V2X dynamic multicast resource allocation

Abstract

A device for a wireless communication system is described. The wireless communication system includes one or more base stations and multiple user equipments UE. The device is configured to connect to the one or more UEs via a sidelink to perform sidelink communication with the one or more UEs, the device and the one or more UEs form a UE group and use a group resource set to be used for sidelink communication within the UE group. In the case where the base station does not provide resource allocation configuration or assistance, the device is configured to select resources from a resource set provided by the wireless communication system to change or completely change the group resource set to be used for sidelink communication within the UE group.

Description

[0001] The present application relates to the field of wireless communication systems or networks, and more specifically, to a method for wireless communication between user devices of a wireless communication system using sidelink communication such as V2X communication. Embodiments relate to user device groups that communicate with each other via a sidelink interface, for example for group V2X communication, and dynamic multicast resource allocation for such user device groups, for example, when a base station does not support or stops providing resource allocation configuration or assistance for the user device group. Other embodiments relate to a user device group with a leader UE that establishes a corresponding link within the UE group using an RRC protocol on a sidelink.

[0002] 1(a)-(b) are schematic representations of an example of a terrestrial wireless network 100. As shown in FIG1(a), the terrestrial wireless network 100 includes a core network 102 and one or more radio access networks RAN1, RAN2, ...RAN N Figure 1(b) shows the radio access network RAN n A schematic diagram of an example of a radio access network RAN n One or more base stations gNB1 to gNB5 may be included, each base station serving a specific area around the base station schematically represented by the corresponding cells 1061 to 1065. Base stations are provided to serve users within the cells. The term base station (BS) refers to a gNB in ​​a 5G network, an eNB in ​​UMTS / LTE / LTE-A / LTE-A Pro, or just a BS in other mobile communication standards. Users can be fixed devices or mobile devices. The wireless communication system can also be accessed by mobile or fixed IoT devices connected to the base station or user. Mobile devices or IoT devices may include physical devices, ground-based vehicles such as robots or cars, aircraft such as manned or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) (the latter are also called drones), buildings and other items or devices embedded with electronic devices, software, sensors, actuators, etc., as well as network connectivity that enables these devices to collect and exchange data across existing network infrastructure. Figure 1(b) shows an example diagram of five cells, however, the RAN n More or fewer such cells may be included, and the RAN nIt may also include only one base station. Figure 1(b) shows two users UE1 and UE2, also referred to as user equipment UE, in cell 1062 and served by base station gNB2. Another user UE3 is shown in cell 1064 served by base station gNB4. Arrows 1081, 1082 and 1083 schematically represent uplink / downlink connections for transmitting data from users UE1, UE2 and UE3 to base stations gNB2, gNB4 or for transmitting data from base stations gNB2, gNB4 to users UE1, UE2, UE3. In addition, Figure 1(b) shows two IoT devices 1101 and 1102 in cell 1064, which may be fixed or mobile devices. IoT device 1101 accesses the wireless communication system via base station gNB4 to receive and transmit data, as schematically represented by arrow 1121. As schematically represented by arrow 1122, IoT device 1102 accesses the wireless communication system via user UE3. The respective base stations gNB1 to gNB5 may be connected to the core network 102 via respective backhaul links 1141 to 1145, for example, via an S1 interface, which are schematically represented in FIG. 1( b) by arrows pointing to “core”. The core network 102 may be connected to one or more external networks. In addition, some or all of the respective base stations gNB1 to gNB5 may be connected to each other via respective backhaul links 1161 to 1165, for example, via an S1 or X2 interface or an XN interface in NR, which are schematically represented in FIG. 1( b) by arrows pointing to “gNBs”.

[0003] For data transmission, a physical resource grid can be used. The physical resource grid may include a set of resource elements to which various physical channels and physical signals are mapped. For example, a physical channel may include a physical downlink and uplink shared channel (PDSCH, PUSCH) carrying user-specific data (also referred to as downlink and uplink payload data), a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) carrying, for example, a master information block (MIB) and a system information block (SIB), and a physical downlink and uplink control channel (PDCCH, PUCCH) carrying, for example, downlink control information (DCI). For the uplink, once the UE is synchronized and obtains the MIB and SIB, the physical channel may further include a physical random access channel (PRACH or RACH) used by the UE to access the network. Physical signals may include reference signals or symbols (RS), synchronization signals, etc. The resource grid may include a frame or radio frame having a certain duration in the time domain and a given bandwidth in the frequency domain. The frame may have a certain number of subframes of a predetermined length. Depending on the cyclic prefix (CP) length, each subframe may contain two time slots of 6 or 7 OFDM symbols. A frame may also contain a smaller number of OFDM symbols, for example when utilizing a shortened transmission time interval (sTTI) or a mini-slot / non-slot based frame structure comprising only a few OFDM symbols.

[0004] The wireless communication system may be any single tone or multi-carrier system using frequency division multiplexing, such as an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) system, an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) system, or any other IFFT-based signal with or without CP, such as DFT-s-OFDM. Other waveforms may be used, such as non-orthogonal waveforms for multiple access, such as filter bank multi-carrier (FBMC), generalized frequency division multiplexing (GFDM), or universal filtering multi-carrier (UFMC). The wireless communication system may operate, for example, according to the LTE Advanced Pro standard or the 5G or NR (New Radio) standard.

[0005] The wireless network or communication system shown in Figures 1(a)-(b) can be a heterogeneous network with different overlapping networks, for example, a network of macro cells in which each macro cell includes macro base stations similar to base stations gNB1 to gNB5, and a network of small cell base stations (not shown in Figures 1(a)-(b)) similar to femto or pico base stations.

[0006] In addition to the above-mentioned terrestrial wireless networks, there are also non-terrestrial wireless communication networks, including onboard transceivers such as satellites and / or onboard transceivers such as unmanned aerial vehicle systems. The non-terrestrial wireless communication networks or systems can operate in a similar manner to the terrestrial systems described above with reference to Figures 1(a)-(b), for example according to the LTE-Advanced Pro standard or the 5G or NR (New Radio) standard.

[0007] In a mobile communication network, for example, in a network as described above with reference to Figures 1(a)-(b), such as an LTE or 5G / NR network, there may be UEs that communicate directly with each other on one or more sidelink (SL) channels using a PC5 interface. UEs that communicate directly with each other via sidelinks may include vehicles that communicate directly with other vehicles (V2V communication), vehicles that communicate with other entities of a wireless communication network (V2X communication), other entities being, for example, roadside entities such as traffic lights, traffic signs, or pedestrians. Other UEs may not be vehicle-related UEs and may include any of the above-mentioned devices. Such devices may also communicate directly with each other (D2D communication) using SL channels.

[0008] When considering two UEs communicating directly with each other via a sidelink, the two UEs may be served by the same base station, so that the base station may provide sidelink resource allocation configuration or assistance to the UEs. For example, the two UEs may be within the coverage area of ​​a base station (one of the base stations shown in Figures 1(a)-(b)). This is referred to as the "in coverage" scenario. The other scenario is referred to as the "out of coverage" scenario. Note that "out of coverage" does not mean that the two UEs are not within one of the cells shown in Figures 1(a)-(b), but rather that these UEs

[0009] - may not be connected to the base station, e.g., they are not in an RRC connected state, such that the UE does not receive any sidelink resource allocation configuration or assistance from the base station, and / or

[0010] - may be connected to a base station, but, due to one or more reasons, the base station may not provide sidelink resource allocation configuration or assistance to the UE,

[0011] -May be connected to base stations that may not support NR V2X services, e.g. GSM, UMTS, LTE base stations.

[0012] When considering two UEs communicating directly with each other via a sidelink (e.g. PC5), one of the UEs may also be connected to the BS and information may be relayed from the BS to the other UE via the sidelink interface. Relaying may be performed in the same frequency band (in-band relaying) or using another frequency band (out-of-band relaying). In the first case, different time slots may be used to decouple the communication on Uu and on the sidelink, as in a time division duplex (TDD) system.

[0013] Figure 2is a schematic representation of a situation in coverage, where both UEs in direct communication with each other are connected to a base station. The base station gNB has a coverage area schematically represented by a circle 200, which substantially corresponds to the cell schematically represented in Figures 1(a)-(b). The UEs in direct communication with each other include a first vehicle 202 and a second vehicle 204 located within the coverage area 200 of the base station gNB. Both vehicles 202, 204 are connected to the base station gNB, and in addition, they are directly connected to each other via a PC5 interface. The gNB assists in scheduling and / or interference management of V2V services via control signaling on the Uu interface (radio interface between the base station and the UE). In other words, the gNB provides SL resource allocation configuration or assistance to the UE, and the gNB allocates resources to be used for V2V communication on the sidelink. This configuration is also referred to as a Mode 1 configuration in NR V2X or a Mode 3 configuration in LTE V2X.

[0014] Figure 3 is a schematic representation of an out-of-coverage situation, where either the UEs communicating directly with each other are not connected to the base station, although they may be physically within a cell of the wireless communication network, or some or all of the UEs communicating directly with each other are connected to the base station, but the base station does not provide SL resource allocation configuration or assistance. Three vehicles 206, 208 and 210 are shown as communicating directly with each other via a sidelink, for example using a PC5 interface. The scheduling and / or interference management of V2V traffic is based on algorithms implemented between vehicles. This configuration is also referred to as Mode 2 configuration in NR V2X, or Mode 4 configuration in LTE V2X. As described above, Figure 3 The out-of-coverage situation in does not necessarily mean that the corresponding Mode 4 UE is outside the coverage 200 of the base station, but means that the corresponding Mode 4 UE is not served by the base station, is not connected to the base station in the coverage area, or is connected to the base station but does not receive SL resource allocation configuration or assistance from the base station. Figure 2 In the illustrated coverage area 200 , in addition to Mode 3 UEs 202 , 204 , there are also Mode 4 UEs 206 , 208 , 210 .

[0015] In the above scenario of a vehicle user device UE, a plurality of such user devices may form a user device group, also referred to as a group, and may perform communication within the group or between group members via a sidelink interface (such as a PC5 interface) between user devices. Within a wireless communication network or within a cell thereof, a plurality of such groups may exist simultaneously. Although it is mentioned that communication within the group is via sidelink communication, this does not exclude that some or all group members communicate with other entities outside the group via a base station or via a sidelink when the group or at least some of its group members are within coverage. For example, the above scenario using a vehicle user device may be employed in the field of the transportation industry, where a plurality of vehicles equipped with vehicle user devices may be grouped together, for example, via a remote driving application.

[0016] Other use cases where multiple user devices may be grouped together for sidelink communications between each other include, for example, factory automation and power distribution. In the case of factory automation, multiple mobile or fixed machines within a factory may be equipped with user devices and grouped together for sidelink communications, for example for controlling the operation of the machines, such as motion control of a robot. In the case of power distribution, entities within a distribution network may be equipped with corresponding user devices that may be grouped together in specific areas of the system to communicate with each other via sidelink communications to allow monitoring of the system and handling of distribution network faults and power outages.

[0017] When individual user equipments are grouped together for sidelink communication between each other, one of the UEs may operate as a so-called UE leader (such as a host vehicle HV, UE), for example, in the case of a vehicle application, the UE leader may also be referred to as a group leader UE or UE manager. The leader UE may be used to control or organize communications within the group between the individual group UEs via a sidelink, for which purpose the leader UE may obtain a set of resources to be used within the group for intra-group communication (also referred to as multicast communication). Such a set of resources for multicast communication may be referred to as a small resource pool, which is formed by a plurality of resources selected from available resources for communication between user equipments in a wireless communication network. Examples for providing such a resource pool are described in European patent application EP 18197008.8 “Resource pool design for group communication” filed by the applicant on September 26, 2018 and EP 18188370.3 “NR V2X resource pool design” filed on August 9, 2018, both of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0018] Note that the information in the above section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

[0019] Starting from the prior art as above, when considering the above scenario, and more generally, considering a wireless communication system in which multiple users can be grouped together to provide communication between group members of a group with a group leader, in the event that a base station does not or stops providing resource allocation configuration or assistance for a group of user devices, an improved method for obtaining resources to be used for group communication may be needed.

[0020] Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0021] 1(a)-(b) show schematic representations of examples of wireless communication systems;

[0022] Figure 2 is a schematic representation of an in-coverage situation, where UEs communicating directly with each other are connected to a base station;

[0023] Figure 3 is a schematic representation of an out-of-coverage situation, where UEs communicating directly with each other do not receive SL resource allocation configuration or assistance from a base station;

[0024] Figure 4 is a schematic representation of a portion of a wireless communication network similar to that of Figures 1(a)-(b) for describing the concept of providing a set of resources dedicated to multicast communications;

[0025] Figure 5 is a schematic representation of a wireless communication system for communicating information between a transmitter and one or more receivers according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0026] Figure 6 shows a diagram representing activities of a leader UE of a UE group to be performed according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0027] 7(a)-(g) show several examples of SL RRC messages used on a SL according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0028] Figure 8 An embodiment of a resource reservation announcement message that may be sent by a leader UE is shown;

[0029] Fig. 9 An embodiment of a process for allocating new resources once the validity period of currently used resources is about to end is shown; and

[0030] Fig.10 An example of a computer system is shown on which the units or modules and steps of the method described according to the method of the present invention can be executed.

[0031] Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which the same or similar elements have the same reference numerals.

[0032] The initial vehicle-to-everything (V2X) specification is included in LTE Release 14 of the 3GPP standard. The original device-to-device (D2D) communication standard is used as the design basis, and the scheduling and allocation of resources are modified according to the V2X requirements. From the resource allocation point of view, it has been agreed to operate cellular V2X in two configurations, namely the above-mentioned Mode 3 and Mode 4 configurations. As above, in the V2X Mode 3 configuration, the scheduling and interference management of resources are performed by the base station to the UE to enable sidelink SL communications, such as vehicle-to-vehicle communications. Control signaling is provided to the UE over the Uu interface, for example using a downlink control indicator DCI, and is dynamically allocated by the base station. In the V2X Mode 4 configuration, the scheduling and interference management of SL communications are performed autonomously between the UEs using a distributed or decentralized algorithm based on a pre-configured resource configuration. As above, there are different situations or use cases where communication between group members (also known as multicast communication) is desired. Such multicast communication requires that the members of the group can communicate with each other over a shorter distance while maintaining a high reliability level and low latency. Examples of use cases mentioned are vehicle platooning, expanded sensors, advanced driving, and remote driving.

[0033] Traditionally, when the base station provides resource allocation configuration / assistance to the UE, each member of the group or formation must request resources from the base station based on the amount of data that the member UE wants to send. The base station then grants the group members a set of resources to be used. Although this guarantees reliability to a certain extent, this method is disadvantageous because it takes up a considerable round-trip time for short-range communications between group members and also results in a large signaling overhead for requesting sidelink transmission resources for individual UEs within the group. In addition, when the group competes for resources with other UEs that are not part of the group, communication performance may be degraded. In addition, for sidelink communications, it is challenging to continuously handle very large system bandwidths.

[0034] Figure 4 is a schematic representation of a portion of a wireless communication network similar to the one described with reference to Figures 1(a)-(b) and showing a cell of the above network or one of a plurality of radio access networks available in such a wireless communication network. Figure 4A base station 400 and a plurality of user equipment UEs are shown. Some UEs are grouped into respective user equipment groups 402 and 404, while other UEs, such as UEs 406 and 408, are not members of any group. According to the depicted example, a first group 402 includes three UEs 4021 to 4023, and within the group 402, UEs 4021 to 4023 can communicate with each other using a sidelink interface (such as a PC5 interface). Group 404 includes four UEs 4041 to 4044 that communicate with each other via a sidelink interface (such as a PC5 interface) using sidelink communication like the UEs in the first group 402. UEs within groups 402, 404 and UEs 406, 408 can also communicate directly with the base station 400 using, for example, a Uu interface. Within each group 402, 404, one, some or all of the UEs can communicate directly with the base station 400, however, for communication with group members, sidelink communication is used.

[0035] For communication, a resource set or small resource pool 410 is provided, from which resources can be allocated to individual UEs within the groups 402, 404 and UEs 406, 408 for transmitting data. For example, the available resources or resource pools 410 contain a time / frequency / space resource grid, and the base station 400 can determine at least one resource set, also called a group resource pool, resource pool, small resource pool or sub-pool from the resources 410, and resources are selected by the base station 400 (for UEs in NR mode 1) or by the UE (for UEs in NR mode 2) from the at least one resource set to be allocated to the individual groups 402, 404 for communication between group members over the sidelink interface. Figure 4 In the example of , the base station 400 provides two resource sets or two small resource pools 4121 and 4122 for the first group 402, which contain resources from the entire resource pool 410 to be used for sidelink communications within the group 402. For the second group 404, the base station 400 provides a second resource pool 414. Note that the present invention is not limited to the described embodiments, but there may be only a single UE group, or there may be more than two described groups. Moreover, the number of UEs forming a group is not limited to the described embodiments, but any number of UEs may be grouped together. In addition, there may be a situation where all UEs are group members, and in this case, UEs 406 and 408 may not exist or may belong to one or more groups. Moreover, the number of small resource pools 412, 414 reserved or provided for each group may be different, for example, the base station may provide fewer or more small resource pools for group 402, or provide more than one resource pool 414 for the second group 404.

[0036] also, Figure 4An example is shown in which each small resource pool 412, 414 includes multiple continuous resources that are adjacent across the frequency domain and across the time domain. However, the present invention is not limited to such a configuration, but according to other embodiments, the corresponding resources forming the small resource pools 412, 414 may be non-continuous resources across the frequency domain and / or non-adjacent resources across the time domain. Note that multiple input multiple output (MIMO) processing at the base station and / or UE can also be used to allocate resources in the spatial domain. The spatial domain can be used in combination with both the frequency domain and / or the time domain. One or more small resource pools 412, 414 may include multiple resource groups including at least a first group and a second group, and the first group and the second group have different parameter sets (numerologies), such as different subcarrier spacings, different time slot lengths, or different numbers of supported channels. For example, depending on the quality of service QoS requirements, the resources to be allocated can be selected from a small resource pool having a parameter set required to meet the QoS requirements. For example, a small resource pool 412 or 414 may include resource groups with different parameter sets. According to other embodiments, the total resource pool 410 may contain resource groups with different parameter sets, for example, a first group with a first parameter set as indicated at 4101, and a second group with a second parameter set as indicated at 4102. For example, for group 402, the base station provides a small resource pool 412 containing resources from the first resource group 4101 and from the second resource group 4102. For example, a UE that is a member of one of the groups 402, 404 may directly or indirectly send its QoS requirements to the base station 400, and receive a confirmation from the base station directly or indirectly from the base station via a group leader or another group member about allocating resources belonging to the required parameter set for meeting the QoS requirements. Upon receiving the confirmation, the corresponding member UE may directly or indirectly provide the estimated data usage to the base station 400, so as to allow the base station 400 to allocate resources to the device from an appropriate small resource pool. The above-mentioned resource groups with different parameter sets may adopt different subcarrier spacings, and the corresponding one or more resource groups may be referred to as bandwidth parts.

[0037] exist Figure 4In the example of , it is assumed that group 402 contains leader 4021. For example, each of groups 402, 404 can be assigned a group ID, such as by the application to be executed, as above, and each member of the group, also referred to as a remote RV, UE knows the group ID. Communication between the RV and the leader of the group (also referred to as the master UE) can be performed internally using the group ID and the sidelink communication interface, which in turn allows the desired and reliability requirements defined by the application to be met in order to meet the desired quality of service. For example, when considering a convoy of multiple vehicles equipped with corresponding user equipment and grouped together into a single group, when each UE travels at a very short distance from each other in order to achieve the desired advantages of convoy driving, such as reduced wind resistance, high fuel efficiency, etc., the satisfaction of the desired latency and reliability requirements is important for the working of the group communication. Using sidelink communication between member UEs, any message that must be delivered with low latency, such as an emergency message, can be transmitted between UEs with the required latency and reliability, thereby providing each vehicle equipped with a UE with sufficient time to react. The leader UE 4021 of the group 402 can request a resource set or a small resource pool mRP from the resource pool 410 for the entire group to eliminate the need for each individual member 4022, 4023 to request its own individual resources from the base station. The members of the group communicate using the resources within the allocated small resource pool 412. In other words, in the group 402, the request for resources can be processed only by the leader UE 4021 while the remaining UEs 4022 and 4023 do not communicate with the base station 400 to obtain information about resources to be used for internal communication of the group using the PC5 interface. Therefore, because only the leader UE 4021 communicates with the base station 400 to receive the necessary control information and information about the resources to be used, and the other UEs do not communicate with the base station, the signaling between the group 402 and the base station 400 for obtaining the necessary control information and information about the resources to be used can be significantly reduced. Note that the various other UEs 4022 and 4023 of the group 402 can communicate directly with the base station 400 for any non-group communication. For example, in the event that UE 4023 detects a specific situation that may be of interest to all UEs, such as an accident or severe weather conditions, when considering a platooning use case, UE 4023 can use the PC5 interface to signal this within the group, and in addition, it can use the SL interface to signal this to the base station 400 for distribution to other UEs within the coverage or to applications, and / or to other nearby UEs that do not belong to the same group.

[0038] As above, a small resource pool or resource set to be used by a UE group for multicast communication within the group can be defined by the base station, for example, for UEs operating in NR mode 1. However, in the case of NR mode 2 operation, for example, when the base station no longer supports the group with respect to SL resource allocation, for example, when the base station stops providing SL resource allocation configuration or assistance or such configuration or assistance is no longer available, the UEs in the group need to allocate resources to the resource set again, such as pre-configured resources in the system, for multicast communication, which again results in potential delays in SL communication, signaling overhead, etc.

[0039] The present invention is directed to such a situation, i.e., to the situation where the base station does not or no longer provides SL resource allocation configuration or assistance to the UE group in order to effectively handle resource allocation for communication within the group. For example, the base station may be basically able to provide SL resource allocation configuration or assistance, but the SL resource allocation configuration or assistance for multicast resource allocation may be disabled, for example, because the multicast resource utilization is low, or because the group UE is moving quickly within the coverage area of ​​the base station, so that it can be judged that the UE group is likely to be in the coverage area only for a short period of time, or because only low QoS requirements will be met for the group. According to the method of the present invention, when considering a UE group that receives SL resource allocation configuration or assistance from the base station, the base station or gNB will ensure that the resource subset to be used for communication within the group is updated based on the needs of the group. In the case where the base station no longer provides SL resource allocation configuration or assistance, the leader UE may maintain the group resource subset provided by the base station for a fixed time period. Once the time period has passed, the leader UE may decide the amount of resources required for the group, for example based on the needs of the member UEs, based on estimated usage in a previous time period, or based on input from an application service, and the resources may be selected by the leader UE from a set of resources provided by the system, for example by performing a sensing process in a previous time slot and / or by listening to announcements by other leader UEs to avoid selecting overlapping resources.

[0040] In other words, the defined small resource pool may be maintained for a certain duration, after which, at that time, the leader UE may perform sensing of a known predefined resource pool to be used when configuring or assisting SL resource allocation when there is no longer a base station (also known as a UE out of coverage) in order to change or completely change the set of resources to be used for group communication within the group. The group leader may also instruct other group member UEs to perform sensing and may collect sensing results. This may help the group leader select interference-free resources for group communication.

[0041] However, the concept of the present invention is not limited to the SL resource allocation configuration or the auxiliary stopped or no longer available UE group for its base station, but can also be applied to a group formed by UEs that start working in NR mode 2, and a leader UE is determined for the group, which collects the resource requirements of the respective UEs of the group for corresponding transmissions, and performs sensing to obtain a small resource pool or group resource set to be used for group internal communication or multicast communication from the resource set provided by the wireless communication system. For example, available, idle, unused or vacant resources in the resource set can be selected.

[0042] In other words, the present invention aims to provide an improved method for providing or limiting necessary resources for communication within a UE group when the base station does not provide SL resource allocation configuration or assistance. This is solved by the present invention described in more detail below, and embodiments of the present invention can be shown in Figures 1(a)-(b), Figure 2 , Figure 3 and Figure 4 The wireless communication system shown is implemented in the figure, and the wireless communication system includes a base station and a user, such as a mobile terminal or an IoT device. Figure 5 is a schematic representation of a wireless communication system comprising a transmitter 450 such as a base station and one or more receivers 4521 to 452 such as user equipment UE n The transmitter 450 and the receiver 452 may communicate via one or more wireless communication links or channels 454a, 454b, 454c (eg, radio links). The transmitter 450 may include one or more antennas ANT coupled to each other. T or an antenna array having multiple antenna elements, a signal processor 450a and a transceiver 450b. The receiver 452 includes one or more antennas ANT coupled to each other. R or an antenna array having multiple antennas, signal processors 452a1, 452a n and transceivers 450b1, 452b n . The base station 450 and the UE 452 can communicate via corresponding first wireless communication links 454a and 454b, such as radio links using a Uu interface, and the UEs 452 can communicate with each other via a second wireless communication link 454c, such as a radio link using a PC5 interface. When the UEs are not served by the base station, are not connected to the base station, for example, they are not in an RRC connected state, or more generally, when the base station does not provide SL resource allocation configuration or assistance, the UEs can communicate with each other via side links. The system and one or more UEs 452 can operate according to the inventive teachings described herein.

[0043] The present invention provides (see, for example, claim 1) a device for a wireless communication system, the wireless communication system comprising one or more base stations and a plurality of user equipments UE, wherein:

[0044] The device is configured to connect to one or more UEs via a sidelink to perform sidelink communication with the one or more UEs, and the device and the one or more UEs form a UE

[0045] group and use a group resource set to be used for sidelink communication within the UE group,

[0046] and

[0047] In the absence of a base station providing resource allocation configuration or assistance, the apparatus is configured to select resources from a set of resources provided by the wireless communication system in order to change or completely change a set of group resources to be used for sidelink communications within a UE group.

[0048] Therefore, according to an embodiment, a leader UE (device) is provided, which is "responsible" for selecting resources for the entire UE group when the base station does not or no longer provides resource allocation configuration / assistance.

[0049] According to an embodiment (see, for example, claim 2), in the case where the base station does not provide resource allocation configuration or assistance, the apparatus is configured to:

[0050] Determine the amount of resources required by the UE group, and

[0051] Resources are selected from the set of resources to be used for sidelink communications within the UE group.

[0052] According to an embodiment (see, for example, claim 3), in order to determine the amount of resources required by the UE group, the apparatus is configured to:

[0053] receiving one or more requirements from one or more of the UEs in the UE group for resources to be used for sidelink communications within the UE group, and determining an amount of resources required for the UE group based on the received one or more requirements, and / or

[0054] Obtain the amount of resources required by the UE group from the application, and / or

[0055] For example, the amount of resources required by the UE group is estimated based on the history of required resources.

[0056] According to an embodiment (see, for example, claim 4), in order to select resources from the resource set to be used for sidelink communication within the UE group, the device is configured to, for example, perform a sensing process in one or more previous time slots, and / or listen for announcements indicating resources used by other UEs.

[0057] According to an embodiment (see, for example, claim 5), the apparatus is configured for sensing / selecting the group of resource sets exclusively from the resource sets.

[0058] According to an embodiment (see, for example, claim 6), one or more UEs forming a UE group with the device do not sense or select a group resource set for sidelink communication within the UE group, but only receive information about the group resource set from the device. In other words, according to an embodiment, a non-leader UE (RV-UE) may only receive group resource information from a leader UE (HV-UE) and may not perform sensing of group resources - although sensing of broadcast resources may be performed by each UE individually.

[0059] According to an embodiment (see, for example, claim 7), in case the amount of resources selectable from the resource set is less than the required resources, the apparatus is configured to use the group resource set to transmit specific messages only between the group UEs.

[0060] According to an embodiment (see, for example, claim 8), the specific message has a priority associated with it that is higher than the priority of other messages to be transmitted between the group UEs.

[0061] According to an embodiment (see, for example, claim 9), the other message is sent by the respective one or more UEs via resources sensed by the respective one or more UEs and selected from the set of resources.

[0062] According to an embodiment (see, for example, claim 10), the apparatus is configured to establish corresponding links within the UE group using:

[0063] - sidelink protocols such as the PC5 signaling protocol, or

[0064] -RRC protocol on the sidelink.

[0065] According to an embodiment (see, e.g., the claims), when using the RRC protocol on the sidelink, the apparatus is configured to:

[0066] - Send control messages to one or more UEs in a configurable manner, such as periodic / aperiodic / UE-specific control messages, and / or

[0067] - receiving resource requirements from the UE using RRC signalling, and / or

[0068] - Dynamically and semi-statically select and allocate resources to UEs.

[0069] According to an embodiment (for example, see claim 12), when using the RRC protocol on the sidelink, the device is configured to signal one or more RRC messages to the UE, the one or more messages including, for example, one or more of a paging message, a connection establishment message, a reconfiguration message, a measurement report, a connection reestablishment message, and a connection release message.

[0070] According to an embodiment (see, eg, claim 13), the apparatus is configured to inform all group UEs of the sensed or selected resources.

[0071] According to an embodiment (for example, see claim 14), in order to notify all group UEs of the sensed or selected resources, the device is configured to send message broadcast information, which identifies the sensed / selected group resource set to be used for sidelink communication within the UE group, and the message is sent on the group resources or on other resources from the resource set provided by the wireless communication system.

[0072] According to an embodiment (see, for example, claim 15), the apparatus is configured to notify all group UEs of the sensed or selected resources in one or more of the following ways:

[0073] - in the form of a field within the SCI transmitted by the device to the UEs of the group,

[0074] - via a sidelink paging signal to all nearby UEs, e.g. using a SL information block,

[0075] -Use ProSe direct discovery mechanism.

[0076] According to an embodiment (see e.g. claim 16), the apparatus is configured to inform all group UEs of the sensed or selected / reserved resources:

[0077] - notifying all UEs of the group of the set of resources to be used for sidelink communications within the group, and

[0078] - Notify one or more other UE groups that the selected group resource set is currently used by the UE

[0079] Group use.

[0080] According to an embodiment (see, e.g., claim 17), the content of the announcement contains time-frequency information of the sensed / selected set of resources, which defines, e.g., a resource pool, a small resource pool, a bandwidth part BWP in a resource pool, or a resource pool in a BWP.

[0081] According to an embodiment (see, for example, claim 18), the apparatus is configured to repeatedly announce the sensed or selected resources to all group UEs (eg, UEs) in a periodic manner.

[0082] According to an embodiment (see, for example, claim 19), the apparatus is configured to notify all group UEs of the sensed or selected / reserved resources in an event-triggered manner, for example, when the selected / reserved resource configuration has changed in case of connection reestablishment.

[0083] According to an embodiment (see, for example, claim 20), the device is configured to:

[0084] (a) when a specific, e.g., predefined, period of time has elapsed after the base station stops providing resource allocation configuration or assistance or a specific time before a specific, e.g., predefined, period of time has elapsed after the base station stops providing resource allocation configuration or assistance, and / or

[0085] (b) when a specific validity period (e.g., a predefined validity period) of the currently used group resource set has elapsed or at a specific time before a specific validity period (e.g., a predefined validity period) of the currently used group resource set has elapsed, and / or

[0086] (c) when the devices of the UE group arrive at a specific location or at a specific time before the devices of the UE group arrive at a specific location, for example, based on the location of the group, i.e., if the UE moves from one area to another,

[0087] Sensing / selection of a set of group resources to be used is performed.

[0088] According to an embodiment (see for example claim 21), the validity period is based on a fixed time period or on a counter based on the number of times the device sends notifications.

[0089] According to an embodiment (see, for example, claim 22), the device is configured to perform resource reselection at a specific time before the validity period expires and notify all multicast UEs of a new group resource set, so that when the validity period expires, the group UEs transfer from the current group resource set to the new group resource set.

[0090] The present invention provides (for example, see claim 23) a device for a wireless communication system, the wireless communication system comprising one or more base stations and multiple user equipments UE, wherein:

[0091] The apparatus is configured to connect to one or more UEs via a sidelink for sidelink communication with the one or more UEs, the apparatus and the one or more UEs forming a UE group, and using a group resource set to be used for the sidelink communication within the UE group, wherein one of the UEs is a leader UE, and

[0092] In the case where the base station does not provide resource allocation configuration or assistance, the apparatus is configured to:

[0093] sending a request to the leader UE for resources to be used by the device for sidelink communications within the UE group; and

[0094] A group resource set is received from the leader UE, which is sensed / selected exclusively by the leader UE from among resource sets to be used for sidelink communication within the UE group.

[0095] The present invention provides (for example, see claim 24) a device for a wireless communication system, the wireless communication system comprising one or more base stations and multiple user equipments UE, wherein:

[0096] The apparatus is configured to connect to one or more UEs via a sidelink to perform sidelink communication with the one or more UEs, the apparatus and the one or more UEs forming a UE group, and

[0097] The device is configured to establish a corresponding link within the UE group using the RRC protocol on the side link.

[0098] In other words, according to an embodiment, another aspect of the present invention (independently of the previous aspect or used in combination with the previous aspect (see, for example, claims 1 to 23)) provides a leader UE (= device) using SL RRC on a sidelink.

[0099] According to an embodiment (see, for example, claim 25), the apparatus is configured to signal one or more RRC messages to the UE, the one or more messages comprising, for example, one or more of a paging message, a connection establishment message, a reconfiguration message, a measurement report, a connection reestablishment message, and a connection release message.

[0100] According to an embodiment (see, for example, claim 26), the resource set comprises a plurality of resource groups, the plurality of resource groups comprising at least a first resource group having a first parameter set and a second resource group having a second parameter set, the first parameter set and the second parameter set being different.

[0101] According to an embodiment (see, for example, claim 27), the resource set comprises a plurality of contiguous or non-contiguous resources across the frequency domain and a plurality of contiguous or non-contiguous resources across the time domain.

[0102] According to an embodiment (for example, see claim 28), the device includes one or more of a mobile terminal, or a fixed terminal, or a cellular IoT-UE, or a vehicle UE, or an IoT or a narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), a device, or a ground-based vehicle, or an aircraft, or a drone, or a mobile base station, or a roadside unit, or a building, or any other item or device (such as a sensor or actuator) provided with network connectivity, which enables the item / device to communicate using a wireless communication network.

[0103] system

[0104] The present invention provides a wireless communication network, including at least one UE of the present invention and at least one base station of the present invention. The base station may include a macrocell base station, or a small cell base station, or a central unit of a base station, or a distributed unit of a base station, or a roadside unit, or a UE, or a remote radio head, or an AMF, or an SMF, or a core network entity, or a mobile edge computing entity, or a network slice such as in an NR or 5G core environment, or one or more of any transmission or reception points TRPs that enable an item or device to communicate using a wireless communication network, and the item or device is provided with network connectivity for communicating using a wireless communication network.

[0105] method

[0106] The present invention provides (for example, see claim 31) a method for operating an apparatus of a wireless communication system, the wireless communication system having one or more base stations and a plurality of user equipments UE, the apparatus being connected to the one or more UEs via a sidelink to perform sidelink communication with the one or more UEs, the apparatus and the one or more UEs forming a UE group, and using a group resource set to be used for sidelink communication within the UE group, the method comprising:

[0107] In the absence of resource allocation configuration or assistance provided by the base station, resources are selected by the device from a set of resources provided by the wireless communication system in order to change or completely change the set of group resources to be used for sidelink communications within the UE group.

[0108] The present invention provides (for example, see claim 32) a method for operating an apparatus of a wireless communication system having one or more base stations and a plurality of user equipments UE, the apparatus being connected to the one or more UEs via a sidelink for sidelink communication with the one or more UEs, the apparatus and the one or more UEs forming a UE group, and using a group resource set to be used for the sidelink communication within the UE group, wherein one of the UEs is a leader UE, the method comprising:

[0109] In the absence of resource allocation configuration or assistance provided by the base station, a request for resources to be used by the device for sidelink communication within the UE group is sent to the leader UE, and a group resource set specifically sensed / selected by the leader UE from a resource set is received from the leader UE, the group resource set being to be used for sidelink communication within the UE group.

[0110] The present invention provides (for example, see claim 33) a method for operating an apparatus of a wireless communication system having one or more base stations and a plurality of user equipments UE, the apparatus being connected to the one or more UEs via a sidelink for sidelink communication with the one or more UEs, the apparatus and the one or more UEs forming a UE group, the method comprising:

[0111] The corresponding links are established within the UE group by the device using the RRC protocol on the sidelink.

[0112] Computer program product

[0113] The invention provides a computer program product comprising instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform one or more methods according to the invention.

[0114] Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in more detail, and Figure 6 A diagram is shown representing the activities of a leader UE of a UE group to be performed to select resources according to an embodiment of the present invention. The embodiment assumes that for the UE group, SL resource allocation configuration / assistance is provided by the base station until a certain time, so that there is a small resource pool or set of resources to be used for group communication within the group, and at this certain time, the base station no longer has SL resource allocation configuration or assistance available for the group, which may also be referred to as the group operating out of coverage or in NR mode 2. In this case, the leader UE maintains the resources or group resource subset provided by the gNB for a predefined period of time, such as a fixed period of time. Figure 6 In the example embodiment, as shown at block 500, the group of UEs initially uses resources provided by the gNB for group internal communications and, as indicated at block 502, maintains use of the resources provided by the gNB as long as a specific time period that may be predefined by system parameters has not elapsed. In the event that it is determined in block 502 that the predefined time period is about to elapse, such as when it is determined that a specific time before the end of the time period is reached, the leader UE may obtain corresponding requirements for resources from the UEs of the group and, as indicated at 504, select new resources from a set of resources, such as a preconfigured set of resources or a resource pool provided by the wireless communication system. Once the time period eventually elapses, the leader UE uses the new resources to establish a sidelink connection between the UEs, such as the sidelink connection between the UEs. Figure 6As shown in 506 in . As above, the leader UE may receive one or more requirements for resources to be used for sidelink communications within the UE group from one or more of the UEs in the UE group, and decide the amount of resources required for the UE group based on the received one or more requirements. According to other embodiments, the leader UE may obtain the amount of resources required for the UE group from an application running on the UE, and / or estimate the amount of resources required for the UE group based on a history of required resources. The resource requirements may be obtained periodically, and the leader UE's selection of resources may include a sensing process in a previous time slot and / or monitoring notifications from other leader UEs to avoid selecting overlapping resources from a resource pool (such as a resource pool provided in the system for SL communications).

[0115] Depending on the embodiment, sensing may be performed continuously or shortly before selecting a new resource. Resource reselection may occur before the validity of the old resource is exhausted. This allows pre-advertising / broadcasting of new resources. The sensing process may include sensing and decoding control information, such as group announcements of other UEs.

[0116] According to an embodiment, there may be a situation where the leader UE recognizes that there is competition for available resources to be used for group communication, which means that the leader UE may not be able to select all resources required for reliable operation or communication between all UEs. For example, the amount of unused or idle resources from the resource pool may not be sufficient to meet all resource requirements. In this case, the leader UE can limit the group communication to specific communications, services or events, such as only limiting to exchanging high priority messages such as emergency messages between individual UEs, while other messages with lower priority can be transmitted by the individual UEs in the group using traditional broadcast channels or resources sensed by the corresponding UEs in the group themselves from the available resources in the resource pool.

[0117] According to an embodiment of the method of the present invention, establishing a sidelink connection between UEs at 506 may include establishing communications with the sidelink using a sidelink protocol, such as described, for example, in TS23.303, "Proximity-based Services (ProSe), Stage 2 (Release 15)", V15.1.0, 3GPP, June 2016. According to other embodiments, instead of using a sidelink protocol, such as a PC5 interface protocol, an RRC signaling protocol may be applied for establishing a link between UEs of a group via a sidelink (PC5 interface), which is also referred to as SL RRC established between a leader UE and a member UE. SL RRC allows establishing and maintaining a link between a leader UE and a member UE for multicast communications within the group. SL RRC allows link management for multicast and unicast communications. SL RRC is advantageous when compared to the SL protocol because it provides the leader UE with the option of sending control messages to individual member UEs in a configurable manner, such as periodically, aperiodically, or user-specifically. SL RRC signaling may also be used to send resource requirements of the UE. The leader UE may dynamically and semi-statically select and allocate resources to member UEs in a manner similar to what the base station does. According to an embodiment, the SL RRC message may include one or more of a paging message, a connection establishment message, a reconfiguration message, a release message, a connection reestablishment message, or a measurement report message. Of course, these messages are only examples, and it should be noted that the method of the present invention is not limited to the depicted messages, but, for the SL RRC, any other RRC message conventionally used for communication between a UE and a base station may also be employed.

[0118] Figure 7(a) shows an example of SL paging broadcast signaling between a leader UE and one or more member UEs. The leader 4021 sends out a SL paging signal, which is received by member UEs 4022 and 4023, and the SL paging signal can be used by the leader UE 4021 to broadcast information to all UEs in its vicinity, which include not only member UEs but also other UEs that are not group members. In other words, the paging signal can also be received by other UEs because it is a broadcast message and the UE does not have to be in RRC_Connected mode to receive the paging message. Thus, for example, member UEs 4022, 4023 can be notified of resources to be used for group communications within the group, while other UEs that are not group members can also be notified of resources that are occupied and cannot be used for communication because they are specifically used for group internal communications of the group containing the leader UE and member UEs. Therefore, other UEs have knowledge of reserved or used resources for group communications within a specific UE group when sensing resources to be used in the resource pool.

[0119] Figure 7(b) shows an example of SL RRC setup signaling between the group's leader UE 4021 and member UEs 4022, 4023. Initially, the leader UE sends a SL RRC setup request to the member UEs, preferably using resources for multicast communication, and the member UEs return a SL RRC setup message, so that once the setup is complete, the leader UE transmits a SL RRC setup complete message to the member UEs.

[0120] Figure 7(c) shows an example of SL RRC reconfiguration signaling between the leader UE 4021 and the member UEs 4022 and 4023, through which the leader UE 4021, for example, uses resources used for multicast communication to notify one or more of the member UEs 4022 and 4023 of the change in the communication configuration between the UEs by sending a SL RRC reconfiguration message to the member UEs 4022 and 4023, and the member UEs 4022 and 4023 respond to the leader UE 4021 with a SL RRC reconfiguration completion message after completing the reconfiguration.

[0121] Figure 7(d) shows an example of SL RRC release signaling between the leader UE 4021 and the member UEs, by which the leader UE 4021 releases the connection to one or more of the member UEs 4022, 4023, for example, using resources used for multicast communication, for example, in the event that the UE leaves the group.

[0122] 7( e) shows an example of SL RRC connection reestablishment signaling between the leader UE 4021 and the member UEs 4022, 4023, by which the leader UE 4021, for example, uses resources for multicast communication to notify one or more of the member UEs 4022, 4023 of changes in the communication configuration between the UEs or a desire to modify the RRC connection by sending a SL RRC reconfiguration message that causes a reconfiguration that requires reconnection (due to a failure of the RRC reconfiguration message) to the member UEs 4022, 4023. After the reconfiguration is completed, one or more of the UEs 4022, 4023 and the leader UE 4021 exchange messages to reestablish the RRC connection.

[0123] Figure 7(f) shows an example of SL RRC measurement report signaling between the leader UE 4021 and the member UEs 4022, 4023, through which one or more of the member UEs 4022, 4023 provide measurement reports to the leader UE, such as a buffer status report indicating the required resources for communication on the sidelink, or new MAC signaling, or a resource occupancy report indicating the available resources that the leader UE 4021 can select for a small resource pool for internal group communication within the group.

[0124] In the embodiment of Figure 7 (a)-(f), the group members (RV and HV) are in SL RRC connection mode or SL group connection mode to perform SL RRC link control, that is, the group leader and its member UEs are pre-established. RV_UE may include a group of members with specified group member restrictions, for example, RV_UE = {RV_UE1, RV_UE2, RV_UE3, ...}.

[0125] Figure 7(g) shows an application diagram according to an embodiment to indicate how the HV UE 4021 can use SL RRC signaling to configure three separate RV_UEs in a group in a unicast manner. Figure 7(g) shows a group of 4 UEs (including the group leader 4021). Initially, similar to Figure 7(b), the SL RRC is established and sent to all RV_UEs (steps 1-3). In step 4, a separate RRC configuration update message, such as a new resource allocation configuration, is sent to RV_UE1 via RRC signaling because RV_UE1 wants to send a larger message and therefore requires more resources. In step 5, the HV_UE wants to disconnect (or evict) RV_UE2 from the group and sends a release message to RV_UE2. In step 6, RV_UE3 may want to send a periodic / event-triggered measurement report to the HV_UE. Note that steps 4-6 can also be sent / received simultaneously by the HV_UE.

[0126] Note that the above concept of using RRC signaling messages on the sidelink can be used not only in the context of the above scenario, but the concept can be used for any UE group that has been assigned a leader UE and uses resources allocated by the base station, sensed by the leader UE, or sensed by other UEs in the group for multicast communication between UEs via the sidelink. Communication can be performed using RRC signaling instead of the sidelink protocol. In other words, according to an embodiment, communication between multiple UEs via the sidelink can include a leader UE as a kind of "small base station" and use SL RRC messages to establish links between the leader UE and other UEs.

[0127] return Figure 6 According to a further embodiment, after the sidelink connection is established at block 506, the leader UE may perform a resource reservation announcement, as indicated at block 508. For example, the leader UE may announce the resources selected at 504 to each member UE through the established sidelink, so that the member UEs are aware of the resources to be used exclusively for multicast communication within the group. According to an embodiment, a broadcast message may be used to transmit the resource reservation announcement, so that not only the member UEs of the group are notified, but also other UEs or other UE groups or other group leader UEs are notified, so that these UEs that do not belong to the group are aware of the resources reserved for the group.

[0128] The announcement message can be transmitted in different ways, and according to an embodiment, the announcement message can be transmitted using the SCI protocol, for example in the form of a field within the sidelink control information SCI, which is transmitted by the leader UE to other UEs. The SCI can define the resources to be used for multicast communication, such as the small resource pool mentioned above. According to another embodiment, as described above with reference to Figure 7(a), the sidelink RRC paging signal can be used to transmit the announcement message to all UEs near the leader UE, including member UEs of the group and other UEs that are not members of the group. For example, the SL information block can be used to transmit information.

[0129] According to other embodiments, the ProSe direct discovery mechanism based on Model A may be used to transmit the announcement message, as described in TS23.303, "Proximity-based Services (ProSe), Stage 2 (Release 15)", V15.1.0, 3GPP, June 2016). Two types of UEs are involved in Model A, namely the announcement UE (leader UE in this embodiment), and the monitoring UE (member UE of the group and possible other member UEs or leader UEs or other UEs of other groups). The announcement UE may broadcast information on the same carrier (intra-discovery) or on different carriers (inter-discovery), and thus, enable all monitoring UEs to monitor such broadcast information using intra-discovery or inter-discovery.

[0130] When the base station does not provide SL resource allocation configuration or assistance for the UE group, a resource reservation announcement can be used. The resource reservation announcement can be used to notify all member UEs of the group of the resource set to be used for multicast communication within the group, and / or to notify all UEs outside the group (such as the leader UE of other groups) that the selected subset of resources is currently being used, so that other UEs know the reserved resources for the group and do not use these resources.

[0131] The announcement message may be periodic, and the periodicity may be configured to ensure that any potential new member of the group receives the announcement and may request the leader UE to become a member of the group.

[0132] The content of the announcement message may include time-frequency information of the resources reserved for the group, such as information of a resource pool, a small resource pool, a bandwidth portion in a resource pool, a resource pool in a bandwidth portion, etc., and a validity period attached to the resource set. The announcement message may include an explicit indication of the resources in the pool for each UE in the group, or according to other embodiments, where the structure of the resource pool is known at the UE, the announcement message may include a relative indication of the resources for each UE in the group. In other words, the allocation of resources to the RV may be:

[0133] - absolute values ​​of time and frequency, whenever the resource pool changes and needs to be reconfigured, or

[0134] -Relative values ​​in resource pools, and resources remain constant in resource pools when pools are moved, so that for example resizing or changing business requirements may necessitate reconfiguration.

[0135] Figure 8 FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of a resource reservation notification message that can be sent by a leader UE. Figure 8 In the illustrated embodiment, the message includes a "Group Resource Reservation". The group resource reservation includes a group-ID, a group-HV-UE-ID (i.e., information identifying the group leader), and resources reserved for multicast communication across time and frequency by specifying a sidelink subframe number "sl-SubframeRef-r15", and sensing resources for multicast, which include resourceIndex-15 that defines the resources across frequency (i.e., the sensed subcarriers), so that the combined sl-SubframeRef-r15 and sensingResult-r15 information defines the time-frequency information of the resources reserved for the group for internal multicast communication.

[0136] Return to Figure 6 According to the description, according to a further embodiment, according to an embodiment, the subset of resources selected by the leader UE at 504 may experience a validity period, which may be a time period based on a fixed time period, which may be configurable, or the validity period may be based on a counter identifying the number of times the leader UE announces the reserved resources at box 508. For example, the validity period may be implemented to avoid undesirable long-term blocking of the resources reserved by the leader UE at box 504, and / or to provide the possibility of selecting new resources, for example, in the case where the QoS requirements of the group change. For example, in the case where the group moves from an initial location to another location, it may be that the currently used resources are no longer suitable because they may conflict with the resources used in the new location, such as when entering a new area, so that new resources should be selected. Moreover, it may be that after a certain time, the requirements of the UEs change relative to the requested requirements, so that after a certain time, it is desired to determine the new requirements or actual requirements of the UEs in the group, and the number of UEs in the group may also have changed, so as to select appropriate new resources for multicast communication.

[0137] Therefore, in Figure 6 At 510 in the figure, when the validity period is about to end, for example, at a specific time before the actual end of the validity period, the leader UE can return to box 504 and obtain requirements from the member UEs of the group to select new resources and announce the new resources to the multicast UE, which will use the new resources once the validity period ends.

[0138] Fig. 9 An embodiment of a process for allocating new resources once the validity period of currently used resources is about to end is shown. Fig. 9 Indicates the time-frequency resources. Fig. 9 In FIG. 1 , ten time slots or subframes extending over four consecutive frequency bands or bandwidth portions are shown, each frequency band or bandwidth portion comprising a plurality of frequency subcarriers. Although consecutive time blocks and frequency blocks are shown, it should be noted that non-consecutive blocks may also be employed according to other embodiments. Fig. 9 In the example, some of the resources (a), (b) and (c) are unused or unallocated resources, and the remaining resources are allocated to the first UE group or the second UE group or the third UE group as indicated by Group 1, Group 2, and Group 3. Fig. 9 Also indicated is a corresponding announcement message 508 which, in the described embodiment, is periodically transmitted every two time frames to announce the currently reserved resources for multicast communications for Groups 1, 2 and 3. Fig. 9 In the embodiment of FIG. 1 , it is assumed that group 3 has a resource subset reserved or selected by the leader UE for group communication that is valid for a period of time t a At t a Before the expiration of the timeout period, the leader UE senses across the available resources and finds that the unallocated resources (a) are available. Once the leader UE determines that at time t The resource subset to be used later, at time t a The last notification 508 before will inform the member UE and other nearby UEs about the a The new resource subset that the group will use and the validity of the new subset. In a similar way, at time t b , the leader UE of group 1 also performs the above-mentioned process of sensing and determining the new resource subset, and then at time t b The relevant UEs are notified before.

[0139] According to the described embodiments, Fig. 9 The process shown ensures that no two groups end up being allocated the same set of resources, which is achieved through the sensing and advertising process described above.

[0140] In some of the above-mentioned embodiments, reference has been made to a corresponding vehicle in a mode in which SL resource allocation configuration or assistance is provided by a base station (e.g., a connected mode, also referred to as a mode 1 or mode 3 configuration), or a vehicle in a mode when the base station does not provide SL resource allocation configuration or assistance (e.g., an idle mode, also referred to as a mode 2 or mode 4 configuration). However, the present invention is not limited to V2V communication or V2X communication, but it may also be applied to any device-to-device communication, such as a non-vehicle mobile user or a fixed user performing sidelink communication via a PC5 interface. Similarly, in this case, the above-mentioned aspects of the invention may be adopted.

[0141] Depending on the embodiment, the wireless communication system may include a terrestrial network, or a non-terrestrial network, or a network or network segment using an aircraft or a space vehicle as a receiver, or a combination thereof.

[0142] According to an embodiment, the receiver may include one or more of a mobile or fixed terminal, an IoT device, a ground vehicle, an aircraft, a drone, a building, or any other item or device provided with network connectivity, which enables the item / device to communicate using a wireless communication system, such as a sensor or actuator. According to an embodiment, the transmitter may include a macrocell base station, or a small cell base station, or a space-borne vehicle (such as a satellite or space), or an air vehicle (such as an unmanned aerial vehicle system (UAS), for example, a tethered UAS, a lighter-than-air UAS (LTA), a heavier-than-air UAS (HTA), and a high-altitude UAS platform (HAP)), or one or more of any transmission / reception points (TRPs) that enable items or devices with network connectivity to communicate using a wireless communication system.

[0143] Although some aspects have been described in the context of devices, it is clear that these aspects also represent the description of the corresponding method, where the blocks or devices correspond to method steps or features of method steps. Similarly, the various aspects described in the context of method steps also represent the description of the corresponding blocks or items or features of the corresponding devices.

[0144] The various elements and features of the present invention may be implemented in hardware using analog and / or digital circuits, in software by executing instructions by one or more general or special purpose processors, or as a combination of hardware and software. For example, embodiments of the present invention may be implemented in the environment of a computer system or another processing system. Fig.10An example of a computer system 600 is shown. The units or modules and the steps of the methods performed by the units can be executed on one or more computer systems 600. The computer system 600 includes one or more processors 602, such as a dedicated or general-purpose digital signal processor. The processor 602 is connected to a communication infrastructure 604, such as a bus or a network. The computer system 600 includes a main memory 606 (e.g., a random access memory (RAM)) and an auxiliary memory 608 (e.g., a hard drive and / or a removable storage drive). The auxiliary memory 608 can allow computer programs or other instructions to be loaded into the computer system 600. The computer system 600 can also include a communication interface 610 to allow software and data to be transmitted between the computer system 600 and external devices. The communication can be in the form of electronic, electromagnetic, optical or other signals that can be processed by the communication interface. The communication can use wires or cables, optical fibers, telephone lines, cellular phone links, RF links and other communication channels 612.

[0145] The terms "computer program medium" and "computer readable medium" are generally used to refer to tangible storage media, such as a removable storage unit or a hard disk installed in a hard drive. These computer program products are a means for providing software to the computer system 600. Computer programs, also known as computer control logic, are stored in the main memory 606 and / or the secondary memory 608. The computer program may also be received via the communication interface 610. The computer program, when executed, enables the computer system 600 to implement the present invention. In particular, the computer program, when executed, enables the processor 602 to implement the process of the present invention, such as any method described herein. Therefore, such a computer program may represent a controller of the computer system 600. In the case of using software to implement the present disclosure, the software may be stored in a computer program product and loaded into the computer system 600 using an interface of a removable storage drive, such as the communication interface 610.

[0146] Hardware or software implementation can be performed using a digital storage medium (e.g., cloud storage, floppy disk, DVD, Blu-ray, CD, ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, or FLASH memory) having electronically readable control signals stored thereon, which cooperate (or can cooperate) with a programmable computer system to perform the corresponding method. Therefore, the digital storage medium can be computer readable.

[0147] Some embodiments according to the invention comprise a data carrier having electronically readable control signals, which are capable of cooperating with a programmable computer system, such that the system performs one of the methods described herein.

[0148] Generally, the embodiments of the present invention can be implemented as a computer program product with a program code, when the computer program product runs on a computer, the program code is used to perform one of the methods. The program code can be stored on a machine-readable carrier, for example.

[0149] Other embodiments comprise the computer program for performing one of the methods described herein, stored on a machine readable carrier. In other words, an embodiment of the inventive method is, therefore, a computer program having a program code for performing one of the methods described herein, when the computer program runs on a computer.

[0150] Therefore, another embodiment of the method of the present invention is a data carrier (or digital storage medium, or computer-readable medium) including a computer program recorded thereon for performing one of the methods described herein. Therefore, another embodiment of the method of the present invention is a data stream or signal sequence representing a computer program for performing one of the methods described herein. The data stream or the signal sequence can be configured, for example, to be transmitted via a data communication connection (e.g., via the Internet). Another embodiment includes processing means, such as a computer or programmable logic device configured or adapted to perform one of the methods described herein. Another embodiment includes a computer having installed thereon a computer program for performing one of the methods described herein.

[0151] In some embodiments, a programmable logic device (e.g., a field programmable gate array) may be used to perform some or all of the functions of the methods described herein. In some embodiments, a field programmable gate array may collaborate with a microprocessor to perform one of the methods described herein. Typically, these methods are preferably performed by any hardware device.

[0152] The above embodiments are merely illustrative of the principles of the present invention. It should be understood that modifications and variations of the arrangements and details described herein will be apparent to other persons skilled in the art. Therefore, it is intended that the scope of the patent claims that are forthcoming be limited only, rather than by the specific details presented by the description and explanation of the embodiments herein.

[0153] List of abbreviations and symbols

[0154]

Claims

1. A device for a wireless communication system, wherein the wireless communication system comprises one or more base stations and a plurality of user equipments UE, the device comprising: One or more antennas or an antenna array having multiple antennas; and transceivers, wherein the apparatus is configured to connect to one or more UEs via a sidelink for sidelink communication with the one or more UEs, the apparatus and the one or more UEs forming a UE group and using a set of group resources to be used for sidelink communication within the UE group; wherein in the case where a base station does not provide resource allocation configuration or assistance, the apparatus is configured to select resources from a set of resources provided by the wireless communication system in order to change or completely change the set of resources to be used for sidelink communication within the group of UEs; wherein in order to select resources from the set of resources to be used for sidelink communication within the UE group, the apparatus is configured to perform a sensing process, and / or listen for announcements indicating resources used by other UEs; wherein the one or more UEs forming the UE group with the apparatus do not sense or select resources for sidelink communication within the UE group, but only receive information about the resources for sidelink communication within the UE group from the apparatus; and The apparatus is configured to notify all group UEs of the information about the resources used for sidelink communication within the UE group.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein: In a case where the base station does not provide resource allocation configuration or assistance, the apparatus is configured to: determining the amount of resources required by the UE group, and Resources are selected from the set of resources to be used for sidelink communications within the group of UEs.

3. The device according to claim 2, wherein: In order to determine the amount of resources required by the UE group, the apparatus is configured to: receiving one or more requirements from one or more of the UEs in the group of UEs for resources to be used for sidelink communications within the group of UEs, and determining an amount of resources required by the group of UEs based on the received one or more requirements, and / or obtaining from the application the amount of resources required by the UE group, and / or An amount of resources required by the UE group is estimated.

4. The device according to claim 1, wherein: The apparatus is configured to sense / select the set of resource sets exclusively from the set of resources.

5. The device according to claim 1, wherein: The apparatus is configured to establish corresponding links within the UE group using: - Sidelink protocol, or -RRC protocol on the sidelink.

6. The device according to claim 5, wherein: When using the RRC protocol on the sidelink, the apparatus is configured to: - send control messages to one or more UEs in a configurable manner, and / or - receiving resource requirements from the UE using RRC signalling, and / or - Dynamically and semi-statically select and allocate resources to the UE.

7. The device according to claim 1, wherein: In order to notify all group UEs of the sensed or selected resources, the device is configured to send message broadcast information, wherein the message broadcast information identifies the sensed / selected group resource set to be used for sidelink communication within the UE group, and the message is sent on the group resources or other resources from the resource set provided by the wireless communication system.

8. The device according to claim 1, wherein: The apparatus is configured to notify all group UEs of the sensed or selected resources in one or more of the following ways: - in the form of a field within an SCI transmitted by the device to the UEs of the group, - via a sidelink paging signal to all nearby UEs, -Use ProSe direct discovery mechanism.

9. The device according to claim 1, wherein: The apparatus is configured to notify all group UEs of the sensed or selected / reserved resources: - informing all UEs of the group of the set of resources of the group to be used for sidelink communication within the group, and - Informing one or more other UE groups that the selected set of group resources is currently used by the UE group.

10. The device according to claim 1, wherein: The content of the announcement contains time-frequency information of the sensed / selected group resource set, which defines a resource pool, a small resource pool, a bandwidth part BWP in a resource pool, or a resource pool in a BWP.

11. The device according to claim 10, wherein: The apparatus is configured to repeatedly announce the sensed or selected resources to all group UEs.

12. The device according to claim 1, wherein: The apparatus is configured to notify all group UEs of the sensed or selected / reserved resources in an event-triggered manner.

13. A wireless communication system, comprising: one or more base stations, and One or more devices according to claim 1.

14. The wireless communication system according to claim 13, wherein: The device is a leader UE of a group formed by the device and one or more UEs, and Wherein, when the base station does not provide resource allocation configuration or assistance, the one or more UEs are configured as follows: sending a request to the leader UE for resources to be used by the apparatus for sidelink communications within a group of UEs, and A group resource set is received from the leader UE, which is sensed / selected exclusively by the leader UE from a resource set, the group resource set to be used for sidelink communication within the UE group.

15. A method for operating an apparatus of a wireless communication system, the wireless communication system having one or more base stations and a plurality of user equipments UE, the apparatus being connected to the one or more UEs via a sidelink for sidelink communication with the one or more UEs, the apparatus and the one or more UEs forming a UE group and using a group resource set to be used for sidelink communication within the UE group, the method comprising: In the case where a base station does not provide resource allocation configuration or assistance, selecting, by the apparatus, resources from a set of resources provided by the wireless communication system so as to change or completely change the set of resources to be used for sidelink communication within the group of UEs; wherein, in order to select resources from the set of resources to be used for sidelink communication within the UE group, the apparatus performs a sensing process, and / or listens for announcements indicating resources used by other UEs; wherein the one or more UEs forming the UE group with the apparatus do not sense or select resources for sidelink communication within the UE group, but only receive information about the resources for sidelink communication within the UE group from the apparatus; and The device notifies all group UEs of the information about the resources used for sidelink communication within the UE group.

16. A non-transitory computer program product comprising a computer readable medium storing instructions which, when executed on a computer, perform the method according to claim 15.

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