User equipment aggregation for uplink communications

Abstract

The present application relates to devices and components including apparatus, systems and methods for UE aggregation for uplink communications in wireless networks.

Description

Background Art

[0001] The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Technical Specifications (TS) define the standards for New Radio (NR) wireless networks. These TSs describe aspects related to user plane and control plane signaling on the network. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0002] Figure 1 A network environment according to some embodiments is shown.

[0003] Figure 2 Message flows are shown according to some embodiments.

[0004] Figure 3 Another message flow is shown according to some embodiments.

[0005] Figure 4 A signaling diagram according to some embodiments is shown.

[0006] Figure 5 Another message flow is shown according to some embodiments.

[0007] Figure 6 An operational flow / algorithm structure according to some embodiments is shown.

[0008] Figure 7 Another operational flow / algorithm structure according to some embodiments is shown.

[0009] Figure 8 Another operational flow / algorithm structure according to some embodiments is shown.

[0010] Fig. 9 User equipment according to some embodiments is shown.

[0011] Fig.10 A base station according to some embodiments is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0012] The following specific embodiments relate to the accompanying drawings. The same figure numbers may be used to identify the same or similar elements in different drawings. In the following description, for the purpose of illustration and not limitation, specific details, such as specific structures, architectures, interfaces and technologies are described to provide a thorough understanding of various aspects of various embodiments. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art who benefit from the present disclosure that various aspects of various embodiments can be practiced in other examples that deviate from these specific details. In some cases, descriptions of well-known devices, circuits and methods are omitted so that the description of various embodiments will not be obscured by unnecessary details. For the purpose of this document, phrases "A / B" and "A or B" refer to (A), (B) or (A and B).

[0013] The following is a glossary of terms that may be used in this disclosure.

[0014] The term "circuit" as used herein refers to the part of the hardware component configured to provide the described function or includes the hardware component.Hardware components may include electronic circuits, logic circuits, processors (shared, dedicated or group) or memories (shared, dedicated or group), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable devices (FPDs) (e.g., field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), complex PLDs (CPLDs), high-capacity PLDs (HCPLDs), structured ASICs or programmable systems on chip (SoCs)) or digital signal processors (DSPs).In some embodiments, circuits may execute one or more software or firmware programs to provide at least some of the functions.The term "circuit" may also refer to a combination of one or more hardware elements and a program code for performing the function of the program code (or a combination of circuits used in an electrical or electronic system).In these embodiments, the combination of hardware elements and program code may be referred to as a circuit of a specific type.

[0015] As used herein, the term "processor circuit" refers to, is part of, or includes a circuit capable of sequentially and automatically performing a series of arithmetic or logical operations or recording, storing, or transmitting digital data. The term "processor circuit" may refer to an application processor, a baseband processor, a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit, a single-core processor, a dual-core processor, a triple-core processor, a quad-core processor, or any other device capable of executing or otherwise operating computer-executable instructions (such as program code, software modules, and / or functional processes).

[0016] As used herein, the term "interface circuit" refers to, is a part of, or includes a circuit that enables information exchange between two or more components or devices. The term "interface circuit" may refer to one or more hardware interfaces, such as a bus, an I / O interface, a peripheral component interface, and a network interface card.

[0017] As used herein, the term "user equipment" or "UE" refers to a device with radio communication capabilities that can allow a user to access network resources in a communication network. The term "user equipment" or "UE" may be considered synonymous with the following and may be referred to as a client, mobile phone, mobile device, mobile terminal, user terminal, mobile unit, mobile station, mobile user, subscriber, user, remote station, access agent, user agent, receiver, radio equipment, reconfigurable radio equipment or reconfigurable mobile device. In addition, the term "user equipment" or "UE" may include any type of wireless / wired device or any computing device that includes a wireless communication interface.

[0018] As used herein, the term "computer system" refers to any type of interconnected electronic devices, computer devices, or components thereof. Additionally, the term "computer system" or "system" may refer to various components of a computer that are communicatively coupled to one another. Furthermore, the term "computer system" or "system" may refer to multiple computer devices or multiple computing systems that are communicatively coupled to one another and configured to share computing resources or networked resources.

[0019] As used herein, the term "resource" refers to a physical or virtual device, a physical or virtual component within a computing environment, or a physical or virtual component within a specific device, such as a computer device, a mechanical device, a memory space, a processor / CPU time, a processor / CPU usage rate, a processor and accelerator load, a hardware time or usage rate, a power supply, an input / output operation, a port or a network socket, a channel / link allocation, a throughput, a memory usage rate, a storage, a network, a database, and an application or a unit of workload. "Hardware resources" may refer to computing, storage, or network resources provided by physical hardware elements. "Virtualized resources" may refer to computing, storage, or network resources provided by a virtualized infrastructure to an application, device, or system. The term "network resources" or "communication resources" may refer to resources that can be accessed by a computer device / system via a communication network. The term "system resources" may refer to any kind of shared entity that provides a service, and may include computing resources or network resources. System resources may be considered as a set of coherent functions, network data objects, or services that can be accessed through a server, wherein such system resources reside on a single host or multiple hosts and can be clearly identified.

[0020] As used herein, the term "channel" refers to any tangible or intangible transmission medium for transmitting data or data streams. The term "channel" may be synonymous or equivalent to "communication channel", "data communication channel", "transmission channel", "data transmission channel", "access channel", "data access channel", "link", "data link", "carrier", "radio frequency carrier" or any other similar term representing a path or medium through which data is transmitted. In addition, as used herein, the term "link" refers to a connection made between two devices for transmitting and receiving information.

[0021] As used herein, the terms "instantiate," "instantiate," and the like refer to the creation of an instance. "Instance" also refers to a specific occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, during the execution of program code.

[0022] The term "connected" may mean that two or more elements at a common communication protocol layer have an established signaling relationship with each other through a communication channel, link, interface, or reference point.

[0023] As used herein, the term "network element" refers to physical or virtualized equipment or infrastructure used to provide wired or wireless communication network services. The term "network element" may be considered synonymous with or referred to as a networked computer, networking hardware, network equipment, network node, or virtualized network function.

[0024] The term "information element" refers to a structural element that contains one or more fields. The term "field" refers to the individual contents of an information element, or a data element that contains the contents. An information element may include one or more additional information elements.

[0025] Figure 1 A network environment 100 according to some embodiments is shown. The network environment 100 may include user equipment (UE) 104 and 106 and a base station 108 of a radio access network (RAN). The base station 108 may be a next generation Node B (gNB) to provide one or more 5G New Radio (NR) cells, thereby providing NR user plane and control plane protocol terminals to the UE 104 / 106.

[0026] UE 104 / 106 may be an aggregated group that cooperates to improve uplink or downlink communications. For example, UE 104 / 106 may operate as a virtual UE that includes more platform resources than a single UE 104 / 106. In this way, UE aggregation may provide more transmit power, antenna / RF chains, antenna diversity, etc.

[0027] Aggregated UEs may include a target UE and one or more auxiliary UEs. The uplink / downlink communication performed by the auxiliary UE may be for the benefit of the target UE as the source or destination of the transmitted information. For the embodiments described herein, UE 104 may be considered as a target UE, and UE 106 may be considered as an auxiliary UE. However, these roles may be dynamic and may change over time. Target UE 104 and auxiliary UE 106 may belong to the same user or may belong to different users. Target UE 104 is generally shown as a mobile phone, and auxiliary UE 106 is generally shown as a smart watch. These depictions are not restrictive. In other embodiments, other types of UEs may be used as target / auxiliary UEs.

[0028] UE 104 / 106 and base station 108 can communicate via an air interface compatible with 3GPPTS such as those defining the fifth generation (5G) NR system standards. In some embodiments, target UE 104 can communicate with base station 108 via a Uu interface, and can also communicate with auxiliary UE 106 via a side link (SL) interface. The side link interface can be any type of wired interface or wireless interface. For example, the side link interface can be an interface of a wireless personal area network technology, a wireless local area network technology, or a wireless wide area network technology.

[0029] In some embodiments, the assisting UE 106 may be camped on a cell provided by the base station 108. In these embodiments, the assisting UE 106 may also communicate with the base station 108 over a Uu interface. In other embodiments, the assisting UE 106 may not be camped on a cell provided by the base station 108 and may therefore be hidden from the base station 108. In these embodiments, the assisting UE 106 may not be able to communicate with the base station 108 over an established Uu interface, but may still be configured to receive information from or transmit information to the base station 108, as will be described below.

[0030] Figure 2 A message flow 200 is shown according to some embodiments. The message flow 200 may be performed in the case where the assisting UE is hidden from the base station 108. However, similar concepts may also be used in the case where the assisting UE is camped on a cell provided by the base station 108.

[0031] The target UE 104 may identify one or more auxiliary UEs, including the auxiliary UE 106, with which to form a UE aggregate. The target UE 104 may use various criteria to identify the auxiliary UE. The criteria may include UEs belonging to public users. The criteria may additionally / alternatively include UEs within a predetermined range from the target UE 104 or having a predetermined side link quality with the target UE 104. The criteria may additionally / alternatively include UEs that have been declared to be able to assist. The declaration may be transmitted via a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH), a sidelink-synchronization signal block (S-SSB), etc. The criteria may additionally / alternatively include UEs that are relatively stationary relative to the target UE 104. For example, the target UE 104 may select a UE as an auxiliary UE only when the UE is expected to be within a predetermined proximity within a predetermined time period. Therefore, it may be expected that the auxiliary UE has relatively low mobility relative to the target UE 104. The criteria may additionally / alternatively include UEs with sufficient processing capabilities. The processing capability may be, for example, transmit power, uplink / downlink processing power, a predetermined number of transmit or receive antennas, etc. In some embodiments, the target UE 104 may not select an assistive UE that has a processing capability lower than the target UE 104's own capability. However, in some embodiments, an assistive UE that has a processing capability lower than the target UE 104 may still be selected by the target UE 104 and may be able to contribute by increasing, for example, spatial transmit diversity.

[0032] At 204, the target UE 104 may transmit configuration information over a sidelink channel to the assisting UE 106. The configuration information may be information sufficient to enable the assisting UE 106 to encode downlink control information (DCI) transmitted from the base station 108 at 208 and prepare for a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission to the base station 108 on behalf of the target UE 104. The configuration information may include a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI), an indication of a configured / activated bandwidth part (BWP) on which the target UE 104 is operating, a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) configuration, a PUSCH configuration, an expected time to receive downlink communications from the base station 108, a timing advance at the target UE 104, an uplink power control parameter at the target UE 104, and the like.

[0033] In some embodiments, the target UE 104 may decode the DCI transmitted by the base station and provide configuration information as a set of information from the DCI that can be used to prepare for PUSCH transmission, rather than providing configuration information sufficient to allow the assisting UE 106 to decode the DCI. For example, the configuration information transmitted in these embodiments may include resource allocations for the PUSCH (e.g., time domain or frequency domain resource allocations), uplink beam information, uplink power control information, etc.

[0034] In some embodiments, the configuration information transmitted at 204 may include one or more configuration messages. For example, some general uplink information may be provided initially, and more specific information from the DCI scheduling the PUSCH transmission may be provided later.

[0035] Providing sufficient configuration information to the secondary UE 106 to allow the secondary UE 106 to decode the DCI may involve some signaling overhead, but may also increase the chance that the DCI will be successfully decoded by at least one of the aggregated UEs, and may further reduce the amount of uplink processing time required between decoding the DCI and transmitting a scheduled PUSCH transmission, as will be described in further detail below.

[0036] At 208, the target UE 104 may send a trigger request message to the base station 108 to request activation of the aggregation mode. In some embodiments, the trigger request message may be uplink control information (UCI) transmitted in a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission, a special scheduling request (SR), or a special physical random access channel (PRACH) transmission.

[0037] In some embodiments, the trigger request message may simply include an indication of a request to enter (or exit) aggregate mode. In other embodiments, the trigger request message may additionally / alternatively include joint processing capabilities or other information as described in further detail below to facilitate operation in aggregate mode.

[0038] At 212, the base station 108 may transmit a DCI to schedule a PUSCH transmission. The DCI may be transmitted to the target UE 104, but is also intended to be received by the auxiliary UE 106. For example, the base station 108 may transmit the DCI based on a transmission configuration indicator provided by the target UE 104, for example, in the trigger request 208. As another example, the base station 108 may transmit the DCI using a wider spatial beam than the spatial beam used for transmission in the non-aggregated mode. The wider spatial beam may facilitate reception by both the target UE 104 and the auxiliary UE 106. As another example, the base station 108 may transmit multiple DCIs, each of which is intended for a different UE in the aggregated UEs. These DCIs may be transmitted using different spatial beams or a common spatial beam.

[0039] At 216, the target UE 104 may forward the transport block over the sidelink channel to the assisting UE 106. The target UE 104 may transmit the transport block over the Uu interface to the base station 108 in a PUSCH transmission 220, and the assisting UE 106 may transmit the transport block over the Uu interface to the base station 108 in a PUSCH transmission 224. The base station 108 may perceive the separate PUSCH transmissions as one transmission, which may improve decoding and transmission efficiency.

[0040] In some embodiments, the PUSCH transmissions from the target UE 104 and the auxiliary UE 106 may be transmitted using a transmit beam based on a transmit precoding matrix indicator (TPMI) or a sounding reference signal (SRS) indicator (SRI). The TPMI / SRI may be an indicator suggested by the target UE 104 to the base station 108. An indication of the TPMI / SRI may be provided in the DCI that schedules the PUSCH transmission. The auxiliary UE 106 may obtain the TPMI / SRI directly from the DCI or through configuration information transmitted by the target UE 104.

[0041] In some embodiments, the DCI transmitted by the base station 108 may indicate that the aggregation mode is activated. The indication may be an implicit indication or an explicit indication. The implicit indication may be provided based on the K2 value provided in the DCI. The K2 value may be a time domain resource allocation for the PUSCH. Specifically, when the PDSCH subcarrier spacing is the same as the PDCCH subcarrier spacing, K2 may provide a time delay between the DCI time slot and the PUSCH time slot expressed in the number of time slots. If the K2 value is greater than a predetermined threshold (M), the target UE may determine that the DCI implicitly activates the aggregation mode. The predetermined threshold (M) may be provided by the target UE 104 to the network and may correspond to the amount of time required for the aggregated UEs to perform joint uplink processing. The predetermined threshold (M) may depend on the capabilities of the aggregated UEs relative to the joint uplink processing.

[0042] In some embodiments, the DCI may provide an explicit indication that the aggregation mode is activated by setting a bit value of an aggregation mode field within the DCI to activate the aggregation mode. For example, the aggregation mode field may be a one-bit field where a value of "1" indicates that the aggregation mode is activated and a value of "0" indicates that the aggregation mode is deactivated.

[0043] In some embodiments, the target UE 104 may transmit a transport block to multiple auxiliary UEs in a multicast message. The multicast message may be transmitted via a sidelink channel (e.g., PSSCH or physical sidelink broadcast channel). In some embodiments, the multicast message may also include some or all of the configuration information.

[0044] In some embodiments, the assisting UE 106 may receive a downlink reference signal from the base station 108. The assisting UE 106 may perform an RSRP calculation based on the downlink reference signal. The RSRP calculation may be used as a basis for the assisting UE 106 to determine or adjust one or more uplink power control parameters. The uplink power control parameters may include a P0 value (in dBm) for the PUSCH, an α value for the path loss compensation coefficient, and the like.

[0045] In some embodiments, the assisting UE 106 may adjust the uplink parameters provided relative to the target UE 104 based on circumstances related to the assisting UE 106. For example, the assisting UE 106 may receive a timing advance value from the target UE 104 or the base station 108. However, the timing advance value may be customized to the distance between the target UE 104 and the base station 108. In the event that the assisting UE 106 has positioning assistance data, it may be able to adjust the timing advance value to a value more appropriate for the location of the assisting UE 106.

[0046] Various aspects of the present disclosure may contemplate various combinations of initialization / retransmission of transport blocks coupled with dynamic activation of aggregation mode. Figure 3A message flow 300 is shown according to some embodiments, where aggregation mode is activated at the retransmission of PUSCH. The message flow 300 may be performed in the case where the assisting UE is hidden from the base station 108. However, similar concepts may also be used in the case where the assisting UE is camped on a cell provided by the base station 108.

[0047] At 304, the base station 108 may transmit a DCI to the target UE 104. The DCI may be targeted only to the target UE 104 and may schedule a PUSCH transmission. The target UE 104 may transmit a PUSCH transmission at 308. The PUSCH transmission at 308 may be performed without an aggregation mode. In the event that the base station 108 is unable to correctly decode the PUSCH transmission, the base station may send a DCI 312 to schedule another PUSCH transmission. The DCI at 312 may be sent to accommodate reception at both the target UE 104 and the secondary UE 106, and the aggregation mode may be activated. It may be noted that prior to this activation, the target UE 104 may have indicated to the base station 108 that it is capable of performing UL aggregation, and may have also provided various uplink aggregation information, such as the required uplink / downlink beams, uplink joint processing time, etc.

[0048] The target UE 104 may be paired with the assisting UE 106 and communicate with the assisting UE 106 in a manner similar to that described above with reference to Figure 2 The discussed approach provides configuration information. In some implementations, the configuration information may include information from the DCI 312 sufficient to enable the assisting UE 106 to transmit a PUSCH transmission.

[0049] The assisting UE 106 may receive the transport block from the target UE 104 at 316. The assisting UE 106 may then transmit a PUSCH transmission to the base station 108 using the transport block at 320, and the target UE 104 may transmit a PUSCH transmission 324 to the base station 108 using the transport block at 324. It may be noted that the timeline between the DCI 312 and the resources used for the PUSCH transmission at 320 and 324 may be based on information exchanged between the target UE 104 and the assisting UE 106 after receiving the DCI at 312.

[0050] Figure 4 A signaling diagram 400 is shown for demonstrating timeline considerations with respect to uplink aggregation according to some embodiments. The signaling diagram 400 shows a PDCCH 404 that may be received by a target UE 104. The PDCCH 404 may include a DCI that schedules resources for a PUSCH 408. In some embodiments, the DCI may also activate an aggregation mode. The DCI may have a K2 value that provides the time between a PDCCH time slot and a PUSCH time slot.

[0051] Two time periods can be considered. The first time period N a It may refer to the target UE 104 (UE T ) decodes the DCI in the PDCCH 404 and sends the DCI to the auxiliary UE 106 (UE A ) The time period N may include the time used for both the PSCCH transmission and the PSSCH transmission 412 involving the transmission of relevant information to the auxiliary UE 106. The second time period N b The auxiliary UE 106 (UE A ) The time taken to decode the PSSCH including the transport block, configuration information, etc. and prepare for PUSCH transmission 416. The target UE 104 may expect that the K2 value provides sufficient time for the operations of the first time period and the second time period to complete before the allocation of PUSCH 408. For example, K2 ≥ N a +N b .

[0052] The amount of time for each of the first time period and the second time period may be based on the processing capabilities of the target UE 104 and the auxiliary UE 106 and the type of configuration information transmitted. For example, if the target UE 104 initially provides enough configuration information to allow the auxiliary UE 106 to decode the DCI in the PDCCH 404, less configuration information may need to be transmitted between the aggregated UEs, and N a / N b The time period will be smaller. In some embodiments, the target UE 104 may provide an indication of the joint processing capability to the base station 108 to ensure proper scheduling of the PUSCH resources. The joint processing capability may include the uplink / sidelink processing capabilities of the aggregated UEs and may also include information about the type of configuration information provided to the assisting UE.

[0053] As described above, in some of these embodiments, both the target UE 104 and the auxiliary UE 106 may be camped on a cell provided by the base station 108. In these embodiments, the base station may provide a more active role in establishing UE aggregation and communicating with the auxiliary UE. For example, the auxiliary UE may be selected by the target UE 104, as described above. However, the target UE 104 may then transmit a suggestion to the base station 108 in the UE to be included as an auxiliary UE. In other embodiments, the base station 108 may select the UE to be included as an auxiliary UE. This may allow UEs that have not yet established communication with each other to participate in UE aggregation.

[0054] For uplink aggregation, the base station 108 may activate the aggregation mode using a group common DCI (GC-DCI). The GC-DC may be similar to the unicast DCI described above (with FDRA, K2, etc.), but may also include a list of UE identifiers corresponding to the aggregated UEs. The first UE identifier in the list of identifiers may identify the target UE 104 that will be the source of the transport block for the PUSCH transmission. The remaining identifiers in the list may correspond to secondary UEs. Thus, by receiving the GC-DCI, each of the aggregated UEs will know the source of the transport block and the role that the UE will play in the aggregation (e.g., as secondary or target).

[0055] At least some of the parameters included in the DCI may be applicable to transmissions from all aggregated UEs. For example, FDRA and K2 values ​​may be widely applicable. In some embodiments, some fields may be repeated to multiple aggregated UEs. In this way, specific values ​​(e.g., TPMI / SRI, TPC, etc.) may be provided for specific aggregated UEs. In this way, after applying the various parameters (e.g., timing advance, power control parameters, etc.), all aggregated UEs may transmit PUSCH transmissions at the K2 time indicated by the GC-DCI.

[0056] In some embodiments, different DCIs may be transmitted to different aggregated UEs to schedule the same transport block on the uplink. This option may be associated with relatively higher overhead, but may also provide some additional flexibility / reliability.

[0057] In an implementation where the assisting UE is camped on a cell provided by the base station 108, the base station 108 may control most of the aggregation operations, and the target UE 104 may simply share the transport block information with the assisting UE.

[0058] Figure 5 A message flow 500 is shown according to some embodiments. The signaling diagram 500 may be used in embodiments where the assisted UE 106 is camped on a cell provided by the base station 108.

[0059] At 504, the base station 108 may transmit a DCI 504 to activate the aggregation mode and schedule a PUSCH transmission. The DCI 504 may be transmitted in a manner that facilitates reception by both the target UE 104 and the assisting UE 106. However, in this embodiment, the DCI 504 may indicate that the transmitting UE 106 is to transmit a PUSCH transmission and the assisting UE 106 is to receive.

[0060] At 508, the UE 104 may transmit a PUSCH 508 scheduled by the DCI 504 over the Uu interface. The secondary UE 106 may be configured and enabled to receive the PUSCH 508 transmitted over the Uu interface. In the event that the base station 108 is unable to decode the PUSCH transmission 508, the base station may send another DCI at 512 to indicate that the secondary UE 106 (and possibly the target UE 104) will perform an uplink transmission. The secondary UE 106 may then transmit the PUSCH received at 508 from the target UE 104 to the base station 108 at 520.

[0061] In this embodiment, the timeline between the DCI at 512 and the PUSCH at 520 may be relatively short because the assisting UE 106 may have previously received the transport block from the UE 104 .

[0062] In some embodiments, the process for providing the transport blocks from the target UE 104 to the auxiliary UE 106 may be dynamically configured. For example, in some cases, the base station may instruct the aggregated UEs to perform SL transmission of the transport blocks (e.g., instructing the target UE 104 to provide the transport blocks to the auxiliary UE 106 of the sidelink interface) or Uu transmission of the transport blocks (e.g., instructing the target UE 104 to provide the transport blocks to the auxiliary UE 106 over the Uu interface). The base station may indicate the transmission process explicitly or implicitly. The explicit indication of the transmission process may be provided through RRC signaling or dynamically indicated in the DCI. The implicit indication of the transmission process may be provided by the value of K2 within a predetermined range.

[0063] Figure 6 An operational flow / algorithm structure 600 according to some embodiments is provided. The operational flow / algorithm structure 600 may be performed / implemented by a UE (such as, for example, the target UE 104 or the UE 900) or by a component thereof (eg, the processor 904).

[0064] The operational flow / algorithm structure 600 may include transmitting configuration information to the assisting UE at 604. In some embodiments, the configuration information may be information sufficient to allow the assisting UE to decode the DCI scheduling the PUSCH transmission and generate / transmit the PUSCH transmission to the base station. In other embodiments, the implementing UE may decode the DCI and provide the configuration information based on the decoded DCI. In these embodiments, the configuration information may be information sufficient to enable the assisting UE to generate / transmit the PUSCH transmission to the base station. In various embodiments, the configuration information may include various uplink and downlink configuration parameters defining timing / frequency domain resource allocations, power control parameters, etc.

[0065] The operational flow / algorithm structure 600 may also include transmitting the transport block to the assisting UE at 608. In some implementations, the transport block may be transmitted to the assisting UE over a sidelink interface. If the UE aggregation includes more than one assisting UE, the transport block may be transmitted in a multicast message.

[0066] The operational flow / algorithm structure 600 may also include generating / transmitting a PUSCH transmission at 612. The PUSCH transmission may include a transport block sent to the assisting UE.

[0067] In some embodiments, the transport block may be transmitted to the assisting UE over the Uu interface (eg, as part of a PUSCH transmission to the base station). Thus, in these embodiments, operations 608 and 612 may be the same operation.

[0068] Figure 7 An operation flow / algorithm structure 700 according to some embodiments is provided. The operation flow / algorithm structure 700 may be performed / implemented by a base station (such as, for example, base station 108 or base station 1000) or by a component thereof (eg, processor 1004).

[0069] The operational flow / algorithm structure 700 may include generating DCI to schedule PUSCH transmission and activating aggregation mode at 704. Aggregation mode may be activated for multiple aggregated UEs including target UEs and auxiliary UEs. When operating in activated aggregation mode, the auxiliary UE may coordinate uplink transmissions with the target UE.

[0070] In some embodiments, the DCI may be generated with an explicit indication or an implicit indication of activation of the aggregation mode. The explicit indication may include setting a bit and the aggregation mode field to indicate that the aggregation mode is activated. The implicit indication may include providing a K2 value in the DCI sufficient to allow joint processing operation by the aggregated UEs.

[0071] In some embodiments, the base station may generate DCI to include a K2 value to accommodate joint processing operations. This may be based on feedback from the target UE that provides UE capability information (including the sidelink and uplink processing capabilities of the target UE and the auxiliary UE), and potentially provides information about the type of configuration information provided to the auxiliary UE.

[0072] In some embodiments, the DCI may be a GC-DCI that includes a list of UE identifiers corresponding to the aggregated UEs. The order of the UEs in the list may indicate which UE is the target UE and which UEs are auxiliary UEs. The GC-DCI may include one or more common parameters or specific parameters that may be used by the aggregated UEs to coordinate uplink transmissions.

[0073] The operational flow / algorithm structure 700 may also include transmitting the DCI to the target UE at 708. In some embodiments, the DCI may be transmitted to the target UE, but may also have characteristics that facilitate reception by one or more auxiliary UEs. In some embodiments, separate DCIs may be generated and transmitted to separate UEs in the aggregated UEs.

[0074] Figure 8 An operational flow / algorithm structure 800 according to some embodiments is provided. The operational flow / algorithm structure 800 may be performed / implemented by an assistive UE (such as, for example, the assistive UE 106 or the UE 900) or by a component thereof (eg, the processor 904).

[0075] The operational flow / algorithm structure 800 may include receiving configuration information from the target UE at 804. The configuration information may include various information to allow the assisting UE to generate and transmit a PUSCH transmission. In some embodiments, the configuration information may also allow the assisting UE to decode the DCI from the base station.

[0076] The operational flow / algorithm structure 800 may also include receiving a transport block from the target UE at 808. In some embodiments, the transport block may be received via a sidelink interface. In other embodiments, the transport block may be received via a Uu interface.

[0077] The operational flow / algorithm structure 800 may also include transmitting a PUSCH transmission at 812. The PUSCH transmission may include the transport block provided at 808. In some embodiments, the PUSCH transmission may be transmitted in response to configuration information provided by the target UE. In other embodiments, the assisting UE may delay the transmission of the PUSCH transmission until a DCI requesting the transmission is received from the base station.

[0078] Fig. 9 A UE 900 is shown according to some embodiments. The UE 900 may be similar to the target UE 104 or the assisting UE 106 and may be substantially interchangeable therewith.

[0079] UE 900 can be any mobile or non-mobile computing device, such as, for example, a mobile phone, a computer, a tablet, an industrial wireless sensor (e.g., a microphone, a carbon dioxide sensor, a pressure sensor, a humidity sensor, a thermometer, a motion sensor, an accelerometer, a laser scanner, a fluid level sensor, an inventory sensor, a voltage / current meter, or an actuator), a video surveillance / monitoring device (e.g., a camera or a camcorder), a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch), or an Internet of Things device.

[0080] UE 900 may include a processor 904, RF interface circuitry 908, memory / storage 912, a user interface 916, a sensor 920, a driver circuit 922, a power management integrated circuit (PMIC) 924, antenna structures 926, and a battery 928. The components of UE 900 may be implemented as an integrated circuit (IC), a portion of an integrated circuit, a discrete electronic device or other module, logical component, hardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof. Fig. 9 The block diagram of UE 900 is intended to show a high-level view of certain of the components of UE 900. However, some of the components shown may be omitted, additional components may be present, and different arrangements of the components shown may occur in other implementations.

[0081] Components of the UE 900 may be coupled to various other components via one or more interconnects 932, which may represent any type of interface, input / output, bus (local, system, or extension), transmission line, trace, or optical connection that allows various circuit components (on a common or different chip or chipset) to interact with each other.

[0082] The processor 904 may include processor circuits such as a baseband processor circuit (BB) 904A, a central processor unit circuit (CPU) 904B, and a graphics processor unit circuit (GPU) 904C. The processor 904 may include any type of circuit or processor circuit that executes or otherwise operates computer-executable instructions (such as program codes, software modules, or functional processes from the memory / storage device 912) to cause the UE 900 to perform operations as described herein.

[0083] In some embodiments, the baseband processor circuit 904A can access the communication protocol stack 936 in the memory / storage device 912 to communicate through a 3GPP compatible network. Generally speaking, the baseband processor circuit 904A can access the communication protocol stack 936 to perform the following operations: perform user plane functions at the PHY layer, MAC layer, RLC layer, PDCP layer, SDAP layer, and PDU layer; and perform control plane functions at the PHY layer, MAC layer, RLC layer, PDCP layer, RRC layer, and NAS layer. In some embodiments, the PHY layer operations can be additionally / alternatively performed by components of the RF interface circuit 908.

[0084] The baseband processor circuit 904A may generate or process baseband signals or waveforms that carry information in a 3GPP-compatible network. In some embodiments, the waveforms used for NR may be based on cyclic prefix OFDM (CP-OFDM) in the uplink or downlink, and discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-S-OFDM) in the uplink.

[0085] The memory / storage 912 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media including instructions (e.g., a communication protocol stack 936) that may be executed by one or more processors in the processor 904 to cause the UE 900 to perform various operations described herein. The memory / storage 912 includes any type of volatile or non-volatile memory that may be distributed throughout the UE 900. In some embodiments, some of the memory / storage 912 may be located on the processor 904 itself (e.g., L1 cache and L2 cache), while other memory / storage 912 is located outside the processor 904 but is accessible via a memory interface. The memory / storage 912 may include any suitable volatile or non-volatile memory, such as, but not limited to, dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, solid-state memory, or any other type of memory device technology.

[0086] The RF interface circuit 908 may include a transceiver circuit and a radio frequency front end module (RFEM), which allows the UE 900 to communicate with other devices through a radio access network. The RF interface circuit 908 may include various elements arranged in a transmit path or a receive path. These elements may include, for example, switches, mixers, amplifiers, filters, synthesizer circuits, and control circuits.

[0087] In the receive path, the RFEM may receive the radiated signal from the air interface via the antenna structure 926 and continue to filter and amplify the signal (using a low noise amplifier). The signal may be provided to the transceiver's receiver, which down-converts the RF signal to a baseband signal that is provided to the baseband processor of the processor 904.

[0088] In the transmit path, the transmitter of the transceiver up-converts the baseband signal received from the baseband processor and provides an RF signal to the RFEM. The RFEM may amplify the RF signal through a power amplifier before the signal is radiated across the air interface via the antenna 926.

[0089] In various embodiments, the RF interface circuit 908 may be configured to transmit / receive signals in a manner compatible with NR and sidelink access technologies.

[0090] Antenna 926 may include antenna elements to convert electrical signals into radio waves to travel through the air and convert received radio waves into electrical signals. These antenna elements may be arranged into one or more antenna panels. Antenna 926 may have an antenna panel that is omnidirectional, directional, or a combination thereof to achieve beamforming and multiple input / multiple output communications. Antenna 926 may include a microstrip antenna, a printed antenna manufactured on the surface of one or more printed circuit boards, a patch antenna, or a phased array antenna. Antenna 926 may have one or more panels designed for a specific frequency band (including a frequency band in FR1 or FR2).

[0091] The user interface circuit 916 includes various input / output (I / O) devices designed to enable the user to interact with the UE 900. The user interface 916 includes input device circuits and output device circuits. The input device circuit includes any physical or virtual device for accepting input, especially including one or more physical or virtual buttons (e.g., reset button), physical keyboard, keypad, mouse, touchpad, touch screen, microphone, scanner, headset, etc. The output device circuit includes any physical or virtual device for displaying information or otherwise conveying information (such as sensor readings, actuator positions, or other similar information). The output device circuit may include any number or combination of audio or visual displays, especially including one or more simple visual outputs / indicators (e.g., binary state indicators (such as light emitting diodes (LEDs)) and multi-character visual outputs), or more complex outputs, such as display devices or touch screens (e.g., liquid crystal displays (LCDs), LED displays, quantum dot displays, and projectors), where the output of characters, graphics, multimedia objects, etc. is generated or produced by the operation of the UE 900.

[0092] Sensors 920 may include devices, modules, or subsystems that are designed to detect events or changes in their environment and send information about the detected events (sensor data) to some other device, module, or subsystem. Examples of such sensors include: an inertial measurement unit including an accelerometer, gyroscope, or magnetometer; a microelectromechanical system or nanoelectromechanical system including a three-axis accelerometer, a three-axis gyroscope, or a magnetometer; a liquid level sensor; a flow sensor; a temperature sensor (e.g., a thermistor); a pressure sensor; a barometric pressure sensor; a gravity meter; an altimeter; an image capture device (e.g., a camera or a lensless aperture); a light detection and ranging sensor; a proximity sensor (e.g., an infrared radiation detector, etc.); a depth sensor; an ambient light sensor; an ultrasonic transceiver; and a microphone or other similar audio capture device.

[0093] The driver circuit 922 may include software elements and hardware elements for controlling specific devices embedded in the UE 900, attached to the UE 900, or otherwise communicatively coupled to the UE 900. The driver circuit 922 may include various drivers, thereby allowing other components to interact with or control various input / output (I / O) devices that may be present in the UE 900 or connected to the UE. For example, the driver circuit 922 may include: a display driver for controlling and allowing access to a display device, a touch screen driver for controlling and allowing access to a touch screen interface, a sensor driver for obtaining sensor readings of the sensor circuit 920 and controlling and allowing access to the sensor circuit 920, a driver for obtaining an actuator position of an electromechanical component or controlling and allowing access to an electromechanical component, a camera driver for controlling and allowing access to an embedded image capture device, and an audio driver for controlling and allowing access to one or more audio devices.

[0094] The PMIC 924 may manage power provided to various components of the UE 900. Specifically, with respect to the processor 904, the PMIC 924 may control power source selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-DC conversion.

[0095] The battery 928 can power the UE 900, but in some examples, the UE 900 can be installed in a fixed location and can have a power source coupled to the power grid. The battery 928 can be a lithium-ion battery, a metal-air battery such as a zinc-air battery, an aluminum-air battery, a lithium-air battery, etc. In some specific implementations, such as in vehicle-based applications, the battery 928 can be a typical lead-acid car battery.

[0096] Fig.10 A base station 1000 is shown according to some embodiments. Base station 1000 may be similar to base station 108 and may be substantially interchangeable therewith.

[0097] Base station 1000 may include processor 1004, RF interface circuitry 1008 (if implemented as a base station), core network (CN) interface circuitry 1012, memory / storage circuitry 1016, and antenna structures 1026 (if implemented as a base station).

[0098] Components of base station 1000 may be coupled to various other components via one or more interconnects 1028 .

[0099] The processor 1004, RF interface circuit 1008, memory / storage circuit 1016 (including communication protocol stack 1010), antenna structure 1026 and interconnect 1028 may be similar to those described with reference to Figure 8 Like named elements are shown and described.

[0100] The CN interface circuit 1012 may provide a connection to a core network (e.g., a 5GC using a 5th generation core network (5GC) compatible network interface protocol (such as a carrier Ethernet protocol) or some other suitable protocol). The network connection may be provided to / from the base station 1000 via optical fiber or wireless backhaul. The CN interface circuit 1012 may include one or more dedicated processors or FPGAs for communicating using one or more of the aforementioned protocols. In some implementations, the CN interface circuit 1012 may include multiple controllers for providing connections to other networks using the same or different protocols.

[0101] In some embodiments, the base station 1000 may be coupled to a transmit receive point (TRP) using antenna structures 1026, CN interface circuits, or other interface circuits.

[0102] It is understood that the use of personally identifiable information should be subject to privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized to meet or exceed industry or government requirements for maintaining user privacy. Specifically, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of the authorized use should be clearly stated to users.

[0103] For one or more embodiments, at least one of the components shown in one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to perform one or more operations, techniques, processes, or methods described in the following example section. For example, the baseband circuit described above in conjunction with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate according to one or more of the following examples. For another example, the circuit associated with the UE, base station, or network element described above in conjunction with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate according to one or more of the examples shown in the example section below.

[0104] Example

[0105] In the following sections, additional exemplary embodiments are provided.

[0106] Embodiment 1 includes a method of operating a target user equipment (UE), the method comprising: transmitting configuration information to an auxiliary UE to facilitate coordination of uplink transmissions; transmitting a transport block to be transmitted to a base station to the auxiliary UE; generating a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission to include the transport block; and transmitting the PUSCH transmission to the base station.

[0107] Embodiment 2 includes the method according to embodiment 1 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the configuration information is used to enable the assisting UE to decode downlink control information from the base station.

[0108] Embodiment 3 includes a method according to embodiment 2 or some other embodiment of the present invention, wherein the configuration information includes: timing advance at the target UE, uplink power control parameters at the target UE, PUSCH configuration, bandwidth part configuration or physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) configuration.

[0109] Embodiment 4 includes the method according to embodiment 1 or some other embodiment of the present invention, and also includes: decoding downlink control information (DCI) from the base station to obtain frequency domain or time domain resource allocation for the PUSCH transmission, wherein the configuration information includes the resource allocation; and transmitting the configuration information to the auxiliary UE using a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) or a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH).

[0110] Embodiment 5 includes the method according to embodiment 1 or some other embodiment herein, further comprising: transmitting a request to enter aggregation mode to the base station, wherein the request comprises a scheduling request, a physical random access channel transmission, or uplink control information.

[0111] Embodiment 6 includes the method according to embodiment 1 or some other embodiment herein, further comprising: decoding downlink control information (DCI) from the base station; and determining that aggregation mode is activated based on the DCI.

[0112] Embodiment 7 includes the method according to embodiment 6 or some other embodiment of the present invention, further comprising: determining that the K2 value is greater than a predetermined threshold based on the DCI; and determining that the aggregation mode is activated based on the K2 value being greater than the predetermined threshold.

[0113] Embodiment 8 includes the method according to embodiment 1 or some other embodiment herein, further comprising: transmitting the transport block in a multicast message to a plurality of assisting UEs including the assisting UE via a physical sidelink shared channel.

[0114] Embodiment 9 includes a method according to embodiment 1 or some other embodiment of the present invention, wherein the PUSCH transmission is a retransmission of the transport block, and the method further includes: transmitting an initial transmission of the transport block in a non-aggregation mode; and receiving downlink control information (DCI) to trigger the retransmission and activation of the aggregation mode.

[0115] Embodiment 10 includes the method according to embodiment 1 or some other embodiment herein, further comprising: transmitting an indication of the sidelink and uplink processing capabilities of the target UE and the assisting UE to the base station.

[0116] Embodiment 11 includes a method of operating a base station, the method comprising: generating downlink control information (DCI) to schedule physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission and activating an aggregation mode for aggregated user equipment (UE) including a target user equipment (UE) and an auxiliary UE; and transmitting the DCI to the target UE.

[0117] Embodiment 12 includes the method according to embodiment 11 or some other embodiment of the present invention, and also includes: receiving an indication of the sidelink and uplink processing capabilities of the target UE and the auxiliary UE; and transmitting the DCI to schedule the PUSCH transmission for a period of time after the DCI, wherein the time period is based on the sidelink and uplink processing capabilities of the target UE and the auxiliary UE.

[0118] Embodiment 13 includes a method according to embodiment 11 or some other embodiment herein, wherein generating the DCI to activate the aggregation mode includes: generating the DCI to include a value for activating the aggregation mode within an aggregation mode field; or generating the DCI to schedule the PUSCH transmission for a period of time after the DCI, wherein the time period is at least equal to a threshold time period to allow joint uplink processing of the target UE and the auxiliary UE.

[0119] Embodiment 14 includes a method according to embodiment 11 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the DCI is a group common DCI (GC-DCI), the GC-DCI including a list of multiple UE identifiers corresponding to multiple aggregated UEs, respectively, wherein a first UE identifier appearing in the list of the multiple UE identifiers corresponds to the target UE.

[0120] Embodiment 15 includes a method according to embodiment 14 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the GC-DCI includes one or more uplink transmission parameters common to the multiple aggregated UEs, and the one or more uplink transmission parameters include a K2 value and a frequency domain resource allocation of resources for the PUSCH transmission.

[0121] Embodiment 16 includes a method according to embodiment 15 or some other embodiment of the present invention, wherein the GC-DCI includes a first set of uplink transmission parameters for the target UE and a second set of uplink transmission parameters for the auxiliary UE, wherein: the first set of uplink transmission parameters includes a first transmit power control command, a first transmit precoding matrix indicator (TPMI) or a first sounding reference signal (SRS) indicator; and the second set of uplink transmission parameters includes a second transmit power control command, a second transmit precoding matrix indicator (TPMI) or a second sounding reference signal (SRS) indicator.

[0122] Embodiment 17 includes a method according to embodiment 11 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the DCI is a first DCI, and the method further includes: determining that the PUSCH transmission is not successfully received from the target UE; and transmitting a second DCI to request that the PUSCH transmission be transmitted from the auxiliary UE.

[0123] Embodiment 18 includes a method according to embodiment 11 or some other embodiment of the present invention, further comprising: providing an indication to the target UE whether to transmit a transport block to the auxiliary UE via a side link interface or a Uu interface, wherein the indication is an explicit indication in radio resource control signaling or DCI signaling, or is an implicit indication based on a K2 value within the DCI.

[0124] Embodiment 19 includes a method of operating an auxiliary user equipment (UE), the method comprising: receiving configuration information from a target UE; receiving a transport block from the target UE; and transmitting a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission including the transport block based on the configuration information.

[0125] Embodiment 20 includes the method according to embodiment 19 or some other embodiment of the present invention, and also includes: determining a transmit precoding matrix indicator (TPMI) or a sounding reference signal (SRS) indicator based on the configuration information or the downlink control information; and based on the TPMI or the SRS indicator, transmitting the PUSCH transmission with a transmit beam.

[0126] Embodiment 21 includes the method according to embodiment 19 or some other embodiment of the present invention, and also includes: receiving a downlink reference signal from the base station based on the configuration information; determining one or more uplink power control parameters based on the downlink reference signal; and transmitting the PUSCH transmission using the one or more uplink power control parameters.

[0127] Embodiment 22 includes a method according to embodiment 19 or some other embodiment of the present invention, wherein the configuration information includes a timing advance at the target UE, and the method further includes: determining the timing advance at the auxiliary UE based on the positioning information of the auxiliary UE; and transmitting the PUSCH transmission based on the timing advance at the auxiliary UE.

[0128] Embodiment 23 includes a method according to embodiment 19 or some other embodiment of the present invention, wherein the PUSCH transmission is a first PUSCH transmission, and the method further includes: receiving the transmission block from the target UE in a second PUSCH transmission on the Uu interface; after receiving the transmission block from the target UE, receiving downlink control information (DCI) from a base station, the DCI being used to request transmission of the first PUSCH transmission; and transmitting the first PUSCH transmission based on the DCI.

[0129] Embodiment 24 may include an apparatus comprising means for performing one or more elements of a method as described or related to any one of Embodiments 1 to 23, or any other method or process described herein.

[0130] Embodiment 25 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media, which include instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device, cause the electronic device to perform one or more elements of a method described or related to any one of Embodiments 1 to 23 or any other method or process described herein.

[0131] Embodiment 26 may include a device comprising logic components, modules, or circuits for performing one or more elements of a method as described or related to any of Embodiments 1 to 23, or any other method or process described herein.

[0132] Embodiment 27 may include methods, techniques or processes described or related to any one of Embodiments 1 to 23, or parts or components thereof.

[0133] Embodiment 28 may include a device comprising: one or more processors and one or more computer-readable media, wherein the one or more computer-readable media include instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform a method, technique, or process, or a portion thereof, described in or related to any one of Embodiments 1 to 23.

[0134] Embodiment 29 may include a signal as described or related to any one of embodiments 1 to 23, or a portion or component thereof.

[0135] Embodiment 30 may include a datagram, information element, packet, frame, segment, PDU or message, or a portion or component thereof, as described or associated with any one of Embodiments 1 to 23, or otherwise described in the present disclosure.

[0136] Embodiment 31 may include a signal encoded with data as described or associated with any one of Embodiments 1 to 23, or a portion or component thereof, or otherwise described in this disclosure.

[0137] Embodiment 32 may include a signal encoded with a datagram, IE, packet, frame, segment, PDU or message as described or associated with any one of Embodiments 1 to 23, or a portion or component thereof, or otherwise described in the present disclosure.

[0138] Embodiment 33 may include an electromagnetic signal carrying computer-readable instructions, wherein execution of the computer-readable instructions by one or more processors will cause the one or more processors to perform a method, technique, or process, or portion thereof, as described or related to any one of Embodiments 1 to 23.

[0139] Embodiment 34 may include a computer program comprising instructions, wherein execution of the program by a processing element causes the processing element to perform a method, technique, or process, or a portion thereof, as described or related to any one of Embodiments 1 to 23.

[0140] Embodiment 35 may include signals in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

[0141] Embodiment 36 may include a method of communicating in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

[0142] Embodiment 37 may include a system for providing wireless communications as shown and described herein.

[0143] Embodiment 38 may include an apparatus for providing wireless communications as shown and described herein.

[0144] Unless explicitly stated otherwise, any of the above examples may be combined with any other example (or combination of examples). The foregoing description of one or more specific implementations provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of the embodiments to the precise form disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in view of the above teachings or may be obtained from the practice of the various embodiments.

[0145] Although the above embodiments have been described in considerable detail, numerous variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated. It is intended that the following claims be interpreted to encompass all such variations and modifications.

Claims

1. A method for operating a target user equipment UE, the method comprising: transmitting configuration information to the assisting UE to facilitate coordination of uplink transmissions; transmitting, to the assisting UE, a transport block to be transmitted to a base station; generating a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission to include the transport block; as well as The PUSCH transmission is transmitted to the base station.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the configuration information is used to enable the assisting UE to decode downlink control information from the base station.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the configuration information comprises: A timing advance at a target UE, an uplink power control parameter at said target UE, a PUSCH configuration, a bandwidth part configuration or a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) configuration.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Decoding downlink control information DCI from the base station to obtain frequency domain or time domain resource allocation for the PUSCH transmission, wherein the configuration information includes the frequency domain or time domain resource allocation; and The configuration information is transmitted to the auxiliary UE using a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) or a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH).

5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: transmitting a request to the base station to enter aggregation mode, The request includes a scheduling request, a physical random access channel transmission or uplink control information.

6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Decoding downlink control information DCI from the base station; as well as It is determined based on the DCI that the aggregation mode is activated.

7. The method according to claim 6, further comprising: Determining based on the DCI that the K2 value is greater than a predetermined threshold; as well as Based on the K2 value being greater than the predetermined threshold, it is determined that the aggregation mode is activated.

8. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: The transport block is transmitted in a multicast message to a plurality of assisting UEs including the assisting UE via a physical sidelink shared channel.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the PUSCH transmission is a retransmission of the transport block, and the method further comprises: transmitting an initial transmission of the transport block in a non-aggregation mode; as well as Downlink control information DCI is received to trigger the activation of the retransmission and aggregation mode.

10. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: An indication of sidelink and uplink processing capabilities of the target UE and the assisting UE is transmitted to the base station.

11. A device for implementation in a base station, the device comprising: a processing circuit configured to generate downlink control information DCI to schedule physical uplink shared channel PUSCH transmission and to activate an aggregation mode for aggregated user equipment UEs including a target user equipment UE and an auxiliary UE; and A transmitting circuit is used to transmit the DCI to the target UE.

12. The apparatus according to claim 11, further comprising: a receiving circuit configured to receive an indication of the sidelink and uplink processing capabilities of the target UE and the auxiliary UE, The transmitting circuit is configured to transmit the DCI to schedule the PUSCH transmission for a time period after the DCI, wherein the time period is based on the sidelink and uplink processing capabilities of the target UE and the assisting UE.

13. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein to generate the DCI to activate the aggregation mode, the processing circuit is configured to: generating the DCI to include, within an aggregation mode field, a value for activating the aggregation mode; or The DCI is generated to schedule the PUSCH transmission for a time period after the DCI, wherein the time period is at least equal to a threshold time period to allow joint uplink processing of the target UE and the assisting UE.

14. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the DCI is a group common DCI, i.e., GC-DCI, which includes a list of multiple UE identifiers corresponding to multiple aggregated UEs respectively, wherein a first UE identifier appearing in the list of the multiple UE identifiers corresponds to the target UE.

15. The apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the GC-DCI comprises one or more uplink transmission parameters common to the multiple aggregated UEs, the one or more uplink transmission parameters comprising a K2 value and a frequency domain resource allocation of resources for the PUSCH transmission.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the GC-DCI comprises a first set of uplink transmission parameters for the target UE and a second set of uplink transmission parameters for the assisting UE, wherein: The first set of uplink transmission parameters includes a first transmit power control command, a first transmit precoding matrix indicator TPMI or a first sounding reference signal SRS indicator; and The second set of uplink transmission parameters includes a second transmit power control command, a second transmit precoding matrix indicator TPMI, or a second sounding reference signal SRS indicator.

17. The device according to claim 11, wherein: The DCI is a first DCI; The processing circuit is further configured to determine that the PUSCH transmission was not successfully received from the target UE; and The transmitting circuit is further configured to transmit a second DCI to request transmission of the PUSCH transmission from the assisting UE.

18. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to: providing an indication to the target UE as to whether to transmit a transport block to the assisting UE via a sidelink interface or a Uu interface, The indication is an explicit indication in radio resource control signaling or DCI signaling, or an implicit indication based on a K2 value in the DCI.

19. A computer readable medium having instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause an auxiliary user equipment (UE) to: receiving configuration information from a target UE; receiving a transport block from the target UE; and A physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission including the transport block is transmitted based on the configuration information.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the assisting UE to: Determine a transmitted precoding matrix indicator TPMI or a sounding reference signal SRS indicator based on the configuration information or the downlink control information; and The PUSCH transmission is transmitted using a transmit beam based on the TPMI or the SRS indicator.

21. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the assisting UE to: receiving a downlink reference signal from a base station based on the configuration information; determining one or more uplink power control parameters based on the downlink reference signal; and The PUSCH transmission is transmitted using the one or more uplink power control parameters.

22. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the configuration information comprises a timing advance at the target UE, and the instructions, when executed, further cause the assisting UE to: determining a timing advance at the assisting UE based on the positioning information of the assisting UE; and The PUSCH transmission is transmitted based on the timing advance at the assisting UE.

23. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the PUSCH transmission is a first PUSCH transmission, and the instructions, when executed, further cause the assisting UE to: receiving the transport block from the target UE in a second PUSCH transmission over a Uu interface; After receiving the transport block from the target UE, receiving downlink control information (DCI) from a base station, the DCI being used to request transmission of the first PUSCH transmission; and The first PUSCH transmission is transmitted based on the DCI.

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