast communication between terminal device (A) and terminal device (B), from the resource pool, terminal device (A) as the transmitting end can sequentially select resources for sidelink communication with terminal device (B) at the receiving end. For example, terminal device (A) can perform direct sidelink communication with terminal device (B) on a portion of the frequency resources in the same slot or the next slot. Alternatively, terminal device (A) can select some of the resources in each subchannel of each slot for sidelink communication with terminal device (B).

[0055] System frame structure for side links

[0056] A frame structure (slot structure) of a side-link system frame to which an embodiment of the present application may be applied is described below with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. The system frame is a single slot containing 14 time domain symbols. FIG. 4 illustrates the frame structure of a system frame that does not carry PSFCH. FIG. 5 illustrates the frame structure of a system frame that carries PSFCH.

[0057] The SCI in FIGS. 4 and FIGS. 5 consists of two parts, namely, a first stage (SCI-1) and a second stage (SCI-2). The first stage (SCI-1) is transmitted over PSCCH and the second stage (SCI-2) is transmitted over PSSCH.

[0058] Referring to FIG. 4, in the time domain, the SCI-1 transmitted over the PSCCH occupies two or three sidelink symbols, starting from the second sidelink symbol of the system frame (e.g., an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol). Transmission of the PSCCH at the beginning of the slot helps the terminal device acquire the PSCCH in advance as a receiver, thereby reducing the power consumption of the terminal device. In the frequency domain, the PSCCH can occupy multiple PRBs. Generally, to reduce the complexity of blind detection of the PSCCH by the terminal device, a configuration of only one number of PSCCH symbols and PRBs in a single resource pool is allowed.

[0059] Referring again to FIG. 4, in the time domain, the SCI-2 transmitted over the PSSCH also starts at the second sidelink symbol of the system frame and ends at the second sidelink symbol at the end of the system frame. In the frequency domain, the PSSCH occupies multiple subchannels of the system frame. As shown in FIG. 3, each subchannel contains N consecutive PRBs.

[0060] Therefore, parts of the PSCCH and its associated PSSCH are transmitted from resources that overlap temporally but not in frequency, and other parts of the PSCCH and PSSCH are transmitted from resources that do not overlap temporally.

[0061] Generally, the first sidelink symbol in a slot is a repetition of the second sidelink symbol. When a terminal device receives a system frame, the first sidelink symbol may be used as an automatic gain control (AGC) symbol. Data on the AGC symbol is generally not used for data demodulation. The last symbol in the slot is a guard gap symbol.

[0062] Referring to Fig. 5, when the PSFCH channel is carried in a slot, the second-to-last and third-to-last sidelink symbols in the system frame are used for PSFCH transmission. In addition, a GAP symbol needs to be reserved after both the PSSCH and PSFCH. The value range of the PSFCH resource preconfiguration period can be slots {1, 2, 4}.

[0063] Communication spectrum for sidelink

[0064] The spectrum used by communication systems includes licensed spectrum and unlicensed spectrum. An important direction for extending communication systems into different fields is the use of unlicensed spectrum. For example, NR placed in unlicensed spectrum is referred to as NR-U.

[0065] Currently, sidelinks primarily use the licensed spectrum. Sidelinks can also use the unlicensed spectrum. Sidelinks deployed in the unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as SL-U.

[0066] Compared to licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum has features that are shared without a license. For operators, spectrum sharing facilitates timely spectrum aggregation to dynamically support high-bandwidth services. Spectrum sharing can also extend the benefits of communication technologies (e.g., NR) to operational entities that may not have access to licensed spectrum.

[0067] In the unlicensed spectrum, it is necessary to consider the coexistence of different radio access technology (RAT) systems, for example, typically wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) systems and LTE-based license-assisted access (LAA) systems. These different systems utilize frequency bands in the unlicensed spectrum in a spectrum contention manner, in accordance with the principles of channel access fairness and the coexistence of multiple RATs.

[0068] In the unlicensed spectrum, any RAT system must conduct communication under the restrictions of unlicensed spectrum regulatory rules. These rules include power and power spectral density levels, maximum COT, channel occupancy bandwidth, and channel monitoring mechanisms. Within the same frequency band, each system must meet the requirements of the regulatory rules and reasonably occupy and release channels to avoid causing interference to other RAT systems in the same frequency band. For example, to support different RATs in the unlicensed spectrum, communication between sidelink terminal devices is subject to the aforementioned regulatory rules.

[0069] For the use of unlicensed spectrum, the RAT system may use essential channel monitoring techniques (e.g., LBT) to access the network. In other words, data may be transmitted only when it is detected that the channel is not currently occupied. For example, a sidelink terminal device may initiate an LBT, and the LBT may be a Category 2 (Cat 2) LBT or a Category 4 (Cat 4) LBT.

[0070] After acquiring channel resources through LBT, the terminal device can perform corresponding detections based on the aforementioned regulatory rules and transmit data. For example, when the terminal device transmits data through channel resources, the COT limit must be satisfied. In other words, continuous data transmission must be restricted within the COT time, and if this time is exceeded, the terminal device needs to release the channel and perform LBT again.

[0071] Based on the above description, it can be seen that in the unlicensed spectrum, a sidelink terminal device acquires sidelink channel resources through LBT. Based on the limitations of the unlicensed spectrum regulatory rules, the terminal device can acquire COT information of the sidelink channel resources.

[0072] Within the COT, the direction of data transmission may change. A terminal device acquiring COT information can use resources within the COT to transmit data from the receiving end of the sidelink to the terminal device, and the terminal device at the receiving end can also use resources to transmit data to the terminal device at the transmitting end. If not all resources within the COT are used, the remaining COT resources can also be shared with other sidelink terminal devices. Therefore, to avoid wasting resources, the terminal device can perform COT sharing with other terminal devices based on the COT information.

[0073] The method for performing COT sharing is an urgent problem that needs to be solved. A communication method according to an embodiment of the present application is described below with reference to FIG. 6. The method for sharing COT sharing information proposed in the method improves the utilization rate of sidelink channel resources.

[0074] The communication method illustrated in FIG. 6 is described in terms of the interaction between a first terminal device and a second terminal device. In FIG. 6, the first terminal device and the second terminal device may be two terminals communicating via sidelink, for example, a vehicle and a pedestrian, or two vehicles in V2X. The first terminal device may be a transmitting terminal of the sidelink, and the second terminal device may be a receiving terminal. Alternatively, the first terminal device may be a receiving terminal of the sidelink, and the second terminal device may be a transmitting terminal.

[0075] The first terminal device may perform unicast communication, groupcast communication, or broadcast communication with the second terminal device. When the first terminal device performs unicast communication, the second terminal device may be a receiving terminal. When the first terminal device performs groupcast communication, the second terminal device may be a receiving terminal within a communication cluster.

[0076] Referring to FIG. 6, a first terminal device and a second terminal device interact through a first sidelink channel. The first terminal device can transmit a first sidelink channel to the second terminal device through the first sidelink, and the second terminal device receives the first sidelink channel. Alternatively, the second terminal device transmits the first sidelink channel to the first terminal device, and the first terminal device receives the first sidelink channel.

[0077] The first sidelink channel may include one or more of channels such as PSCCH, PSSCH, and PSFCH.

[0078] As illustrated in FIG. 6, the first sidelink channel further includes first COT sharing information (COT-SI). The first COT sharing information can be used to share resources in the COT (time domain resources and / or frequency domain resources) with other terminal devices.

[0079] In some embodiments, the first COT sharing information may be carried in the PSCCH. Since the PSCCH is located in front of the slot, another terminal device can acquire the first COT sharing information as quickly as possible.

[0080] In some embodiments, the first COT shared information may be carried in the PSSCH. The first COT shared information may be transmitted from a resource that overlaps temporally with a portion of the PSSCH but does not overlap in frequency.

[0081] The first COT shared information may occupy one symbol or multiple symbols. Multiple symbols are, for example, two consecutive symbols.

[0082] The first COT shared information may be located at any symbol of PSSCH. For example, the first COT shared information may be located at a symbol adjacent to SCI, or at a symbol not adjacent to SCI. This will be explained in detail below using an example in which the time domain resources where the first COT shared information and SCI are located are adjacent, with reference to FIGS. 7 through 10.

[0083] The first COT sharing information may include various types of COT sharing information. Multiple types of COT sharing information may correspond one-to-one with multiple communication modes. For example, if the first COT sharing information includes second COT sharing information and third COT sharing information, the second COT sharing information may correspond to the first communication mode, and the third COT sharing information may correspond to the second communication mode.

[0084] The first communication mode or the second communication mode may be one of a plurality of transmission modes of the sidelink, and is not limited thereto. For example, the first communication mode may be unicast communication or groupcast communication.

[0085] In some embodiments, the first COT sharing information may include second COT sharing information. The first communication mode corresponding to the second COT sharing information may be unicast communication. The second COT sharing information corresponds to unicast communication, that is, the second COT sharing information is COT sharing information for unicast communication. For example, the second COT sharing information may indicate one or more shareable resources, and one or more resources may be shared for use by a terminal device based on unicast communication at another sidelink. In some embodiments, the second COT sharing information is COT-SI unicast It is expressed as.

[0086] In some embodiments, the first COT sharing information may include third COT sharing information. The second communication mode corresponding to the third COT sharing information may be groupcast communication. The third COT sharing information corresponds to groupcast communication, that is, the third COT sharing information is COT sharing information for groupcast communication. For example, the third COT sharing information may indicate one or more shareable resources, and one or more resources may be shared for use by other terminal devices within the same communication cluster as the first terminal device. In some embodiments, the third COT sharing information is COT-SI cast It is expressed as.

[0087] In some embodiments, the first COT sharing information may include both the second COT sharing information and the third COT sharing information mentioned above.

[0088] In some embodiments, the first COT sharing information may include information indicating the start time and end time of the COT of the first terminal device. For example, the first COT sharing information may include the start time and end time of the COT. In another example, the first COT sharing information may include the start time and duration of the COT.

[0089] In some embodiments, the first COT sharing information may also be used to display various types of resource information. For example, the first COT sharing information may display LBT bandwidth supported within the COT. In another example, the first COT sharing information may display unused resources within the COT. Unused resources are resources currently remaining within the COT. In yet another example, the first COT sharing information may display resources permitted for use by a third terminal device participating in COT sharing. In the case of the third terminal device, the third terminal device may participate in the sharing of COT resources by detecting the first COT sharing information.

[0090] Based on information or resources indicated by the COT shared information, as well as the communication mode corresponding to the COT shared information, the first terminal device can reasonably allocate resources within the COT to other terminal devices. For example, resources may be allocated based on the priority of other terminal devices. This will be explained in detail below.

[0091] As can be seen from FIG. 6, the first sidelink channel carries first COT sharing information, and the sidelink terminal device can obtain various display information of shared resources within the COT. Based on the display information, the terminal device can specify the duration of COT sharing and the remaining resources in order to utilize the sidelink channel resources corresponding to the COT sharing information more rationally and effectively.

[0092] As mentioned above, the first COT shared information (COT-SI) can be carried in the PSSCH of the first sidelink channel. Taking the COT-SI adjacent to the SCI as an example, different frame structures containing the COT-SI are described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 7 through 10. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a frame structure containing the COT-SI and not carrying the PSFCH. FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a frame structure containing the COT-SI and carrying the PSFCH.

[0093] SCI includes SCI-1. That COT-SI is adjacent to SCI may mean that the time domain resources of COT-SI and SCI-1 are adjacent. If the last symbol where SCI-1 is located is set as the first symbol, the time domain resource where COT-SI is located is one symbol or multiple consecutive symbols following the first symbol.

[0094] As illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8, COT-SI occupies two consecutive symbols. SCI-1 is located in the second to fourth symbols of the frame structure, and the fourth symbol may be the first symbol. COT-SI is located in the fifth and sixth symbols. In other words, the time domain resources of COT-SI and SCI-1 are adjacent.

[0095] Compared to Figures 4 and 5 above, in the time domain, the terminal device can obtain COT-SI indication information from the next symbol immediately after demodulating the PSCCH.

[0096] As described above, the COT-SI may further include second COT shared information and third COT shared information. The second COT shared information and third COT shared information may be transmitted as a whole in the manner shown in FIG. 7 or FIG. 8, or each may be transmitted in one or more symbols. FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a frame structure having a COT-SI divided into two parts without carrying a PSFCH. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a frame structure having a COT-SI divided into two parts carrying a PSFCH.

[0097] The second COT shared information and the third COT shared information may each occupy one or more symbols. The first sidelink channel includes SCI-1 and SCI-2. The second COT shared information may be adjacent to a time domain resource where SCI-1 is located, and the third COT shared information may be adjacent to a time domain resource where SCI-2 is located. Alternatively, the third COT shared information may be adjacent to a time domain resource where SCI-1 is located, and the second COT shared information may be adjacent to a time domain resource where SCI-2 is located.

[0098] As illustrated in FIGS. 9 and 10, the two parts of COT-SI are the second COT shared information and the third COT shared information, each occupying one symbol. The last symbol of SCI-1 is the fourth symbol, and the second COT shared information or the third COT shared information is located at the fifth symbol adjacent to the time domain resource where SCI-1 is located. The last symbol of SCI-2 is the third symbol, and the third COT shared information or the second COT shared information is located at the fourth symbol adjacent to the time domain resource where SCI-2 is located.

[0099] In FIGS. 9 and 10, the second COT shared information is COT-SI unicast and the third-party COT shared information is COT-SI cast In this case, COT-SIunicast and COT-SI cast Each is represented by a single symbol adjacent to the SCI. By demodulating the SCI, the terminal device can obtain the COT-SI representation information corresponding to the unicast and groupcast, respectively, as quickly as possible.

[0100] An example of the design of the interaction between the first terminal device and the second terminal device through the first sidelink channel and the frame structure of the first COT sharing information in the first sidelink channel is described above using FIGS. 6 to 10. The first COT sharing information is used to indicate the status of resources that can be shared within the COT. The status of resources within the COT sharing is described in detail below with reference to FIG. 11.

[0101] As illustrated in FIG. 11, after LBT, the terminal device can acquire a channel resource within the COT. In the frequency domain, the channel resource includes a plurality of subchannels illustrated in FIG. 3. In the time domain, the channel resource includes T slots within the COT. There are M subchannels, and each subchannel is N SubCHsize When including PRB, the size of the total resources of the COT sharing initiated by the terminal device is M×N SubCHsize ×T PRB.

[0102] In the group cast and unicast communication modes of the sidelink, after resources within the COT are used for communication between terminal devices within the communication cluster, there may be remaining unused resources. As described above, these remaining resources can be shared with other sidelink terminal devices outside the communication cluster to improve the utilization rate of sidelink channel resources within the COT.

[0103] In addition, if multiple sidelinks participate or if the remaining resources within the COT cannot satisfy the requirements of all sidelinks, it is necessary to consider a method of allocating resources to avoid conflicts.

[0104] To better utilize resources within the COT, a communication method provided in another embodiment of the present application can reasonably allocate resources within the COT based on COT shared information.

[0105] A communication method according to another embodiment of the present application will be described below with reference to FIG. 12. The communication method illustrated in FIG. 12 is described in terms of a first terminal device transmitting a first sidelink channel to a second terminal device and a second terminal device receiving the first sidelink channel. In FIG. 12, the first terminal device and the second terminal device may be two terminals communicating via sidelink, for example, a vehicle and a pedestrian or two vehicles.

[0106] The difference from FIG. 6 is that the first terminal device is a transmitting terminal of the sidelink, and the second terminal device is a receiving terminal. In some embodiments, the first terminal device acquires resources within the COT through LBT, and the first terminal device may also be referred to as an initiating terminal for COT sharing.

[0107] The second terminal device may be one or more receiving terminals on a sidelink transmitting the first sidelink channel, or one or more terminal devices on another sidelink. In other words, the second terminal device may be a terminal device within a communication cluster where the first terminal device is located, or a terminal device outside a communication cluster where the first terminal device is located. For brevity, in the following description, a terminal device within a cluster is used to refer to a second terminal device within a communication cluster where the first terminal device is located, and a terminal device outside a cluster is used to refer to a second terminal device outside a communication cluster where the first terminal device is located.

[0108] In some embodiments, the second terminal device may be a terminal device within a cluster. The second terminal device may receive a first sidelink channel through the sidelink of the first terminal device.

[0109] In some embodiments, the second terminal device may be a terminal device outside the cluster. The second terminal device may receive the first sidelink channel through detection. The detection is, for example, the detection of sidelink sharing by the second terminal device via LBT.

[0110] A terminal device within a cluster may be a terminal device at the receiving end in unicast communication, or a plurality of terminal devices in groupcast communication. A terminal device outside a cluster may be one or more terminal devices outside the unicast and / or groupcast communication cluster. With reference to FIGS. 13 and 14, the terminal device within a cluster and the terminal device outside a cluster in this embodiment of the present application will be described based on unicast and groupcast communication modes, respectively.

[0111] The first sidelink channel also includes first COT sharing information. The first COT sharing information may also be used to indicate that the first terminal device has allocated a first resource within the COT to the second terminal device.

[0112] When the first COT sharing information includes the second COT sharing information and the third COT sharing information, the second COT sharing information and the third COT sharing information may indicate a first resource based on a corresponding communication mode. In some embodiments, when the first communication mode corresponding to the second COT sharing information is unicast, the first resource indicated by the second COT sharing information may be allocated to a corresponding terminal device. Other terminal devices may also detect the COT sharing information. In some embodiments, when the second communication mode corresponding to the third COT sharing information is groupcast, the first resource indicated by the third COT sharing information is allocated only to cluster members. In other words, the first resource indicated by the COT sharing information for groupcast communication may be allocated only to cluster members, and terminal devices outside the cluster cannot communicate through the resource.

[0113] The first COT sharing information may display various types of information regarding the first resource. In some embodiments, the first COT sharing information may display time domain and / or frequency domain resources within the COT assigned to the second terminal device. In some embodiments, alternatively, the first COT sharing information may display the allowed duration of use of the first resource. In some embodiments, alternatively, the first COT sharing information may display the time during which the second terminal device outside the communication cluster is allowed to access the first resource.

[0114] The fact that the first terminal device has allocated the first resource within the COT to the second terminal device may mean that the first terminal device allocates the resource to a terminal device within the cluster, or that the first terminal device allocates the remaining unused resource within the COT to a terminal device outside the cluster.

[0115] The first resource allocated by the first terminal device may be determined based on various types of information. Various types of information include, for example, whether the second terminal device is a terminal device within the communication cluster where the first terminal device is located, the priority corresponding to the second terminal device, and the type and priority of the second terminal device.

[0116] As a possible implementation, when the second terminal device is a terminal device within the cluster, the first terminal device may allocate the first resource based on a cluster priority method. In other words, cluster members have the highest priority, and resources within the COT are preferentially allocated to cluster members. In some embodiments, the first resource is allocated to one or more terminal devices within the cluster in the simplest way. For example, in group cast communication, the first terminal device may allocate time domain resources to the second terminal device according to a sequence of slots, and may also allocate frequency resources to different subchannels within the same slot.

[0117] In some embodiments, a terminal device in the cluster may transmit a PSFCH to the first terminal device through a first resource. When the number of NACKs fed back by the second terminal device over the sidelink reaches a specific value, the first terminal device triggers a retransmission and still preferentially allocates the resource to the second terminal device. In some embodiments, when the number of NACKs fed back by the second terminal device is greater than a first threshold, the first terminal device allocates the resource for retransmission from the resource in the COT to the second terminal device. The first threshold may be a positive integer, for example, 3.

[0118] As a possible implementation, when the second terminal device is a terminal device outside the cluster, the first resource may be allocated based on a priority corresponding to the second terminal device. The priority corresponding to the second terminal device may be determined based on a first parameter. The first parameter may be related to one or more of the following information, such as a side link corresponding to the second terminal device, a resource requested by the second terminal device, a queue where the second terminal device is located, the waiting time of the second terminal device for resource allocation from the first terminal device, and a NACK fed back to the first terminal device by the second terminal device.

[0119] The first parameter may be a specific parameter of the information mentioned above related to the priority of the second terminal device, or data derived from a specific parameter among one or more types of information mentioned above that directly indicates the priority, or data derived from a plurality of specific parameters of the information, and is not limited thereto.

[0120] In some embodiments, the first parameter may be determined based on relevant information of a sidelink corresponding to the second terminal device to indicate the priority of the second terminal device. The relevant information is, for example, the signal quality of the sidelink. The signal quality may be determined based on parameters such as the reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal receiving quality (RSRQ), and / or signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) of the sidelink. The first terminal device may compare the signal quality of different sidelinks or compare the signal quality of the sidelink to a specified threshold to determine the priority corresponding to the second terminal device.

[0121] Taking RSRP as an example, the higher the RSRP, the shorter the communication distance or the better the communication environment, and the better the resources within the COT can provide service to the corresponding terminal device. Therefore, the first terminal device has a threshold RSRP target It can be configured. The RSRP of the sidelink corresponding to the second terminal device is the RSRP target If it is larger, the second terminal device may have a higher priority.

[0122] In some embodiments, the first parameter may be determined based on resource information required by the second terminal device. The resource information may be the size of the COT resource required by the second terminal device, or the type of the COT resource, or something similar. For example, a second terminal device requiring a smaller COT resource may have a higher priority.

[0123] In some embodiments, the first parameter may be determined based on relevant information of the queue where the second terminal device is located. When multiple sidelinks share COT resources, different terminal devices corresponding to multiple sidelinks may be set up in multiple ready queues. The relevant information of the queues may be the priority sequence of each queue, the length of each queue, or the time required for execution of each queue. For example, the higher the priority of a queue, the higher the priority of the terminal device in the queue. In another example, a queue with a high priority may be assigned to the first slot in the COT. Time-frequency resources begin to be assigned to the next queue only when the queue with a high priority is idle.

[0124] In some embodiments, to prevent the terminal device from waiting too long without acquiring a resource, the first parameter may be determined based on the waiting time of the second terminal device for resource allocation from the first terminal device. For example, a service rate coefficient a may be set in the first parameter such that the priority of the terminal device increases by a ratio a as the waiting time increases.

[0125] In some embodiments, the first parameter may be determined based on relevant information of a NACK fed back to the first terminal device by the second terminal device. The relevant information of the NACK may be the number of NACKs being fed back, or the slot where the NACK being fed back is located, or something similar.

[0126] For example, regarding the number of NACKs fed back by the second terminal device, the first terminal device may set a threshold related to the NACK, such as a second threshold. When the second threshold represents the number of NACKs, the second threshold may also be a positive integer, for example, 3 or 5. Specifically, if the number of NACKs fed back by the second terminal device is greater than the second threshold, the first terminal device may lower its priority by adjusting the first parameter of the second terminal device. Alternatively, if the number of NACKs fed back by the second terminal device is greater than the second threshold, the first terminal device may no longer allocate resources to the second terminal device corresponding to the sidelink.

[0127] In some embodiments, alternatively, the first parameter may be determined based on various types of relevant information of the second terminal device. As a possible implementation, the priority corresponding to the second terminal device may be determined based on a plurality of the following information: the signal quality of the sidelink corresponding to the second terminal device; the size of the resource required by the second terminal device; the priority of the queue in which the second terminal device is located; the waiting time of the second terminal device for resource allocation from the first terminal device; and the number of NACKs fed back to the first terminal device by the second terminal device. For example, the RSRP of the sidelinks corresponding to a plurality of second terminal devices are all RSRP target When greater than, the first parameter of the second terminal device requesting the smallest COT resource may indicate that the second terminal device has the highest priority.

[0128] The resource shared by the first terminal device has the highest value at a specific moment, e.g., M×N as shown in FIG. 11 SubCHsizeWhen ×T PRB is reached, the first terminal device stops the allocation. Other terminal devices that need to perform sidelink communication may continue monitoring or wait for the next allocation.

[0129] After receiving the first sidelink channel, the second terminal device may obtain the first COT sharing information from the first sidelink channel. In some embodiments, based on the first resource indicated by the first COT sharing information, the terminal device within the cluster may perform sidelink communication with other members within the cluster. In some embodiments, based on the first resource indicated by the first COT sharing information, the terminal device outside the cluster may choose to participate in the COT shared by the first terminal device and use the remaining resources for sidelink communication. For example, the terminal device outside the cluster may perform sidelink communication with another terminal device. Here, the other terminal device may be a device within the cluster or another device outside the cluster.

[0130] As described above, after receiving the first resource, the second terminal device may feed back the usage of the first resource to the first terminal device. In some embodiments, the second terminal device outside the communication cluster may send a PSFCH to the first terminal device to indicate the influence of the first resource on the communication result. For example, when the second terminal device feeds back an ACK, this may indicate that the communication using the first resource was successful. In another example, when the second terminal device feeds back a NACK, this may indicate that the communication using the first resource failed and that a resource reallocation must be requested.

[0131] The second terminal device can also perform feedback to another terminal device on the sidelink through the first resource and display the result of the current communication.

[0132] As can be seen from the communication method of the two terminal devices in FIG. 12, the first terminal device can allocate resources within the COT to the second terminal device according to a specific rule by transmitting a first sidelink channel containing resource allocation information. This rule ensures that resources are allocated preferentially to terminal devices within the cluster and can effectively improve the use of resources within the COT by establishing reasonable priority rules for terminal devices outside the cluster.

[0133] The unicast and groupcast communication modes in the sidelink mentioned above are described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 13 and FIGS. 14, using unicast and groupcast communication in SL-U as an example. FIG. 13 is an exemplary diagram of a unicast communication system in SL-U. FIG. 14 is an exemplary diagram of a groupcast communication system in SL-U.

[0134] Referring to FIG. 13, the SL-U unicast communication system (1300) includes terminal devices (1301 to 1304). After accessing the network via LBT, the terminal device (1301) can initiate COT sharing. The terminal device (1301) transmits PSCCH and PSSCH carrying first COT sharing information to the terminal device (1302).

[0135] A terminal device (1302) is a terminal device within a cluster that communicates with a terminal device (1301) over a side link. The terminal device (1302) obtains scheduling information SCI and transmissions related to the side link by demodulating the PSCCH. The SCI can help the terminal device (1302) receive and decode the side link information. After receiving the PSSCH, the terminal device (1302) can obtain a first resource indicated by the first COT sharing information.

[0136] Terminal devices (1303 and 1304) are terminal devices outside the cluster that must perform sidelink communication through COT sharing by terminal device (1301). Terminal devices (1303 and 1304) may obtain first COT sharing information through detection in order to select an opportunity to participate in COT sharing by the first terminal device. The first terminal device (1301) may allocate the first resource to terminal devices (1303 and 1304) according to the aforementioned priority principle.

[0137] Referring to FIG. 14, the SL-U group cast communication system (1400) includes terminal devices (1401 to 1405). A terminal device (1401) communicates with its cluster member terminal devices (1402 to 1405) in group cast mode.

[0138] The terminal device (1401) is the initiating terminal for COT sharing. Cluster member terminal devices (1402 to 1405) receive information from the terminal device (1401), demodulate the PSCCH / PSSCH, and obtain the start point, end point, duration, etc. of the COT sharing. The COT sharing information for the corresponding group cast is intended only for cluster members. Other terminals not within the cluster cannot communicate through the shared resources.

[0139] Cluster member terminal devices (1402 to 1405) generally have a short communication distance, or the cluster is established for some important reason. Therefore, when only cluster members perform sidelink communication through COT shared resources, the terminal device (1401) allocates resources in the simplest way.

[0140] Members who are not members of the cluster receive COT-SI for the unicast corresponding to the terminal device (1401). unicastCOT shared information is obtained by detecting it. Members who are not members of the cluster can perform sidelink communication through resources within the shared information for the corresponding unicast. Accordingly, resource allocation by the terminal device (1401) includes cluster members and possibly non-cluster members.

[0141] An example of the method of the present application is described in detail above with reference to FIGS. 6 through 14. An example of the apparatus of the present application is described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 15 through 16. Since the description of the apparatus example corresponds to the description of the method example, it should be understood that reference may be made to the above-described method example for parts not described in detail.

[0142] FIG. 15 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present application. The terminal device is composed of a first terminal device and can perform the communication method at the transmitting end described above in FIG. 6. As shown in FIG. 15, the terminal device (1500) includes a communication module (1510).

[0143] A communication module (1510) may be configured to transmit a first sidelink channel to a second terminal device through a first sidelink, wherein the first sidelink channel includes first COT sharing information, and the first COT sharing information satisfies one or more of the following: the first COT sharing information is carried in the first PSSCH of the first sidelink channel; and the first COT sharing information includes second COT sharing information and third COT sharing information, wherein the second COT sharing information corresponds to a first communication mode and the third COT sharing information corresponds to a second communication mode.

[0144] Optionally, the first sidelink channel further includes a first PSCCH, the first PSCCH includes a first stage SCI, and the time domain resources where the first COT shared information and the first stage SCI are located are adjacent.

[0145] Optionally, the last symbol where the first stage SCI is located is the first symbol, and the time domain resource where the first COT shared information is located includes one symbol or two consecutive symbols following the first symbol.

[0146] Optionally, the first sidelink channel further includes a first stage SCI and a second stage SCI, and the time domain resources where the second COT shared information and the first stage SCI are located are adjacent, and the time domain resources where the third COT shared information and the second stage SCI are located are adjacent; or the time domain resources where the third COT shared information and the first stage SCI are located are adjacent, and the time domain resources where the second COT shared information and the second stage SCI are located are adjacent.

[0147] Optionally, the second COT shared information and the third COT shared information each occupy one symbol.

[0148] Optionally, the first COT sharing information is used to indicate one or more of the following information: COT start time; COT end time; COT duration; unused resources within the COT; and resources permitted to be used by a third terminal device participating in the COT sharing.

[0149] An embodiment of the present application further provides a terminal device. The terminal device is configured as a second terminal device and can perform the communication method at the receiving end described above in FIG. 6. The second terminal device includes a communication module.

[0150] A communication module may be configured to receive a first sidelink channel transmitted by a first terminal device via a first sidelink, wherein the first sidelink channel includes first COT sharing information, and the first COT sharing information satisfies one or more of the following: the first COT sharing information is carried in a first PSSCH of the first sidelink channel; and the first COT sharing information includes second COT sharing information and third COT sharing information, wherein the second COT sharing information corresponds to a first communication mode and the third COT sharing information corresponds to a second communication mode.

[0151] Optionally, the first sidelink channel further includes a first PSCCH, the first PSCCH includes a first stage SCI, and the time domain resources where the first COT shared information and the first stage SCI are located are adjacent.

[0152] Optionally, the last symbol where the first stage SCI is located is the first symbol, and the time domain resource where the first COT shared information is located includes one symbol or two consecutive symbols following the first symbol.

[0153] Optionally, the first sidelink channel further includes a first stage SCI and a second stage SCI, and the time domain resources where the second COT shared information and the first stage SCI are located are adjacent, and the time domain resources where the third COT shared information and the second stage SCI are located are adjacent; or the time domain resources where the third COT shared information and the first stage SCI are located are adjacent, and the time domain resources where the second COT shared information and the second stage SCI are located are adjacent.

[0154] Optionally, the second COT shared information and the third COT shared information each occupy one symbol.

[0155] Optionally, the first COT sharing information is used to indicate one or more of the following information: COT start time; COT end time; COT duration; unused resources within the COT; and resources permitted to be used by a third terminal device participating in the COT sharing.

[0156] An embodiment of the present application further provides a terminal device. The terminal device is composed of a first terminal device and can perform the communication method at the transmitting end described above in FIG. 12. The first terminal device includes a communication module.

[0157] A communication module may be configured to transmit a first sidelink channel, wherein the first sidelink channel includes first COT sharing information, and the first COT sharing information is used to indicate that a first terminal device has allocated a first resource within the COT to a second terminal device; the first resource is determined based on one or more of the following information: whether the second terminal device is a terminal device within the communication cluster where the first terminal device is located; and a priority corresponding to the second terminal device.

[0158] Optionally, the priority corresponding to the second terminal device is determined based on the first parameter, and the first parameter relates to one or more of the following information: a side link corresponding to the second terminal device, a resource required by the second terminal device, a queue in which the second terminal device is located, the waiting time of the second terminal device for resource allocation from the first terminal device, and a NACK fed back to the first terminal device by the second terminal device.

[0159] Optionally, the first COT sharing information includes the second COT sharing information and the third COT sharing information, the second COT sharing information corresponds to the first communication mode, and the third COT sharing information corresponds to the second communication mode.

[0160] Optionally, if the second terminal device is a terminal device within a communication cluster, the first resource is allocated based on a cluster-first manner.

[0161] Optionally, if the second terminal device is a terminal device within a communication cluster, the communication module is also configured: if the number of NACKs fed back by the second terminal device is greater than the first threshold, the first terminal device is configured to allocate a resource for retransmission from a resource within the COT to the second terminal device.

[0162] Optionally, if the second terminal device is a terminal device outside the communication cluster, the first resource is determined based on the priority of the second terminal device.

[0163] Optionally, if the second terminal device is a terminal device outside the communication cluster, the communication module is also configured such that if the number of NACKs fed back by the second terminal device is greater than the second threshold, the first terminal device is configured to lower the priority of the second terminal device.

[0164] An embodiment of the present application further provides a terminal device. The terminal device is configured as a second terminal device and can perform the communication method at the receiving end described above in FIG. 12. The second terminal device includes a communication module.

[0165] A communication module may be configured to receive a first sidelink channel, wherein the first sidelink channel includes first COT sharing information, and the first COT sharing information is used to indicate that a first terminal device has allocated a first resource within the COT to a second terminal device; the first resource is determined based on one or more of the following information: whether the second terminal device is a terminal device within the communication cluster where the first terminal device is located; and a priority corresponding to the second terminal device.

[0166] Optionally, the priority corresponding to the second terminal device is determined based on the first parameter, and the first parameter relates to one or more of the following information: a side link corresponding to the second terminal device, a resource required by the second terminal device, a queue in which the second terminal device is located, the waiting time of the second terminal device for resource allocation from the first terminal device, and a NACK fed back to the first terminal device by the second terminal device.

[0167] Optionally, the first COT sharing information includes the second COT sharing information and the third COT sharing information, the second COT sharing information corresponds to the first communication mode, and the third COT sharing information corresponds to the second communication mode.

[0168] Optionally, if the second terminal device is a terminal device within a communication cluster, the first resource is allocated based on a cluster priority method.

[0169] Optionally, if the second terminal device is a terminal device outside the communication cluster, the first resource is determined based on the priority of the second terminal device.

[0170] FIG. 16 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application. The dashed lines in FIG. 16 indicate that a unit or module is optional. The device (1600) of FIG. 16 may be configured to implement the method described in the above-mentioned method embodiment. The device (1600) may be a chip, a terminal device, or a network device.

[0171] The device (1600) may include one or more processors (1610). The processors (1610) may enable the device (1600) to implement the method described in the method embodiment above. The processors (1610) may be general-purpose processors or dedicated processors. For example, the processor may be a central processing unit (CPU). Alternatively, the processor may be another general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or another programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, or the processor may be any conventional processor or something similar.

[0172] The device (1600) may further include one or more memories (1620). The memory (1620) stores a program that can be executed by the processor (1610) so that the processor (1610) performs the method described in the aforementioned method embodiment. The memory (1620) may be independent of the processor (1610) or may be integrated into the processor (1610).

[0173] The device (1600) may further include a transceiver (1630). The processor (1610) may communicate with another device or chip through the transceiver (1630). For example, the processor (1610) may transmit and receive data from or to another device or chip through the transceiver (1630).

[0174] Embodiments of the present application further provide a computer-readable storage medium for storing a program. The computer-readable storage medium may be applied to a terminal device or network device provided in the embodiments of the present application, and the program causes a computer to perform a method to be performed by the terminal or network device in various embodiments of the present application.

[0175] Embodiments of the present application further provide a computer program product. The computer program product includes a program. The computer program product may be applied to a terminal or network device provided in the embodiments of the present application, and the program causes the computer to perform a method to be performed by the terminal or network device in various embodiments of the present application.

[0176] In this application, the terms “system” and “network” may be used interchangeably. Furthermore, the terms used in this application are used solely to describe specific embodiments of this application and are not intended to limit this application. It should be noted that in the specification, claims, and drawings of this application, terms such as “first,” “second,” “third,” “fourth,” etc., are used to distinguish different objects rather than to describe a specific order. In addition, the terms “comprising” and “having,” and variations thereof, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions.

[0177] In the embodiments of the present application, the term “indicates” as used herein may refer to a direct indication, an indirect indication, or mean that there is an association. For example, A indicating B may mean that A directly indicates B, e.g., that B can be obtained by A; or that A indirectly indicates B, e.g., that A indicates C and B can be obtained by C; or that there is an association between A and B.

[0178] In the embodiments of the present application, the term “corresponding” may mean that there is a direct or indirect correspondence between two items, or that there is an association between two items, which may also be a relationship such as indicating and indicating, or constituting and being constituting.

[0179] In embodiments of the present application, “predefined” or “preconfigured” may be implemented by pre-storing corresponding codes, tables, or other forms that can be used to display relevant information to a device (e.g., including terminal devices and network devices), and specific implementations thereof are not limited in the present application. For example, being predefined may refer to being defined in a protocol.

[0180] In the embodiments of the present application, determining B based on A does not mean determining B based solely on A, but instead, B may be determined based on A and / or other information.

[0181] In the embodiments of this application, the term “and / or” is used merely to describe an association between associated objects, indicating that there may be three relationships. For example, A and / or B may indicate: A alone being present, both A and B being present, and B alone being present. In addition, the symbol “ / ” in this specification generally indicates an “or” relationship between associated objects.

[0182] In the embodiments of the present application, the sequence number of the aforementioned process does not refer to an execution sequence. The execution sequence of the process should be determined according to the function and internal logic of the process and should not be interpreted as any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0183] It should be understood that in some of the embodiments provided in this application, the disclosed systems, devices, and methods may be implemented in different ways. For example, the described device embodiments are merely examples. For example, unit partitioning is merely a logical functional partitioning and may be different in actual implementation. For example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not performed. In addition, the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connections displayed or discussed may be implemented by using some interfaces. Indirect coupling or communication connections between devices or units may be implemented electrically, mechanically, or in other forms.

[0184] Units described as separate parts may or may not be physically separated, and parts displayed as units may or may not be physical units, and may be located in one location or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of the embodiment.

[0185] In addition, in an embodiment of the present application, the functional unit may be integrated into a single processing unit, each unit may exist physically independently, or two or more units may be integrated into a single unit.

[0186] All or part of the foregoing embodiments may be implemented using software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When software is used to implement the embodiments, the foregoing embodiments may be fully or partially implemented in the form of a computer program product. A computer program product comprises one or more computer instructions. When computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, a procedure or function according to an embodiment of the present application is fully or partially created. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a dedicated computer, a computer network, or another programmable device. Computer instructions may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, computer instructions may be transmitted from a website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via a wired method (such as coaxial cable, fiber optic, and Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)) or a wireless method (such as infrared, radio, and microwave). A computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium readable by a computer, or a data storage device such as a server or data center that incorporates one or more available media. Available media may be magnetic media (e.g., floppy disk, hard disk, or magnetic tape), optical media (e.g., digital versatile disc (DVD)), semiconductor media (e.g., solid-state drive (SSD)), or similar media.

[0187] The foregoing description is merely a specific embodiment of the present application, but the scope of protection of the present application is not limited thereto. Any modification or substitution readily conceivable by a person skilled in the art within the scope of the technology disclosed in the present application will fall within the scope of protection of the present application. Accordingly, the scope of protection of the present application will follow the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

Claim 1 A communication method comprising the step of transmitting a first sidelink channel to a second terminal device via a first sidelink by a first terminal device, wherein the first sidelink channel comprises channel occupancy time (COT) sharing information, the first sidelink channel further comprises a first physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH), the first PSCCH comprises sidelink control information (SCI), the time domain resources where the first COT sharing information and the first stage SCI are located are adjacent, the first COT sharing information comprises an indicator indicating one of a unicast communication mode, a groupcast communication mode, or a broadcast communication mode, and the first COT sharing information is carried in a first physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) of the first sidelink channel. Claim 2 delete Claim 3 A communication method according to claim 1, wherein the last symbol where the first stage SCI is located is the first symbol, and the time domain resource where the first COT shared information is located includes one symbol or two consecutive symbols following the first symbol. Claim 4 A communication method according to claim 1, wherein the first COT sharing information indicates at least one of the following information: COT start time; COT end time; COT duration; unused resources within the COT; and resources allowed to be used by a third terminal device participating in COT sharing. Claim 5 A communication method comprising the step of receiving a first sidelink channel transmitted by a first terminal device through a first sidelink by a second terminal device and through a first sidelink, wherein the first sidelink channel comprises first channel occupancy time (COT) sharing information, the first sidelink channel further comprises a first physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH), the first PSCCH comprises first stage sidelink control information (SCI), the time domain resources where the first COT sharing information and the first stage SCI are located are adjacent, the first COT sharing information comprises an indicator indicating one of a unicast communication mode, a groupcast communication mode, or a broadcast communication mode, and the first COT sharing information is carried in the first physical sidelink sharing channel (PSSCH) of the first sidelink channel. Claim 6 delete Claim 7 A communication method according to claim 5, wherein the last symbol where the first stage SCI is located is the first symbol, and the time domain resource where the first COT shared information is located includes one symbol or two consecutive symbols following the first symbol. Claim 8 A communication method according to claim 5, wherein the first COT sharing information indicates at least one of the following information: COT start time; COT end time; COT duration; unused resources within the COT; and resources permitted to be used by a third terminal device participating in COT sharing. Claim 9 A first terminal device comprises: at least one processor; and one or more memories coupled to the at least one processor and storing a programming instruction to be executed by the at least one processor, wherein the programming instruction causes the first terminal device to: transmit a first sidelink channel to a second terminal device through a first sidelink, wherein the first sidelink channel includes a first channel occupancy time (COT) sharing information, wherein the first sidelink channel further includes a first physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH), wherein the first PSCCH includes a first stage sidelink control information (SCI), wherein the time domain resources where the first COT sharing information and the first stage SCI are located are adjacent, wherein the first COT sharing information includes an indicator indicating one of a unicast communication mode, a groupcast communication mode, or a broadcast communication mode, and wherein the first COT sharing information is carried in the first physical sidelink sharing channel (PSSCH) of the first sidelink channel. Claim 10 delete Claim 11 A first terminal device according to claim 9, wherein the last symbol where the first stage SCI is located is the first symbol, and the time domain resource where the first COT shared information is located includes one symbol or two consecutive symbols following the first symbol. Claim 12 In claim 9, the first terminal device, wherein the first COT sharing information indicates: a COT start time; a COT end time; a COT duration; unused resources within the COT; and at least one of resources permitted to be used by a third terminal device participating in the COT sharing. Claim 13 delete Claim 14 delete Claim 15 delete Claim 16 delete Claim 17 delete Claim 18 delete Claim 19 delete Claim 20 delete Claim 21 delete Claim 22 delete Claim 23 delete Claim 24 delete Claim 25 delete Claim 26 delete Claim 27 delete Claim 28 delete Claim 29 delete Claim 30 delete Claim 31 delete Claim 32 delete Claim 33 delete Claim 34 delete Claim 35 delete Claim 36 delete Claim 37 delete Claim 38 delete Claim 39 delete Claim 40 delete Claim 41 delete Claim 42 delete Claim 43 delete Claim 44 delete Claim 45 delete Claim 46 delete Claim 47 delete Claim 48 delete Claim 49 delete Claim 50 delete Claim 51 delete Claim 52 delete Claim 53 delete Claim 54 delete

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