Configure cellular link resources in a flexible manner

Abstract

Embodiments of an apparatus, system, and method for configuring cellular side link resources in a flexible manner are provided herein. A cellular base station may select a cellular side link resource pool. The cellular side link resource pool may include non-contiguous frequency resources. The cellular base station may provide cellular side link resource pool configuration information to a wireless device. The cellular side link resource pool configuration information may configure the cellular side link resource pool including non-contiguous frequency resources.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to wireless devices, and more particularly, to apparatus, systems and methods for a cellular base station to configure cellular side link resources in a flexible manner.

[0002] Related technical description

[0003] The use of wireless communication systems is growing rapidly. One proposed use of wireless communication is in vehicular applications, particularly in V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything) systems. V2X systems allow communication between vehicles (e.g., via communication devices housed in or otherwise carried by the vehicle), pedestrian UEs (including UEs carried by other persons such as cyclists, etc.), and other wireless communication devices for various purposes such as for coordinating traffic activities, facilitating autonomous driving, and performing collision avoidance.

[0004] V2X communications have the potential to become a source of wireless communications with increasing demand and a wide range of expected applications, which may bring various design and development challenges. Therefore, improvements are needed to support such development and design areas.

[0005] In addition to V2X communications, there is an increasingly wide range of desired device complexities, capabilities, traffic patterns, and other characteristics associated with wireless communications, including in the area of ​​device-to-device communications. Accordingly, it is desirable to identify and provide improved support for a wide range of desired wireless communication characteristics, possibly including providing improved support for device-to-device communication techniques. Accordingly, improvements in the art are desired. Summary of the invention

[0006] Embodiments of an apparatus, system, and method for configuring cellular side link resources in a flexible manner are presented herein.

[0007] According to the techniques described herein, a cellular base station can select a resource pool for cellular side link communications and can provide cellular side link configuration information indicating the selected resource pool to one or more wireless devices. The resources included in the resource pool can be flexibly selected, possibly including selecting non-contiguous frequency resources.

[0008] The cellular base station may also select a resource unit configuration for the cellular side link resource pool. The resource unit configuration may include configuring a "super resource unit" that aggregates multiple frequency subchannels and / or time slots, which may include non-contiguous time and / or frequency resources. For example, if applicable, the cellular side link configuration information provided to the wireless device may also indicate a super resource unit configuration for the cellular side link resource pool.

[0009] Additionally, it may be possible that the cellular base station may configure the cellular side link control channel in a flexible manner for use in conjunction with the cellular side link resource pool. For example, the cellular base station may select a cellular side link control channel configuration that allows the use of non-contiguous frequency resources, resources from multiple time slots, and / or resources from multiple frequency subchannels to transmit the cellular side link control channel. According to at least some embodiments, the cellular side link configuration information provided to the wireless device may also indicate a cellular side link control channel configuration for the cellular side link resource pool.

[0010] It should be noted that the techniques described herein may be implemented in and / or used with a number of different types of devices, including but not limited to base stations, access points, mobile phones, portable media players, tablet computers, accessories and / or wearable devices, unmanned aerial vehicles, unmanned flight controllers, automobiles and / or motor vehicles, and various other computing devices.

[0011] This disclosure is intended to provide a brief overview of some of the topics described in this document. Therefore, it should be understood that the above features are only examples and should not be construed as narrowing the scope or essence of the topics described herein in any way. Other features, aspects and advantages of the topics described herein will become apparent through the following detailed description, drawings and claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] A better understanding of the present subject matter may be obtained when the following detailed description of various embodiments is considered in conjunction with the following drawings, in which:

[0013] Figure 1 An exemplary vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication system is shown according to some embodiments;

[0014] Figure 2 illustrates a base station in communication with a user equipment (UE) device according to some embodiments;

[0015] Figure 3 is an exemplary block diagram of a UE according to some embodiments;

[0016] Figure 4 is an exemplary block diagram of a base station according to some embodiments;

[0017] Figures 5 and 6 is a flow chart illustrating aspects of an exemplary technique for performing sidelink communications with flexible resource configuration in a wireless communication system according to some embodiments;

[0018] Figure 7 illustrates aspects of an exemplary possible resource pool configuration for cellular sidelink communications according to some embodiments;

[0019] Figure 8 illustrates aspects of cellular sidelink communications with exemplary possible sidelink control channel designs according to some embodiments;

[0020] Figures 9 to 11 illustrates aspects of exemplary possible techniques for configuring resource pools for non-contiguous cellular sidelink communications in the frequency domain according to some embodiments; and

[0021] Figures 12 to 16 Aspects of various possible sidelink control channel resource configurations are shown according to some embodiments.

[0022] Although the features described herein are susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and described in detail herein. However, it should be understood that the drawings and detailed description thereof are not intended to limit this document to the specific forms disclosed, but on the contrary, their purpose is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives that fall within the spirit and scope of the subject matter as defined by the appended claims. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] the term

[0024] The following is a glossary of terms used in this disclosure:

[0025] Memory medium - any of various types of non-transitory memory devices or storage devices. The term "memory medium" is intended to include installation media, such as CD-ROM, floppy disk or tape devices; computer system memory or random access memory such as DRAM, DDR RAM, SRAM, EDO RAM, Rambus RAM, etc.; non-volatile memory such as flash memory, magnetic media, for example, hard disk drive or optical storage device; registers or other similar types of memory elements, etc. The memory medium may also include other types of non-transitory memory or a combination thereof. In addition, the memory medium may be located in the first computer system executing the program, or may be located in a different second computer system connected to the first computer system via a network such as the Internet. In the latter case, the second computer system may provide program instructions to the first computer for execution. The term "memory medium" may include two or more memory media that may reside in different locations in different computer systems connected, for example, via a network. The memory medium may store program instructions (e.g., in the form of a computer program) that may be executed by one or more processors.

[0026] Programmable hardware element - includes various hardware devices that include multiple programmable function blocks connected via programmable interconnects. Examples include FPGA (field programmable gate array), PLD (programmable logic device), FPOA (field programmable object array), and CPLD (complex PLD). Programmable function blocks can vary from fine-grained (combinational logic unit or lookup table) to coarse-grained (arithmetic logic unit or processor core). Programmable hardware elements may also be referred to as "configurable logic units".

[0027] Computer System—Any of various types of computing or processing systems, including a personal computer system (PC), a mainframe computer system, a workstation, a network appliance, an Internet appliance, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a television system, a grid computing system, or other devices or combinations of devices. In general, the term "computer system" can be broadly defined to encompass any device (or combination of devices) having at least one processor that executes instructions from a memory medium.

[0028] User Equipment - as used herein, generally refers in the context of a V2X system to equipment associated with movable participants or traffic participants in the V2X system, i.e., movable (capable of moving) communication devices such as vehicles and pedestrian user equipment (PUE) devices, rather than infrastructure equipment such as base stations, roadside units (RSUs) and servers.

[0029] Infrastructure equipment - as used herein, may generally refer in the context of a V2X system to certain devices in a V2X system that are not user equipment and are not carried by traffic participants (i.e., pedestrians, vehicles, or other mobile users) but facilitate user equipment to participate in the V2X network. Infrastructure equipment includes base stations and roadside units (RSUs).

[0030] User Equipment (UE) (or "UE device") - any of various types of computer systems or devices that are mobile or portable and that perform wireless communications. Examples of UE devices include mobile phones or smart phones (e.g., iPhone TM , based on Android TM phones), portable gaming devices (e.g., Nintendo DS TM , PlayStation Portable TM 、Gameboy Advance TM , iPhone TM), laptops, wearable devices (e.g., smart watches, smart glasses), PDAs, portable Internet devices, music players, data storage devices or other handheld devices, cars and / or motor vehicles, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) (e.g., drones), UAV controllers (UAVs), etc. In general, the term "UE" or "UE device" can be broadly defined to cover any electronic device, computing device, and / or telecommunication device (or a combination of these devices) that is easily transportable by a user and capable of wireless communication.

[0031] Pedestrian UE (PUE) devices—User Equipment (UE) devices considered in the context of V2X systems that may be worn or carried by a variety of persons, including not only pedestrians in the strict sense of persons walking near roads, but also certain other peripheral or secondary participants or potential participants in traffic environments. These include stationary persons, persons not in vehicles and who may not necessarily be near traffic or roads, persons jogging, running, skating, etc., or persons in vehicles (such as bicycles, scooters, or certain motor vehicles) that may not substantially support the power capabilities of a UE.

[0032] Base Station—The term “base station” has the full breadth of its ordinary meaning and includes at least a wireless communication station that is installed at a fixed location and used to communicate as part of a wireless telephone system or radio system.

[0033] Processing element (or processor) - refers to various elements or combinations of elements that are capable of performing functions in a device such as user equipment or cellular network equipment. Processing elements include, for example, processors and associated memory, portions or circuits of various processor cores, entire processor cores, separate processors, circuits such as ASICs (application specific integrated circuits), programmable hardware elements such as field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and any of the above various combinations.

[0034] Channel - a medium used to transmit information from a sender (transmitter) to a receiver. It should be noted that since the characteristics of the term "channel" may vary according to different wireless protocols, the term "channel" used in the present invention may be considered to be used in a manner that conforms to the standards of the type of device to which the term is used. In some standards, the channel width may be variable (e.g., depending on device capabilities, frequency band conditions, etc.). For example, LTE may support scalable channel bandwidths of 1.4MHz to 20MHz. In contrast, a WLAN channel may be 22MHz wide, while a Bluetooth channel may be 1Mhz wide. Other protocols and standards may include different definitions of channels. In addition, some standards may define and use multiple types of channels, such as different channels for uplink or downlink and / or different channels for different purposes such as data, control information, etc.

[0035] Configured to - Various components may be described as being "configured to" perform one or more tasks. In such environments, "configured to" is a broad statement that generally means "having a structure" that performs one or more tasks during operation. Thus, a component can be configured to perform a task even when the component is not currently performing the task (e.g., a set of electrical conductors can be configured to electrically connect a module to another module even when the two modules are not connected). In some contexts, "configured to" can be a broad statement that generally means "having a structure" that performs one or more tasks during operation. Thus, the component can be configured to perform a task even when the component is not currently turned on. Typically, the circuitry that forms the structure corresponding to "configured to" may include hardware circuitry.

[0036] For ease of description, various components may be described as performing one or more tasks. Such descriptions should be interpreted as including the phrase "configured to". The description of a component being configured to perform one or more tasks is expressly intended to not invoke the interpretation of the sixth paragraph of Section 112 of Title 35 of the United States Code on that component.

[0037] Figure 1 -V2X communication system

[0038] Figure 1 An exemplary vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication system is shown according to some embodiments. Note that Figure 1 The system is only one example of possible systems, and features of the present disclosure may be implemented in any of a variety of systems as desired.

[0039] A vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication system may be characterized as a network in which vehicles, UEs, and / or other devices and network entities exchange communications to coordinate traffic activity and other possible purposes. V2X communications include communications transmitted between vehicles (e.g., wireless devices or communication devices that form part of or are contained in or otherwise carried by a vehicle) and various other devices. V2X communications include vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P) communications, vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communications, vehicle-to-network (V2N) communications, and vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications, as well as communications between vehicles and other possible network entities or devices. V2X communications may also refer to communications between other non-vehicle devices participating in a V2X network to share V2X-related information.

[0040] V2X communications may, for example, follow the 3GPP Cellular V2X (C-V2X) specification, or follow one or more other or subsequent standards, whereby vehicles and other devices and network entities may communicate. V2X communications may utilize both long range (e.g., cellular) communications and short to medium range (e.g., non-cellular) communications. V2X communications with cellular capabilities may be referred to as cellular V2X (C-V2X) communications. C-V2X systems may use various cellular radio access technologies (RATs), such as 4G LTE or 5G NRRAT. Certain LTE standards available in V2X systems may be referred to as LTE-Vehicle (LTE-V) standards.

[0041] As shown, the exemplary V2X system includes multiple user devices. As used herein in the context of a V2X system, "user device" may generally refer to a device associated with a mobile participant or traffic participant in the V2X system, i.e., a movable (capable of moving) communication device such as a vehicle and a pedestrian user equipment (PUE) device. User devices in the exemplary V2X system include PUE 104A and 104B and vehicles 106A and 106B.

[0042] The vehicle 106 may constitute various types of vehicles. For example, the vehicle 106A may be a road vehicle or automobile, a public transportation vehicle, or another type of vehicle. The vehicle 106 may perform wireless communications in various ways. For example, the vehicle 106A may include a communication device that is part of the vehicle or housed in the vehicle, or may communicate through a wireless communication device currently contained in the vehicle or otherwise carried by the vehicle, such as a user equipment (UE) device (e.g., a smart phone or similar device) carried or worn by the driver, passenger, or other person on the vehicle, as well as other possibilities. For simplicity, the term "vehicle" as used herein may include wireless communication equipment that represents the vehicle and performs its communications. Therefore, for example, when the vehicle 106A is referred to as performing wireless communications, it should be understood that, more specifically, certain wireless communication equipment associated with and carried by the vehicle 106A is performing the wireless communications.

[0043] Pedestrian UE (PUE) 104 may constitute various types of user equipment (UE) devices, i.e., portable devices capable of wireless communication, such as smart phones, smart watches, etc., and may be associated with various types of users. Therefore, PUE 104 is a UE and may be referred to as a UE or UE device. Note that while UE 104 may be referred to as PUE (pedestrian UE), they may not necessarily be carried by a person actively walking near a road or street. PUE may refer to a UE participating in a V2X system, which is carried by a stationary person, carried by a walking or running person, or carried by a person on a vehicle (such as a bicycle, scooter, or certain motor vehicles) that may not substantially support the power capabilities of the device. Please also note that not all UE participating in a V2X system are necessarily PUEs.

[0044] The user equipment is capable of communicating using multiple wireless communication standards. For example, in addition to at least one cellular communication protocol (e.g., GSM, UMTS, LTE, LTE-A, LTE-V, HSPA, 3GPP2 CDMA2000, 5G NR, etc.), the UE 104A can be configured to communicate using wireless networking (e.g., Wi-Fi) and / or peer-to-peer wireless communication protocols (e.g., Bluetooth, Wi-Fi peer-to-peer, etc.). If desired, the UE 104A may also or alternatively be configured to communicate using one or more global navigation satellite systems (GNSS, such as GPS or GLONASS), one or more mobile television broadcast standards (e.g., ATSC-M / H), and / or any other wireless communication protocols. Other combinations of wireless communication standards (including more than two wireless communication standards) are also possible.

[0045] As shown, some user devices may be able to communicate directly with each other, that is, without intermediate infrastructure equipment such as base station 102A or RSU 110A. As shown, vehicle 106A can directly perform V2X-related communications with vehicle 106B. Similarly, vehicle 106B can directly perform V2X-related communications with PUE 104B. In the case of some LTE implementation schemes, this peer-to-peer communication can utilize a "side link" interface such as a PC5 interface. In some LTE implementation schemes, the PC5 interface supports direct cellular communications between user devices (e.g., between vehicles 106), while the Uu interface supports cellular communications with infrastructure equipment such as base stations. The LTE PC5 / Uu interface is used only as an example, and PC5 as used herein may represent various other possible wireless communication technologies that allow direct side link communications between user devices, while Uu may represent cellular communications performed between user devices and infrastructure equipment such as base stations. For example, at least according to some implementation schemes, NR V2X side link communication technology may also be used to perform device-to-device communications. It is also noted that some user equipment in a V2X system (such as PUE 104A as one possibility) may not be able to perform sidelink communications, for example, because they lack certain hardware required to perform such communications.

[0046] As shown in the figure, the exemplary V2X system includes a plurality of infrastructure devices in addition to the above-mentioned user equipment. As used herein, "infrastructure devices" in the context of the V2X system refer to certain devices in the V2X system that are not user equipment and are not carried by traffic participants (i.e., pedestrians, vehicles, or other mobile users), but facilitate user equipment to participate in the V2X network. The infrastructure devices in the exemplary V2X system include a base station 102A and a roadside unit (RSU) 110A.

[0047] Base station (BS) 102A may be a base transceiver station (BTS) or a cell site ("cellular base station") and may include hardware capable of wirelessly communicating with user equipment (eg, with user equipment 104A and 106A).

[0048] The communication area (or coverage area) of a base station may be referred to as a "cell" or "coverage area". The base station 102A and user equipment such as PUE 104A may be configured to communicate over a transmission medium using any of a variety of radio access technologies (RATs), which are also referred to as wireless communication technologies or telecommunication standards, such as GSM, UMTS, LTE, Advanced LTE (LTE-A), LTE-Vehicle (LTE-V), HSPA, 3GPP2 CDMA2000, 5G NR, and the like. Note that if the base station 102A is implemented in the context of LTE, it may alternatively be referred to as an "eNodeB" or eNB. Note that if the base station 102A is implemented in the context of NR, it may alternatively be referred to as a "gNodeB" or gNB.

[0049] As shown, the base station 102A may also be equipped to communicate with the network 100 (e.g., in various possibilities, the V2X network, as well as the core network of a cellular service provider, a telecommunications network such as a public switched telephone network (PSTN), and / or the Internet). Thus, the base station 102A may facilitate communications between user devices and / or between user devices and the network 100. The cellular base station 102A may provide user devices such as UE 104A with various communication capabilities such as voice, SMS, and / or data services. Specifically, the base station 102A may provide access to the V2X network to connected user devices such as UE 104A and vehicle 106A.

[0050] Thus, although base station 102A may act as a "serving cell" for user equipment 104A and 106A, Figure 1 , but user devices 104B and 106B are capable of communicating with base station 102A. The user devices shown, namely user devices 104A, 104B, 106A, and 106B, may also be capable of receiving signals from (and may be within communication range of) one or more other cells (which may be provided by base stations 102B-N and / or any other base stations), such cells may be referred to as "neighboring cells." Such cells may also be capable of facilitating communications between user devices and / or between user devices and network 100. Such cells may include "macro" cells, "micro" cells, "pico" cells, and / or cells of any various other granularity of service area size. For example, in Figure 1 The base stations 102A-102B shown in FIG. 1 may be macro cells, while the base station 102N may be a micro cell. Other configurations are also possible.

[0051] A roadside unit (RSU) 110A constitutes another infrastructure device that may be used to provide certain user devices with access to the V2X network. The RSU 110A may be one of various types of devices, such as a base station, e.g., a transceiver station (BTS) or a cell site ("cell site"), or another type of device that includes hardware capable of wirelessly communicating with user devices and facilitating their participation in the V2X network.

[0052] The RSU 110A may be configured to communicate using one or more wireless networking communication protocols (e.g., Wi-Fi), cellular communication protocols (e.g., LTE, LTE-V, etc.), and / or other wireless communication protocols. In some embodiments, the RSU 110A may be able to communicate with the device using a "sidelink" technology such as LTE PC5 or NR V2X sidelink communication technology.

[0053] The RSU 110A may communicate directly with user devices such as vehicles 106A and 106B as shown. The RSU 110A may also communicate with the base station 102A. In some cases, the RSU 110A may provide access to the base station 102A to certain user devices (e.g., vehicle 106B). Although the RSU 110A is shown as communicating with the vehicle 106, it may also (or otherwise) be able to communicate with the PUE 104. Similarly, the RSU 110A may not necessarily forward user device communications to the base station 102A. In some embodiments, the RSU 110A may constitute the base station itself, and / or may forward communications to the server 120.

[0054] As shown, server 120 constitutes a network entity of the V2X system and may be referred to as a cloud server. Base station 102A and / or RSU 110A may relay certain V2X-related communications between user devices 104 and 106 and server 120. Server 120 may be used to process certain information collected from multiple user devices and may manage V2X communications to user devices in order to coordinate traffic activities. In various other embodiments of the V2X system, various functions of cloud server 120 may be performed by infrastructure equipment such as base station 102A or RSU 110A, performed by one or more user devices, and / or not performed at all.

[0055] Figure 2 - Communication between UE and base station

[0056] Figure 2 1 and 2. Figure 1 A user equipment (UE) device 104 (e.g., a base station 102A) in communication Figure 1UE 104 may be a device with cellular communication capabilities, such as a mobile phone, a tablet or any other type of handheld device, a smart watch or other wearable device, a media player, a computer, a laptop, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), an unmanned air controller (UAC), a vehicle, or virtually any type of wireless device.

[0057] UE 104 may include a processor (processing element) configured to execute program instructions stored in a memory. UE 104 may perform any of the method implementations described in the present invention by executing such stored instructions. Alternatively or in addition, UE 104 may include a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (field programmable gate array), an integrated circuit, and / or any of various other possible hardware components configured to perform (e.g., individually or in combination) any of the method implementations described herein or any part of any of the method implementations described herein.

[0058] UE 104 may include one or more antennas for communicating using one or more wireless communication protocols or technologies. In some embodiments, UE 104 may be configured to communicate using, for example, CDMA2000 (1xRTT / 1xEV-DO / HRPD / eHRPD) or LTE using a single shared radio component and / or GSM or LTE using a single shared radio component. The shared radio may be coupled to a single antenna, or may be coupled to multiple antennas (e.g., for MIMO) for performing wireless communications. Typically, the radio component may include any combination of a baseband processor, an analog radio frequency (RF) signal processing circuit (e.g., including filters, mixers, oscillators, amplifiers, etc.), or a digital processing circuit (e.g., for digital modulation and other digital processing). Similarly, the radio component may use the aforementioned hardware to implement one or more receive chains and transmit chains. For example, UE 104 may share one or more parts of a receive chain and / or transmit chain between multiple wireless communication technologies such as those discussed above.

[0059] In some embodiments, UE 104 may include a separate transmit chain and / or receive chain (e.g., including separate antennas and other radio components) for each wireless communication protocol configured to communicate with it. As another possibility, UE 104 may include one or more radio components shared between multiple wireless communication protocols, and one or more radio components used uniquely by a single wireless communication protocol. For example, UE 104 may include a shared radio component for communicating using either LTE or 5GNR (or, in various possibilities, either LTE or 1xRTT, or either LTE or GSM), and an independent radio component for communicating using each of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Other configurations are also possible.

[0060] Figure 3 -UE Block Diagram

[0061] Figure 3 An exemplary block diagram of a UE 104 according to some embodiments is shown. As shown, the UE 104 may include a system on chip (SOC) 300, which may include parts for various purposes. For example, as shown, the SOC 300 may include a processor 302 that can execute program instructions for the UE 104, and a display circuit 304 that can perform graphics processing and provide display signals to a display 360. One or more processors 302 may also be coupled to a memory management unit (MMU) 340 (the MMU may be configured to receive addresses from one or more processors 302 and convert those addresses into locations in a memory (e.g., a memory 306, a read-only memory (ROM) 350, a NAND flash memory 310), and / or coupled to other circuits or devices (such as a display circuit 304, a wireless communication circuit 330, a connector I / F 320, and / or a display 360). The MMU 340 may be configured to perform memory protection and page table conversion or setup. In some embodiments, the MMU 340 may be included as part of the processor 302.

[0062] As shown, the SOC 300 may be coupled to various other circuits of the UE 104. For example, the UE 104 may include various types of memory (e.g., including NAND flash memory 310), a connector interface 320 (e.g., for coupling to a computer system, a docking station, a charging station, etc.), a display 360, and wireless communication circuits 330 (e.g., for LTE, LTE-A, LTE-V, 5GNR, CDMA2000, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS, etc.). The UE may also include at least one SIM device, and may include two SIM devices, each SIM device providing a corresponding International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) and associated functionality.

[0063] As shown, the UE device 104 may include at least one antenna (and in various possibilities, multiple antennas, such as for MIMO and / or for implementing different wireless communication technologies) for performing wireless communications with base stations, access points, and / or other devices. For example, the UE device 104 may use antenna 335 to perform wireless communications.

[0064] UE 104 may also include and / or be configured for use with one or more user interface elements. User interface elements may include various elements such as display 360 (which may be a touch screen display), a keyboard (which may be a separate keyboard or may be implemented as part of a touch screen display), a mouse, a microphone and / or speakers, one or more cameras, one or more buttons, and / or any of a variety of other elements capable of providing information to a user and / or receiving or interpreting user input.

[0065] As described herein, UE 104 may include hardware and software components for implementing features such as those described herein for performing sidelink communications in a wireless communication system using flexible resource configuration to enhance coverage. The processor 302 of UE device 104 may be configured to implement part or all of the methods described herein, for example, by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transient computer-readable memory medium). In other embodiments, the processor 302 may be configured as a programmable hardware element such as an FPGA (field programmable gate array), or as an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit). Alternatively (or in addition thereto), in combination with one or more of other components 300, 304, 306, 310, 320, 330, 335, 340, 350, 360, the processor 302 of UE device 104 may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein, such as the features described herein.

[0066] Figure 4 -Block diagram of a base station

[0067] Figure 4 A base station 102 (eg, Figure 1 102A in FIG. 102B . Note that Figure 4 The base station of is only one example of a possible base station. As shown, the base station 102 may include a processor 404 that may execute program instructions for the base station 102. The processor 404 may also be coupled to a memory management unit (MMU) 440 or other circuit or device, which may be configured to receive addresses from the processor 404 and convert these addresses to locations in memory (e.g., memory 460 and read-only memory (ROM) 450).

[0068] The base station 102 may include at least one network port 470. The network port 470 may be configured to couple to a telephone network and provide access to the telephone network for a plurality of devices, such as the UE device 104.

[0069] The network port 470 (or an additional network port) may also or alternatively be configured to couple to a cellular network, such as a core network of a cellular service provider. The core network may provide mobility-related services and / or other services to multiple devices, such as the UE device 104. In some cases, the network port 470 may be coupled to a telephone network via the core network, and / or the core network may provide a telephone network (e.g., in other UE devices served by the cellular service provider).

[0070] The base station 102 may include at least one antenna 434 and possibly multiple antennas. The at least one antenna 434 may be configured to function as a wireless transceiver and may be further configured to communicate with the UE device 104 via the radio component 430. The antenna 434 communicates with the radio component 430 via a communication chain 432. The communication chain 432 may be a receive chain, a transmit chain, or both. The radio component 430 may be configured to communicate via various wireless communication standards, including but not limited to LTE, LTE-A, LTE-V, GSM, UMTS, CDMA2000, 5G NR, Wi-Fi, etc.

[0071] Base station 102 may be configured to communicate wirelessly using multiple wireless communication standards. In some cases, base station 102 may include multiple radios that enable base station 102 to communicate according to multiple wireless communication technologies. For example, as one possibility, base station 102 may include an LTE radio for performing communications according to LTE and a Wi-Fi radio for performing communications according to Wi-Fi. In such cases, base station 102 may be capable of operating as both an LTE base station and a Wi-Fi access point. As another possibility, base station 102 may include a multimode radio component capable of performing communications according to any of multiple wireless communication technologies (e.g., LTE and NR, LTE and Wi-Fi, LTE and UMTS, LTE and CDMA2000, UMTS and GSM, etc.).

[0072] As further described later herein, BS 102 may include hardware and software components for implementing or supporting a specific implementation of the features described herein. The processor 404 of base station 102 may be configured to implement or support a specific implementation of part or all of the methods described herein, for example, by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively, processor 404 may be configured as a programmable hardware element such as an FPGA (field programmable gate array), or as an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) or a combination thereof. Alternatively (or in addition thereto), in combination with one or more of other components 430, component 432, component 434, component 440, component 450, component 460, component 470, the processor 404 of base station 102 may be configured to implement or support a specific implementation of part or all of the features described herein.

[0073] Figure 5 -Cellular side link communication

[0074] In wireless communications, especially cellular wireless communications, sidelink communications refer to a special type of communication mechanism between devices that is not carried by a base station such as an eNB / gNB. In other words, the devices communicate with each other without communication through a base station. In a sense, it can be said that these devices communicate directly with each other. However, the adaptation of such communications requires a new physical layer design.

[0075] Many recent studies have identified technical solutions that require sidelink designs, such as those in 5G-NR, to meet the requirements of advanced V2X services, including support for sidelink unicast, sidelink multicast, and sidelink broadcast. Many specific use cases for advanced V2X services have been identified, such as vehicle platooning, extended sensors, advanced driving, and remote driving.

[0076] In LTE V2X, broadcast sidelink communications are supported, where sidelink connection maintenance is performed by using keep-alive messages transmitted between upper layers (e.g., application layer, non-access layer, etc.) of wireless devices in the communication. For example, in addition to broadcast sidelink communications, NR V2X also supports unicast and multicast sidelink communications.

[0077] In order to support such V2X side link communications and / or other cellular side link communications, various communication channels (e.g., control channels, data channels) may need to be provided. Therefore, various possible technologies for supporting cellular side link communications are proposed herein, including technologies for flexible resource configuration for coverage enhancement. These may include technologies for flexible side link resource pool configuration, technologies for flexible side link resource unit configuration, technologies for flexible side link control channel resource configuration, and various other technologies.

[0078] Figures 5 and 6 is a flow chart illustrating exemplary aspects of this technique according to at least some embodiments. Figures 5 and 6 Aspects of the method may be implemented by a cellular base station (such as base station 102, RSU 110, etc.), a wireless device (such as PUE 104, vehicle 106, etc.), any of the various other possible wireless devices shown in the various figures herein, and / or more generally, in combination with any of the computer circuit systems, systems, devices, elements or components shown in the above figures as needed. For example, the processor (and / or other hardware) of such a device may be configured to cause the device to perform any combination of the method elements shown and / or other method elements.

[0079] In various embodiments, some of the elements of the method shown may be performed simultaneously in an order different from that shown, may be replaced by other method elements, or may be omitted. Additional elements may also be performed as needed. As shown in the figure, Figure 5 The method can be operated as follows.

[0080] In 502, the cellular base station may select a cellular side link resource pool. The cellular side link resource pool may include a set of time-frequency resources allocated for wireless devices to perform cellular side link transmission and / or reception, such as for 3GPP NR V2X side link communications, and / or for any of a variety of other purposes. Selecting the cellular side link resource pool may include selecting a resource unit granularity for the cellular side link resource pool. For example, the cellular side link resource pool may be divided into a set of frequency subchannels, each frequency subchannel may include a certain number of physical resource blocks (PRBs), and the cellular base station may determine these physical resource blocks (e.g., based on a set of supported subchannel sizes) as part of the cellular side link resource pool selection. It is possible that one frequency subchannel of a time slot (e.g., as defined in accordance with 3GPP NR, at least as a possibility) may be considered to be one resource unit (RU) of the cellular side link resource pool.

[0081] According to some embodiments, the cellular base station may also configure one or more "super resource units" (SRUs) for the cellular side link resource pool. Such SRUs may include multiple "regular" RUs; for example, each SRU may include multiple subchannels in the frequency domain, and / or multiple time slots in the time domain. The subchannels and / or time slots of the SRU may be continuous or non-contiguous.

[0082] At least in some cases, the time-frequency resources of the cellular side link resource pool selected by the cellular base station may include non-contiguous frequency resources. Providing support for such flexible resource allocation for the cellular side link resource pool can achieve more efficient spectrum usage, and / or can help support increased frequency diversity in cellular side link communications performed using the cellular side link resource pool. This may be particularly useful for wireless devices in poor coverage situations, for example, when coverage enhancement features may be desired to increase the reliability of communications between those devices, among various other possible situations.

[0083] The cellular base station may also select a control channel configuration for the cellular side link resource pool. At least according to some embodiments, the cellular base station may be able to select a control channel configuration in a flexible manner, for example, which may include providing control channel resources that are non-contiguous in the frequency domain, allocated across multiple frequency subchannels, and / or allocated across multiple time slots. Such flexible configuration possibilities can be used for control channel configuration in conjunction with the SRU (e.g., where the control channel resources for each SRU are non-contiguous in the frequency domain, allocated across multiple frequency subchannels of the SRU, and / or allocated across multiple time slots of the SRU), or independent of any SRU configuration (e.g., even for RUs that are not aggregated into an SRU).

[0084] At least in some cases, if non-contiguous frequency resources are allocated for the cellular side link control channel, it may be that, for the set of frequency resources for which the cellular side link control channel is provided, these resources are separated in frequency as much as possible. For example, if non-contiguous frequency resources are allocated for the cellular side link control channel within a subchannel, those frequency resources may include the lowest index PRB and the highest index PRB of the subchannel. If non-contiguous frequency resources are allocated for the cellular side link control channel spanning multiple subchannels, these frequency resources may include the lowest index PRB of the lowest index subchannel and the highest index PRB of the highest index subchannel. At least according to some embodiments, this approach can increase the frequency diversity of the cellular side link control channel transmission. Note that other configurations of non-contiguous frequency resources for the cellular side link control channel are also possible.

[0085] Note that if timeslot aggregation is used with respect to the cellular side link control channel configuration, then at least in some embodiments, automatic gain control symbols and / or one or more of the gap and guard symbols may not be included between the aggregated timeslots. It may be the case that the cellular side link control channel in each such RU is independently encoded and the cellular side link control channel is repeated in each RU of the timeslot aggregation. Additionally or alternatively, in some cases, a window may be defined for such cellular side link control channel repetitions, for example, to reduce the wireless device assumption testing burden for the cellular side link control channel. For example, within a certain configuration window of a certain number of timeslots, it may be the case that a maximum number of RUs or SRUs configured (which may be less than the number of timeslots in the window) are used for cellular side link control channel repetitions.

[0086] Additionally, note that, in at least some embodiments, it may be the case that if the sidelink control channel resources are configured to have a duration (e.g., number of symbols or time slots) above a certain threshold, the wireless device expects to use cross-slot scheduling (e.g., rather than same-slot scheduling). For example, it may be the case that a wireless device receiving a cellular sidelink control channel transmission that is restricted for cross-slot scheduling may expect a time offset of sufficient duration between the control information and the data communications scheduled by the control information to support decoding of the control information. As a result, it may be the case that such a wireless device does not need to cache data channel resources in the same time slot as the cellular sidelink control channel transmission. Therefore, at least in some cases, such restrictions may be introduced to reduce buffering requirements for wireless devices receiving such cellular sidelink control channel transmissions.

[0087] In 504, the cellular base station may provide cellular side link configuration information to the wireless device. Among various possible configuration information, the cellular side link configuration information may include cellular side link resource pool configuration information and / or cellular side link control channel configuration information. The cellular side link configuration information may be provided in any of a variety of ways, including (but not limited to) in broadcast system information (e.g., system information blocks or SIBs), in dedicated radio resource control (RRC) signaling, using a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), and / or using any or all of these combinations.

[0088] At least according to some embodiments, the cellular side link resource pool configuration information may include an indication of a selected cellular side link resource pool (e.g., which may include non-contiguous frequency resources). In some cases, one or more bitmaps may be used to indicate the cellular side link resource pool frequency resources, for example, to indicate which frequency subchannels in a set of multiple frequency subchannels are included in the cellular side link resource pool. As one such possibility, each bit of the bitmap may be used to indicate whether the corresponding frequency subchannel is included in the cellular side link resource pool. As another possibility, each bit of the bitmap may be used to indicate whether a corresponding segment of multiple frequency subchannels is included in the cellular side link resource pool. As yet another possibility, multiple bitmaps may be used, wherein each bit of the first bitmap may be used to indicate whether at least one subchannel of a corresponding segment of multiple frequency subchannels is included in the cellular side link resource pool, and the second bitmap configures which frequency resources of each segment are included in the cellular side link resource pool.

[0089] In some cases, the cellular side link resource pool configuration information may also include information indicating the SRU configuration, for example, if applicable. Such information may indicate, for example, the size of each SRU, whether the subchannels of each SRU are continuous, and / or how to use any remaining subchannels that are not suitable for the SRU configuration. If the subchannels of the SRU are non-continuous, a bitmap-based method may be used to indicate which subchannels are configured for the SRU. For example, each bit of the bitmap may be used to indicate whether the corresponding frequency subchannel is included in the SRU, or each bit of the bitmap may be used to indicate whether the corresponding segment of multiple frequency subchannels is included in the SRU. As another example, multiple bitmaps may be used, wherein each bit of the first bitmap may be used to indicate whether at least one subchannel of the corresponding segment of multiple frequency subchannels is included in the SRU, and the second bitmap configures which frequency resources of each segment are included in the SRU. A similar method may be used to indicate which time slots are configured for the SRU. For example, each bit of the bitmap may be used to indicate whether the corresponding time slot is included in the SRU, or each bit of the bitmap may be used to indicate whether the corresponding segment of multiple time slots is included in the SRU. As another example, multiple bitmaps may be used, where each bit of the first bitmap may be used to indicate whether at least one time slot of a corresponding segment of multiple frequency time slots is included in the SRU, and the second bitmap configures which time slots of each segment are included in the SRU.

[0090] In some cases, the cellular side link control channel configuration information may include information indicating a control channel configuration selected by the cellular base station. For example, the cellular side link control channel configuration information may include information indicating whether the cellular side link control channel resources are non-contiguous in the frequency domain, allocated across multiple frequency subchannels, and / or allocated across multiple time slots, and / or any of various other possible types of cellular side link control channel configuration information.

[0091] As shown in the figure, Figure 6 The method can be operated as follows.

[0092] In 602, the wireless device may receive cellular side link configuration information. Among various possible configuration information, the cellular side link configuration information may include cellular side link resource pool configuration information and / or cellular side link control channel configuration information. The cellular side link configuration information may be received from a cellular base station. For example, the cellular base station may have been configured based on Figure 5 The cellular side link configuration parameters are selected and provided in a manner of a method or in any of a variety of other possible ways. The cellular side link configuration information may be received in any of a variety of ways, including (but not limited to) in broadcast system information (e.g., system information blocks or SIBs), in dedicated radio resource control (RRC) signaling, using a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), and / or using any or all of these combinations.

[0093] As another possibility, among various possibilities, some or all of the cellular side link configuration information may be pre-configured by an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of the wireless device or a chipset vendor of a chipset used by the wireless device, for example, in a subscriber identity module (SIM) of the wireless device. For example, the OEM or chipset vendor may provide resource configurations for unlicensed spectrum. This may allow the wireless device to perform cellular side link communications with similarly configured devices (e.g., in a configured unlicensed spectrum) when out of cellular network coverage, according to at least some embodiments.

[0094] At least according to some embodiments, the cellular side link resource pool configuration information may include an indication of a cellular side link resource pool, which may include non-contiguous frequency resources. In some cases, one or more bitmaps may be used to indicate the cellular side link resource pool frequency resources, for example, to indicate which frequency subchannels in a set of multiple frequency subchannels are included in the cellular side link resource pool. As one such possibility, each bit of the bitmap may be used to indicate whether the corresponding frequency subchannel is included in the cellular side link resource pool. As another possibility, each bit of the bitmap may be used to indicate whether a corresponding segment of multiple frequency subchannels is included in the cellular side link resource pool. As yet another possibility, multiple bitmaps may be used, wherein each bit of the first bitmap may be used to indicate whether at least one subchannel of a corresponding segment of multiple frequency subchannels is included in the cellular side link resource pool, and the second bitmap configures which frequency resources of each segment are included in the cellular side link resource pool.

[0095] In some cases, the cellular side link resource pool configuration information may also include information indicating the SRU configuration, for example, if applicable. Such information may indicate, for example, the size of each SRU, whether the subchannels of each SRU are continuous, and / or how to use any remaining subchannels that are not suitable for the SRU configuration. If the subchannels of the SRU are non-continuous, a bitmap-based method may be used to indicate which subchannels are configured for the SRU. For example, each bit of the bitmap may be used to indicate whether the corresponding frequency subchannel is included in the SRU, or each bit of the bitmap may be used to indicate whether the corresponding segment of multiple frequency subchannels is included in the SRU. As another example, multiple bitmaps may be used, wherein each bit of the first bitmap may be used to indicate whether at least one subchannel of the corresponding segment of multiple frequency subchannels is included in the SRU, and the second bitmap configures which frequency resources of each segment are included in the SRU. A similar method may be used to indicate which time slots are configured for the SRU. For example, each bit of the bitmap may be used to indicate whether the corresponding time slot is included in the SRU, or each bit of the bitmap may be used to indicate whether the corresponding segment of multiple time slots is included in the SRU. As another example, multiple bitmaps may be used, where each bit of the first bitmap may be used to indicate whether at least one time slot of a corresponding segment of multiple frequency time slots is included in the SRU, and the second bitmap configures which time slots of each segment are included in the SRU.

[0096] In some cases, the cellular side link control channel configuration information may include information indicating a control channel configuration selected by the cellular base station. For example, the cellular side link control channel configuration information may include information indicating whether the cellular side link control channel resources are non-contiguous in the frequency domain, allocated across multiple frequency subchannels, and / or allocated across multiple time slots, and / or any of various other possible types of cellular side link control channel configuration information.

[0097] At 604, the wireless device may perform sidelink communications with another wireless device based on the cellular side link configuration information. This may include transmitting and / or receiving signals using resources included in the allocated cellular side link resource pool. This may also include transmitting and / or receiving (e.g., using blind decoding) cellular side link control channel transmissions that include resources that are non-contiguous in the frequency domain, allocated across multiple frequency subchannels, and / or allocated across multiple time slots.

[0098] As previously described, at least in some cases, if non-contiguous frequency resources are allocated for the cellular side link control channel, it may be the case that, for the set of frequency resources for which the cellular side link control channel is provided, these resources are separated in frequency as much as possible. For example, if non-contiguous frequency resources are allocated for the cellular side link control channel within a subchannel, those frequency resources may include the lowest index PRB and the highest index PRB of the subchannel. Similarly, if non-contiguous frequency resources are allocated for the cellular side link control channel spanning multiple subchannels, then at least in some cases, these frequency resources may include the lowest index PRB of the lowest index subchannel and the highest index PRB of the highest index subchannel.

[0099] As compared to Figure 5 Similarly as noted in the method, if time slot aggregation is used with respect to the cellular side link control channel configuration, then at least in some embodiments, automatic gain control symbols and / or one or more of the gaps and guard symbols may not be included between the aggregated time slots. It may be the case that the cellular side link control channel in each such RU is independently encoded and the cellular side link control channel is repeated in each RU of the time slot aggregation. Additionally or alternatively, in some cases, a window may be defined for such cellular side link control channel repetitions, for example, to reduce the wireless device assumption testing burden for the cellular side link control channel. For example, within a certain configuration window of a certain number of time slots, it may be the case that a maximum number of RUs or SRUs configured (which may be less than the number of time slots in the window) are used for cellular side link control channel repetitions.

[0100] Additionally, in at least some embodiments, it may be the case that if the sidelink control channel resources are configured to have a duration (e.g., number of symbols or time slots) above a certain threshold, the wireless device uses cross-slot scheduling (e.g., rather than same-slot scheduling). For example, it may be the case that a wireless device receiving a cellular sidelink control channel transmission that is restricted for cross-slot scheduling may expect a time offset of sufficient duration between the control information and the data communications scheduled by the control information to support decoding of the control information. As a result, it may be the case that such a wireless device does not need to cache data channel resources in the same time slot as the cellular sidelink control channel transmission. Therefore, as previously described, in at least some cases, such restrictions may be introduced to reduce buffering requirements for wireless devices receiving such cellular sidelink control channel transmissions.

[0101] Therefore, you can use Figures 5 and 6Methods (e.g., independently or in combination with each other) to support flexible cellular side link resource pools, resource units and / or control channel resource configurations. These techniques may be useful in poor coverage situations, for example, because they may provide the possibility of increased frequency diversity and / or lower coding rates by allowing the use of non-contiguous frequency resources and / or aggregating multiple resource units into larger super resource units, among various other possible situations, at least according to some embodiments.

[0102] Figures 7 to 16 and additional information

[0103] Figures 7 to 16 Shows if necessary Figures 5 and 6 However, it should be noted that Figures 7 to 16 Shown in and about Figures 7 to 16 The exemplary details described are not intended to limit the disclosure as a whole: many variations and alternatives to the details provided below are possible and should be considered within the scope of the disclosure.

[0104] To support 3GPP NR V2X sidelink communications, it may be the case that, among various possibilities, a resource pool for such communications may be configured, for example, by a cellular base station or using a pre-configuration mechanism (e.g., allocated by an operator, user information included in a user identity module) for use when out of coverage of a cellular base station. The V2X sidelink resource pool may include a set of time-frequency resources allocated (exclusively or non-exclusively) for sidelink transmission and / or reception. Figure 7 Various aspects of one such possible resource pool configuration according to some embodiments are shown, for example, including possible time and frequency unit naming and usage. As shown, in the example shown, the frequency domain can be divided into subchannels, each subchannel can include a set of consecutive physical resource blocks (PRBs), supporting any of a variety of subchannel sizes (e.g., {10, 15, 20, 25, 50, 75, 100} PRBs, as a possibility). It is possible that a single subchannel size value is (pre)configured for the resource pool, and all subchannels in the resource pool have the same number of PRBs. In the time domain, the granularity of the resource unit can be a 3GPP NR time slot. It is possible that non-continuous time resources can be configured in a resource pool; for example, such non-continuous time resources can be (pre)configured with a bitmap.

[0105] In the example shown, a group of time-frequency resources spanning one subchannel and one time slot may be referred to as a resource unit (RU). Each RU may include other sub-names of time-frequency resources (e.g., each symbol and PRB), which may carry various communication channels and / or serve various other purposes for sidelink communications. For example, in Figure 7In the case of , the first symbol in the time domain can be used to support automatic gain control, and the last symbol in the time domain can be used as a gap symbol, for example, to support switching the communication configuration of the wireless device when the wireless device uses half-duplex communication. In addition, for symbols 1 to 12, the lowest frequency PRB can be used to carry the physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH), and the remaining PRBs can be used to carry the physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH). Note that Figure 7 The configuration shown in is provided by way of example and is not intended to be limiting; many other resource pool and / or resource unit configurations are possible, including the various alternative configurations described herein.

[0106] Figure 8 Possible aspects of an exemplary PSCCH design within a V2X sidelink resource unit according to some embodiments are further shown. As shown, in the example shown, the PSCCH may start in the time domain from the second symbol in the slot and may last for 2 or 3 symbols, for example, by (pre)configuration. In the frequency domain, the PSCCH may occupy several consecutive PRBs, with a potential candidate PRBS number of {10, 12, 15, 20, 25} consecutive PRBs within a subchannel, where the lowest PRB of the PSCCH is the same as the lowest PRB of the corresponding PSSCH.

[0107] According to at least some embodiments, the PSCCH may include sidelink control information (SCI) level 1, which may include information indicating priority (e.g., 3 bits), PSSCH frequency and time resource allocation, resource reservation period (e.g., 0 bits-4 bits), demodulation reference symbol (DMRS) mode (if more than 1 mode is configured), SCI level 2 format, beta_offset indicator, number of DMRS ports (e.g., 1 bit), modulation and coding scheme (MCS) table (e.g., 0 bits-2 bits) and MCS (e.g., 5 bits), and possibly one or more reserved resources, at least as one possibility. In other embodiments, any number of additional and / or alternative types and / or amounts of information may be included in the PSCCH.

[0108] In at least some embodiments, the set of possible resource pools, resource units, and / or PSCCH design configurations is expanded to include Figures 7 and 8 For example, when operating in poor coverage situations, it may be beneficial to provide the possibility of more flexible resource pool, resource unit and / or PSCCH design configurations, which may potentially support greater transmit / receive diversity advantages, and / or support lower coding rates that may potentially increase the reliability and / or robustness of sidelink communications.

[0109] As one such possibility, flexible NR sidelink resource pool configuration may be supported such that the resource pool may be configured in a non-contiguous manner in the frequency domain. Figures 9 to 11 Aspects of various such possible methods of resource pool configuration are shown.

[0110] In each of the illustrated scenarios, one or more bitmaps may be used to configure the (possibly non-contiguous) frequency domain resource allocation. Fig. 9 In the illustrated scenario, the basic unit in the frequency domain may be a subchannel, and the bitmap may be configured such that for N subchannels, an N-bit bitmap is used to configure the frequency domain resources of the resource pool. Thus, in the illustrated scenario, a bitmap of {1, 0, 01} may be used to indicate that subchannels 0 and 3 are part of the resource pool while subchannels 1 and 2 are not.

[0111] exist Fig.10 In the illustrated scenario, the basic unit in the frequency domain may be a subchannel, and the bitmap may be configured such that for N subchannels, M segments are defined where each segment contains K consecutive subchannels (e.g., such that N=M*K). An M-bit bitmap may be used to configure the frequency domain resources of a resource pool, where for each bit that is 1, a corresponding K consecutive subchannels are configured. Thus, in the illustrated scenario, M=K=2, and a bitmap of {1,0} may be used to indicate that subchannels 0 and 1 are part of the resource pool while subchannels 2 and 3 are not. This approach may be more efficient than, at least in some cases, Fig. 9 The approach incurs less signaling overhead, possibly at the expense of reduced flexibility in configuring resource pools.

[0112] exist Fig.11 In the illustrated scenario, the basic unit in the frequency domain may be a subchannel, and the bitmap may be configured such that for N subchannels, M segments are defined such that each segment contains K consecutive subchannels (e.g., such that N=M*K). An M-bit bitmap may be used to configure the frequency domain resources of a resource pool, and a separate K-bit bitmap is used to configure each segment of the frequency domain resources, such that a subchannel is configured if and only if the corresponding bits in the two bitmaps are equal to 1. Thus, in the illustrated scenario, M=K=2, and an M-bit bitmap of {1,1} and a K-bit bitmap of {1,0} may be used to indicate that subchannels 0 and 2 are part of the resource pool and subchannels 1 and 3 are not. In at least some aspects, this approach may represent a method for configuring a resource pool with respect to a resource pool having a plurality of subchannels. Figures 9 and 10 An intermediate approach to the situation, for example, Fig. 9 Compared with the method of Fig.10 Compared with the method of , it has more signaling overhead, but the flexibility of configuring resource pools is also higher.

[0113] As described above, flexible resource unit configurations for NR sidelink communication can also be supported. For example, in addition to defining a basic "resource unit" consisting of a subchannel and a time slot block of time-frequency resources, larger resource units (e.g., "super resource units" or SRUs) can be configured for the NR sidelink resource pool. In at least some cases, such an SRU can include multiple subchannels (which can be consecutive or non-consecutive) in the frequency domain and / or multiple time slots (which can be consecutive or non-consecutive) in the time domain.

[0114] For example, it is possible that a cellular base station can configure (e.g., using RRC signaling) a set of N (where N>1) consecutive subchannels for each SRU. In the case where there are multiple remaining subchannels M at the spectral edge configured for NR sidelink communication, where M<N, it is possible that no SRU is defined for the remaining subchannels, or an SRU is defined for these M subchannels, or "regular" RUs are used for the remaining subchannels, e.g., such that each subchannel corresponds to an SRU of these M subchannels. As another example, it is possible that a cellular base station can configure a set of non-consecutive subchannels for each SRU, e.g., using Fig. 9 techniques such as any one of 11 to configure the frequency subchannels included in each SRU.

[0115] A similar approach can be used to configure one SRU or a set of SRUs in the time domain. For example, an SRU can be configured with multiple consecutive time slots in the time domain, with N (where N>1) consecutive time slots for each SRU. As another example, the time slots can be non-consecutive, and the following bitmaps can be used for scheduling: a "long" bitmap, which can include an N-bit bitmap, where each bit indicates whether a time slot is included in the SRU; a "short" bitmap, which can include an M-bit bitmap, where each bit indicates whether a segment of K consecutive time slots is included in the SRU (e.g., such that N = M*K); or an alternative "short" bitmap, which can include an M-bit bitmap, where each bit corresponds to a segment of K consecutive time slots (e.g., such that N = M*K), and another K-bit bitmap is used to configure the time slots within the segment.

[0116] Similarly as described above, flexible PSCCH resource configurations for NR sidelink communication can be supported. Such flexible PSCCH resource configurations can include allowing consecutive and non-consecutive PRB allocations, and / or allowing in-subchannel and cross-subchannel PRB allocations.

[0117] Figures 12 to 16 Shows various possible PSCCH configurations different from the Figure 8 exemplary configuration shown. In the Fig.12 example shown, a narrower PSCCH resource allocation (e.g., {1, 2, 4, 6, 8} consecutive PRBs) can be used. In the Fig.13In the example shown, non-contiguous PSCCH resource allocation within a subchannel may be used. Fig.14 In the examples shown, non-continuous PSCCH resource allocations across subchannels may be used. In each of these examples, as shown, the PSCCH resource allocations may be kept within the first 2-3 symbols of the slot (e.g., after the AGC symbol). In contrast, in Fig.15 In the example shown, longer duration PSCCH resource allocations (e.g., {4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12} symbols within a slot) may be used to provide more flexible resource allocation in the time domain. Fig.16 In the example shown, longer duration PSCCH resource allocations, including PSCCH slot aggregation where a single PSCCH can span more than 1 consecutive slot, can be used to provide more flexible resource allocation in the time domain. In this case, it is possible that the number of aggregated slots can be configured by RRC or changed by a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE). As a possibility, the starting slot can be the first slot in the system frame number (SFN) = 0. In slot aggregation, it is possible that gaps and guard symbols are not required.

[0118] As another possibility, PSCCH slot aggregation is possible, where a single PSCCH instance can span more than 1 non-contiguous slot. In this case, it is possible that each resource unit requires gaps and guard symbols. The PSCCH in each resource unit can be encoded independently. It is possible that the PSCCH is repeated in each resource unit. Windows can be defined for PSCCH repetitions, for example, at least in some cases, to reduce the amount of UE hypothesis testing required to perform blind decoding. For example, within a window of L consecutive slots, up to N (where N≤L) RUs or SRUs can be configured for PSCCH repetition.

[0119] In some cases, when such PSCCH slot aggregation is configured, it may be the case that the UE may be expected to have cross-slot scheduling, for example, such that the timing offset between the scheduled PSCCH communication and the PSSCH communication scheduled by the PSCCH communication is large enough that the UE can decode the PSCCH before the start of the PSSCH. Among various possibilities, such restrictions may be enabled under certain conditions, such as when the number of slots in the slot aggregation configuration is greater than a certain threshold, and / or when non-contiguous slot aggregation is configured and the window length is greater than a certain threshold.

[0120] In the following, further exemplary embodiments are provided.

[0121] A set of embodiments may include a device comprising: a processor configured to enable a cellular base station to: select a cellular side link resource pool, wherein the cellular side link resource pool includes non-contiguous frequency resources; and provide cellular side link resource pool configuration information to a wireless device, wherein the cellular side link resource pool configuration information configures the cellular side link resource pool including non-contiguous frequency resources.

[0122] According to some embodiments, the cellular side link resource pool configuration information includes a bitmap, wherein each bit of the bitmap indicates whether a corresponding frequency subchannel is included in the cellular side link resource pool.

[0123] According to some embodiments, the cellular side link resource pool configuration information includes a bitmap, wherein each bit of the bitmap indicates whether a corresponding segment of a plurality of frequency subchannels is included in the cellular side link resource pool.

[0124] According to some embodiments, the cellular side link resource pool configuration information also includes a second bitmap, wherein the second bitmap configures which frequency resources of each segment are included in the cellular side link resource pool.

[0125] According to some embodiments, the processor is further configured to enable the cellular base station to: select a resource unit configuration for the cellular side link resource pool, wherein selecting the resource unit configuration includes: selecting the number of physical resource blocks (PRBs) included in each frequency subchannel of the cellular side link resource pool, wherein selecting the resource unit configuration also includes selecting the number of frequency subchannels and the number of time slots included in each super resource unit (SRU) of the cellular side link resource pool, wherein the cellular side link resource pool configuration information includes information indicating the selected resource unit configuration for the cellular side link resource pool.

[0126] According to some embodiments, one or more of the frequency sub-channels or the time slots included in at least one SRU of the cellular side link resource pool are continuous.

[0127] According to some embodiments, one or more of the frequency sub-channels or the time slots included in at least one SRU of the cellular side link resource pool are non-contiguous.

[0128] According to some embodiments, the processor is further configured to enable the cellular base station to: select a control channel configuration for the cellular side link resource pool, wherein the cellular side link resource pool configuration information includes information indicating the selected control channel configuration for the cellular side link resource pool, wherein according to the control channel configuration for the cellular side link resource pool, the control channel resources are one or more of the following: non-contiguous in the frequency domain; allocated across multiple frequency subchannels; or allocated across multiple time slots.

[0129] Another set of embodiments may include a cellular base station, comprising: at least one antenna, the at least one antenna being used to perform wireless communications; a radio component, the radio component being coupled to the at least one antenna; and a processor, the processor being coupled to the radio component; wherein the cellular base station is configured to: select a cellular side link resource pool, wherein the cellular side link resource pool includes non-contiguous frequency resources; and provide cellular side link resource pool configuration information to a wireless device, wherein the cellular side link resource pool configuration information configures the cellular side link resource pool including non-contiguous frequency resources.

[0130] According to some embodiments, the cellular side link resource pool configuration information includes one or more bitmaps configured to indicate which frequency subchannels of a plurality of frequency subchannels are included in the cellular side link resource pool.

[0131] According to some embodiments, the cellular base station is further configured to: select a control channel configuration for the cellular side link resource pool, wherein the cellular side link resource pool configuration information includes information indicating the selected control channel configuration for the cellular side link resource pool.

[0132] According to some embodiments, according to the control channel configuration for the cellular side link resource pool, control channel resources are non-contiguous in the frequency domain.

[0133] According to some embodiments, control channel resources are allocated across multiple frequency sub-channels according to the control channel configuration for the cellular side link resource pool.

[0134] According to some embodiments, control channel resources are allocated across multiple time slots based on the control channel configuration for the cellular side link resource pool.

[0135] Another set of implementation schemes may include a method, comprising: by a cellular base station: selecting a cellular side link resource pool, wherein the cellular side link resource pool includes non-contiguous frequency resources; and providing cellular side link resource pool configuration information to a wireless device, wherein the cellular side link resource pool configuration information configures the cellular side link resource pool including non-contiguous frequency resources.

[0136] According to some embodiments, the cellular side link resource pool configuration information includes one or more bitmaps configured to indicate which frequency subchannels of a plurality of frequency subchannels are included in the cellular side link resource pool.

[0137] According to some embodiments, the method also includes: selecting a resource unit configuration for the cellular side link resource pool, wherein selecting the resource unit configuration includes: selecting the number of physical resource blocks (PRBs) included in each frequency subchannel of the cellular side link resource pool, wherein selecting the resource unit configuration also includes selecting the number of frequency subchannels and the number of time slots included in each super resource unit (SRU) of the cellular side link resource pool, wherein the cellular side link resource pool configuration information includes information indicating the selected resource unit configuration for the cellular side link resource pool.

[0138] According to some embodiments, one or more of the frequency sub-channels or the time slots included in at least one SRU of the cellular side link resource pool are non-contiguous.

[0139] According to some embodiments, the cellular base station is further configured to: select a control channel configuration for the SRU of the cellular side link resource pool, wherein the cellular side link resource pool configuration information includes information indicating the selected control channel configuration for the cellular side link resource pool, wherein according to the control channel configuration of the SRU for the cellular side link resource pool, the control channel resources used for each SRU are one or more of the following: non-contiguous in the frequency domain; allocated across multiple frequency subchannels; or allocated across multiple time slots.

[0140] According to some embodiments, the cellular side link resource pool is a 3GPP NR V2X side link resource pool.

[0141] Another group of embodiments may include a device comprising: a processor, wherein the processor is configured to enable a first wireless device to: receive cellular side link resource pool configuration information, wherein the cellular side link resource pool configuration information configures a cellular side link resource pool including non-continuous frequency resources; and perform cellular side link communication with a second wireless device using the cellular side link resource pool including non-continuous frequency resources.

[0142] According to some embodiments, the cellular side link resource pool configuration information includes a bitmap, wherein each bit of the bitmap indicates whether a corresponding frequency subchannel is included in the cellular side link resource pool.

[0143] According to some embodiments, the cellular side link resource pool configuration information includes a bitmap, wherein each bit of the bitmap indicates whether a corresponding segment of a plurality of frequency subchannels is included in the cellular side link resource pool.

[0144] According to some embodiments, the cellular side link resource pool configuration information also includes a second bitmap, wherein the second bitmap configures which frequency resources of each segment are included in the cellular side link resource pool.

[0145] According to some embodiments, the cellular side link resource pool configuration information also indicates a resource unit configuration for the cellular side link resource pool, wherein the resource unit configuration includes the number of physical resource blocks (PRBs) included in each frequency subchannel of the cellular side link resource pool, wherein the resource unit configuration also includes the number of frequency subchannels and the number of time slots included in each super resource unit (SRU) of the cellular side link resource pool.

[0146] According to some embodiments, one or more of the frequency sub-channels or the time slots included in at least one SRU of the cellular side link resource pool are continuous.

[0147] According to some embodiments, one or more of the frequency sub-channels or the time slots included in at least one SRU of the cellular side link resource pool are non-contiguous.

[0148] According to some embodiments, the cellular side link resource pool configuration information also indicates a control channel configuration for the cellular side link resource pool, wherein according to the control channel configuration, the control channel resources are one or more of the following: non-continuous in the frequency domain; allocated across multiple frequency subchannels; allocated across multiple time slots.

[0149] Another set of embodiments may include a first wireless device comprising: at least one antenna for performing wireless communications; a radio component coupled to the at least one antenna; and a processor coupled to the radio component; wherein the first wireless device is configured to: receive cellular side link resource pool configuration information, wherein the cellular side link resource pool configuration information configures a cellular side link resource pool including non-contiguous frequency resources; and perform cellular side link communication with a second wireless device using the cellular side link resource pool including non-contiguous frequency resources.

[0150] According to some embodiments, the cellular side link resource pool configuration information includes one or more bitmaps configured to indicate which frequency subchannels of a plurality of frequency subchannels are included in the cellular side link resource pool.

[0151] According to some embodiments, the cellular side link resource pool configuration information also indicates a control channel configuration for the cellular side link resource pool.

[0152] According to some embodiments, according to the control channel configuration for the cellular side link resource pool, control channel resources are non-contiguous in the frequency domain.

[0153] According to some embodiments, control channel resources are allocated across multiple frequency sub-channels according to the control channel configuration for the cellular side link resource pool.

[0154] According to some embodiments, control channel resources are allocated across multiple time slots based on the control channel configuration for the cellular side link resource pool.

[0155] Another group of embodiments may include a method, comprising: by a first wireless device: receiving cellular side link resource pool configuration information, wherein the cellular side link resource pool configuration information configures a cellular side link resource pool including non-continuous frequency resources; and using the cellular side link resource pool including non-continuous frequency resources to perform cellular side link communication with a second wireless device.

[0156] According to some embodiments, the cellular side link resource pool configuration information includes one or more bitmaps configured to indicate which frequency subchannels of a plurality of frequency subchannels are included in the cellular side link resource pool.

[0157] According to some embodiments, the cellular side link resource pool configuration information also indicates a resource unit configuration for the cellular side link resource pool, wherein the resource unit configuration includes the number of physical resource blocks (PRBs) included in each frequency subchannel of the cellular side link resource pool, wherein the resource unit configuration also includes the number of frequency subchannels and the number of time slots included in each super resource unit (SRU) of the cellular side link resource pool.

[0158] According to some embodiments, one or more of the frequency sub-channels or the time slots included in at least one SRU of the cellular side link resource pool are non-contiguous.

[0159] According to some embodiments, the cellular side link resource pool configuration information also indicates a control channel configuration of the SRU used for the cellular side link resource pool, wherein according to the control channel configuration of the SRU used for the cellular side link resource pool, the control channel resources used for each SRU are one or more of the following: non-continuous in the frequency domain; allocated across multiple frequency subchannels; allocated across multiple time slots.

[0160] According to some embodiments, the cellular side link resource pool is a 3GPP NR V2X side link resource pool.

[0161] Yet another example embodiment may include a method comprising: performing, by a wireless device, any or all of the foregoing examples.

[0162] Another example embodiment may include a device comprising: an antenna; a radio coupled to the antenna; and a processor operably coupled to the radio, wherein the device is configured to implement any or all of the foregoing examples.

[0163] Another exemplary set of embodiments may include a non-transitory computer-accessible storage medium including program instructions that, when executed at a device, cause the device to implement any or all portions of any of the foregoing examples.

[0164] Another exemplary set of embodiments may include a computer program comprising instructions for performing any or all portions of any of the foregoing examples.

[0165] Another exemplary set of embodiments may include an apparatus including means for performing any or all of the elements of any of the preceding examples.

[0166]

[0013] Yet another set of exemplary embodiments may include an apparatus comprising a processor configured to cause the device to perform any or all elements of any of the foregoing examples.

[0167] 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.

[0168] The embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in any of a variety of forms. For example, some embodiments may be implemented as computer-implemented methods, computer-readable storage media, or computer systems. Other embodiments may be implemented using one or more custom-designed hardware devices such as ASICs. Other embodiments may be implemented using one or more programmable hardware elements such as FPGAs.

[0169] In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium may be configured such that it stores program instructions and / or data, wherein if the program instructions are executed by a computer system, the computer system is caused to perform a method, such as any one of the method embodiments described herein, or any combination of the method embodiments described herein, or any subset of any method embodiments described herein, or any combination of such subsets.

[0170] In some embodiments, a device (e.g., UE 104) may be configured to include a processor (or a group of processors) and a memory medium, wherein the memory medium stores program instructions, wherein the processor is configured to read and execute the program instructions from the memory medium, wherein the program instructions are executable to implement any of the various method implementations described herein (or any combination of the method implementations described herein, or any subset of any of the method implementations described herein, or any combination of such subsets). The device may be implemented in any of various forms.

[0171] 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. An apparatus for configuring cellular side link resources in a flexible manner, comprising: A processor configured to cause the cellular base station to: Selecting a resource unit configuration for a cellular side link resource pool, comprising selecting the number of physical resource blocks (PRBs) included in each frequency subchannel of the cellular side link resource pool and selecting the number of frequency subchannels and the number of time slots included in each super resource unit (SRU) of the cellular side link resource pool, wherein each SRU comprises a plurality of subchannels in the frequency domain and / or a plurality of time slots in the time domain; selecting the cellular side link resource pool, wherein the cellular side link resource pool includes non-contiguous frequency resources; and Cellular side link resource pool configuration information is provided to a wireless device, wherein the cellular side link resource pool configuration information configures the cellular side link resource pool including non-contiguous frequency resources, and wherein the cellular side link resource pool configuration information includes information indicating a resource unit configuration selected for the cellular side link resource pool.

2. The device according to claim 1, The cellular side link resource pool configuration information includes a bitmap, wherein each bit of the bitmap indicates whether a corresponding frequency subchannel is included in the cellular side link resource pool.

3. The device according to claim 1, The cellular side link resource pool configuration information includes a bitmap, wherein each bit of the bitmap indicates whether a corresponding segment of a plurality of frequency subchannels is included in the cellular side link resource pool.

4. The device according to claim 3, The cellular side link resource pool configuration information further includes a second bitmap, wherein the second bitmap configures which frequency resources of each segment are included in the cellular side link resource pool.

5. The device according to claim 1, One or more of the frequency sub-channels or the time slots included in at least one SRU in the cellular side link resource pool are continuous.

6. The device according to claim 1, One or more of the frequency sub-channels or the time slots included in at least one SRU in the cellular side link resource pool are non-contiguous.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the cellular base station to: A control channel configuration for the cellular side link resource pool is selected, wherein the cellular side link resource pool configuration information includes information indicating the selected control channel configuration for the cellular side link resource pool, wherein according to the control channel configuration for the cellular side link resource pool, the control channel resource is one or more of the following situations: non-continuous in the frequency domain; allocated across multiple frequency sub-channels; or Allocated across multiple time slots.

8. A cellular base station, comprising: at least one antenna, the at least one antenna configured to perform wireless communication; a radio component coupled to the at least one antenna; and a processor coupled to the radio; The cellular base station is configured as follows: Selecting a resource unit configuration for a cellular side link resource pool, comprising selecting the number of physical resource blocks (PRBs) included in each frequency subchannel of the cellular side link resource pool and selecting the number of frequency subchannels and the number of time slots included in each super resource unit (SRU) of the cellular side link resource pool, wherein each SRU comprises a plurality of subchannels in the frequency domain and / or a plurality of time slots in the time domain; selecting the cellular side link resource pool, wherein the cellular side link resource pool includes non-contiguous frequency resources; and Cellular side link resource pool configuration information is provided to a wireless device, wherein the cellular side link resource pool configuration information configures the cellular side link resource pool including non-contiguous frequency resources, and wherein the cellular side link resource pool configuration information includes information indicating a resource unit configuration selected for the cellular side link resource pool.

9. The cellular base station according to claim 8, The cellular side link resource pool configuration information includes one or more bitmaps configured to indicate which frequency subchannels among a plurality of frequency subchannels are included in the cellular side link resource pool.

10. The cellular base station according to claim 8, wherein the cellular base station is further configured to: A control channel configuration for the cellular side link resource pool is selected, wherein the cellular side link resource pool configuration information includes information indicating the selected control channel configuration for the cellular side link resource pool.

11. The cellular base station according to claim 10, According to the control channel configuration for the cellular side link resource pool, control channel resources are non-continuous in the frequency domain.

12. The cellular base station according to claim 10, Wherein according to the control channel configuration for the cellular side link resource pool, control channel resources are allocated across multiple frequency sub-channels.

13. The cellular base station according to claim 10, Wherein according to the control channel configuration for the cellular side link resource pool, control channel resources are allocated across multiple time slots.

14. A method for configuring cellular side link resources in a flexible manner, comprising: By cellular base station: Selecting a resource unit configuration for a cellular side link resource pool, comprising selecting the number of physical resource blocks (PRBs) included in each frequency subchannel of the cellular side link resource pool and selecting the number of frequency subchannels and the number of time slots included in each super resource unit (SRU) of the cellular side link resource pool, wherein each SRU comprises a plurality of subchannels in the frequency domain and / or a plurality of time slots in the time domain; selecting the cellular side link resource pool, wherein the cellular side link resource pool includes non-contiguous frequency resources; and Cellular side link resource pool configuration information is provided to a wireless device, wherein the cellular side link resource pool configuration information configures the cellular side link resource pool including non-contiguous frequency resources, and wherein the cellular side link resource pool configuration information includes information indicating a resource unit configuration selected for the cellular side link resource pool.

15. The method according to claim 14, The cellular side link resource pool configuration information includes one or more bitmaps configured to indicate which frequency subchannels among a plurality of frequency subchannels are included in the cellular side link resource pool.

16. The method according to claim 14, One or more of the frequency sub-channels or the time slots included in at least one SRU in the cellular side link resource pool are non-contiguous.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the cellular base station is further configured to: selecting a control channel configuration for the SRU of the cellular side link resource pool, wherein the cellular side link resource pool configuration information includes information indicating the selected control channel configuration for the cellular side link resource pool, According to the control channel configuration of the SRU for the cellular side link resource pool, the control channel resources for each SRU are one or more of the following: non-continuous in the frequency domain; allocated across multiple frequency sub-channels; or Allocated across multiple time slots.

18. The method according to claim 14, The cellular side link resource pool is a 3GPP NR side link resource pool.

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