Cellular sidelink communications using a sidelink control channel with frequency hopping and multi-beam diversity

Abstract

Embodiments of a processor, system, and method for performing cellular sidelink communications using a sidelink control channel with frequency hopping and multi-beam diversity are provided herein. A first wireless device may receive cellular sidelink control channel configuration information. The cellular sidelink control channel configuration information may indicate a cellular sidelink control channel configuration including one or more of frequency hopping or multi-beam diversity. The first wireless device may use the cellular sidelink control channel configuration including one or more of frequency hopping or multi-beam diversity to perform cellular sidelink communications with a second wireless device.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to wireless devices, and more particularly, to apparatus, systems, and methods for wireless devices to perform cellular sidelink communications using a sidelink control channel with frequency hopping and multi-beam diversity.

[0002] Related technical description

[0003] The use of wireless communication systems is rapidly growing. One proposed use of wireless communication is in vehicular applications, particularly in V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything) systems. V2X systems allow for 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), and other wireless communication devices for various purposes, such as coordinating traffic movements, 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 anticipated applications, which can present various design and development challenges. Therefore, improvements are needed in areas that support such development and design.

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

[0006] Embodiments of a processor, system, and method for performing cellular sidelink communications using a sidelink control channel with frequency hopping and multi-beam diversity in a wireless communication system are presented herein.

[0007] According to the techniques described herein, a wireless device (e.g., a baseband processor of the wireless device) may receive cellular-side link control channel configuration information indicating a cellular-side link control channel configuration, for example, from a cellular base station or in another manner. The cellular-side link control channel configuration may support the use of one or both of frequency hopping or multi-beam diversity for cellular-side link control channel transmissions. According to various embodiments, frequency hopping and / or multi-beam diversity may be configured for use within a cellular-side link resource unit, across cellular-side link resource units, or both.

[0008] The wireless device may perform cellular side link communication with another wireless device based on the cellular side link control channel configuration information. This may include, for example, performing cellular side link control channel transmissions using either or both frequency hopping or multi-beam diversity. Additionally or alternatively, this may include receiving cellular side link control channel transmissions using either or both frequency hopping or multi-beam diversity.

[0009] In at least some embodiments, the use of frequency hopping and multi-beam diversity techniques to perform cellular side link control channel transmissions can help improve the robustness and reliability of such cellular side link control channel transmissions. Therefore, these techniques can be useful in situations where coverage enhancement is desired, such as when two wireless devices performing cellular side link communications are nearing the limits of their communication ranges, as is the case with various possible scenarios.

[0010] Note that the techniques described herein may be implemented and / or used with several 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 summary is intended to provide a brief overview of some of the subject matter described in this document. Therefore, it should be understood that the above-described features are merely examples and should not be construed as narrowing the scope or spirit of the subject matter described herein in any way. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the subject matter described herein will become apparent from the following detailed description, accompanying 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 illustrates an exemplary vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication system according to some embodiments;

[0014] Figure 2 shows 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 6is 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 exemplary possible resource pool configurations 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 13 illustrates aspects of exemplary possible techniques for configuring a sidelink control channel with frequency hopping, according to some embodiments;

[0021] Figure 14 illustrates aspects of exemplary possible techniques for performing channel sensing when configuring a control channel comprising frequency resources in a plurality of subchannels; and

[0022] Figures 15 and 16 Aspects of example possible techniques for configuring a sidelink control channel with multi-beam diversity are shown, according to some embodiments.

[0023] While 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. It should be understood, however, that the drawings and detailed description thereof are not intended to limit this disclosure to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, are intended to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the subject matter as defined by the appended claims. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] the term

[0025] The following is a glossary of terms used in this disclosure:

[0026] 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-ROMs, floppy disks, 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, such as hard drives or optical storage devices; registers or other similar types of memory elements, etc. Memory media may also include other types of non-transitory memory or combinations 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., represented as a computer program) that can be executed by one or more processors.

[0027] Programmable hardware elements—include various hardware devices that include multiple programmable function blocks connected via programmable interconnects. Examples include FPGAs (field programmable gate arrays), PLDs (programmable logic devices), FPOAs (field programmable object arrays), and CPLDs (complex PLDs). Programmable function blocks can range from fine-grained (combinational logic units or lookup tables) to coarse-grained (arithmetic logic units or processor cores). Programmable hardware elements may also be referred to as "configurable logic units."

[0028] Computer system—any of various types of computing or processing systems, including a personal computer system (PC), mainframe computer system, workstation, network appliance, Internet appliance, personal digital assistant (PDA), television system, grid computing system, or other device or combination 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.

[0029] User Equipment—as used herein, generally refers in the context of a V2X system to devices 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.

[0030] Infrastructure equipment—As used herein, this term generally refers to certain devices in a V2X system that are not user equipment (UE) and are not carried by traffic participants (i.e., pedestrians, vehicles, or other mobile users) but facilitate user equipment participation in the V2X network. Infrastructure equipment includes base stations and roadside units (RSUs).

[0031] User Equipment (UE) (or "UE device") - any of various types of computer systems or devices that are mobile or portable and that perform wireless communication. Examples of UE devices include mobile phones or smartphones (e.g., iPhones, TM , based on Android TM phones), portable gaming devices (e.g., Nintendo DS TM PlayStation Portable TM 、Gameboy Advance TM , iPhone TM ), laptop computers, 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 combination of these devices) that is easily transportable by a user and capable of wireless communication.

[0032] Pedestrian UE (PUE) devices—User Equipment (UE) devices considered in the context of V2X systems that may be worn or carried by various persons, including not only pedestrians in the strict sense of people walking near roads, but also certain other peripheral or secondary participants or potential participants in the traffic environment. 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.

[0033] 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.

[0034] Processing element (or processor)—refers to any element or combination of elements capable of performing functions in a device such as user equipment or a cellular network device. Processing elements include, for example, a processor and associated memory, portions or circuits of individual processor cores, entire processor cores, individual processors, circuits such as ASICs (application-specific integrated circuits), programmable hardware elements such as field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and any of the above combinations.

[0035] Channel - the 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" as used in the present invention may be considered to be used in a manner that is consistent with the standard 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 1.4 MHz to 20 MHz. In contrast, a WLAN channel may be 22 MHz wide, while a Bluetooth channel may be 1 MHz 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.

[0036] Configured to—Various components may be described as being “configured to” perform one or more tasks. In such contexts, “configured to” is a broad statement that generally means “having the structure” to perform 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 the circuitry” to perform one or more tasks during operation. Thus, a component can be configured to perform a task even when the component is not currently turned on. Generally, the circuitry that forms the structure corresponding to “configured to” may include hardware circuitry.

[0037] 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." Representing a component as being configured to perform one or more tasks expressly does not invoke the sixth paragraph of section 112 of title 35 of the United States Code for that component.

[0038] Figure 1 -V2X communication system

[0039] Figure 1 An exemplary vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication system is shown in accordance with some embodiments. Note that Figure 1 The system is only one example of a possible system, and features of the present disclosure may be implemented in any of a variety of systems as desired.

[0040] A vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication system can be characterized as a network in which vehicles, UEs, and / or other devices and network entities exchange communications to coordinate traffic activities and other possible purposes. V2X communications include communications transmitted between vehicles (e.g., wireless devices or communication devices that form part of, are contained in, or are 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 can also refer to communications between other non-vehicle devices participating in the V2X network to share V2X-related information.

[0041] V2X communications may, for example, follow the 3GPP Cellular V2X (C-V2X) specification, or 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 that may be used in V2X systems may be referred to as LTE-Vehicle (LTE-V) standards.

[0042] 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 (mobile) communication device such as a vehicle and a pedestrian user equipment (PUE) device. The user devices in the exemplary V2X system include PUEs 104A and 104B and vehicles 106A and 106B.

[0043] 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 or housed in the vehicle, or may perform communications via wireless communication devices currently contained within or otherwise carried by the vehicle, such as user equipment (UE) devices (e.g., smartphones or similar devices) carried or worn by the driver, passengers, or other persons on the vehicle, among other possibilities. For simplicity, the term "vehicle," as used herein, may include wireless communication equipment that represents the vehicle and performs its communications. Thus, 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.

[0044] Pedestrian UEs (PUEs) 104 may constitute various types of user equipment (UE) devices, i.e., portable devices capable of wireless communication, such as smartphones, smartwatches, etc., and may be associated with various types of users. Thus, PUEs 104 are UEs and may be referred to as UEs or UE devices. Note that while UEs 104 may be referred to as PUEs (pedestrian UEs), they may not necessarily be carried by people actively walking near roads or streets. PUEs may refer to UEs participating in a V2X system that are carried by a stationary person, by a person walking or running, or by a person in a vehicle that may not substantially support the power capabilities of the device, such as a bicycle, scooter, or certain motor vehicles. Note also that not necessarily all UEs participating in a V2X system are PUEs.

[0045] 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 can 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.

[0046] As shown in the figure, some user devices may be able to communicate directly with each other, that is, without intermediate infrastructure equipment such as base stations 102A or RSU 110A. As shown in the figure, 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 certain LTE implementation schemes, the PC5 interface supports direct cellular communication between user devices (e.g., between vehicles 106), while the Uu interface supports cellular communication with infrastructure equipment such as base stations. The LTE PC5 / Uu interface is used only as an example, and PC5 as used herein can represent various other possible wireless communication technologies that allow direct side link communication between user devices, while Uu can represent cellular communication 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 can also be used to perform device-to-device communication. 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.

[0047] As shown, the exemplary V2X system includes multiple infrastructure devices in addition to the aforementioned user devices. As used herein, "infrastructure devices" in the context of a V2X system refer to certain devices in the V2X system that are not user devices and are not carried by traffic participants (i.e., pedestrians, vehicles, or other mobile users), but that facilitate user devices' participation in the V2X network. The infrastructure devices in the exemplary V2X system include a base station 102A and a roadside unit (RSU) 110A.

[0048] 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).

[0049] 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), also known 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.

[0050] As shown, base station 102A may also be configured to communicate with network 100 (e.g., a V2X network, as well as a cellular service provider's core network, a telecommunications network such as a public switched telephone network (PSTN), and / or the Internet, among other possibilities). Thus, base station 102A may facilitate communications between user devices and / or between user devices and network 100. 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, base station 102A may provide connected user devices, such as UE 104A and vehicle 106A, with access to the V2X network.

[0051] Thus, while base station 102A may serve as a "serving cell" for user equipment 104A and 106A, Figure 1 102A. The user devices shown, i.e., user devices 104A, 104B, 106A, and 106B, may also be able to receive 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 able to facilitate 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 other variety of granularity of service area size. For example, in Figure 1 The base stations 102A-102B shown in FIG may be macro cells, while the base station 102N may be a micro cell. Other configurations are also possible.

[0052] 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 base station"), or another type of device that includes hardware capable of wirelessly communicating with user devices and facilitating their participation in the V2X network.

[0053] 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 capable of communicating with devices using a "sidelink" technology such as LTE PC5 or NR V2X sidelink communication technology.

[0054] 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 certain user devices (e.g., vehicle 106B) with access to the base station 102A. 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.

[0055] 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 configured to process certain information collected from multiple user devices and may manage V2X communications to the user devices 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, by one or more user devices, or / and not at all.

[0056] Figure 2 – Communication between UE and base station

[0057] Figure 2 102 (e.g., Figure 1 A user equipment (UE) device 104 (e.g., a base station 102A in FIG. 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 smartwatch 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.

[0058] 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 embodiments described herein by executing such stored instructions. For example, the baseband processor of UE 104 may be configured to perform any of the various operations described herein. Alternatively or in addition, UE 104 may include programmable hardware elements, such as FPGAs (field programmable gate arrays), integrated circuits, and / or any of various other possible hardware components configured to perform (e.g., individually or in combination) any of the method embodiments described herein or any portion of any of the method embodiments described herein.

[0059] 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 and / or GSM or LTE using a single shared radio. 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 may include any combination of a baseband processor, analog radio frequency (RF) signal processing circuitry (e.g., including filters, mixers, oscillators, amplifiers, etc.), or digital processing circuitry (e.g., for digital modulation and other digital processing). Similarly, the radio may implement one or more receive chains and transmit chains using the aforementioned hardware. For example, UE 104 may share one or more portions of a receive chain and / or transmit chain between multiple wireless communication technologies such as those discussed above.

[0060] In some embodiments, the 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 with which it is configured to communicate. As another possibility, the 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, the 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 independent radio components for communicating using each of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Other configurations are also possible.

[0061] Figure 3 —UE block diagram

[0062] 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 a chip (SOC) 300, which may include components for various purposes. For example, as shown, the SOC 300 may include a processor 302 that may execute program instructions for the UE 104, and a display circuit 304 that may 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 (which may be configured to receive addresses from the one or more processors 302 and convert those addresses into locations in memory (e.g., memory 306, read-only memory (ROM) 350, NAND flash memory 310)), and / or to other circuits or devices (such as the display circuit 304, wireless communication circuitry 330, connector I / F 320, and / or display 360). The MMU 340 may be configured to perform memory protection and page table translation or setup. In some embodiments, the MMU 340 may be included as part of the processor 302.

[0063] As shown, SOC 300 may be coupled to various other circuits of UE 104. For example, 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 circuitry 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 providing a respective International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) and associated functionality.

[0064] As shown, the UE device 104 may include at least one antenna (and, in various possibilities, multiple antennas, e.g., 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.

[0065] The UE 104 may also include and / or be configured for use with one or more user interface elements. The user interface elements may include various elements such as a display 360 (which may be a touch screen display), a keyboard (which may be a separate keyboard or may be implemented as part of the 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.

[0066] As described herein, UE 104 may include hardware and software components for implementing features for performing sidelink communications using a sidelink control channel configured with frequency hopping and / or multi-beam diversity in a wireless communication system, such as those described herein. 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-transitory 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.

[0067] Figure 4 —Block diagram of a base station

[0068] Figure 4 A base station 102 (e.g., Figure 1 102A). Figure 4 The base station 102 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 that may be configured to receive addresses from the processor 404 and translate those addresses into locations in memory (e.g., memory 460 and read-only memory (ROM) 450).

[0069] 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.

[0070] 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 couple to a telephony network via the core network, and / or the core network may provide a telephony network (e.g., in other UE devices served by the cellular service provider).

[0071] 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 UE device 104 via radio 430. Antenna 434 communicates with radio 430 via communication chain 432. Communication chain 432 may be a receive chain, a transmit chain, or both. Radio 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, and the like.

[0072] 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 may 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 communicating according to LTE and a Wi-Fi radio for communicating according to Wi-Fi. In such a case, 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 capable of communicating 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.).

[0073] 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 the 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, the 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), in combination with one or more of the other components 430, 432, 434, 440, 450, 460, and 470, the processor 404 of the base station 102 may be configured to implement or support a specific implementation of part or all of the features described herein.

[0074] Figures 5 and 6 – Cellular sidelink communications using a sidelink control channel configured with frequency hopping and / or multi-beam diversity

[0075] In wireless communications, particularly cellular wireless communications, sidelink communication refers to a special type of communication mechanism between devices that is not carried through a base station, such as an eNB / gNB. In other words, devices communicate with each other without going through a base station. In a sense, these devices can be said to be communicating directly with each other. However, adapting this type of communication requires a new physical layer design.

[0076] 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.

[0077] 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 stratum, etc.) of wireless devices in the communication. For example, in addition to broadcast sidelink communications, NR V2X also supports unicast and multicast sidelink communications.

[0078] To support such V2X sidelink communications and / or other cellular sidelink communications, various communication channels (e.g., control channels, data channels) may need to be provided. Therefore, various possible techniques for supporting cellular sidelink communications are proposed herein, including techniques for performing sidelink communications using a sidelink control channel configured with frequency hopping and / or multi-beam diversity.

[0079] Figures 5 and 6is a flow chart illustrating exemplary aspects of this technique according to at least some embodiments. Figures 5 and 6 Aspects of the methods of can be implemented by cellular base stations (such as base station 102, RSU 110, etc.), wireless devices (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, as desired, in combination with any of the computer circuit systems, systems, devices, elements, or components shown in the above figures. For example, a (e.g., baseband) processor (and / or other hardware) of such a device can be configured to perform and / or cause the device to perform any combination of the illustrated method elements and / or other method elements.

[0080] 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.

[0081] At 502, a cellular base station may select a sidelink control channel configuration. According to at least some embodiments, the sidelink control channel configuration may be selected for use in conjunction with a cellular sidelink resource pool, which may include a set of time-frequency resources allocated to wireless devices for performing cellular sidelink transmissions and / or receptions. For example, the cellular sidelink resource pool may be provided for 3GPP NR V2X sidelink communications, and / or for any of a variety of other purposes.

[0082] According to some embodiments, the cellular side link resource pool can be divided into a set of frequency subchannels, each of which can include a certain number of physical resource blocks (PRBs). It is possible that one frequency subchannel of one time slot (for example, as defined according to 3GPP NR, at least as a possibility) can be considered as one resource unit (RU) of the cellular side link resource pool. In some cases, multiple such resource units can be further aggregated into one or more "super resource units" (SRUs) for the cellular side link resource pool. For example, each SRU can 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 can be continuous or non-contiguous.

[0083] The cellular side link control channel configuration of the cellular side link resource pool may include frequency hopping and / or multi-beam diversity. As one such possibility, it may be the case that the cellular side link control channel configuration includes frequency hopping within a time slot and a frequency subchannel (e.g., within an RU). For example, a wireless device performing cellular side link control channel transmission according to such a cellular side link control channel configuration may use one or more of the lowest indexed frequency resources (e.g., PRBs) of a frequency subchannel for a certain number of symbols of a time slot, and then use one or more of the highest indexed frequency resources of the frequency subchannel for a certain number of subsequent symbols of the time slot. Such frequency hopping within a time slot may occur once, or may occur multiple times.

[0084] As another possibility, it may be the case that the cellular side link control channel configuration includes frequency hopping across multiple time slots and / or frequency subchannels (e.g., across multiple RUs). For example, a wireless device performing cellular side link control channel transmissions according to such a cellular side link control channel configuration may use one or more of the lowest indexed frequency resources of a lower indexed frequency subchannel for a certain number of symbols of a time slot, and then use one or more of the highest indexed frequency resources of a higher indexed frequency subchannel for a certain number of subsequent symbols of the time slot. As another example, a wireless device performing cellular side link control channel transmissions according to such a cellular side link control channel configuration may use one or more of the lowest indexed frequency resources of a frequency subchannel for one or more time slots, and then use one or more of the highest indexed frequency resources of a frequency subchannel for one or more time slots. Note that in addition to such frequency hopping across time slots, frequency hopping within a time slot may also be configured, or frequency hopping across time slots may be configured in such a way that no frequency hopping occurs within a given time slot.

[0085] According to some embodiments, for a cellular side link control channel configuration that may include transmissions across multiple cellular side link resource units, it may be possible that the cellular side link control channel transmissions are repeated. Alternatively, it may be possible that the cellular side link control channel configuration supports cellular side link control channel transmissions that perform joint coding across multiple cellular side link resource units.

[0086] Note that, according to some embodiments, such frequency hopping across RUs may be configured within a single SRU. Alternatively, in various possibilities, such frequency hopping across RUs may be configured across SRUs and / or independently of whether the SRU is configured for a cellular side link resource pool.

[0087] According to at least some embodiments, such an approach can increase the frequency diversity of the cellular side link control channel transmission. Note that other cellular side link control channel configurations with frequency hopping are also possible.

[0088] As previously noted herein, according to some embodiments, the cellular side link control channel configuration of the cellular side link resource pool may additionally or alternatively include multi-beam diversity. Such multi-beam diversity may include using multiple beams to perform cellular side link control channel transmissions within a time slot and / or using multiple beams to perform cellular side link control channel transmissions across different time slots.

[0089] For example, a wireless device performing cellular-side link control channel transmission according to such a cellular-side link control channel configuration may use one beam for transmission for a certain number of symbols in a time slot, and then use a different beam for a certain number of subsequent symbols in the time slot. As another example, a wireless device performing cellular-side link control channel transmission according to such a cellular-side link control channel configuration may use one beam for transmission for one or more time slots, and then use a different beam for one or more other time slots. In some cases, such multi-beam diversity may also be used both within a time slot and across multiple time slots.

[0090] Furthermore, it should be noted that, at least according to some embodiments, frequency hopping and multi-beam diversity can be configured together according to a cellular side link control channel configuration. For example, a wireless device performing cellular side link control channel transmissions according to such a cellular side link control channel configuration can transmit on one or more of the lowest-indexed frequency resources using one beam for a certain number of symbols of a timeslot, and then transmit on one or more of the highest-indexed frequency resources using a different beam for a certain number of subsequent symbols of the timeslot. Other configurations are also possible.

[0091] Note that in some cases, the cellular base station may receive an indication of one or more preferred cellular side link control channel configuration parameters from the wireless device. For example, the wireless device may request that frequency hopping and / or multi-beam diversity be included in the cellular side link control channel configuration. Such a request may be based on an evaluation of the cellular side link channel conditions of the wireless device (e.g., one or more measurements indicating that the channel conditions meet certain conditions, such as signal strength and / or signal quality metrics are below a certain threshold), and / or any of a variety of other possible considerations. The indication may be provided using dedicated radio resource control (RRC) signaling (e.g., carrying UE assistance information indicating the preferred parameters of the wireless device), using a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), and / or in any of a variety of other possible ways. In such a scenario, the cellular base station may select the cellular side link control channel configuration based at least in part on the one or more preferred cellular side link control channel configuration parameters indicated by the wireless device.

[0092] The cellular base station may provide configuration information indicating the selected sidelink control channel configuration to the wireless device at 504. The cellular sidelink control channel configuration information may be provided in any of a variety of manners, including but not limited to, in broadcast system information (e.g., a system information block or SIB), in dedicated radio resource control (RRC) signaling, using a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), and / or a combination of any or all of these.

[0093] The cellular side link control channel configuration information may indicate whether the selected cellular side link control channel configuration includes frequency hopping and / or multi-beam diversity. For example, the information may indicate whether the cellular side link control channel configuration includes frequency hopping within a time slot and a frequency subchannel, whether the cellular side link control channel configuration includes frequency hopping between multiple time slots, and / or whether the cellular side link control channel configuration includes frequency hopping between multiple frequency subchannels. Similarly, the information may indicate whether the use of multiple beams is configured to perform cellular side link control channel transmission within a time slot and / or across different time slots.

[0094] As shown in the figure, Figure 6 The method can be operated as follows.

[0095] In 602, the wireless device may receive cellular side link configuration information indicating a side link control channel configuration including frequency hopping and / or multi-beam diversity. The cellular side link configuration information may be received from a cellular base station. For example, the cellular base station may have configured the cellular side link according to Figure 5 The cellular side link configuration parameters may be selected and provided in a manner such as a method or in any of a variety of other possible manners. The cellular side link configuration information may be received in any of a variety of manners, including but not limited to, in broadcast system information (e.g., a system information block or SIB), in dedicated RRC signaling, using a MAC CE, and / or a combination of any or all of these.

[0096] As another possibility, among various possibilities, some or all of the cellular side link configuration information may be pre-configured by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of the wireless device or the chipset vendor of the 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 a resource configuration 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.

[0097] According to at least some embodiments, cellular side link control channel configuration information may be provided for use in conjunction with a cellular side link resource pool, which may include a set of time-frequency resources allocated to wireless devices to perform cellular side link transmission and / or reception. According to some embodiments, 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). It is possible that one frequency subchannel of a time slot (e.g., as defined in accordance with 3GPP NR, at least as one possibility) may be considered as one resource unit (RU) of the cellular side link resource pool. In some cases, multiple such resource units may be further aggregated into one or more "super resource units" (SRUs) for the cellular side link resource pool. 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 an SRU may be continuous or non-contiguous.

[0098] According to some embodiments, the cellular side link control channel configuration information may include frequency hopping within a time slot and a frequency subchannel (e.g., within a RU). As another possibility, it may be the case that the cellular side link control channel configuration includes frequency hopping across multiple time slots and / or frequency subchannels (e.g., across multiple RUs). It is also noted that in addition to such frequency hopping across time slots, frequency hopping within a time slot may also be configured, or frequency hopping across time slots may be configured in such a way that no frequency hopping occurs within a given time slot.

[0099] According to some embodiments, the cellular side link control channel configuration may support repetition of cellular side link control channel transmissions across multiple cellular side link resource units. As another possibility, the cellular side link control channel configuration may support jointly coded cellular side link control channel transmissions across multiple cellular side link resource units.

[0100] Note that, according to some embodiments, such frequency hopping across RUs may be configured within a single SRU. Alternatively, in various possibilities, such frequency hopping across RUs may be configured across SRUs and / or independently of whether the SRU is configured for a cellular side link resource pool.

[0101] The cellular side link control channel configuration may additionally or alternatively include multi-beam diversity. Such multi-beam diversity may include using multiple beams to perform cellular side link control channel transmission within a time slot and / or using multiple beams to perform cellular side link control channel transmission across different time slots.

[0102] Additionally, it should be noted that, at least according to some embodiments, frequency hopping and multi-beam diversity may be configured together based on the cellular sidelink control channel configuration.

[0103] At 604, the wireless device may perform sidelink communications according to the cellular sidelink control channel configuration. This may include, for example, performing cellular sidelink control channel transmissions using frequency hopping and / or multi-beam diversity according to the cellular sidelink control channel configuration. Additionally or alternatively, this may include receiving cellular sidelink control channel transmissions using frequency hopping and / or multi-beam diversity.

[0104] For example, the wireless device may perform cellular side link control channel transmissions according to a cellular side link control channel configuration that includes frequency hopping within a cellular side link resource unit by using one or more of the lowest-indexed frequency resources (e.g., PRBs) of a frequency subchannel for a certain number of symbols of a time slot, and then using one or more of the highest-indexed frequency resources of the frequency subchannel for a certain number of subsequent symbols of the time slot. Such frequency hopping within a time slot may occur once or multiple times. Similarly, the wireless device may receive cellular side link control channel transmissions performed in this manner.

[0105] As another example, the wireless device may perform a cellular side link control channel transmission according to a cellular side link control channel configuration including frequency hopping across frequency subchannels by using one or more of the lowest-indexed frequency resources of a lower-indexed frequency subchannel for a certain number of symbols of a timeslot and then using one or more of the highest-indexed frequency resources of a higher-indexed frequency subchannel for a certain number of subsequent symbols of the timeslot. Similarly, the wireless device may receive a cellular side link control channel transmission performed in this manner.

[0106] As another example, the wireless device may perform a cellular side link control channel transmission according to a cellular side link control channel configuration including frequency hopping across time slots by using one or more of the lowest-indexed frequency resources of a frequency subchannel for one or more time slots and then using one or more of the highest-indexed frequency resources of the frequency subchannel for one or more time slots. Similarly, the wireless device may receive a cellular side link control channel transmission performed in this manner.

[0107] As yet another example, the wireless device may perform cellular side link control channel transmission according to a cellular side link control channel configuration including multi-beam diversity within a time slot by transmitting using one beam for a certain number of symbols of the time slot and then using a different beam for a certain number of subsequent symbols of the time slot. Similarly, the wireless device may receive cellular side link control channel transmissions performed in this manner.

[0108] As another example, a wireless device may perform cellular side link control channel transmissions according to a cellular side link control channel configuration that includes multi-beam diversity across time slots by using one beam for transmission for one or more time slots and then using a different beam for one or more other time slots. In some cases, such multi-beam diversity may also be used both within a time slot and across multiple time slots. Similarly, the wireless device may receive cellular side link control channel transmissions performed in this manner.

[0109] As yet another example, the wireless device may perform cellular side link control channel transmission according to a cellular side link control channel configuration including both frequency hopping and multi-beam diversity within an RU by transmitting on one or more of the lowest-indexed frequency resources of a subchannel using one beam for a certain number of symbols of a timeslot, and then transmitting on one or more of the highest-indexed frequency resources of the subchannel using a different beam for a certain number of subsequent symbols of the timeslot. Similarly, the wireless device may receive cellular side link control channel transmissions performed in this manner.

[0110] Note that many other cellular sidelink control channel configurations are possible in addition to, as variations of, or as alternatives to the exemplary configurations presented herein.

[0111] In some cases, a wireless device may provide an indication of one or more preferred cellular sidelink control channel configuration parameters to another device, such as a cellular base station or a sidelink device (e.g., another wireless device with which the wireless device is performing sidelink communications). For example, the wireless device may request that frequency hopping and / or multi-beam diversity be included in the cellular sidelink control channel configuration. Such a request may be based on an assessment of the cellular sidelink channel conditions of the wireless device (e.g., one or more measurements indicating that the channel conditions meet certain conditions, such as signal strength and / or signal quality metrics are below a certain threshold), and / or any of a variety of other possible considerations. The indication may be provided using dedicated RRC signaling (e.g., carrying UE assistance information indicating the preferred parameters of the wireless device), using a MAC CE, and / or in any of a variety of other possible manners. In such a scenario, the cellular sidelink control channel configuration received by the wireless device may be selected (e.g., by the cellular base station) based at least in part on the preferred cellular sidelink control channel configuration parameters indicated by the wireless device.

[0112] Therefore, you can use Figures 5 and 6Methods (e.g., independently or in combination with one another) may be used to support cellular side link control channel configurations that may include frequency hopping and / or beam diversity. According to at least some embodiments, these techniques may be useful in poor coverage scenarios, for example, among various other possible scenarios. For example, the potential additional frequency diversity and / or beam diversity resulting from such configurations may, in at least some cases, improve the ability of intended recipients of corresponding cellular side link control channel transmissions to successfully receive and decode such transmissions.

[0113] Figures 7 to 16 and additional information

[0114] Figures 7 to 16 Shows the Figures 5 and 6 However, it should be noted that in 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.

[0115] 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-configured mechanism (e.g., allocated by an operator, user information included in a subscriber 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 Aspects of one such possible resource pool configuration according to some embodiments are shown, for example, including possible naming and usage of time and frequency units. As shown, in the example shown, the frequency domain can be divided into subchannels, each subchannel can include a set of contiguous physical resource blocks (PRBs), supporting any of a variety of subchannel sizes (e.g., {10, 15, 20, 25, 50, 75, 100} PRBs, as one 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-contiguous time resources can be configured in a resource pool; for example, such non-contiguous time resources can be (pre-)configured with a bitmap.

[0116] 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-designations of the 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 7 In 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 configurations shown in FIG. 5 are provided by way of example and are not intended to be limiting.

[0117] Figure 8 Further illustrated are possible aspects of an exemplary PSCCH design within a V2X sidelink resource unit according to some embodiments. 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.

[0118] 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., 0-4 bits), demodulation reference symbol (DMRS) pattern (if more than 1 pattern 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., 0-2 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.

[0119] At least in some embodiments, providing Figures 7 and 8 The possibility of additional or alternative cellular sidelink control channel configurations beyond the examples of may be beneficial. For example, when operating in poor coverage scenarios, it may be beneficial to provide the possibility of a wider variety of PSCCH design configurations, which may potentially support greater transmit / receive diversity benefits and / or support lower coding rates that may potentially increase the reliability and / or robustness of sidelink communications. Such configuration options may include the use of frequency hopping and / or multi-beam diversity, among various possibilities. Additionally, channel sensing techniques that may be used in conjunction with such control channel configuration options, as well as techniques for UE-assisted PSCCH configuration option selection, are described herein.

[0120] As one such possibility, PSCCH configuration including frequency hopping may be supported. Figures 9 to 13 Aspects of various such possible methods of PSCCH configuration are shown.

[0121] Figures 9 and 10 An example of a possible configuration in which frequency hopping is configured for PSCCH within a slot and subchannel is shown. The transmission of the PSCCH can be subdivided into multiple segments; for example, of 12 symbols in a slot, M segments can be configured, each segment containing K symbols (e.g., such that M*K=12), and frequency hopping can be allowed for each segment. At least in some cases, frequency hopping can be restricted to the edges of the subchannel, for example, to maximize diversity gain. Thus, in Figure 9 In the example shown, there may be two segments of 6 symbols each, and in Figure 10 In the example shown, there may be four segments of 3 symbols each.

[0122] Figure 11 An example of a possible configuration is shown in which frequency hopping is configured for PSCCH across time slots but within the same subchannel. It is possible that the PSCCH is configured with or without frequency hopping within a given subchannel and time slot, and further frequency hopping may be configured across different time slots. In at least some cases, frequency hopping may be restricted to the edges of the subchannels, for example, to maximize diversity gain. Thus, in Figure 11 In the example shown, the PSCCH may be configured without frequency hopping within each slot, but with frequency hopping between slots.

[0123] Figure 12 Examples of possible configurations in which frequency hopping is configured for PSCCH across time slots and / or across subchannels are shown. It is possible that the PSCCH is configured with or without frequency hopping within a given subchannel and time slot, and further frequency hopping may be configured across different subchannels and / or time slots. At least in some cases, frequency hopping may be restricted to the edges of subchannels, for example, to maximize diversity gain. Thus, in Figure 12 In the example shown, the PSCCH may be configured without frequency hopping within each slot and subchannel, but with frequency hopping between slots and subchannels.

[0124] Figure 13 An example of a possible PSCCH configuration including frequency hopping is shown, which may be used when configuring a "super resource unit" (SRU). An SRU may include more than one resource unit (RU) (e.g., 4 slots of 1 subchannel in the example shown). Frequency hopping may be configured for the PSCCH within an SRU; at least in some cases, the frequency hopping pattern may be predefined and configured in RRC. Thus, in Figure 13 In the example shown, the PSCCH may be configured without frequency hopping within each time slot of the SRU, but with frequency hopping between time slots of the SRU.

[0125] Note that it is possible that transparent precoding cycles are allowed for such configurations. For example, the transmitter may use an independent precoder or a transparent diversity scheme for each PSCCH transmission in each slot / RU. It is possible that the UE cannot assume that PSCCH transmissions from different slots / RU have any quasi-co-location (QCL) relationship, such as with respect to QCL types A / B / C / D.

[0126] When there is the possibility of using multiple resource units to perform PSCCH transmissions, it may be useful, at least according to some embodiments, to relax the channel sensing requirements for PSCCH transmissions. For example, if the UE acquires multiple resource units after sensing, it may be possible that the UE is allowed to transmit PSCCH in any one, a subset, or all of the RUs. This can include different RUs in different subchannels in the same timeslot, and / or different RUs in different timeslots in the same subchannel.

[0127] When a UE transmits a PSCCH in multiple RUs, it may be that the UE simply repeats the PSCCH in each RU. As another possibility, the UE may jointly encode the PSCCH. In order to reduce the search space for blind decoding by a UE receiving such a PSCCH, it may be that the transmitting UE encodes the PSCCH based on the assumption that all RUs are available and transmits only on the corresponding RUs sensed by the channel. At least as one possibility, the transmitting UE may encode the PSCCH in a fixed redundancy version (RV) order and may determine the RV for a given RU based on the index of the RU in the frequency and time domains.

[0128] Figure 14 Aspects of an exemplary scenario in which such a method is used are shown. In the example shown, a transmitting UE may acquire multiple RUs comprising four subchannels of a time slot. Channel sensing may be successful for two of the subchannels (e.g., the channels may be available) and may fail for the other two subchannels. Therefore, the transmitting UE may transmit the PSCCH only on the two subchannels for which channel sensing was successful. According to various embodiments, the PSCCH transmissions may be repeated or may be jointly coded.

[0129] In some embodiments, additionally or alternatively, PSCCH transmissions may be configured with different transmit beams. Among various possibilities, this may include repetition of PSCCH transmissions within the same time slot performed with different beams, and / or repetition of PSCCH transmissions across different time slots performed with different beams. Figure 15Aspects of an example scenario in which repetition of PSCCH transmissions within the same time slot is performed using different beams (eg, in addition to being performed using frequency diversity) are shown in accordance with some embodiments. Figure 16

[0014] Various aspects of an exemplary scenario in which repetition of PSCCH transmissions across different time slots is performed using different beams (e.g., in addition to utilizing frequency diversity) according to some embodiments. It is possible that multiple beams can be configured using RRC signaling or MAC-CE signaling. As one possibility, one or more TCI code points comprising two or more TCI states can be configured via RRC signaling, and a MAC CE can be provided to activate the TCI code points. As another possibility, multiple TCI states can be configured directly via RRC signaling.

[0130] In some embodiments, the UE may report or recommend a PSCCH configuration (e.g., for coverage enhancement or other purposes), and / or one or more parameters of the PSCCH configuration. Such reporting may be provided via RRC signaling (e.g., UE assistance information), MAC-CE, and / or in any of a variety of other possible ways. The requested PSCCH configuration aspects may include the number of slots, subchannels, and / or RUs used in an SRU configuration, the UE's preference for slot aggregation, the preferred number of symbols within a PSCCH slot, the UE's preference for whether PSCCH frequency hopping is configured, and / or any of a variety of other aspects of the PSCCH configuration.

[0131] In some cases, such reporting or recommendation may be performed based on UE measurement reports. For example, it may be the case that the UE is configured to select its preferred PSCCH configuration parameters and / or perform such reporting or recommendation based on one or more signal strength / quality measurements (e.g., sidelink reference signal received power (RSRP) and / or signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) and / or channel quality indicator (CQI)). Additionally or alternatively, it may be the case that the cellular network only allows such reporting when certain parameters (e.g., RSRP / SINR / CQI) meet certain conditions (e.g., are worse than certain thresholds).

[0132] In the following, additional exemplary embodiments are provided.

[0133] A set of embodiments may include an apparatus comprising: a processor configured to cause a cellular base station to: select a cellular side link control channel configuration including frequency hopping; and provide cellular side link control channel configuration information to a wireless device, wherein the cellular side link control channel configuration information indicates the selected cellular side link control channel configuration including frequency hopping.

[0134] According to some embodiments, the cellular side link control channel configuration includes frequency hopping within time slots and frequency sub-channels.

[0135] According to some embodiments, the cellular side link control channel configuration includes frequency hopping between multiple time slots.

[0136] According to some embodiments, the cellular side link control channel configuration includes frequency hopping between multiple frequency sub-channels.

[0137] According to some embodiments, cellular side link control channel configuration further comprises performing repetition of cellular side link control channel transmission across a plurality of cellular side link resource units.

[0138] According to some embodiments, the cellular side link control channel configuration further comprises performing a jointly coded cellular side link control channel transmission across a plurality of cellular side link resource units.

[0139] According to some embodiments, the cellular side link control channel configuration further includes multi-beam diversity, wherein the cellular side link control channel configuration information further indicates that the selected cellular side link control channel configuration includes multi-beam diversity.

[0140] According to some embodiments, the cellular side link control channel configuration including multi-beam diversity configures the use of multiple beams to perform cellular side link control channel transmission within a time slot.

[0141] According to some embodiments, cellular side link control channel configuration including multi-beam diversity configures the use of multiple beams to perform cellular side link control channel transmissions across different time slots.

[0142] According to some embodiments, the processor is further configured to cause the cellular base station to: receive an indication of one or more preferred cellular side link control channel configuration parameters from the wireless device; and select a cellular side link control channel configuration based at least in part on the one or more preferred cellular side link control channel configuration parameters.

[0143] Another set of embodiments may include a cellular base station 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 cellular base station is configured to: select a cellular side link control channel configuration including frequency hopping; and provide cellular side link control channel configuration information to a wireless device, wherein the cellular side link control channel configuration information indicates the selected cellular side link control channel configuration including frequency hopping.

[0144] According to some embodiments, the cellular side link control channel configuration includes frequency hopping within time slots and frequency sub-channels.

[0145] According to some embodiments, the cellular side link control channel configuration includes one or more of: frequency hopping between multiple time slots; or frequency hopping between multiple frequency sub-channels.

[0146] According to some embodiments, the cellular side link control channel configuration includes using resources across multiple cellular side link resource units, wherein the resources across multiple cellular side link resource units are used to perform one of the following items: repetition of cellular side link control channel transmission; or jointly coded cellular side link control channel transmission.

[0147] According to some embodiments, the cellular side link control channel configuration also includes using multiple beams to perform cellular side link control channel transmission, wherein the cellular side link control channel configuration information further indicates that the selected cellular side link control channel configuration includes using multiple beams to perform cellular side link control channel transmission.

[0148] Another set of embodiments may include a method comprising: by a cellular base station: selecting a cellular side link control channel configuration including one or more of frequency hopping or multi-beam diversity; and providing cellular side link control channel configuration information to a wireless device, wherein the cellular side link control channel configuration information indicates the selected cellular side link control channel configuration including one or more of frequency hopping or multi-beam diversity.

[0149] According to some embodiments, cellular side link control channel configuration includes using multiple beams to perform cellular side link control channel transmission within a time slot.

[0150] According to some embodiments, cellular side link control channel configuration includes using multiple beams to perform cellular side link control channel transmission across different time slots.

[0151] According to some embodiments, the cellular side link control channel configuration includes one or more of: frequency hopping within a time slot and frequency subchannel; frequency hopping between multiple time slots; or frequency hopping between multiple frequency subchannels.

[0152] According to some embodiments, the method further includes: receiving an indication of one or more preferred cellular side link control channel configuration parameters from the wireless device; and selecting a cellular side link control channel configuration based at least in part on the one or more preferred cellular side link control channel configuration parameters.

[0153] Yet another set of embodiments may include a baseband processor configured to perform operations comprising: receiving cellular side link control channel configuration information, wherein the cellular side link control channel configuration information indicates a cellular side link control channel configuration including frequency hopping; and performing cellular side link communication with a wireless device using the cellular side link control channel configuration including frequency hopping.

[0154] According to some embodiments, the cellular side link control channel configuration includes frequency hopping within time slots and frequency sub-channels.

[0155] According to some embodiments, the cellular side link control channel configuration includes frequency hopping between multiple time slots.

[0156] According to some embodiments, the cellular side link control channel configuration includes frequency hopping between multiple frequency sub-channels.

[0157] According to some embodiments, the baseband processor is further configured to perform operations including performing cellular side link control channel transmission across multiple cellular side link resource units, wherein the cellular side link control channel transmission is repeated in each cellular side link resource unit in the multiple cellular side link resource units.

[0158] According to some embodiments, the baseband processor is further configured to perform operations including performing a cellular side link control channel transmission across the plurality of cellular side link resource units, wherein the cellular side link control channel transmission is jointly encoded across the plurality of cellular side link resource units.

[0159] According to some embodiments, the cellular side link control channel configuration information further indicates a cellular side link control channel configuration including multi-beam diversity.

[0160] According to some embodiments, the baseband processor is further configured to perform operations including selecting one or more preferred cellular sidelink control channel configuration parameters; and providing an indication of the one or more preferred cellular sidelink control channel configuration parameters to the cellular base station or the sidelink device.

[0161] 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 control channel configuration information, wherein the cellular side link control channel configuration information indicates a cellular side link control channel configuration including frequency hopping; and perform cellular side link communication with a second wireless device using the cellular side link control channel configuration including frequency hopping.

[0162] According to some embodiments, the cellular side link control channel configuration includes frequency hopping within time slots and frequency sub-channels.

[0163] According to some embodiments, the cellular side link control channel configuration includes one or more of: frequency hopping between multiple time slots; or frequency hopping between multiple frequency sub-channels.

[0164] According to some embodiments, the cellular side link control channel configuration includes using resources across multiple cellular side link resource units, wherein the resources across multiple cellular side link resource units are used by the first wireless device to perform one of the following items: repetition of cellular side link control channel transmission; or jointly coded cellular side link control channel transmission.

[0165] According to some embodiments, the cellular side link control channel configuration information further indicates that the selected cellular side link control channel configuration includes using multiple beams to perform cellular side link control channel transmission.

[0166] Yet another set of embodiments may include a method comprising: by a first wireless device: receiving cellular side link control channel configuration information, wherein the cellular side link control channel configuration information indicates a cellular side link control channel configuration including one or more of frequency hopping or multi-beam diversity; and performing cellular side link communication with a second wireless device using the cellular side link control channel configuration including one or more of frequency hopping or multi-beam diversity.

[0167] According to some embodiments, performing cellular side link communication with a second wireless device using a cellular side link control channel configuration including one or more of frequency hopping or multi-beam diversity also includes performing cellular side link control channel transmission using one or more of frequency hopping or multi-beam diversity.

[0168] According to some embodiments, performing cellular side link communications with a second wireless device using a cellular side link control channel configuration including one or more of frequency hopping or multi-beam diversity also includes receiving cellular side link control channel transmissions using one or more of frequency hopping or multi-beam diversity.

[0169] According to some embodiments, cellular side link control channel configuration includes using multiple beams to perform cellular side link control channel transmission within a time slot.

[0170] According to some embodiments, cellular side link control channel configuration includes using multiple beams to perform cellular side link control channel transmission across different time slots.

[0171] According to some embodiments, the cellular side link control channel configuration includes one or more of: frequency hopping within a time slot and frequency subchannel; frequency hopping between multiple time slots; or frequency hopping between multiple frequency subchannels.

[0172] According to some embodiments, the method further includes: selecting one or more preferred cellular side link control channel configuration parameters; and providing an indication of the one or more preferred cellular side link control channel configuration parameters to another device.

[0173] Yet another example embodiment may include a method comprising performing, by a device, any or all of the foregoing examples.

[0174] Another example embodiment may include a device comprising: an antenna; a radio coupled to the antenna; and a processor operatively coupled to the radio, wherein the device is configured to implement any or all of the foregoing examples.

[0175] Another exemplary set of embodiments may include a non-transitory computer-accessible memory 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.

[0176] Another exemplary set of embodiments may include a computer program comprising instructions for performing any or all portions of any of the foregoing examples.

[0177] Another exemplary set of embodiments may include an apparatus comprising means for performing any or all of the elements of any of the preceding examples.

[0178] 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.

[0179] Another set of example embodiments may include a baseband processor configured to perform operations including any or all elements of any of the foregoing examples.

[0180] 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 authorized use should be clearly stated to users.

[0181] 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.

[0182] In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium may be configured such that it stores program instructions and / or data, wherein the program instructions, if executed by a computer system, cause the computer system 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.

[0183] 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 embodiments described herein (or any combination of the method embodiments described herein, or any subset of any of the method embodiments described herein, or any combination of such subsets). The device may be implemented in any of various forms.

[0184] Although the above embodiments have been described in considerable detail, numerous variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated. It is intended that the following claims be interpreted to encompass all such variations and modifications.

Claims

1. A baseband processor, the baseband processor being configured to perform operations comprising: receiving cellular side link control channel configuration information from a cellular base station, wherein the cellular side link control channel configuration information indicates a cellular side link control channel configuration including frequency hopping and multi-beam diversity; as well as performing cellular side link communications with a wireless device using the cellular side link control channel configuration including frequency hopping and multi-beam diversity, wherein performing the cellular side link communications comprises: transmitting on one or more of the lowest-indexed frequency resources using a first beam for a first number of symbols of a time slot; as well as Transmission is performed on one or more of the highest-indexed frequency resources using a second beam for a second number of subsequent symbols of the time slot.

2. The baseband processor according to claim 1, The cellular side link control channel configuration includes frequency hopping within time slots and frequency sub-channels.

3. The baseband processor according to claim 1, The cellular side link control channel configuration includes frequency hopping between multiple time slots.

4. The baseband processor according to claim 1, The cellular side link control channel configuration includes frequency hopping between multiple frequency sub-channels.

5. The baseband processor of claim 1 , wherein the baseband processor is further configured to perform operations comprising: performing cellular side link control channel transmission across a plurality of cellular side link resource units, The cellular side link control channel transmission is repeated in each of the plurality of cellular side link resource units.

6. The baseband processor of claim 1 , wherein the baseband processor is further configured to perform operations comprising: performing cellular side link control channel transmission across a plurality of cellular side link resource units, wherein the cellular side link control channel transmission is jointly encoded across the plurality of cellular side link resource units.

7. The baseband processor of claim 1 , wherein the baseband processor is further configured to perform operations comprising: selecting one or more preferred cellular side link control channel configuration parameters; and An indication of the one or more preferred cellular sidelink control channel configuration parameters is provided to a cellular base station or a sidelink device.

8. A first wireless device, comprising: at least one antenna for performing wireless communication; a radio coupled to the at least one antenna; and a processor coupled to the radio; The first wireless device is configured as follows: receiving cellular side link control channel configuration information from a cellular base station, wherein the cellular side link control channel configuration information indicates a cellular side link control channel configuration including frequency hopping and multi-beam diversity; as well as performing cellular side link communications with a second wireless device using the cellular side link control channel configuration including frequency hopping and multi-beam diversity, wherein performing the cellular side link communications comprises the first wireless device: transmitting on one or more of the lowest-indexed frequency resources using a first beam for a first number of symbols of a time slot; and Transmission is performed on one or more of the highest-indexed frequency resources using a second beam for a second number of subsequent symbols of the time slot.

9. The first wireless device according to claim 8, The cellular side link control channel configuration includes frequency hopping within time slots and frequency sub-channels.

10. The first wireless device of claim 8, wherein the cellular side link control channel configuration comprises one or more of the following: Frequency hopping between multiple time slots; or Frequency hopping between multiple frequency sub-channels.

11. The first wireless device of claim 8 , wherein the cellular side link control channel configuration comprises using resources across a plurality of cellular side link resource units, wherein the resources across the plurality of cellular side link resource units are used by the first wireless device to perform one of the following: repetition of cellular side link control channel transmissions; or Jointly coded cellular sidelink control channel transmission.

12. The first wireless device according to claim 8, The cellular side link control channel configuration information further indicates that the selected cellular side link control channel configuration includes using multiple beams to perform cellular side link control channel transmission.

13. A method for cellular sidelink communication, comprising: By the first wireless device: receiving cellular side link control channel configuration information from a cellular base station, wherein the cellular side link control channel configuration information indicates a cellular side link control channel configuration including one or more of frequency hopping or multi-beam diversity; and performing cellular side link communications with a second wireless device using the cellular side link control channel configuration including frequency hopping and multi-beam diversity, wherein performing the cellular side link communications comprises: transmitting on one or more of the lowest-indexed frequency resources using a first beam for a first number of symbols of a time slot; and Transmission is performed on one or more of the highest-indexed frequency resources using a second beam for a second number of subsequent symbols of the time slot.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein performing cellular side link communications with the second wireless device using the cellular side link control channel configuration including frequency hopping and multi-beam diversity further comprises: Cellular side link control channel transmissions are received using frequency hopping and multi-beam diversity.

15. The method according to claim 13, The cellular side link control channel configuration includes using multiple beams to perform cellular side link control channel transmission within a time slot.

16. The method according to claim 13, The cellular side link control channel configuration includes using multiple beams to perform cellular side link control channel transmission across different time slots.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein the cellular side link control channel configuration comprises one or more of the following: Frequency hopping within time slots and frequency subchannels; Frequency hopping between multiple time slots; or Frequency hopping between multiple frequency sub-channels.

18. The method according to claim 13, further comprising: selecting one or more preferred cellular side link control channel configuration parameters; as well as An indication of the one or more preferred cellular sidelink control channel configuration parameters is provided to another device.

19. The method of claim 13 , wherein the cellular side link control channel configuration comprises using resources across a plurality of cellular side link resource units, wherein the resources across the plurality of cellular side link resource units are used by the first wireless device to perform one of the following: repetition of cellular side link control channel transmissions; or Jointly coded cellular sidelink control channel transmission.

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