A direct communication method and apparatus

Abstract

This disclosure proposes a direct communication method and apparatus, relating to the field of communications. In this method, the UE obtains first configuration information of the direct SL synchronization resources of a first Radio Access Technology (RAT) on a first carrier and second configuration information of the SL synchronization resources of a second RAT; based on the first and second configuration information, it determines the logical time unit of the second RAT. This disclosure addresses the coexistence of two RATs operating on the same carrier frequency by considering both RATs in determining the logical time unit, providing a basis for user equipment to use direct links for communication services and avoiding potential communication interference when two RATs coexist.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to the field of mobile communication technology, and in particular to a direct communication method and apparatus. Background Technology

[0002] With the continuous evolution of communication technologies, more and more users own mobile devices or Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Mobile network communication technologies such as Sidelink (SL) provide technical support for the interconnection of things in many application scenarios. At the same time, the continuous emergence of new-generation Internet applications has placed higher demands on wireless communication technologies. In the current application of SL technology, the determination of logical time units only considers one radio access technology (RAT), and the problem of determining logical time units when two RATs coexist on the same carrier has not yet been solved. Summary of the Invention

[0003] This disclosure proposes a direct communication method and apparatus, providing a scheme for a terminal user equipment (UE) to determine the logical time unit by simultaneously considering the configuration information of two RATs when two RATs coexist, thus providing a basis for the UE to use the direct link for communication services and avoiding possible communication interference when two RATs coexist.

[0004] A first aspect of this disclosure provides a direct communication method executed by a terminal user equipment (UE). The method includes: obtaining first configuration information of direct SL synchronization resources of a first radio access technology (RAT) on a first carrier and second configuration information of SL synchronization resources of a second RAT; and determining a logical time unit of the second RAT based on the first configuration information and the second configuration information.

[0005] In some embodiments of this disclosure, the first RAT is Long Term Evolution (LTE) and the second RAT is New Radio (NR).

[0006] In some embodiments of this disclosure, obtaining the first configuration information of the direct SL synchronization resources of the first radio access technology (RAT) on the first carrier and the second configuration information of the SL synchronization resources of the second RAT includes: reading the pre-configuration data of the UE to obtain the first configuration information and the second configuration information; or receiving downlink control information sent by the network device to obtain the first configuration information and the second configuration information.

[0007] In some embodiments of this disclosure, the method further includes: determining the time unit in which the SL synchronization resource of the second RAT is located.

[0008] In some embodiments of this disclosure, determining the time unit in which the synchronization resource of the second RAT is located includes: determining the second time unit of the second RAT that coincides in the time domain with the first time unit in which the SL synchronization resource of the first RAT is located as the time unit in which the SL synchronization resource of the second RAT is located.

[0009] In some embodiments of this disclosure, determining the time unit in which the synchronization resource of the second RAT is located includes: determining a first time unit reserved by the first RAT for which SL communication is not performed, based on the first configuration information; and determining a second time unit of the second RAT that coincides with the first time unit in the time domain as the time unit in which the SL synchronization resource of the second RAT is located.

[0010] In some embodiments of this disclosure, determining the logical time unit of the second RAT based on the first configuration information and the second configuration information includes: determining the logical time unit of the second RAT from the physical time units in which the time unit in which the SL synchronization resource of the second RAT is located is removed, based on the first configuration information and the second configuration information.

[0011] In some embodiments of this disclosure, determining the logical time unit of the second RAT based on the first configuration information and the second configuration information includes: determining the logical time unit of the second RAT from the physical time units of the time units in which the SL synchronization resources of the second RAT are located and the time units in which the SL synchronization resources of the first RAT are located, based on the first configuration information and the second configuration information.

[0012] A second aspect of this disclosure provides a direct communication device, the device including an acquisition module for acquiring first configuration information of direct SL synchronization resources of a first radio access technology (RAT) on a first carrier and second configuration information of SL synchronization resources of a second RAT; and a determination module for determining a logical time unit of the second RAT based on the first configuration information and the second configuration information.

[0013] A third aspect of this disclosure provides a communication device, comprising: a transceiver; a memory; and a processor connected to the transceiver and the memory, respectively, configured to control the transmission and reception of wireless signals of the transceiver by executing computer-executable instructions on the memory, and capable of implementing the method described in the first aspect of this disclosure.

[0014] A fourth aspect of this disclosure provides a computer storage medium storing computer-executable instructions; when executed by a processor, the computer-executable instructions can implement the method described in the first aspect of this disclosure.

[0015] In summary, according to the direct communication method and apparatus proposed in this disclosure, the UE can obtain first configuration information of the direct SL synchronization resources of the first Radio Access Technology (RAT) on the first carrier and second configuration information of the SL synchronization resources of the second RAT; and determine the logical time unit of the second RAT based on the first configuration information and the second configuration information. This disclosure addresses the coexistence of two RATs operating on the same carrier frequency. When two RATs coexist, the UE simultaneously considers the configuration information of both RATs to determine the logical time unit, providing a basis for user equipment to use direct links for communication services and avoiding communication interference that may occur when two RATs coexist.

[0016] Additional aspects and advantages of this disclosure will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of this disclosure. Attached Figure Description

[0017] The above and / or additional aspects and advantages of this disclosure will become apparent and readily understood from the following description of the embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0018] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram illustrating a method for determining a logical time unit according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0019] Figure 2 This is a flowchart illustrating a direct communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0020] Figure 3 This is a flowchart illustrating a direct communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0021] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of a method for determining a synchronization time unit according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0022] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram illustrating a method for determining a logical time unit according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0023] Figure 6 This is a block diagram of a direct communication device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0024] Figure 7 This is a block diagram of a direct communication device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0025] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0026] Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a chip provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure. Detailed Implementation

[0027] Embodiments of this disclosure are described in detail below. Examples of these embodiments are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein the same or similar reference numerals denote the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar functions throughout. The embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are exemplary and intended to explain this disclosure, and should not be construed as limiting this disclosure.

[0028] With the rapid development of mobile communication technology, the Internet of Things (IoT) has become an inevitable trend in the future development of communication networks. Performance-friendly direct communication technologies have emerged based on the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standards. The continuous emergence of new-generation Internet applications (such as vehicle-to-everything (V2X)) has placed higher demands on wireless communication technologies, driving their continuous evolution to meet application needs.

[0029] To better support vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, LTE V2X was developed in Long Term Evolution (LTE) Release 14 during the transition from Third Generation (3G) to Fourth Generation (4G) mobile communication technologies. This enabled communication between V2X devices (such as vehicles-to-vehicle, vehicle-to-pedestrian, and vehicle-to-roadside nodes) via a direct link (Sidelink, SL). Release 15 further enhanced LTE V2X, supporting features such as carrier aggregation. Following Release 15 of 5G New Radio (NR) technology in Fifth Generation (5G), 3GPP initiated work on supporting V2X communication using the NR interface, completing 5G SL in Release 16, enabling direct communication between V2X devices via NR technology. Due to the different physical layer designs of LTE and NR, LTE V2X and NR V2X devices cannot communicate directly.

[0030] Furthermore, given the relatively long vehicle replacement cycle, the coexistence of LTE V2X-enabled and NR V2X-enabled vehicle-to-everything (V2X) devices needs to be considered. Release 16 only considered the scenario where LTE V2X and NR V2X operate on different carrier frequencies. The recent 3GPP Release 18 discussion addressed the coexistence of LTE V2X and NR V2X operating on the same carrier frequency, proposing the ability for both V2X technologies to dynamically share time-frequency resources on the same carrier frequency. Since LTE V2X is the first-mover system, the focus should be on improving NR V2X to support shared spectrum resources.

[0031] In related technologies, both NR and LTE require the configuration of SL synchronization time-frequency resources to support the transmission and reception of SL synchronization signals. The SL resource pools used for SL communication in NR and LTE are defined on their respective logical time units. In LTE, this is a logical subframe, and in NR, it is a logical slot. Therefore, it is necessary to determine the logical time unit.

[0032] However, in one application scenario, when a UE supports two RATs—for example, a UE supporting both LTE SL and NR SL technologies—the logical time units of the two RATs will differ during direct communication between UEs. This includes communication via LTE with other UEs supporting LTE SL, and via NR with other UEs supporting NR SL. If each RAT only removes its own SL synchronization signal or broadcast channel time unit, the resulting logical time units of the two RATs will differ. For example, an LTE SL synchronization time unit might belong to an NR SL logical time unit, and vice versa. Since the SL resource pool is defined at the logical unit level, this could result in the LTE SL resource pool containing NR synchronization time units, or vice versa, causing unnecessary interference. Therefore, it is necessary to consider both RATs simultaneously when determining the logical time units to avoid communication performance degradation caused by potential conflicts between the two RATs in different application scenarios.

[0033] To this end, this disclosure proposes a direct communication method and apparatus, providing a scheme for a terminal user equipment (UE) to determine the logical time unit by simultaneously considering the configuration information of two RATs when two RATs coexist, thus providing a basis for UEs to use direct links for communication services and avoiding communication interference that may occur when two RATs coexist.

[0034] The direct communication method and apparatus provided in this application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0035] Before introducing the detailed implementation scheme of this disclosure, a method for determining logical time units in scenarios using direct communication technology is described. For example... Figure 1 As shown, Figure 1 A schematic diagram illustrating how logical time units are determined in direct communication is shown.

[0036] A logical time unit is the remaining time unit after removing the time units used by each RAT for transmitting SL synchronization signals and broadcast channels, the time units with insufficient time and frequency resources for SL, and the reserved time units. In other words, for any RAT, after removing the time units used for transmitting SL synchronization signals and broadcast channels, the time units with insufficient time and frequency resources for SL, and the reserved time units from all physical time units, the remaining physical time units are used as logical time units for transmitting communication information.

[0037] In this context, time units where SL time-frequency resources are insufficient can be, for example, time units used for downlink transmission. Furthermore, in Time Division Duplex (TDD) networks, OFDM symbols in time slots can be divided into downlink, flexible, or uplink, and time units where uplink time-frequency resources are insufficient to support SL communication will also be removed.

[0038] When two types of Resource Allocation (RATs) coexist on the same carrier, if each RAT only removes its own SL synchronization signal or broadcast channel time unit, the resulting logical time units of the two RATs will differ. For example, the synchronization time unit of the LTE SL may belong to the logical time unit of the NR SL, and vice versa. Since the SL resource pool is defined at the logical unit level, this may result in the LTE SL resource pool containing NR synchronization time units, or the NR SL resource pool containing LTE synchronization time units, causing unnecessary interference.

[0039] To solve the above problems, the following is a summary in conjunction with the appendix. Figure 2-5 This describes how the UE determines the logical time unit when two RATs coexist on the same carrier.

[0040] Figure 2 A flowchart illustrating a direct communication method is shown, which can be executed by a user equipment (UE). In this disclosure, the user equipment (UE) includes, but is not limited to, smart terminal devices, cellular phones, wireless devices, handheld devices, mobile units, vehicles, and in-vehicle equipment.

[0041] In the embodiments of this disclosure, the solutions provided in this disclosure can be used for fifth-generation mobile communication technology (5G) and its subsequent communication technologies, such as fifth-generation mobile communication technology evolution (5G-advanced), sixth-generation mobile communication technology (6G), etc., and are not limited in this disclosure.

[0042] like Figure 2 As shown, the method may include the following steps.

[0043] S201, obtain the first configuration information of the direct SL synchronization resources of the first radio access technology (RAT) on the first carrier and the second configuration information of the SL synchronization resources of the second RAT.

[0044] In embodiments of this disclosure, the configuration information may be the resource pool configuration information of the UE. Specifically, the configuration information includes first configuration information of the first sidelink (SL) synchronization resource of the first radio access technology (RAT) on the first carrier, and second configuration information of the second SL synchronization resource of the second RAT.

[0045] In embodiments of this disclosure, the first RAT can be Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology, and the first SL synchronization resource of the first RAT can be LTE SL synchronization resource. The second RAT can be New Radio (NR) technology, and the second SL synchronization resource of the second RAT can be NRSL synchronization resource.

[0046] Understandably, for LTE, only the location of the synchronization time unit needs to be configured, and the first configuration information can include the LTE SL synchronization time unit location. For example, the UE can determine the time domain location of the LTE SL synchronization resources through (pre)configuration or configuration information obtained by receiving downlink control information from the base station. For NR, the second configuration information can include the time domain location of the synchronization time unit and the number of time units in each cycle. For example, when the UE supports both LTE SL and NR SL, the UE can obtain the time domain location of the LTE SL synchronization resources through the LTE RAT and inform the NR RAT of this information.

[0047] The key scenario discussed in the embodiments of this disclosure is that LTE SL and NR SL coexist on the same carrier.

[0048] It should be understood that the UE can configure its resource pool based on configuration information. The resource pool configuration described in this disclosure refers to the configuration of the second SL resource pool, i.e., the NR SL resource pool. Furthermore, this disclosure does not restrict whether the UE is a receiving UE or a transmitting UE. It should be understood that for direct communication between UEs, the UE configuration is aligned between the receiving UE and the transmitting UE.

[0049] Furthermore, the UE may obtain the first configuration information or the second configuration information from its pre-configuration, for example, by reading pre-configuration data stored in the UE chip. Alternatively, in some embodiments of this disclosure, the UE may obtain the first configuration information or the second configuration information by receiving downlink control information sent by the network device and obtaining configuration data from the downlink control information. This disclosure does not limit the method by which the UE obtains configuration information.

[0050] In 5G application scenarios, the network devices mentioned above can be 5G Radio Access Network (NG-RAN) nodes, such as gNB or ng-eNB. gNB can be used for standalone networking, while ng-eNB can be used for backward compatibility with 4G networks to adapt to the application requirements of different core networks. The specific use cases depend on the application scenario and are not limited here.

[0051] S202, determine the logical time unit of the second RAT based on the first configuration information and the second configuration information.

[0052] Understandably, in related technologies, a logical time unit is the remaining time unit after removing the time units used by each RAT for transmitting SL synchronization signals and broadcast channels, the time units with insufficient time-frequency resources for SL, and the reserved time units. In other words, for any RAT, after removing the time units used for transmitting SL synchronization signals and broadcast channels, the time units with insufficient time-frequency resources for SL, and the reserved time units from all physical time units, the remaining physical time units are used as logical time units for transmitting communication information.

[0053] For example, the logical time unit of LTE is the time unit remaining after removing the time unit used by LTE to transmit SL synchronization signals and broadcast channels, the time unit when SL time and frequency resources are insufficient, and the reserved time unit; the logical time unit of NR is the time unit remaining after removing the time unit used by NR to transmit SL synchronization signals and broadcast channels, the time unit when SL time and frequency resources are insufficient, and the reserved time unit. In other words, each RAT determines its own logical time unit.

[0054] However, when a UE simultaneously supports both LTE SL and NR SL, and both RATs coexist on the same carrier, if each RAT only removes its own SL synchronization signal or broadcast channel time unit, the resulting logical time units of the two RATs will differ. For example, the synchronization time unit of LTE SL might belong to the logical time unit of NR SL, and vice versa. Since the SL resource pool is defined at the logical unit level, this could result in the LTE SL resource pool containing NR synchronization time units, or the NR SL resource pool containing LTE synchronization time units, causing unnecessary interference.

[0055] Therefore, in the embodiments of this disclosure, two RAT configurations are considered to determine the logical time unit of NR.

[0056] In other words, in the embodiments of this disclosure, the UE determines the logical time unit of NR based on the first configuration information of LTE and the second configuration information of NR, which takes into account two configuration scenarios of RAT compared to the prior art.

[0057] It should be understood that the time units described in the embodiments of this disclosure may include slots, subframes, frames, subslots, OFDM symbols, etc., and are not limited thereto in this disclosure.

[0058] In summary, according to the direct communication method provided in this disclosure, the UE can obtain first configuration information of the direct SL synchronization resources of the first Radio Access Technology (RAT) on the first carrier and second configuration information of the SL synchronization resources of the second RAT; and determine the logical time unit of the second RAT based on the first configuration information and the second configuration information. This disclosure addresses the coexistence of two RATs operating on the same carrier frequency. When two RATs coexist, the UE simultaneously considers the configuration information of both RATs to determine the logical time unit, providing a basis for user equipment to use direct links for communication services and avoiding communication interference that may occur when two RATs coexist.

[0059] based on Figure 2 The embodiment shown, Figure 3 A flowchart illustrating a direct communication method according to an embodiment of this disclosure is shown. This method can be executed by a UE. Figure 3 As shown, the method may include the following steps:

[0060] S301, obtain the first configuration information of the direct SL synchronization resources of the first radio access technology (RAT) on the first carrier and the second configuration information of the SL synchronization resources of the second RAT.

[0061] In embodiments of this disclosure, the configuration information may be the resource pool configuration information of the UE. Specifically, the configuration information includes first configuration information of the first sidelink (SL) synchronization resource of the first radio access technology (RAT) on the first carrier, and second configuration information of the second SL synchronization resource of the second RAT.

[0062] In the embodiments of this disclosure, the first RAT can be Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology, and the first SL synchronization resource of the first RAT can be LTE SL synchronization resource. The second RAT can be New Radio (NR) technology, and the second SL synchronization resource of the second RAT can be NR SL synchronization resource.

[0063] The key scenario discussed in the embodiments of this disclosure is that LTE SL and NR SL coexist on the same carrier.

[0064] Furthermore, the UE may obtain the first configuration information or the second configuration information from its pre-configuration, for example, by reading pre-configuration data stored in the UE chip. Alternatively, in some embodiments of this disclosure, the UE may obtain the first configuration information or the second configuration information by receiving downlink control information sent by the network device and obtaining configuration data from the downlink control information. This disclosure does not limit the method by which the UE obtains configuration information.

[0065] Step S301 in this embodiment is the same in principle as step S201 in the above embodiment. Other corresponding explanations can be referred to S201, and will not be repeated here.

[0066] S302, determine the time unit where the SL synchronization resource of the second RAT is located.

[0067] In the embodiments of this disclosure, the main problem it addresses is that when LTE SL and NR SL coexist on the same carrier, the determination of the logical time unit takes into account both RATs simultaneously, avoiding unnecessary interference caused by the LTE SL resource pool including NR synchronization time units or the NR SL resource pool including LTE synchronization time units due to each RAT determining its own logical time unit.

[0068] Since the SL resource pool is defined at the logical unit level, determining the logical time unit requires removing the time unit where the synchronization resource is located. Therefore, this embodiment focuses on the method for determining the time unit where the NR SL synchronization resource is located.

[0069] In one optional embodiment of this disclosure, determining the time unit where the synchronization resource of the second RAT is located includes: determining the second time unit of the second RAT that coincides in the time domain with the first time unit where the SL synchronization resource of the first RAT is located as the time unit where the SL synchronization resource of the second RAT is located.

[0070] In other words, the time unit of the second RAT synchronization resource coincides with the time unit of the first RAT synchronization resource in the time domain.

[0071] Specifically, this can be achieved through frequency-division multiplexing (FDM) of the synchronization resources of NRSL and LTESL.

[0072] Based on the above description, as an example, such as Figure 4 As shown, Figure 4 An example of a method for determining the time unit of NR SL synchronization resources is shown. For instance, when the sub-carrier space (SCS) of the NR SL is 15 kHz, the time length of a time unit (slot) in the NR SL is equal to the time length of a time unit (subframe) in the LTE SL. Assuming that subframe n in the LTE SL is configured as the time unit for transmitting LTE SL synchronization signals / broadcast channels, for NR SLs coexisting on the same carrier, slot m, which coincides with subframe n in the time domain, can be configured as the time unit for transmitting NR SL synchronization signals / broadcast channels. Since the period of a set of synchronization resources in the NR SL and LTE SL is equal (160 ms), a set of synchronization resources for the two RATs can be completely configured on time-frequency resources that coincide in the time domain. Therefore, when determining the NR logical time unit, the time unit used for transmitting synchronization signals or broadcast channels can be removed, avoiding the situation where the logical time units of the two RATs are different.

[0073] For example, when the sub-carrier space (SCS) of NR SL is 30kHz, the time length of one time unit (slot) in NR SL is twice the time length of one time unit (subframe) in LTE SL. That is, the length of one LTE subframe is equal to the length of two NR slots. Assuming that subframe n in LTE SL is configured as the time unit for transmitting LTE SL synchronization signals / broadcast channels, for NR SLs coexisting on the same carrier, two slots m that overlap with subframe n in the time domain can be configured as the time units for transmitting NR SL synchronization signals / broadcast channels. The synchronization resources of the two RATs can be fully configured on time-frequency resources that overlap in the time domain. By configuring one set of LTE synchronization resources and two sets of NR synchronization resources on the time units that overlap in the time domain, the time units used for transmitting synchronization signals or broadcast channels can be removed when determining the NR logical time units, avoiding the situation where the logical time units of the two RATs are different.

[0074] The frequency domain location of LTE SL synchronization resources within a subframe is non-adjustable; it resides on six Physical Resource Blocks (PRBs) centered on the carrier's center frequency. In contrast, the frequency domain location of NR SL synchronization resources can be configured (or pre-configured). Therefore, the frequency domain location of NR SL synchronization resources can be configured to a position that does not overlap with that of LTE SL synchronization resources.

[0075] It should be understood that in this embodiment, the other types of time units (such as reserved time units or insufficient time units) that need to be removed when determining the logical time unit remain unchanged and can be the same as in the prior art, and will not be described in detail here.

[0076] In another optional embodiment of this disclosure, determining the time unit in which the synchronization resource of the second RAT is located includes: determining a first time unit reserved by the first RAT for which SL communication is not performed, based on the first configuration information; and determining a second time unit of the second RAT that coincides with the first time unit in the time domain as the time unit in which the SL synchronization resource of the second RAT is located.

[0077] Specifically, such as Figure 1As described, since the determination of logical time units requires removing synchronization time units, reserved time units, and insufficient time units from physical time units to obtain logical time units, when configuring NR time units for transmitting synchronization resources, the NR time units for transmitting synchronization resources can also be configured on time slots that overlap in the time domain of subframes reserved by LTE that are not used for transmitting SL resources.

[0078] In other words, the time unit in which the second RAT synchronization resource is located and the time unit reserved by the second RAT for not performing SL communication coincide in the time domain.

[0079] The time units reserved for LTE that are not used for SL communication can be related to the location of the synchronization time unit. For example, they can be calculated using a formula based on the location of the synchronization time unit in the first configuration information of LTE.

[0080] Therefore, in this embodiment, the NR synchronization resources are set on the subframes reserved for LTE, so that the NR synchronization resources will not overlap with the LTE logical subframes in the time domain.

[0081] S303, determine the logical time unit of the second RAT based on the first configuration information and the second configuration information.

[0082] Specifically, in one optional embodiment of this disclosure, the second RAT logical time unit can be determined from the physical time unit of the time unit in which the SL synchronization resource of the second RAT is located, based on the first configuration information and the second configuration information.

[0083] In this embodiment, based on the time unit (synchronization time unit) where the SL synchronization resources of NR are located, determined in step S302, these synchronization time units are removed from the physical time units, and NR logical time units are determined from the remaining time units. The NR synchronization time unit can be, as described in the above embodiment, an NR time unit (time slot) that coincides in the time domain with the time unit (subframe) where the SL synchronization resources of LTE are located, or an NR time unit (time slot) that coincides in the time domain with a time unit (subframe) reserved by LTE for which SL communication is not performed.

[0084] In short, within the physical time unit after removing the NR synchronization time unit, other elements such as... Figure 1 The time units that should be removed as described in the illustrated embodiment are used to determine the remaining time units as logical time units.

[0085] In another optional embodiment of this disclosure, determining the logical time unit of the second RAT based on the first configuration information and the second configuration information may further include: determining the logical time unit of the second RAT from the physical time units of the time units in which the SL synchronization resources of the second RAT are located and the time units in which the SL synchronization resources of the first RAT are located, based on the first configuration information and the second configuration information.

[0086] like Figure 5 As shown, Figure 5 Another scheme for determining logical time units is shown. When determining NR logical time units, the time units (LTE synchronization subframes) where the LTE SL synchronization resources are located and the time units (NR synchronization slots) where the NR SL synchronization resources are located can be removed. In the remaining physical time units, for example, other... Figure 1 The time units that should be removed as described in the illustrated embodiment are used to determine the remaining time units as logical time units.

[0087] In summary, according to the direct communication method provided in this disclosure, the UE can obtain first configuration information of the direct SL synchronization resources of the first Radio Access Technology (RAT) on the first carrier and second configuration information of the SL synchronization resources of the second RAT. It first determines the synchronization time unit, and then determines the logical time unit of the second RAT based on the first and second configuration information. This disclosure addresses the coexistence of two RATs operating on the same carrier frequency. When two RATs coexist, the UE considers the configuration information of both RATs simultaneously to determine the logical time unit, providing a foundation for user equipment to use direct links for communication services and avoiding communication interference that may occur when two RATs coexist. This embodiment provides an optional method for determining the synchronization time unit, expanding the boundaries of determining the logical time unit when two RATs coexist, and avoiding communication interference that may occur when two RATs coexist with a more flexible configuration method.

[0088] It should be understood that the purpose of the solution provided in the above embodiments of this disclosure is to remove time slots that overlap in the time domain with the subframe where the synchronization resources of LTE SL are located when NR SL and LTE SL share the same carrier, in order to determine the logical time unit of NR SL. This can prevent the NR SL resource pool configured on the logical time slot of NR SL from synchronizing with the synchronization signal of LTE SL.

[0089] In addition, the above Figures 1 to 5In the described embodiments, "determining a logical time unit" can specifically refer to determining the index of the logical time unit, and the above-described "removing XXX time unit from the physical time unit" can specifically refer to removing the index of the time unit. This disclosure will not elaborate on this, and its specific implementation can be referred to relevant standards.

[0090] Therefore, when NR SL and LTE SL coexist on a single carrier, the embodiments of this disclosure solve the problem that the resource pool of LTE SL may contain NR synchronization time units, or the resource pool of NR SL may contain LTE synchronization time units, by frequency division multiplexing the synchronization resources of the two RATs, or by removing time slots that overlap with LTE SL synchronization resources when NR determines the logical time slot of NR SL, thus avoiding unnecessary interference during SL communication.

[0091] The methods provided in the embodiments of this application above are described from the perspective of a user equipment. To implement the functions of the methods provided in the embodiments of this application above, the user equipment may include hardware structures and software modules, and may implement the above functions in the form of hardware structures, software modules, or a combination of hardware structures and software modules. One of the above functions may be executed in the form of hardware structures, software modules, or a combination of hardware structures and software modules.

[0092] Corresponding to the direct communication methods provided in the above embodiments, this disclosure also provides a direct communication device. Since the direct communication device provided in this disclosure corresponds to the direct communication methods provided in the above embodiments, the implementation methods of the direct communication methods are also applicable to the direct communication device provided in this embodiment, and will not be described in detail in this embodiment.

[0093] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of a direct communication device 600 provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure. The direct communication device 600 can be used in a terminal user equipment (UE).

[0094] like Figure 6 As shown, the device 600 may include an acquisition module 610 and a determination module 620. The acquisition module 610 is used to acquire first configuration information of the direct SL synchronization resources of a first radio access technology (RAT) on a first carrier and second configuration information of the SL synchronization resources of a second RAT; the determination module 620 is used to determine the logical time unit of the second RAT based on the first configuration information and the second configuration information.

[0095] According to the direct communication device provided in this disclosure, the UE can obtain first configuration information of the direct SL synchronization resources of the first Radio Access Technology (RAT) on the first carrier and second configuration information of the SL synchronization resources of the second RAT; and determine the logical time unit of the second RAT based on the first configuration information and the second configuration information. This disclosure addresses the coexistence of two RATs operating on the same carrier frequency. When two RATs coexist, the UE simultaneously considers the configuration information of both RATs to determine the logical time unit, providing a basis for user equipment to use direct links for communication services and avoiding communication interference that may occur when two RATs coexist.

[0096] In some embodiments of this disclosure, the first RAT is Long Term Evolution (LTE) and the second RAT is New Radio (NR).

[0097] In some embodiments of this disclosure, based on Figure 6 The illustrated embodiments, such as Figure 7 As shown, the device 600 may further include a transceiver module 630, wherein the acquisition module 610 can obtain the first configuration information and the second configuration information by reading the pre-configuration data of the UE; or the transceiver module 640 is used to receive downlink control information sent by the network device, and the acquisition module 610 can obtain the first configuration information and the second configuration information based on the received downlink control information.

[0098] In some embodiments of this disclosure, the determining module 620 is further configured to: determine the time unit in which the SL synchronization resource of the second RAT is located.

[0099] In some embodiments of this disclosure, the determining module 620 is further configured to: determine the second time unit of the second RAT that coincides in the time domain with the first time unit where the SL synchronization resource of the first RAT is located as the time unit where the SL synchronization resource of the second RAT is located.

[0100] In some embodiments of this disclosure, the determining module 620 is further configured to: determine, based on the first configuration information, a first time unit reserved by the first RAT for which SL communication is not performed; and determine the second time unit of the second RAT that coincides with the first time unit in the time domain as the time unit in which the SL synchronization resource of the second RAT is located.

[0101] In some embodiments of this disclosure, the determining module 620 is further configured to: determine the second RAT logical time unit from the physical time unit in which the time unit in which the SL synchronization resource of the second RAT is located, based on the first configuration information and the second configuration information.

[0102] In some embodiments of this disclosure, the determining module 620 is further configured to: determine the logical time unit of the second RAT from the time unit in which the SL synchronization resource of the second RAT is located and the physical time unit in which the SL synchronization resource of the first RAT is located, based on the first configuration information and the second configuration information.

[0103] Therefore, according to the direct communication device provided in this disclosure, the UE can obtain first configuration information of the direct SL synchronization resources of the first Radio Access Technology (RAT) on the first carrier and second configuration information of the SL synchronization resources of the second RAT, first determine the synchronization time unit, and then determine the logical time unit of the second RAT based on the first configuration information and the second configuration information. This disclosure addresses the coexistence of two RATs operating on the same carrier frequency. When two RATs coexist, the UE considers the configuration information of both RATs simultaneously to determine the logical time unit, providing a basis for user equipment to use the direct link for communication services and avoiding communication interference that may occur when two RATs coexist. This embodiment provides an optional method for determining the synchronization time unit, expanding the boundary for determining the logical time unit when two RATs coexist, and avoiding communication interference that may occur when two RATs coexist with a more flexible configuration method.

[0104] Please see Figure 8 , Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device 800 provided in an embodiment of this application. The communication device 800 can be a network device, a user device, a chip, chip system, or processor that supports the network device in implementing the above methods, or a chip, chip system, or processor that supports the user device in implementing the above methods. This device can be used to implement the methods described in the above method embodiments; for details, please refer to the descriptions in the above method embodiments.

[0105] The communication device 800 may include one or more processors 801. The processor 801 may be a general-purpose processor or a dedicated processor, such as a baseband processor or a central processing unit (CPU). The baseband processor can be used to process communication protocols and communication data, while the CPU can be used to control the communication device (e.g., base station, baseband chip, terminal equipment, terminal equipment chip, DU or CU, etc.), execute computer programs, and process data from the computer programs.

[0106] Optionally, the communication device 800 may further include one or more memories 802, which may store a computer program 804. The processor 801 executes the computer program 804 to cause the communication device 800 to perform the methods described in the above method embodiments. Optionally, the memory 802 may also store data. The communication device 800 and the memory 802 may be provided separately or integrated together.

[0107] Optionally, the communication device 800 may also include a transceiver 805 and an antenna 806. The transceiver 805 may be referred to as a transceiver unit, transceiver, or transceiver circuit, etc., and is used to implement the transmission and reception functions. The transceiver 805 may include a receiver and a transmitter. The receiver may be referred to as a receiver or receiving circuit, etc., and is used to implement the receiving function; the transmitter may be referred to as a transmitter or transmitting circuit, etc., and is used to implement the transmitting function.

[0108] Optionally, the communication device 800 may further include one or more interface circuits 807. The interface circuits 807 are used to receive code instructions and transmit them to the processor 801. The processor 801 executes the code instructions to cause the communication device 800 to perform the methods described in the above method embodiments.

[0109] In one implementation, the processor 801 may include a transceiver for implementing receive and transmit functions. For example, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit, an interface, or an interface circuit. The transceiver circuit, interface, or interface circuit for implementing receive and transmit functions may be separate or integrated. The aforementioned transceiver circuit, interface, or interface circuit can be used for reading and writing code / data, or it can be used for transmitting or relaying signals.

[0110] In one implementation, processor 801 may store computer program 803, which runs on processor 801 and causes communication device 800 to perform the methods described in the above method embodiments. Computer program 803 may be embedded in processor 801; in this case, processor 801 may be implemented in hardware.

[0111] In one implementation, the communication device 800 may include circuitry capable of performing the functions of transmitting, receiving, or communicating as described in the aforementioned method embodiments. The processor and transceiver described in this application can be implemented on integrated circuits (ICs), analog ICs, radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs), mixed-signal ICs, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), printed circuit boards (PCBs), electronic devices, etc. The processor and transceiver can also be manufactured using various IC process technologies, such as complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS), n-metal-oxide-semiconductor (NMOS), positive-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor (PMOS), bipolar junction transistors (BJTs), bipolar CMOS (BiCMOS), silicon-germanium (SiGe), gallium arsenide (GaAs), etc.

[0112] The communication device described in the above embodiments can be a network device or a user equipment, but the scope of the communication device described in this application is not limited thereto, and the structure of the communication device is not limited by the figures. The communication device can be a standalone device or part of a larger device. For example, the communication device can be:

[0113] (1) Independent integrated circuit IC, or chip, or chip system or subsystem;

[0114] (2) A collection of one or more ICs, optionally including storage components for storing data and computer programs;

[0115] (3) ASIC, such as modem;

[0116] (4) Modules that can be embedded in other devices;

[0117] (5) Receivers, terminal equipment, smart terminal equipment, cellular phones, wireless equipment, handheld devices, mobile units, vehicle-mounted equipment, network equipment, cloud equipment, artificial intelligence equipment, etc.

[0118] (6) Others, etc.

[0119] For cases where the communication device can be a chip or a chip system, please refer to [link / reference]. Figure 9The diagram shows the structure of the chip. Figure 9 The chip shown includes a processor 901 and an interface 902. There can be one or more processors 901, and multiple interfaces 902.

[0120] Optionally, the chip also includes a memory 903, which is used to store necessary computer programs and data.

[0121] Those skilled in the art will also understand that the various illustrative logical blocks and steps listed in the embodiments of this application can be implemented by electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both. Whether such functionality is implemented through hardware or software depends on the specific application and the overall system design requirements. Those skilled in the art can implement the functionality using various methods for each specific application, but such implementation should not be construed as exceeding the scope of protection of the embodiments of this application.

[0122] This application also provides a readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a computer, implement the functions of any of the above method embodiments.

[0123] This application also provides a computer program product that, when executed by a computer, implements the functions of any of the above method embodiments.

[0124] In the above embodiments, implementation can be achieved, in whole or in part, through software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it can be implemented, in whole or in part, as a computer program product. A computer program product includes one or more computer programs. When a computer program is loaded and executed on a computer, it generates, in whole or in part, the processes or functions according to the embodiments of this application. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer program can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transferred from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, a computer program can be transferred from one website, computer, server, or data center to another via wired (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) means. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that integrates one or more available media. The available media can be magnetic media (e.g., floppy disks, hard disks, magnetic tapes), optical media (e.g., high-density digital video discs (DVDs)), or semiconductor media (e.g., solid-state disks (SSDs)).

[0125] Those skilled in the art will understand that the various numerical designations such as "first," "second," etc., involved in this application are merely for the convenience of description and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of this application, nor do they indicate the order of sequence.

[0126] At least one in this application can also be described as one or more, and multiple can be two, three, four or more, and this application does not impose any limitation. In the embodiments of this application, for a technical feature, the technical features in that technical feature are distinguished by "first", "second", "third", "A", "B", "C" and "D", and there is no order or size among the technical features described by "first", "second", "third", "A", "B", "C" and "D".

[0127] As used herein, the terms "machine-readable medium" and "computer-readable medium" refer to any computer program product, device, and / or apparatus (e.g., disk, optical disk, memory, programmable logic device (PLD)) used to provide machine instructions and / or data to a programmable processor, including machine-readable media that receive machine instructions as machine-readable signals. The term "machine-readable signal" refers to any signal used to provide machine instructions and / or data to a programmable processor.

[0128] The systems and technologies described herein can be implemented in computing systems that include backend components (e.g., as a data server), or computing systems that include middleware components (e.g., an application server), or computing systems that include frontend components (e.g., a user computer with a graphical user interface or web browser through which a user can interact with embodiments of the systems and technologies described herein), or any combination of such backend, middleware, or frontend components. The components of the system can be interconnected via digital data communication of any form or medium (e.g., a communication network). Examples of communication networks include local area networks (LANs), wide area networks (WANs), and the Internet.

[0129] Computer systems can include clients and servers. Clients and servers are generally located far apart and typically interact through communication networks. Client-server relationships are created by computer programs running on the respective computers and having a client-server relationship with each other.

[0130] It should be understood that the various forms of processes shown above can be used to rearrange, add, or delete steps. For example, the steps described in this disclosure can be executed in parallel, sequentially, or in different orders, as long as the desired result of the technical solution disclosed in this disclosure can be achieved, and this is not limited herein.

[0131] Furthermore, it should be understood that the various embodiments of this application can be implemented individually or in combination with other embodiments, where the scheme allows.

[0132] Those skilled in the art will recognize that the units and algorithm steps of the various examples described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are implemented in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0133] Those skilled in the art will understand that, for the sake of convenience and brevity, the specific working processes of the systems, devices, and units described above can be referred to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0134] The above are merely specific embodiments of this application, but the scope of protection of this application is not limited thereto. Any variations or substitutions that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art within the scope of the technology disclosed in this application should be included within the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be determined by the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A direct communication method, characterized in that, The method is executed by a user equipment (UE), and the method includes: Obtain first configuration information of the direct SL synchronization resources of the first radio access technology (RAT) on the first carrier and second configuration information of the SL synchronization resources of the second RAT; Determining the logical time unit of the second RAT based on the first configuration information and the second configuration information includes: Based on the first configuration information and the second configuration information, the logical time unit of the second RAT is determined from the physical time unit of the time unit in which the SL synchronization resource of the second RAT is located and the time unit in which the SL synchronization resource of the first RAT is located.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, in, The first RAT is LTE (Long Term Evolution) technology, and the second RAT is NR (New Radio) technology.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The first configuration information of the direct SL synchronization resources of the first radio access technology (RAT) on the first carrier and the second configuration information of the SL synchronization resources of the second RAT include: Read the pre-configuration data of the UE to obtain the first configuration information and the second configuration information; or Receive downlink control information sent by network devices to obtain the first configuration information and the second configuration information.

4. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The method further includes: Determine the time unit where the SL synchronization resource of the second RAT is located.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The determination of the time unit in which the synchronization resource of the second RAT is located includes: The second time unit of the second RAT that coincides in the time domain with the first time unit where the SL synchronization resource of the first RAT is located is determined as the time unit where the SL synchronization resource of the second RAT is located.

6. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The determination of the time unit in which the synchronization resource of the second RAT is located includes: Based on the first configuration information, determine the first time unit reserved by the first RAT for not performing SL communication; The second time unit of the second RAT that coincides with the first time unit in the time domain is determined as the time unit in which the SL synchronization resource of the second RAT is located.

7. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The step of determining the logical time unit of the second RAT based on the first configuration information and the second configuration information includes: Based on the first configuration information and the second configuration information, the second RAT logical time unit is determined from the physical time unit in which the SL synchronization resource of the second RAT is located.

8. A direct-connect communication device, characterized in that, The device includes: The acquisition module is used to acquire first configuration information of the direct SL synchronization resources of the first radio access technology (RAT) on the first carrier and second configuration information of the SL synchronization resources of the second RAT. The determining module is configured to determine the logical time unit of the second RAT based on the first configuration information and the second configuration information, including: Based on the first configuration information and the second configuration information, the logical time unit of the second RAT is determined from the physical time unit of the time unit in which the SL synchronization resource of the second RAT is located and the time unit in which the SL synchronization resource of the first RAT is located.

9. A communication device, wherein, include: transceiver; Memory; The processor, connected to both the transceiver and the memory, is configured to control the wireless signal transmission and reception of the transceiver by executing computer-executable instructions on the memory, and to implement the method of any one of claims 1-7.

10. A computer storage medium, wherein, The computer storage medium stores computer-executable instructions; when executed by a processor, the computer-executable instructions can implement the method of any one of claims 1-7.

Images