Sidelink carrier grouping for wireless communications

Abstract

Aspects relate to grouping sidelink carriers in a wireless communication network. A first wireless communication device, such as a user equipment, can utilize a first set of component carriers (CCs) in a particular frequency band to communicate with a base station on a cellular link. The UE can identify, with the base station, one or more first carrier groups for the first set of CCs. The UE can utilize a second set of CCs within the same frequency band to communicate with a second wireless communication device, such as a UE, on a sidelink. The first UE can map at least one second CC to a respective corresponding first CC, and apply, based on the mapping, one or more carrier groups to the second set of CCs to generate one or more second carrier groups.

Description

[0001] Cross-references to related applications

[0002] This patent application claims priority and benefit from the following applications: pending non-provisional application No. 17 / 391,919, filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on August 2, 2021; and provisional application No. 63 / 065,664, filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on August 14, 2020, which are assigned to the assignee of this application and are expressly incorporated herein by reference, as if their entire contents were fully set forth below and for all applicable purposes. Technical Field

[0003] In summary, the techniques discussed below relate to wireless communication networks, and more specifically, the techniques discussed below relate to grouping carrier component signals in side-link signals. Background Technology

[0004] Various network configurations can facilitate wireless communication between devices. In one configuration, a cellular network enables wireless communication devices (e.g., user equipment (UE)) to communicate with each other via signaling to nearby base stations or cells. Another wireless communication network configuration is a device-to-device (D2D) network, in which wireless communication devices can signal directly to each other instead of via intermediate base stations or cells. For example, D2D communication networks can utilize sidelink signaling to facilitate direct communication between wireless communication devices. In some sidelink configurations, wireless communication devices can also communicate within the cellular network (typically under the control of a base station). Thus, wireless communication devices can be configured for uplink and downlink signaling via base stations, as well as for direct sidelink signaling between wireless communication devices, without transmission through a base station.

[0005] One example of a wireless communication system that can employ sidelink signaling is a vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication system. V2X communication involves not only exchanging information between vehicles themselves, but also exchanging information between vehicles and external systems such as streetlights, buildings, pedestrians, and wireless communication networks. V2X systems enable vehicles to obtain information related to weather, nearby accidents, road conditions, the activity of nearby vehicles and pedestrians, objects near the vehicle, and other relevant information that can be used to improve the driving experience, enhance vehicle safety, and support autonomous vehicles. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The following provides an overview of one or more aspects of this disclosure in order to provide a basic understanding of such aspects. This overview is not a general summary of all the intended features of this disclosure, nor is it intended to identify key or essential elements of all aspects of this disclosure, nor to depict the scope of any or all aspects of this disclosure. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects of this disclosure in a form that serves as a prelude to a more detailed description given later.

[0007] In one example, a wireless communication device in a wireless communication network is provided. The wireless communication device includes: a transceiver; a memory; and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory. The processor and the memory can be configured to: communicate with a base station on a cellular link using a first set of first component carriers in a first frequency band. The processor and the memory can also be configured to: identify at least one first carrier packet for the first set of first component carriers with respect to the base station; and communicate with a second wireless communication device on a side link using a second set of second component carriers within the first frequency band. The processor and the memory can also be configured to: map at least one second component carrier to a corresponding first component carrier; and apply the at least one first carrier packet to the second set of second component carriers based on the mapping to generate at least one second carrier packet.

[0008] Another example provides a method for wireless communication at a first wireless communication device. The method includes: communicating with a base station on a cellular link using a first set of first component carriers in a first frequency band. The method further includes: identifying at least one first carrier packet for the first set of first component carriers with respect to the base station; and communicating with a second wireless communication device on a side link using a second set of second component carriers within the first frequency band. The method further includes: mapping at least one second component carrier to a corresponding first component carrier; and applying the at least one first carrier packet to the second set of second component carriers based on the mapping to generate at least one second carrier packet.

[0009] Another example provides a wireless communication device in a wireless communication network. The wireless communication device includes: a transceiver; a memory; and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory. The processor and the memory can be configured to: identify at least one carrier packet for a set of component carriers in a first frequency band for a sidelink; and communicate with a second wireless communication device on the sidelink using the set of component carriers in the first frequency band. The processor and the memory can also be configured to: transmit sidelink control information (SCI) identifying the at least one carrier packet to the second wireless communication device on the sidelink.

[0010] Another example provides a wireless communication device in a wireless communication network. The wireless communication device includes: a transceiver; a memory; and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory. The processor and the memory can be configured to receive from a second wireless communication device at least one carrier packet for a set of component carriers in a first frequency band for lateral link data communication. The processor and the memory can also be configured to communicate with a third wireless communication device on a lateral link using the set of component carriers in the first frequency band.

[0011] These and other aspects will become more fully understood after reading the following detailed description. Other aspects, features, and embodiments will become apparent to those skilled in the art after reading the following description of specific exemplary embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. While features may be discussed below with respect to certain embodiments and drawings, all embodiments may include one or more of the advantageous features discussed herein. In other words, while one or more embodiments may be discussed as having certain advantageous features, one or more such features may also be used according to the various embodiments discussed herein. Similarly, while exemplary embodiments may be discussed below as embodiments of devices, systems, or methods, such exemplary embodiments may be implemented in various devices, systems, and methods. Attached Figure Description

[0012] Figure 1 This is a diagram illustrating an example of a wireless communication system based on some aspects.

[0013] Figure 2 This is a diagram illustrating an example of a radio access network based on some aspects.

[0014] Figure 3 This is a diagram illustrating an example of a vehicle-to-everything (V2X) wireless communication network based on some aspects.

[0015] Figure 4This is a block diagram illustrating radio resources in an air interface utilizing orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) according to some aspects.

[0016] Figure 5 This is a diagram illustrating wireless communication via multiple radio frequency (RF) carriers based on several aspects.

[0017] Figure 6 This is a diagram illustrating an example of wireless communication using sidelink carrier aggregation based on some aspects.

[0018] Figure 7 This is a diagram illustrating an example of signaling for side-link carrier component packets based on downlink configuration, according to some aspects.

[0019] Figure 8 This is another diagram illustrating an example of signaling for sidelink carrier component grouping based on some aspects.

[0020] Figure 9 This is a diagram illustrating an example of signaling for covering outer link carrier component packets according to some aspects.

[0021] Figure 10 This is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation of a UE for employing a processing system, based on some aspects.

[0022] Figure 11 This is a flowchart of a crosslink carrier component grouping method based on some aspects of the example.

[0023] Figure 12 This is a flowchart illustrating how to cover outer link carrier component groups based on examples from several aspects.

[0024] Figure 13 This is a flowchart illustrating an example of transmission between UEs on a side link, based on certain aspects. Detailed Implementation

[0025] The specific embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are intended as descriptions of various configurations, and not as representations of the only configuration in which the concepts described herein can be practiced. Specific details are included to provide a full understanding of the various concepts. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that these concepts can be practiced without these specific details. In some cases, well-known structures and components are shown in block diagram form to avoid obscuring such concepts.

[0026] The electromagnetic spectrum is typically subdivided into various categories, bands, channels, etc., based on frequency / wavelength. In 5G NR, the two initial operating bands have been designated as frequency range names FR1 (410MHz-7.125GHz) and FR2 (24.25GHz-52.6GHz). It should be understood that although a portion of FR1 is greater than 6GHz, in various documents and articles, FR1 is generally (interchangeably) referred to as the "below 6GHz" band. Similar naming issues sometimes arise regarding FR2, which is generally (interchangeably) referred to as the "millimeter wave" band in documents and articles, although it differs from the Extremely High Frequency (EHF) band (30GHz-300GHz) designated as a "millimeter wave" band by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

[0027] The frequencies between FR1 and FR2 are generally referred to as intermediate frequency (IF) bands. Recent 5G NR studies have designated the operating bands used for these IF bands as the frequency range name FR3 (7.125GHz-24.25GHz). Bands falling within FR3 can inherit FR1 and / or FR2 characteristics, and thus can effectively extend the features of FR1 and / or FR2 to IF band frequencies. Additionally, higher frequency bands are currently being explored to extend 5G NR operation beyond 52.6GHz. For example, three higher operating frequency bands have been designated as the frequency range names FR4-a or FR4-1 (52.6GHz-71GHz), FR4 (52.6GHz-114.25GHz), and FR5 (114.25GHz-300GHz). Each of these higher frequency bands falls within the EHF band.

[0028] In light of the foregoing, unless otherwise specifically stated, it should be understood that when the term "below 6 GHz" is used herein, it can broadly refer to frequencies that are less than 6 GHz, within FR1, or may include intermediate frequency band frequencies. Furthermore, unless otherwise specifically stated, it should be understood that when the term "millimeter wave" is used herein, it can broadly refer to frequencies that may include intermediate frequency band frequencies, within FR2, FR4, FR4-a or FR4-1 and / or FR5, or within the EHF band.

[0029] While aspects and embodiments are described herein by way of example, those skilled in the art will understand that additional implementations and use cases can arise in many different arrangements and scenarios. The innovations described herein can be implemented across many different platform types, devices, systems, shapes, sizes, and package arrangements. For example, embodiments and / or uses can arise via integrated chip embodiments and other devices based on non-modular components (e.g., end-user devices, vehicles, communication devices, computing devices, industrial equipment, retail / purchasing devices, medical devices, AI-enabled devices, etc.). While some examples may or may not be specific to a particular use case or application, a wide variety of applicability to the described innovations can exist. Implementations can range from chip-level or modular components to non-modular, non-chip-level implementations, and further to aggregated, distributed, or OEM devices or systems incorporating one or more aspects of the described innovations. In some practical settings, devices incorporating the described aspects and features may also necessary include additional components and features for the implementation and practice of the claimed and described embodiments. For example, the transmission and reception of wireless signals necessarily involve multiple components for analog and digital purposes (e.g., hardware components including antennas, RF chains, power amplifiers, modulators, buffers, processors, interleavers, adders / accumulators, etc.). The innovations described herein are intended to be implemented in a variety of devices, chip-level components, systems, distributed arrangements, end-user devices, etc., with different sizes, shapes, and constructions.

[0030] In wireless communication systems (such as those defined according to the 5G New Radio (NR) standard), both the base station and the wireless communication equipment can communicate using multiple groups of component carriers. These groups can include, for example, timing advance groups, beamforming groups, sleep groups, discontinuous reception groups, physical uplink control channel groups, and multi-packet scheduling groups. Grouping allows message passing to be simplified so that, for example, a message for setting the timing advance to a specific value for a CC can be applied to each CC within the same timing advance group.

[0031] Various aspects of this disclosure relate to sidelink carrier packets for wireless communication. A first wireless communication device (such as a user equipment (UE)) can communicate with a base station on a cellular link using a first set (CC) of first component carriers in a specific frequency band. The UE can identify one or more first carrier packets for the first set of first CCs with the base station. The UE can communicate with a second wireless communication device (such as a second UE) on a sidelink using a second set of CCs in the same frequency band. The first UE can map at least one second CC to its corresponding first CC, and apply one or more carrier packets to the second set of CCs based on the mapping to generate one or more second carrier packets.

[0032] In some examples, one or more first carrier packets are identified by receiving an RRC configuration message from the BS. In some examples, one or more first carrier packets are applied by applying one or more first carrier packets to each CC in a second set of CCs. In some examples, the second set of second CCs is within a sidelink resource pool, and one or more first carrier packets are applied to each second CC in the second set of second CCs within the sidelink resource pool.

[0033] In some examples, one or more second carrier packets include additional carrier packets that include at least one second CC that is not mapped to a corresponding first CC in the first CC. In some examples, the second set of CCs includes more CCs than the first set of CCs. In some examples, mapping includes mapping each second CC to a corresponding first CC, and application includes applying each first CC in one or more carrier packets to a corresponding mapped second CC. In some examples, multiple second CCs in the second set of second CCs are mapped to multiple first CCs in the first set of first CCs based on multiple corresponding group types between multiple first CCs and their corresponding carrier packets. In some examples, sidelink control information (SCI) identifying second carrier packets is transmitted from the first wireless communication device to the second wireless communication device on the sidelink.

[0034] The various concepts presented throughout this disclosure can be implemented across a wide range of telecommunications systems, network architectures, and communication standards. See now for reference. Figure 1 As an example and not a limitation, various aspects of this disclosure are illustrated with reference to a wireless communication system 100. The wireless communication system 100 includes three interaction domains: a core network 102, a radio access network (RAN) 104, and a user equipment (UE) 106. With the aid of the wireless communication system 100, the UE 106 can perform data communication with an external data network 110 (such as, but not limited to, the Internet).

[0035] RAN 104 can implement any one or more suitable wireless communication technologies to provide radio access to UE 106. As an example, RAN 104 can operate according to the 3GPP New Radio (NR) specification (often referred to as 5G). As another example, RAN 104 can operate according to a hybrid of 5G NR and the Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (eUTRAN) standard (often referred to as LTE). 3GPP refers to this hybrid RAN as Next Generation RAN or NG-RAN. Of course, many other examples can be utilized within the scope of this disclosure.

[0036] As shown in the figure, RAN 104 includes multiple base stations 108. Broadly speaking, a base station is a network element in a radio access network responsible for radio transmission and reception to or from a UE in one or more cells. In different technologies, standards, or contexts, those skilled in the art may refer to a base station as a base transceiver station (BTS), radio base station, radio transceiver, transceiver functional unit, basic service set (BSS), extended service set (ESS), access point (AP), node B (NB), evolved node B (eNB), gNodeB (gNB), transmit / receive point (TRP), or some other suitable term. In some examples, a base station may include two or more TRPs that may be co-located or non-co-located. Each TRP may communicate on the same or different carrier frequencies within the same or different frequency bands. In an example where RAN 104 operates according to both LTE and 5G NR standards, one base station may be an LTE base station, while the other may be a 5G NR base station.

[0037] RAN 104 is also shown to support wireless communication for multiple mobile devices. In 3GPP standards, a mobile device may be referred to as a User Equipment (UE), but those skilled in the art may also refer to it as a Mobile Station (MS), Subscriber Station, Mobile Unit, Subscriber Unit, Radio Unit, Remote Unit, Mobile Device, Radio Device, Wireless Communication Device, Remote Device, Mobile Subscriber Station, Access Terminal (AT), Mobile Terminal, Radio Terminal, Remote Terminal, Handset, Terminal, User Agent, Mobile Client, Client, or any other suitable term. A UE can be a device that provides access to network services to a user.

[0038] Within the scope of this disclosure, a "mobile" device does not necessarily need to be capable of movement, and it may be stationary. The term mobile device or mobile equipment broadly refers to a wide variety of devices and technologies. A UE may include multiple hardware structural components that are sized, shaped, and arranged to facilitate communication; such components may include electrically coupled antennas, antenna arrays, RF chains, amplifiers, one or more processors, etc. For example, some non-limiting examples of mobile devices include mobile stations, cellular phones, smartphones, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phones, laptop computers, personal computers (PCs), notebooks, netbooks, smartbooks, tablet devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and a wide variety of embedded systems, for example, corresponding to the Internet of Things (IoT).

[0039] Additionally, mobile devices can be automobiles or other vehicles, remote sensors or actuators, robots or robotic devices, satellite radio units, Global Positioning System (GPS) devices, object tracking devices, drones, multi-rotor helicopters, quadcopter helicopters, remote control devices, consumer devices and / or wearable devices such as glasses, wearable cameras, virtual reality devices, smartwatches, health or fitness trackers, digital audio players (e.g., MP3 players), cameras, game consoles, etc. Furthermore, mobile devices can be digital home or smart home devices, such as home audio, video and / or multimedia equipment, appliances, vending machines, smart lighting, home security systems, smart meters, etc. Additionally, mobile devices can be smart energy devices, security devices, solar panels or solar arrays, municipal infrastructure equipment controlling electricity (e.g., smart grids), lighting, water, etc., industrial automation and enterprise equipment, logistics controllers and / or agricultural equipment, etc. Finally, mobile devices can provide connected medical or telemedicine support (e.g., telehealth). Telemedicine devices may include telemedicine monitoring devices and telemedicine management devices, whose communications may be given priority processing or access compared to other types of information, for example, priority access for the transmission of critical service data, and / or QoS related to the transmission of critical service data.

[0040] Wireless communication between RAN 104 and UE 106 can be described as utilizing an air interface. Transmissions over the air interface from a base station (e.g., base station 108) to one or more UEs (e.g., UE 106) can be referred to as downlink (DL) transmissions. According to certain aspects of this disclosure, the term downlink can refer to point-to-multipoint transmissions originating from a base station (e.g., base station 108). Another way to describe this scheme is to use the term broadcast channel multiplexing. Transmissions from a UE (e.g., UE 106) to a base station (e.g., base station 108) can be referred to as uplink (UL) transmissions. According to other aspects of this disclosure, the term uplink can refer to point-to-point transmissions originating from a UE (e.g., UE 106).

[0041] In some examples, access to the air interface can be scheduled, where a scheduling entity (e.g., base station 108) allocates resources for communication among some or all devices and apparatuses within its service area or cell. As further discussed below in this disclosure, the scheduling entity may be responsible for scheduling, assigning, reconfiguring, and releasing resources for one or more scheduled entities (e.g., UE 106). That is, for scheduled communication, multiple UEs 106 (which may be scheduled entities) can utilize the resources allocated by the scheduling entity 108.

[0042] Base station 108 is not the only entity that can act as a scheduling entity. That is, in some examples, a UE can act as a scheduling entity, scheduling resources for one or more scheduled entities (e.g., one or more other UEs). For example, a UE can communicate directly with other UEs in a peer-to-peer or device-to-device manner and / or in a relay configuration.

[0043] like Figure 1 As shown, scheduling entity 108 can broadcast downlink service 112 to one or more scheduled entities (e.g., one or more UEs 106). Broadly speaking, scheduling entity 108 is a node or device responsible for scheduling services (including downlink service 112, and in some examples, uplink service 116 from one or more scheduled entities (e.g., one or more UEs 106) to scheduling entity 108) in a wireless communication network. On the other hand, a scheduled entity (e.g., UE 106) is a node or device that receives downlink control information 114 (including but not limited to scheduling information (e.g., grants), synchronization or timing information, or other control information) from another entity in the wireless communication network (such as scheduling entity 108).

[0044] Additionally, uplink and / or downlink control information and / or service information can be transmitted on a waveform, which can be time-divided into frames, subframes, time slots, and / or symbols. As used herein, a symbol can refer to a time unit carrying one resource element (RE) per subcarrier in an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) waveform. A time slot can carry 7 or 14 OFDM symbols. A subframe can refer to a duration of 1 ms. Multiple subframes or time slots can be grouped together to form a single frame or radio frame. Within this disclosure, a frame can refer to a predetermined duration (e.g., 10 ms) for radio transmission, where each frame consists of, for example, 10 subframes, each 1 ms in length. Of course, these definitions are not mandatory, and any suitable scheme for organizing the waveform can be utilized, and various time divisions of the waveform can have any suitable duration.

[0045] Typically, base station 108 may include a backhaul interface for communication with the backhaul portion 120 of wireless communication system 100. Backhaul portion 120 provides a link between base station 108 and core network 102. Furthermore, in some examples, the backhaul network may provide interconnection between corresponding base stations 108. Various types of backhaul interfaces can be employed, such as direct physical connections, virtual networks, or backhaul interfaces using any suitable transport network.

[0046] Core network 102 may be part of wireless communication system 100 and may be independent of the radio access technology used in RAN 104. In some examples, core network 102 may be configured according to 5G standards (e.g., 5GC). In other examples, core network 102 may be configured according to 4G Evolved Packet Core (EPC) or any other suitable standard or configuration.

[0047] Now refer to Figure 2 The schematic diagram of a radio access network (RAN) 200 according to some aspects of this disclosure is provided as an illustrative example and not as a limitation. In some examples, the RAN 200 may be integrated with the network described above and in... Figure 1 The same as RAN104 shown in the figure.

[0048] The geographical area covered by RAN 200 can be divided into multiple cellular areas (cells), and user equipment (UE) can uniquely identify these cellular areas (cells) based on an identifier broadcast from an access point or base station within the geographical area. Figure 2Cells 202, 204, 206, and 208 are shown, each of which may include one or more sectors (not shown). A sector is a sub-area of ​​a cell. All sectors within a cell are served by the same base station. Radio links within a sector can be identified by a single logical identifier belonging to that sector. In a cell divided into sectors, multiple sectors within the cell can be formed using multiple sets of antennas, each responsible for communicating with UEs within a portion of the cell.

[0049] Various base stations can be used for deployment. For example, in Figure 2 In this example, two base stations (base station 210 and base station 212) are shown in cells 202 and 204. A third base station (base station 214) is shown as a remote radio head (RRH) 216 controlling cell 206. That is, the base station can have an integrated antenna, or it can be connected to an antenna or RRH 216 via a feeder cable. In the example shown, cells 202, 204, and 206 can be referred to as macro cells because base stations 210, 212, and 214 support cells with large sizes. Furthermore, base station 218 is shown in cell 208, which can overlap with one or more macro cells. In this example, cell 208 can be referred to as a small cell (e.g., small cell, microcell, picocell, femtocell, home base station, home node B, home eNodeB, etc.) because base station 218 supports cells with relatively small sizes. Cell size can be set according to system design and component constraints.

[0050] It is important to understand that RAN 200 can include any number of radio base stations and cells. Furthermore, relay nodes can be deployed to extend the size or coverage area of ​​a given cell. Base stations 210, 212, 214, and 218 provide radio access points to the core network for any number of mobile devices. In some examples, base stations 210, 212, 214, and / or 218 can be used in conjunction with those described above and in... Figure 1 The scheduling entity 108 shown is the same as or similar to that shown.

[0051] Figure 2 This also includes unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) 220, which can be drones or quadcopter helicopters. UAV 220 can be configured to act as a base station, or more specifically, as a mobile base station. That is, in some examples, the cell may not be stationary, and the geographical area of ​​the cell can move depending on the location of the mobile base station (such as UAV 220).

[0052] Within RAN 200, a cell may include UEs capable of communicating with one or more sectors of each cell. Furthermore, each base station 210, 212, 214, 218, and 220 may be configured to provide access to the core network 102 (see [link to core network]) to all UEs within the corresponding cell. Figure 1 Access points. For example, UEs 222 and 224 can communicate with base station 210; UEs 226 and 228 can communicate with base station 212; UEs 230 and 232 can communicate with base station 214 via RRH 216; UE 234 can communicate with base station 218; and UE 236 can communicate with mobile base station 220. In some examples, UEs 222, 224, 226, 228, 230, 232, 234, 236, 238, 240, and / or 242 can communicate with the access points described above and in... Figure 1 The UE / scheduled entity 106 shown is the same as or similar to that shown. In some examples, the UAV 220 (e.g., a quadcopter) can be a mobile network node and can be configured to act as a UE. For example, the UAV 220 can operate in cell 202 by communicating with base station 210.

[0053] In another aspect of RAN 200, sidelink signaling can be used between UEs without relying on scheduling or control information from the base station. Sidelink communication can be utilized in device-to-device (D2D) networks, peer-to-peer (P2P) networks, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) networks, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) networks, and / or other suitable sidelink networks. For example, two or more UEs (e.g., UEs 238, 240, and 242) can communicate with each other using sidelink signal 237 without relaying the communication through a base station. In some examples, UEs 238, 240, and 242 can each act as a scheduling entity or transmitting sidelink device and / or a scheduled entity or receiving sidelink device to schedule resources and transmit sidelink signal 237 between them, without relying on scheduling or control information from the base station. In other examples, two or more UEs (e.g., UEs 226 and 228) within the coverage area of ​​a base station (e.g., base station 212) may also transmit sidelink signals 227 via a direct link (sidelink) without needing to transmit the communication through base station 212. In this example, base station 212 may allocate resources for sidelink communication to UEs 226 and 228.

[0054] To achieve a low block error rate (BLER) while still maintaining a very high data rate over the air interface, channel coding can be used. That is, wireless communication can typically utilize appropriate error-correcting block codes. In a typical block code, the information message or sequence is divided into code blocks (CBs), and an encoder (e.g., a CODEC) at the transmitting device then mathematically adds redundancy to the information message. Utilizing this redundancy in the encoded information message improves message reliability, thereby correcting for any bit errors that may occur due to noise.

[0055] Data encoding can be implemented in various ways. Early 5G NR specifications used quasi-cyclic low-density parity-check (LDPC) with two different base maps to encode user data: one base map for large code blocks and / or high code rates, and the other for other conditions. Based on nested sequences, polar coding is used to encode control information and the Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH). For these channels, puncturing, shortening, and repetition are used for rate matching.

[0056] Various aspects of this disclosure can be implemented using any suitable channel code. Various implementations of the base station and UE may include appropriate hardware and capabilities (e.g., encoders, decoders, and / or CODECs) for wireless communication using one or more channels of these channel codes.

[0057] In RAN 200, the ability of a UE to communicate while moving (independent of its location) is referred to as mobility. Various physical channels between the UE and RAN 200 are typically established, maintained, and released under the control of the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF). In some scenarios, the AMF may include a Security Context Management Function (SCMF) and a Security Anchoring Function (SEAF) for performing authentication. The SCMF can manage the security context for both control plane and user plane functions, either wholly or partially.

[0058] In various aspects of this disclosure, RAN 200 can utilize DL-based mobility or UL-based mobility to enable movement and handover (i.e., the UE's connection is transferred from one radio channel to another). In a network configured for DL-based mobility, during a call with a scheduling entity, or at any other time, the UE can monitor various parameters of the signal from its serving cell and various parameters of neighboring cells. Based on the quality of these parameters, the UE can maintain communication with one or more of its neighboring cells. During this time, if the UE moves from one cell to another, or if the signal quality from a neighboring cell exceeds the signal quality from the serving cell for a given amount of time, the UE can perform a handover or handover from the serving cell to a neighboring (target) cell. For example, UE 224 can move from a geographic area corresponding to its serving cell 202 to a geographic area corresponding to a neighboring cell 206. When the signal strength or quality from the neighboring cell 206 exceeds the signal strength or quality from its serving cell 202 for a given amount of time, UE 224 can send a report message to its serving base station 210 indicating this condition. In response, UE 224 can receive a handover command and can perform a handover to cell 206.

[0059] In a network configured for UL-based mobility, the network can utilize UL reference signals from each UE to select a serving cell for each UE. In some examples, base stations 210, 212, and 214 / 216 can broadcast uniform synchronization signals (e.g., a uniform primary synchronization signal (PSS), a uniform secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and a uniform physical broadcast channel (PBCH)). UEs 222, 224, 226, 228, 230, and 232 can receive the uniform synchronization signals, derive carrier frequencies and time slot timings from the synchronization signals, and transmit uplink pilots or reference signals in response to the derived timings. The uplink pilot signal transmitted by a UE (e.g., UE 224) can be concurrently received by two or more cells within RAN 200 (e.g., base stations 210 and 214 / 216). Each cell can measure the strength of the pilot signal, and the radio access network (e.g., one or more of the central nodes within base stations 210 and 214 / 216 and / or the core network) can determine the serving cell for UE 224. As UE 224 moves through RAN 200, RAN 200 can continue to monitor the uplink pilot signal transmitted by UE 224. When the signal strength or quality of the pilot signal measured by a neighboring cell exceeds the signal strength or quality measured by the serving cell, RAN 200 can, with or without notifying UE 224, hand over UE 224 from the serving cell to that neighboring cell.

[0060] While the synchronization signals transmitted by base stations 210, 212, and 214 / 216 can be uniform, these signals may not identify a specific cell, but rather an area of ​​multiple cells operating on the same frequency and / or using the same timing. Using areas in 5G networks or other next-generation communication networks enables an uplink-based mobility framework and improves efficiency for both the UE and the network because it reduces the number of mobility messages that need to be exchanged between the UE and the network.

[0061] In various implementations, the air interface in the radio access network 200 can utilize licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, or shared spectrum. Licensed spectrum typically provides exclusive use of a portion of the spectrum by means of a license purchased from a government regulatory agency by a mobile network operator. Unlicensed spectrum provides shared use of a portion of the spectrum without requiring a government-approved license. While some technical rules are generally still required to access unlicensed spectrum, in general, any operator or device can obtain access. Shared spectrum can fall between licensed and unlicensed spectrum, where technical rules or restrictions may be required to access the spectrum, but the spectrum can still be shared by multiple operators and / or multiple RATs. For example, a licensee of a portion of licensed spectrum can provide licensed shared access (LSA) to share the spectrum with other parties (e.g., those with appropriate licensee-defined conditions for access).

[0062] Devices communicating in the radio access network 200 can use one or more multiplexing techniques and multiple access algorithms to achieve simultaneous communication between various devices. For example, the 5G NR specification utilizes Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) with a cyclic prefix (CP) to provide multiple access for UL transmissions from UEs 222 and 224 to base station 210, and multiplexing for DL ​​transmissions from base station 210 to one or more UEs 222 and 224. Additionally, for UL transmissions, the 5G NR specification provides support for Discrete Fourier Transform Extended OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) with CP (also known as Single-Carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA)). However, within the scope of this disclosure, multiplexing and multiple access are not limited to the above schemes and can be provided using Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Sparse Code Multiple Access (SCMA), Resource Extended Multiple Access (RSMA), or other suitable multiple access schemes. In addition, time division multiplexing (TDM), code division multiplexing (CDM), frequency division multiplexing (FDM), orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), sparse code multiplexing (SCM), or other suitable multiplexing schemes can be used to provide multiplexing for DL ​​transmission from base station 210 to UEs 222 and 224.

[0063] Devices in the radio access network 200 can also utilize one or more duplex algorithms. Duplex refers to a point-to-point communication link where two endpoints can communicate with each other in both directions. Full-duplex means that two endpoints can communicate with each other simultaneously. Half-duplex means that at any given time, only one endpoint can send information to the other. Half-duplex simulations are often implemented using Time Division Duplex (TDD) for wireless links. In TDD, transmissions in different directions on a given channel are separated from each other using time division multiplexing. That is, in some scenarios, the channel is dedicated to transmission in one direction, while at other times, the channel is dedicated to transmission in the other direction, where the direction can change very rapidly (e.g., several times per time slot). In wireless links, full-duplex channels typically rely on physical isolation between the transmitter and receiver, as well as appropriate interference cancellation techniques. Full-duplex simulations are often implemented for wireless links using Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) or Space Division Duplex (SDD). In FDD, transmissions in different directions can operate at different carrier frequencies (e.g., within paired spectrum). In SDD, spatial division multiplexing (SDM) separates transmissions in different directions on a given channel from each other. In other examples, full-duplex communication can be implemented in unpaired spectrum (e.g., within a single carrier bandwidth), where transmissions occur in different directions within different subbands of the carrier bandwidth. This type of full-duplex communication may be referred to herein as subband full-duplex (SBFD), also known as flexible duplex.

[0064] Figure 3 An example of a wireless communication network 300 supporting D2D or sidelink communication is shown. In some examples, sidelink communication may include V2X communication. V2X communication involves not only the direct wireless exchange of information between vehicles (e.g., vehicles 302 and 304) themselves, but also the direct wireless exchange of information between vehicles 302 / 304 and infrastructure (e.g., roadside units (RSUs) 306) (such as streetlights, buildings, traffic cameras, toll booths, or other stationary objects), between vehicles 302 / 304 and pedestrians 308, and between vehicles 302 / 304 and wireless communication networks (e.g., base station 310). In some examples, V2X communication may be implemented according to the New Radio (NR) Cellular V2X standard defined by 3GPP Release 16 or other appropriate standards.

[0065] V2X communication enables vehicles 302 and 304 to obtain information related to weather, nearby accidents, road conditions, the activity of nearby vehicles and pedestrians, objects near the vehicles, and other relevant information that can be used to improve the driving experience and enhance vehicle safety. For example, such V2X data can enable autonomous driving and improve road safety and traffic efficiency. For instance, V2X-connected vehicles 302 and 304 can use the exchanged V2X data to provide in-vehicle collision warnings, road hazard warnings, approach emergency vehicle warnings, pre-collision / post-collision warnings and information, emergency braking warnings, forward traffic congestion warnings, lane change warnings, intelligent navigation services, and other similar information. Furthermore, V2X data received by a pedestrian / cyclist's V2X-connected mobile device can be used to trigger warning sounds, vibrations, flashing lights, etc., in the event of an impending hazard.

[0066] Sidelink communication between vehicle UEs (V-UEs) 302 and 304, or between V-UEs 302 or 304 and RSUs 306 or pedestrian UEs (P-UEs) 308, can occur on sidelink 312 using the Proximity Service (ProSe) PC5 interface. In various aspects of this disclosure, the PC5 interface can also be used to support D2D link 312 communication in other proximity use cases, such as V2X. Examples of other proximity use cases may include proximity service-based smart wearables, public safety, or business applications (e.g., entertainment, education, office, healthcare, and / or interaction). Figure 3 In the example shown, ProSe communication can also occur between UE 314 and 316.

[0067] ProSe communication supports various operational scenarios, such as in-coverage, out-of-coverage, and partial coverage. Out-of-coverage refers to scenarios where UEs (e.g., UEs 314 and 316) are outside the coverage area of ​​a base station (e.g., base station 310), but are still configured for ProSe communication. Partial coverage refers to scenarios where some UEs (e.g., V-UE 304) are outside the coverage area of ​​base station 310, while other UEs (e.g., V-UE 302 and P-UE 308) communicate with base station 310. In-coverage refers to scenarios where UEs (e.g., V-UE 302 and P-UE 308) communicate with base station 310 (e.g., gNB) via a Uu (e.g., cellular interface) connection to receive ProSe service authorization and provisioning information to support ProSe operation.

[0068] To facilitate D2D sidelink communication on sidelink 312 between, for example, UEs 314 and 316, UEs 314 and 316 may send discovery signals between them. In some examples, each discovery signal may include synchronization signals, such as a primary synchronization signal (PSS) and / or a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), which facilitate device discovery and synchronization of communication on sidelink 312. For example, UE 316 may use the discovery signals to measure the signal strength and channel state of a potential sidelink (e.g., sidelink 312) with another UE (e.g., UE 314). UE 316 may use the measurement results to select a UE (e.g., UE 314) for sidelink communication or relay communication.

[0069] In 5G NR sidelink communication, sidelink communication can utilize transmit or receive resource pools. For example, the minimum resource allocation unit in terms of frequency can be a subchannel (e.g., which may include, for example, 10, 15, 20, 25, 50, 75, or 100 consecutive resource blocks), and the minimum resource allocation unit in terms of time can be a time slot. The number of subchannels in the resource pool can include between 1 and 27 subchannels. The radio resource control (RRC) configuration of the resource pool can be pre-configured (e.g., factory settings on the UE, which are determined, for example, by the sidelink standard or specification) or configured by the base station (e.g., base station 310).

[0070] Furthermore, for sidelink (e.g., PC5) communication, two main resource allocation operation modes can exist. In the first mode (Mode 1), the base station (e.g., gNB) 310 can allocate resources to sidelink devices (e.g., V2X devices or other sidelink devices) in various ways for sidelink communication between the sidelink devices. For example, the base station 310 can dynamically allocate sidelink resources to the sidelink devices in response to requests for sidelink resources from the sidelink devices (e.g., dynamic granting). For example, the base station 310 can schedule sidelink communication via DCI 3_0. In some examples, the base station 310 can schedule PSCCH / PSSCH within the uplink resources indicated in DCI 3_0. The base station 310 can further activate pre-configured sidelink grants (e.g., configured grants) for sidelink communication between the sidelink devices. In some examples, the base station 310 can activate configured grants (CG) via RRC signaling. In mode 1, the sending sidelink device can send a sidelink feedback report back to base station 310.

[0071] In the second mode (Mode 2), the sidelink devices can autonomously select the sidelink resources used for sidelink communication between them. In some examples, the transmitting sidelink device can perform resource / channel sensing to select unoccupied resources (e.g., subchannels) on the sidelink channel. The signaling on the sidelink is the same between the two modes. Therefore, from the receiver's perspective, there is no difference between these modes.

[0072] Various aspects of this disclosure will be described with reference to OFDM waveforms. Figure 4 Examples are illustrated schematically. Those skilled in the art will understand that various aspects of this disclosure can be applied to SC-FDMA waveforms in substantially the same manner as described below. That is, while some examples of this disclosure may focus on OFDM links for clarity, it should be understood that the same principles can also be applied to SC-FDMA waveforms.

[0073] Now for reference Figure 4 An expanded view of exemplary subframe 402 is shown, illustrating the OFDM resource grid. However, as those skilled in the art will readily recognize, the PHY transport structure for any particular application can differ from the example described herein, depending on any number of factors. Here, time is in the horizontal direction, in OFDM symbols; and frequency is in the vertical direction, in subcarriers of the carrier.

[0074] Resource grid 404 can be used to schematically represent time-frequency resources for a given antenna port. That is, in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) implementation with multiple available antenna ports, the corresponding multiple resource grids 404 can be available for communication. Resource grid 404 is divided into multiple resource elements (REs) 406. An RE (which is 1 carrier × 1 symbol) is the smallest discrete part of the time-frequency grid and contains a single complex value representing data from a physical channel or signal. Depending on the modulation used in a particular implementation, each RE can represent one or more bits of information. In some examples, a block of REs may be referred to as a physical resource block (PRB) or more simply as a resource block (RB) 408, which contains any appropriate number of consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain. In one example, an RB may include 12 subcarriers, the number of which is independent of the digital scheme used. In some examples, depending on the digital scheme, an RB may include any appropriate number of consecutive OFDM symbols in the time domain. Within this disclosure, it is assumed that a single RB (such as RB 408) corresponds exactly to a single communication direction (transmit or receive for a given device).

[0075] A set of contiguous or non-contiguous resource blocks may be referred to herein as a resource block group (RBG), subband, or bandwidth portion (BWP). A subband or BWP set can span the entire bandwidth. Scheduling a scheduled entity (e.g., a UE) for downlink, uplink, or sidelink transmission typically involves scheduling one or more resource elements 406 within one or more subbands or bandwidth portions (BWPs). Therefore, a UE typically utilizes only a subset of resource grid 404. In some examples, an RB can be the smallest unit of resources that can be allocated to a UE. Therefore, the more RBs scheduled for a UE and the higher the modulation scheme selected for the air interface, the higher the data rate for the UE. RBs can be scheduled by base stations (e.g., gNB, eNB, etc.) or can be self-scheduled by the UE implementing D2D sidelink communication.

[0076] In this illustration, RB 408 is shown occupying less than the entire bandwidth of subframe 402, with some subcarriers shown above and below RB 408. In a given implementation, subframe 402 can have a bandwidth corresponding to any number of one or more RBs 408. Furthermore, while RB 408 is shown occupying less than the entire duration of subframe 402 in this illustration, this is merely one possible example.

[0077] Each 1ms subframe 402 can consist of one or more adjacent time slots. Figure 4 In the example shown, a subframe 402 includes four time slots 410, as an illustrative example. In some examples, time slots may be defined based on a specified number of OFDM symbols with a given cyclic prefix (CP) length. For example, a time slot may include 7 or 14 OFDM symbols with a nominal CP. Other examples may include micro-time slots with shorter durations (e.g., one to three OFDM symbols), sometimes referred to as shortened transmission time intervals (TTIs). In some cases, these micro-time slots or shortened transmission time intervals (TTIs) may be transmitted by consuming resources scheduled for ongoing time slot transmissions for the same or different UEs. Any number of resource blocks can be utilized within a subframe or time slot.

[0078] An expanded view of one time slot in time slot 410 shows that time slot 410 includes a control region 412 and a data region 414. Typically, control region 412 can carry a control channel, and data region 414 can carry a data channel. Of course, the time slot can contain all DL, all UL, or at least one DL portion and at least one UL portion. Figure 4 The structure shown is merely exemplary in nature, and different time slot structures can be utilized, and different time slot structures can include one or more regions of each of the control region and the data region.

[0079] Despite Figure 4 Although not shown, each RE 406 within RB 408 can be scheduled to carry one or more physical channels, including control channels, shared channels, data channels, etc. Other REs 406 within RB 408 can also carry pilot or reference signals. These pilot or reference signals can provide the receiving equipment with channel estimation for the corresponding channels, enabling coherent demodulation / detection of the control and / or data channels within RB 408.

[0080] In some examples, time slot 410 can be used for broadcast, multicast, unicast, or unicast communications. For example, broadcast, multicast, or unicast communications can refer to point-to-multipoint transmissions from one device (e.g., a base station, UE, or other similar device) to other devices. Here, broadcast communications are delivered to all devices, while multicast or unicast communications are delivered to multiple intended receiving devices. Unicast communications can refer to point-to-point transmissions from one device to a single other device.

[0081] In an example of cellular communication over a cellular carrier via the Uu interface, for DL ​​transmission, a scheduling entity (e.g., a base station) may allocate one or more REs 406 (e.g., within control area 412) to carry DL control information, including one or more DL control channels (such as Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH)) destined for one or more scheduled entities (e.g., UEs). The PDCCH carries downlink control information (DCI), including but not limited to power control commands (e.g., one or more open-loop power control parameters and / or one or more closed-loop power control parameters), scheduling information, grants, and / or assignments of REs for DL ​​and UL transmissions. The PDCCH may further carry HARQ feedback transmissions, such as acknowledgment (ACK) or negative acknowledgment (NACK). HARQ is a technique well-known to those skilled in the art, in which the integrity of packet transmissions can be verified for accuracy at the receiving end, for example, using any suitable integrity verification mechanism, such as a checksum or cyclic redundancy check (CRC). If the integrity of the transmission is acknowledged, an ACK can be sent; otherwise, a NACK can be sent. In response to NACK, the transmitting device can send HARQ retransmissions, which can implement append merging, incremental redundancy, etc.

[0082] The base station can further allocate one or more REs 406 (e.g., in control area 412 or data area 414) to carry other DL signals, such as: demodulation reference signal (DMRS); phase tracking reference signal (PT-RS); channel state information (CSI) reference signal (CSI-RS); and synchronization signal block (SSB). SSBs can be broadcast at regular intervals based on periodicity (e.g., 5, 10, 20, 40, 80, or 160 ms). SSBs include the primary synchronization signal (PSS), secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and physical broadcast control channel (PBCH). The UE can utilize the PSS and SSS to achieve radio frame, subframe, time slot, and symbol synchronization in the time domain, identify the center of the channel (system) bandwidth in the frequency domain, and identify the physical cell identifier (PCI) of the cell.

[0083] The PBCH in the SSB may also include a Master Information Block (MIB) (which contains various system information) and parameters for decoding the System Information Block (SIB). The SIB may be, for example, System Information Type 1 (SIB1), which may include various additional system information. Together, the MIB and SIB1 provide the minimum system information (SI) for initial access. Examples of system information transmitted in the MIB may include, but are not limited to, subcarrier spacing (e.g., default downlink digital scheme), system frame number, PDCCH control resource set (CORESET) configuration (e.g., PDCCH CORESET0), cell prohibition indicator, cell reselection indicator, grid offset, and search space for SIB1. Examples of residual minimum system information (RMSI) transmitted in SIB1 may include, but are not limited to, random access search space, paging search space, downlink configuration information, and uplink configuration information. The base station may also transmit other system information (OSI).

[0084] In UL transmissions, the scheduled entity (e.g., the UE) may utilize one or more RE 406s to carry UL control information (UCI) including one or more UL control channels (such as the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH)) destined for the scheduling entity. UCIs may include various packet types and categories, including pilots, reference signals, and information configured to enable or assist in decoding uplink data transmissions. Examples of uplink layer signals may include Sounding Reference Signals (SRS) and Uplink DMRS. In some examples, the UCI may include a scheduling request (SR), a request from the scheduling entity to schedule uplink transmissions. Here, in response to an SR transmitted on the UCI, the scheduling entity may send downlink control information (DCI) that can schedule resources for uplink packet transmissions. UCIs may also include HARQ feedback, Channel State Feedback (CSF) (such as CSI reports), or any other suitable UCI.

[0085] In addition to control information, one or more REs 406 can be allocated for data services (e.g., within data area 414). This data service can be carried on one or more service channels, such as the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) for DL ​​transmissions, or the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) for UL transmissions. In some examples, one or more REs 406 within data area 414 can be configured to carry other signals, such as one or more SIBs and DMRS.

[0086] In an example of sidelink communication on a sidelink carrier via the Proximity Service (ProSe) PC5 interface, the control area 412 of time slot 410 may include a Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH), comprising sidelink control information (SCI) transmitted by an initiating (transmitting) sidelink device (e.g., a Tx V2X device or other Tx device) to a set of one or more other receiving sidelink devices (e.g., Rx V2X devices or other Rx UEs). The data area 414 of time slot 410 may include a Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH), comprising sidelink data traffic transmitted by the initiating (transmitting) sidelink device within resources reserved on the sidelink carrier via the transmitting sidelink device through the SCI. Other information may also be transmitted on each RE 406 within time slot 410. For example, HARQ feedback information may be transmitted from the receiving sidelink device to the transmitting sidelink device in the Physical Sidelink Feedback Channel (PSFCH) within time slot 410. Additionally, one or more reference signals (such as lateral link SSB, lateral link CSI-RS, lateral link SRS and / or lateral link positioning reference signal (PRS)) can be transmitted within time slot 410.

[0087] These physical channels are typically multiplexed and mapped to transport channels for processing at the Media Access Control (MAC) layer. The transport channels carry blocks of information called transport blocks (TBs). The transport block size (TBS) (which can correspond to the number of information bits) can be a controlled parameter based on the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) and the number of redundancies (RBs) in a given transmission.

[0088] The above references Figure 1-4 The channels or carriers described are not necessarily all channels or carriers that can be used between the scheduling entity and the scheduled entity, and those skilled in the art will recognize that other channels or carriers, such as other service, control, and feedback channels, can be used in addition to the channels or carriers shown.

[0089] 5G-NR networks can also support carrier aggregation (CA) of component carriers transmitted from different cells and / or different transmit / receive points (TRPs) in a multi-cell transmission environment. Different TRPs can be associated with a single base station or multiple base stations. In some respects, the term component carrier can refer to the carrier frequency (or frequency band) used for communication within a cell.

[0090] Figure 5 This is a conceptual diagram illustrating a wireless communication system of a base station (BS) and user equipment (UE) communicating via multiple carriers, according to some aspects of this disclosure. Specifically, Figure 5 An example of a wireless communication system 500 is shown, which includes a primary serving cell (PCell) 502 and one or more secondary serving cells (SCells) 506a, 506b, 506c, and 506d. PCell 502 may be referred to as the anchor cell providing radio resource control (RRC) connectivity to UE 510. In some examples, the PCell and one or more SCells may be co-located (e.g., different TRPs at the same location).

[0091] When carrier aggregation is configured in this scenario, one or more SCells from SCells 506a-506d can be activated or added to PCell 502 to form a serving cell serving UE 510. Each serving cell corresponds to a component carrier (CC). The CC of PCell 502 can be referred to as the primary CC, and the CCs of SCells 506a-506d can be referred to as secondary CCs.

[0092] Each of PCell 502 and SCell 506 can be served by its corresponding TRP. For example, PCell 502 can be served by TRP 504, and each SCell in SCells 506a-506c can be served by its corresponding TRPs 508a-508c. Each TRP 504 and 508a-508c can be a base station (e.g., a gNB), a remote radio head of a gNB, or something similar. Figure 1 , 2 Or any of the scheduling entities shown in Figure 3, or other scheduling entities. In some examples, one or more SCells (e.g., SCell 506d) in PCell 502 and SCell 502 may be co-located. For example, the TRP for PCell 502 and the TRP for SCell 506d may be installed in the same geographical location. Thus, in some examples, a TRP (e.g., TRP 504) may include multiple TRPs, each corresponding to one of multiple co-located antenna arrays, and each TRP supports a different carrier (different CC). However, the coverage of PCell 502 and SCell 506d may differ because component carriers in different frequency bands may experience different path losses and thus provide different coverage.

[0093] In some examples, PCell 502 can add or remove one or more of SCells 506a-506d to improve the reliability of the connection to UE 510 and / or increase the data rate. PCell 502 can be changed when switching to another PCell.

[0094] In some examples, PCell 502 can be a low-band (LB) cell, and SCell 506 can be a high-band (HF) cell. LB cells use a frequency band with a lower frequency band than HF cells. For example, HF cells can use millimeter-wave (mmW) CC, while LB cells can use CC in a frequency band below mmW (e.g., below 6 GHz). Typically, cells using mmW CC can provide greater bandwidth compared to cells using LB CC. Furthermore, in some examples, beamforming can be used to transmit and receive signals when using frequency carriers above 6 GHz (e.g., mmW).

[0095] This disclosure relates in several aspects to sidelink carrier aggregation. Sidelink carrier aggregation can be useful in many wireless communication applications, such as 5G NR applications. For example, sidelink carrier aggregation can be used in high data rate applications, such as Network Control Interactive Services (NCIS) and V2X applications.

[0096] Figure 6 An example of a wireless communication system 600 including a base station (BS) 602, a first UE 604, and a second UE 606 is shown. In some examples, the base station 602 may correspond to... Figure 1 , 2 Any of the base stations or scheduling entities shown in 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. In some examples, the first UE 604 and / or the second UE 606 may correspond to... Figure 1 , 2 The UE or any of the scheduled entities shown in any of the figures 3, 5, 6, 7, and 8.

[0097] Base station 602 communicates with each of the first UE 604 and the second UE 606 via Uu signaling. Base station 602 can allocate at least one set of component carriers (CCs) for the first UE 604 and / or the second UE 606. Figure 6 In the example, base station 602 allocates a first set 608 of CCs to first UE 604 and a second set 610 of CCs to second UE 606. In conjunction with this allocation, base station 602 defines a resource set for each CC. For example, the resource allocation performed by the base station may specify a first frequency band for a first CC (Uu CC0) in the first set 608 of CCs, and specify a second frequency band for a second CC (Uu CC1) in the first set 608 of CCs. Therefore, first UE 604 can concurrently transmit data to (or receive data from) base station 602 via the first CC and the second CC in the specified frequency band.

[0098] In some examples, the UE can establish at least one set of CCs for sidelink communication. Figure 6 In the example, the first UE 604 and the second UE 606 establish a CC set 612, which includes a first sidelink CC 614 (SL CC0) and a second sidelink CC 616 (SL CC1). These sidelink CCs can operate on a subset of the resources defined for the first set 608 and / or the second set 610 of CCs for Uu signaling.

[0099] For Uu-based communication, CCs can be grouped for various purposes. These groups can be separate from carrier aggregation and can depend on different factors, such as signal propagation characteristics, power requirements, bandwidth requirements, and others. For example, CC groups for Uu CCs can include Timing Advance (TAG) groups, beamforming groups, sleep groups, Discontinuous Receive Mode (DRX) groups, PUCCH groups, and multi-packet scheduling groups. Depending on the network implementation, other group types are also possible.

[0100] A TAG is a set of CCs with a common TA command. Here, the component carriers (CCs) and / or BWPs assigned to a TAG can have different subcarrier spacings (SCS). In this case, the TA can be based on the maximum SCS. For smaller SCSs, the TA is rounded to match the SCS granularity. The carriers in a timing advance group can be all or some of the carriers available for aggregation, and a specific component carrier in the timing advance group can be selected based on the delay characteristics of the corresponding signal propagation channel or other characteristics, including those of other channels used by other nodes. By using two groups, some component carriers in the aggregated component carriers can have one timing advance, while other aggregated component carriers can have different timing advances.

[0101] Similarly, one or more beamforming groups of component carriers can exist. Beamforming is a signal processing technique that can be used at a transmitting or receiving device to shape or guide an antenna beam (e.g., a transmit beam or a receive beam) along a spatial path between the transmitter and receiver. Beamforming can be achieved by combining signals transmitted via antenna elements of an antenna array module such that some of these signals undergo constructive interference while others undergo destructive interference. To produce the desired constructive / destructive interference, the transmitter or receiver can apply amplitude and / or phase shifts to the signals transmitted or received from or associated with each of the antennas.

[0102] In 5G New Radio (NR) systems (particularly for FR2 (millimeter wave) systems), beamformed signals can be used for most downlink channels, including the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) and Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH). Furthermore, broadcast control information (such as Synchronization Signal Blocks (SSBs), Slot Format Indicators (SFIs), and paging information) can be transmitted in a beam-scanning manner, enabling all scheduled entities (UEs) within the coverage area of ​​a Transmitter Receiver Point (TRP) (e.g., gNB) to receive the broadcast control information. Additionally, for UEs configured with beamformed antenna arrays, beamformed signals can also be used for uplink signals and channels, including the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), and Sounding Reference Signal (SRS). Moreover, beamformed signals can also be utilized in D2D systems employing FR2, such as NR sidelink (SL) or V2X.

[0103] Component carriers in the same beamforming group are assigned the same beamforming characteristics, or in other words, they each utilize one or more of the same beams for uplink and / or downlink communication. For example, a single MAC-CE command can be used to activate or deactivate the beams used for all component carriers in the group. In some cases, multiple beams may be desired for different component carriers instead of a single beam.

[0104] Another grouping type is sleep. Sleep is used to inactive component carriers, thereby reducing power consumption and network interference. The sleep state can be set or changed via a single bit in the downlink control information (DCI). Sleep groups can also exist as groups under the control of the wake-up signal (WUS) and active time configuration. Discontinuous reception (DRX) is another grouping in which some component carriers are turned off in groups. These groups are made for different reasons than timing advance groups or beamforming groups, and therefore component carriers can be grouped in different ways.

[0105] The BS can also use the DCI to schedule other types of groups. For example, the Carrier Indication Field (CIF) can be used to assign component carriers to Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) transmissions. Each PUCCH group typically has only one component carrier. The CIF can also be used for multi-packet scheduling, where multiple packets are scheduled to be transmitted simultaneously from a single set of component carriers.

[0106] For sidelinks, no defined groups exist, but applying groups to sidelink component carriers can be useful. In various aspects of this disclosure, a UE utilizing sidelink carrier aggregation and configured with one or more Uu CC groups can identify corresponding sidelink CC groups of different types. These sidelink group types may include, for example, TAG, beamforming groups, sleep groups, DRX groups, physical sidelink control channel (PSSCH) groups, and multi-packet scheduling groups. However, depending on the implementation, other groups may also exist, and this disclosure is not limited to any particular CC group.

[0107] In some examples, to establish a sidelink CC group, the UE can map a sidelink CC to a corresponding UuCC and then apply the Uu CC grouping to the corresponding mapped sidelink CCs to form a sidelink CC group. In one example, the network can configure multiple Uu CCs as both Uu CCs and sidelink CCs. In this example, each CC configured as both a Uu CC and a sidelink CC can be grouped into a sidelink CC group based on its corresponding Uu CC group. For example, a sidelink TAG can be formed that includes all sidelink CCs within a specific Uu TAG. This has the advantage of not requiring additional configuration. It should be understood that, depending on the sidelink resource pool allocated by the network, not all Uu CCs can be configured for both Uu and sidelink purposes. Therefore, the number of sidelink CCs in a specific sidelink CC group can be less than the number of Uu CCs in the corresponding Uu CC group. Furthermore, there can be more sidelink CCs configured compared to Uu CCs, and therefore, additional sidelink CC groups can be formed from these additional sidelink CCs.

[0108] In another example, the network can configure Uu CCs and sidelink CCs separately, allowing the center frequency and CC bandwidth to vary between Uu CCs and sidelink CCs. In this example, the UE can map each sidelink CC to a corresponding Uu CC based on the corresponding center frequency and CC bandwidth, and apply Uu CC groups to the mapped sidelink CCs to form sidelink CC groups. For example, a sidelink CC can have a center frequency and CC bandwidth located within the CC bandwidth of a Uu CC. In this case, the UE can map a sidelink CC to a Uu CC that includes the sidelink CC.

[0109] In another example, the mapping from sidelink CCs to Uu CCs can be different for different group types (destination). For example, the UE can be configured to map each sidelink CC to the corresponding Uu CC for each group type, based on standards or, for example, via RRC signaling. As an example, a first sidelink CC (e.g., CC-A) can be mapped to a first Uu CC (e.g., CC-1) to form a TAG, and mapped to a second Uu CC (e.g., CC-2) to form a beamforming group. Other custom groups for sidelink CCs can also be pre-configured.

[0110] In out-of-coverage scenarios, a UE can be pre-configured with a sidelink CC group, or the sidelink CC group can be derived from signaling (e.g., sidelink control information (SCI)) sent on the sidelink by a neighboring UE or a UE configured to generate and broadcast synchronization reference signals to synchronize UEs on the sidelink (e.g., syncRef UE).

[0111] In some aspects, the UE performs mapping before the Uu group is known to the UE and before an SL group is formed between the two UEs. After the gNB sends the actual Uu CC group to the UE for use in communications with the gNB, the UE can then apply the predetermined mapping to determine which SL CCs are in the corresponding SL group. Furthermore, in some cases, there may be SLCCs that are not suitable for any mapping. Irrelevant SL CCs can form their own SL group without any relation to any particular Uu CC group.

[0112] Figure 7 An example of signaling 700 in a wireless communication network including base station (BS) 702, first UE 704, and second UE 706 is shown. In some examples, base station 702 may correspond to... Figure 1 , 2 Any one of the base stations or scheduling entities shown in 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, or 13. In some examples, the first UE 704 and / or the second UE 706 may correspond to... Figure 1 , 2 Any of the UEs or scheduled entities shown in 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10 or 11.

[0113] exist Figure 7 At step 708, BS 702 communicates with the first UE 704 and also with the second UE 706. During this communication, BS 702 allocates resources for carrier aggregation (CA) and independently sends instructions for CA resource allocation to the first UE 704 and the second UE 706. For example, BS 702 may allocate a first set of CCs for Uu-based carrier aggregation to the first UE 702 and a second set of CCs for Uu-based carrier aggregation to the second UE 706. BS 702 may also establish CC groups for various purposes, such as timing advance groups, beamforming groups, sleep groups, discontinuous reception groups, physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) groups, and multi-packet scheduling groups, among other examples. In some examples, BS 702 may also specify CCs to be used for sidelink-based carrier aggregation. BS 702 can use one or more of the following to send CA information and CC packet information (and optional sidelink carrier aggregation information): RRC configuration message, DCI, DCI CIF or other signaling.

[0114] At step 710, the first UE 702 identifies one or more carrier packets that have been allocated by the BS for the Uu CC based on the CC packet information received in step 708. These packets can be used for any of the purposes described above. In some examples, the Uu CCs included in different groups can be the same. In other examples, the Uu CCs can differ between two or more groups.

[0115] At step 712, the first UE 704 and the second UE 706 can establish a sidelink (SL) and select two or more sidelink CCs for the sidelink CA. Here, the first UE 704 and the second UE 706 can choose to use SL CC_A, SL CC_B, and SL CC_C for the sidelink CA connection. In some examples, the SL CC selected for the sidelink CA may be different from the Uu CC selected for the Uu CA.

[0116] At step 714, the first UE 704 maps at least one SL CC to its corresponding Uu CC. In some implementations, UE 704 may map an SL CC to a Uu CC with exactly the same carrier frequency and bandwidth. In some implementations, the bandwidth may be different, but UE 704 may map the selected SL CC to a Uu CC that includes the center frequency of the SL CC. In some implementations, the mapping may be configured based on group type or other suitable principles.

[0117] In some examples, the mapping can be different for different groups. As an example, for the purpose of advance timing grouping (TAG), the mapping between Uu CC and SL CC can be CC_1 to CC_A, CC_2 to CC_B, and CC_3 to CC_C. Meanwhile, for beamforming purposes, the mapping between Uu CC and SL CC can be CC_3 to CC_A, CC_2 to CC_B, and CC_1 to CC_C. The mapping can be defined by BS 702, pre-configured, or determined in another way.

[0118] For a specific group, the selected SL CC (e.g., CC_A) is used to determine the specific Uu CC (e.g., CC_1) for that specific group. Then, UE 704 determines the other Uu CCs (e.g., CC_3, CC_4, CC_5) that are grouped with Uu CC_1.

[0119] At step 716, the second UE 706 performs a similar mapping from SL CC to Uu-assigned CC for communicating with the first UE 704. At step 716, the mapping of SL CC to Uu CC by the second UE 706 may differ from the mapping performed by the first UE 704 at step 714.

[0120] At step 718, the CC list (e.g., CC_1, CC_3, CC_4, CC_5) is then applied to the SL CCs to generate SL CC packets for a specific group (e.g., CC_A, CC_C, CC_D, CC_E corresponding to the Uu CC). In some examples, as shown at 714 and 716, each UE 704 and 706 can independently determine the sidelink group. In other examples, a UE (e.g., UE 704) can transmit the sidelink group to another UE (e.g., UE 706) for communication on the sidelink.

[0121] Table 1 illustrates a simplified mapping where group Uu (e.g., Uu group 1) has two CCs, designated CC_1 and CC_2. SL has a CC designated CC_A (mapped to CC_1) but no CC mapped to CC_2. When using such a mapping, applying group Uu to SL results in only CC_A being in the corresponding side link group (e.g., SL group A), since there is no SL CC corresponding to CC_2.

[0122] Table 1

[0123] CC_1 1 CC_A A CC_2 1

[0124] Table 2 illustrates another simplified mapping where group Uu (e.g., group Uu 2) has two CCs, designated CC_3 and CC_4. SL has CCs designated CC_B, CC_C, and CC_D. CC_C is mapped to CC_3, while CC_D is mapped to CC_4. When group Uu 2 is applied to this SL mapping, CC_C and CC_D are placed in their respective SL groups (e.g., SL group C). The additional SL CC (CC_B) is not mapped to Uu CCs and is therefore placed in a different SL group (e.g., SL group B).

[0125] Table 2

[0126] CC_B B CC_3 2 CC_C C CC_-4 2 CC_D C

[0127] Figure 8 An example of signaling 800 in a wireless communication network including base station (BS) 802, first UE 804, and second UE 806 is shown. In some examples, base station 802 may correspond to... Figure 1, 2 Any of the base stations or scheduling entities shown in 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, or 13. In some examples, the first UE 804 and / or the second UE 806 may correspond to Figure 1 , 2 Any of the UEs or scheduled entities shown in 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10.

[0128] exist Figure 8 At step 808, BS 802 sends carrier aggregation information and CC packet information to the first UE 804 for communication with the BS. For example, BS 802 can assign Uu CCs for carrier aggregation (CA) and group different Uu CCs for various purposes. As discussed above, various types of groups can exist, such as timing advance groups, beamforming groups, sleep groups, discontinuous reception groups, physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) groups, and multi-packet scheduling groups, among others. In some examples, BS 802 can also specify CCs to be used for sidelink-based carrier aggregation. BS 802 can use one or more of the following signaling methods to send CA information and CC packet information (and optional sidelink carrier aggregation information): RRC configuration messages, DCI, CIF of DCI, or other signaling.

[0129] At step 810, the first UE 804 and the second UE 806 can establish a sidelink (SL) and select two or more sidelink CCs for the sidelink CA. The SL CCs can be the same as or different from the Uu CCs.

[0130] At step 812, the first UE 804 identifies one or more sidelink CC packets. These packets may be obtained from the BS or determined based on the mapping described above. As mentioned above, these packets may differ for different purposes.

[0131] At step 814, the first UE 804 sends sidelink CC packet information to the second UE 806, indicating the sidelink CC group identified by the UE 804. This packet is relayed to the second UE 806 for use in communication on the sidelink. In some implementations, sidelink control information (SCI) is used to send the CC packet information.

[0132] Figure 9 An example of signaling 900 in a wireless communication network including a first UE 902, a second UE 904, and a third UE 906 is shown. In some examples, the first UE 902, the second UE 904, and the third UE 906 may correspond to... Figure 1 , 2Any of the UEs shown in 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10. In this example, the first UE 902 may be a SyncRef UE with an internal clock synchronized with a synchronization source. For example, the synchronization source may be a gNB, a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), a Global Positioning System (GPS), or other suitable synchronization source.

[0133] exist Figure 9 At step 908, the first UE 902 can determine the SL CC for carrier aggregation and one or more side link CC packets for the SL CC. The first UE 902 may be pre-configured with the SL CC and SL CC packets for CA, and may receive this information from the gNB, or may determine the SL CC and packets in another manner.

[0134] At step 910, the first UE 902 and the second UE 904 may establish an SL between them, and the second UE 904 may receive SL CCs and one or more SL CC packets for carrier aggregation from the first UE 902. For example, the first UE 902 and the second UE 904 may establish a side link between them and transmit SL CCs and SL CC packets as part of the side link establishment.

[0135] At step 912, the second UE 904 can receive a synchronization reference signal from the first UE 902 to synchronize the timing of radio frames on the sidelink between the first UE 902 and the second UE 904. For example, the first UE 902 can generate and transmit a first sidelink synchronization signal (S-SS) based on the synchronization established with the synchronization source.

[0136] At step 914, the second UE 904 and the third UE 906 may establish an SL between them and select an SL CC for the sidelink CA. In other examples, the SL CC used for the sidelink CA between the second UE 904 and the third UE 906 is the same as the SL CC used for the sidelink CA between UE 902 and UE 904. In other examples, the SL CC used for the sidelink CA may vary between the two sidelinks.

[0137] At step 916, the second UE 904 may send one or more sidelink CC packets to the third UE 906. These packets may be used for various purposes, such as timing advance, beamforming, sleep, discontinuous reception, and other purposes as described above.

[0138] At step 918, in a scenario where the second UE 904 and the third UE 906 are outside coverage, the second UE 904 can also generate and send a second S-SS based on the synchronization established with the first UE 902 to synchronize the timing of the third UE 906.

[0139] Figure 10 This is a block diagram illustrating an example hardware implementation of a UE 1000 employing a processing system 1014. For example, the UE 1000 may be a sidelink device or other device configured to wirelessly communicate with a base station, as in... Figure 1-9 As discussed in any one or more diagrams. In some implementations, UE 1000 may correspond to... Figure 1 , 2 The UE or any of the scheduled entities shown in any of the figures 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10.

[0140] According to various aspects of this disclosure, elements, or any part of elements, or any combination of elements, may be implemented using processing system 1014. Processing system 1014 may include one or more processors 1004. Examples of processors 1004 include microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors (DSPs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), state machines, gated logic, discrete hardware circuitry, and other suitable hardware configured to perform the various functions described throughout this disclosure. In various examples, UE 1000 may be configured to perform any one or more of the functions described herein. That is, the processor 1004 utilized in UE 1000 may be used to implement any one or more of the processes and procedures described herein.

[0141] In some implementations, processor 1004 may be implemented via a baseband or modem chip, while in other implementations, processor 1004 itself may include multiple devices that are distinct from and different from the baseband or modem chip (e.g., in scenarios where they can work together to implement the embodiments discussed herein). Furthermore, as mentioned above, various hardware arrangements and components other than the baseband modem processor can be used in the implementations, including RF chains, power amplifiers, modulators, buffers, interleavers, adders / converters, etc.

[0142] In this example, processing system 1014 can be implemented using a bus architecture, typically represented by bus 1002. Depending on the specific application and overall design constraints of processing system 1014, bus 1002 may include any number of interconnect buses and bridges. Bus 1002 communicatively couples together various circuits including one or more processors (typically represented by processor 1004), memory 1005, and computer-readable media (typically represented by computer-readable media 1006). Bus 1002 may also link various other circuits such as timing sources, peripheral devices, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art and therefore will not be described further. Bus interface 1008 provides an interface between bus 1002 and transceiver 1010, and between bus 1002 and interface 1030. Transceiver 1010 provides a communication interface or unit for communicating with various other devices over a wireless transmission medium. In some examples, the UE may include two or more transceivers 1010, each configured to communicate with a corresponding network type (e.g., terrestrial or non-terrestrial). Interface 1030 provides a communication interface or unit for communicating with various other devices and equipment (e.g., with the UE or other external devices housed within the same device) over an internal bus or external transmission medium (such as an Ethernet cable). Depending on the nature of the device, interface 1030 may include a user interface (e.g., a keypad, display, speaker, microphone, joystick). Of course, such a user interface is optional and may be omitted in some examples (such as IoT devices).

[0143] Processor 1004 is responsible for managing bus 1002 and general processing, including executing software stored on computer-readable medium 1006. When executed by processor 1004, this software causes processing system 1014 to perform the various functions described below for any particular device. Computer-readable medium 1006 and memory 1005 may also be used to store data manipulated by processor 1004 while executing the software.

[0144] One or more processors 1004 in the processing system can execute software. Whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or other terms, software should be broadly interpreted to mean instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subroutines, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executable files, threads of execution, procedures, functions, etc. Software may reside on computer-readable media 1006.

[0145] Computer-readable medium 1006 may be a non-transitory computer-readable medium. For example, non-transitory computer-readable media include magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disks, floppy disks, magnetic tapes), optical disks (e.g., compressed optical disks (CDs) or digital versatile optical disks (DVDs)), smart cards, flash memory devices (e.g., card, stick, or key drives), random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM), electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), registers, removable disks, and any other suitable medium for storing software and / or instructions that can be accessed and read by a computer. Computer-readable medium 1006 may be located within processing system 1014, outside of processing system 1014, or distributed among multiple entities including processing system 1014. Computer-readable medium 1006 may be embodied in a computer program product. For example, a computer program product may include a computer-readable medium having encapsulation material. Those skilled in the art will recognize how the functions described throughout this disclosure are best implemented, depending on the specific application and the overall design constraints imposed on the system as a whole.

[0146] UE 1000 can be configured to perform any one or more of the operations described herein (e.g., as combined above). Figure 1-9 The description and the following combination Figure 11-13 (Described). In some aspects of this disclosure, such as the processor 1004 utilized in UE1000, circuitry may be configured for various functions.

[0147] Processor 1004 is coupled to memory 1005 via bus 1002. The memory includes component carrier allocation and packet information 1015, which can be used for carrier aggregation and may also include tables, maps, or other data structures indicating component carriers for each of several different types of groups. Component carrier packets can be stored in memory 1005 for both Uu and SL packets.

[0148] Processor 1004 may include communication and processing circuitry 1041. Communication and processing circuitry 1041 may be configured to communicate with a base station, such as a gNB. Communication and processing circuitry 1041 may include one or more hardware components that provide a physical structure for performing various processes related to wireless communication (e.g., signal reception and / or signal transmission) as described herein. Communication and processing circuitry 1041 may also include one or more hardware components that provide a physical structure for performing various processes related to signal processing (e.g., processing received signals and / or processing signals for transmission) as described herein. In some examples, communication and processing circuitry 1041 may include two or more transmit / receive links, each configured to handle signals of a different RAT (or RAN) type. Communication and processing circuitry 1041 may also be configured to execute communication and processing software 1051 included on computer-readable medium 1006 to implement one or more of the functions described herein.

[0149] In some examples, the communication and processing circuitry 1041 can be configured to generate a scheduling request and send it to the base station (e.g., via UCI in the PUCCH) to receive uplink grants for the PUSCH. The communication and processing circuitry 1041 can also be configured to generate uplink signals and interact with the transceiver 1010 to transmit uplink signals. Uplink signals may include, for example, PUCCH, PUSCH, SRS, DMRS, or PRACH. The communication and processing circuitry 1041 can also be configured to interact with the transceiver 1010 to monitor downlink signals and decode downlink signals. Downlink signals may include, for example, PDCCH, PDSCH, CSI-RS, or DMRS.

[0150] The communication and processing circuitry 1041 is also configured to communicate on a sidelink carrier to exchange sidelink control information and sidelink data with other sidelink devices. In some examples, the communication and processing circuitry 1041 may be configured to transmit a PSCCH and / or PSSCH within a radio frame based on sidelink transmission timing. The PSCCH may include a sidelink synchronization signal block (S-SSB), other control information, and / or pilot signals, and the PSSCH may include sidelink data. In some examples, the sidelink transmission timing may be determined based on synchronization with a synchronization source (e.g., gNB, eNB, GNSS, etc.), self-synchronization with an internal timing / frequency reference, or synchronization with another sidelink device (e.g., based on received S-SS as described herein).

[0151] In some implementations where communication involves receiving information, communication and processing circuitry 1041 may obtain information from components of UE 1000 (e.g., transceiver 1010 that receives information via radio frequency signaling or some other type of signaling suitable for an applicable communication medium), process (e.g., decode) the information, and output the processed information. For example, communication and processing circuitry 1041 may output information to another component of processor 1004, memory 1005, or bus interface 1008. In some examples, communication and processing circuitry 1041 may receive one or more of signals, messages, other information, or any combination thereof. In some examples, communication and processing circuitry 1041 may receive information via one or more channels. In some examples, communication and processing circuitry 1041 may include the functionality of a receiving unit.

[0152] In some implementations where communication involves sending (e.g., transmitting) information, communication and processing circuitry 1041 may obtain information (e.g., from another component of processor 1004, memory 1005, or bus interface 1008), process (e.g., encode) the information, and output the processed information. For example, communication and processing circuitry 1041 may output information to transceiver 1010 (e.g., which transmits information via radio frequency signaling or some other type of signaling suitable for an applicable communication medium). In some examples, communication and processing circuitry 1041 may send one or more of signals, messages, other information, or any combination thereof. In some examples, communication and processing circuitry 1041 may transmit information via one or more channels. In some examples, communication and processing circuitry 1041 may include the functionality of units for sending (e.g., units for transmission).

[0153] Processor 1004 may include sidelink CC configuration circuitry 1042, configured to perform operations related to sidelink CC mapping as discussed herein. Sidelink CC configuration circuitry 1042 may include functionality for identifying at least one first carrier grouping for a first set of first component carriers with a base station. Sidelink CC configuration circuitry 1042 may include functionality for mapping at least one second component carrier to its respective corresponding first component carrier. Sidelink CC configuration circuitry 1042 may include functionality for identifying a UE as a synchronization reference. Sidelink CC configuration circuitry 1042 may include functionality for receiving an indication that a timing reference will be based on uplink timing. Sidelink CC configuration circuitry 1042 may include functionality for determining whether uplink timing or downlink timing will be used as the default reference for the timing reference. Sidelink CC configuration circuitry 1042 may also be configured to execute sidelink CC configuration software 1052 included on computer-readable medium 1006 to implement one or more of the functions described herein.

[0154] Processor 1004 may include sidelink CC packet circuitry 1043 configured to perform operations related to sidelink CC packetization as discussed herein. Sidelink CC packet circuitry 1043 may include functionality for applying at least one first carrier packet to a second set of second component carriers based on a mapping to generate at least one second carrier packet. Sidelink CC packet circuitry 1043 may also be configured to execute sidelink CC packetization software 1053 included on computer-readable medium 1006 to implement one or more of the functions described herein.

[0155] Figure 11 This is a flowchart illustrating an example method 1100 for a wireless communication system according to some aspects of this disclosure. As described below, some or all of the features shown may be omitted in certain implementations within the scope of this disclosure, and some of the shown features may not be necessary for all example implementations. In some examples, method 1100 may be provided by... Figure 10 The method is performed by the UE 1000 shown below. In some examples, method 1100 may be performed by any suitable means or unit for performing the functions or algorithms described below.

[0156] At box 1102, the UE can utilize the first set of the first CCs in the first frequency band to communicate with the BS on the cellular link. For example, in conjunction with the above... Figure 10 The communication and processing circuitry 1041 shown and described communicates using carrier aggregation in the uplink and downlink channels, and can receive information on how to aggregate the sidelink CCs, such as aggregating at least two component carriers from a set of component carriers for use in communication with a second wireless communication device, which may be a BS or a UE. The communication and processing circuitry also receives component carrier information and component carrier packet information from the BS for the uplink and downlink channels. This information can be stored in memory 1005, for example, in a CC allocation and packet memory.

[0157] At box 1104, the UE can identify at least one first carrier packet for a first set of first component carriers of the base station. For example, in conjunction with the above... Figure 10 The side link CC configuration circuit 1042 shown and described can be operated to identify and organize all specific packets for Uu CC.

[0158] At box 1106, the UE can utilize a second set of second component carriers within the first frequency band to communicate with a second wireless communication device on the side link. For example, in conjunction with the above... Figure 10The communication and processing circuitry 1041 shown and described, together with transceiver 1010, can cooperate with a transmitter or transceiver (e.g., which may be the same as or different from the transmitter or transceiver mentioned above in block 1102) to establish a side link and communicate on the side link.

[0159] At block 1108, the UE can map at least one second CC to its corresponding first CC. For example, the sidelink CC packet circuit 1043, in conjunction with CC allocation and packet information 1015, can map one or more of the sidelink CCs to the Uu CC.

[0160] At block 1110, the UE can apply at least one first CC to a second set of second CCs based on a mapping to generate at least one second carrier packet. For example, the side link CC packet circuit 1043, in coordination with CC allocation and packet information 1015, can use the mapping in block 1108 to generate SL CC packets for different types of groups.

[0161] In some embodiments, identifying at least one first carrier packet includes receiving a Radio Resource Control (RRC) configuration message from a base station. In some embodiments, the method further includes communicating with a base station on a cellular link using a third set of third component carriers in a second frequency band. The processor and memory are configured to: identify at least one third carrier packet for the third set of third component carriers with the base station; communicate with a second wireless communication device on a sidelink using a fourth set of fourth component carriers in the second frequency band; map at least one fourth component carrier to its corresponding third component carrier; and apply at least one second carrier packet to the fourth set of fourth component carriers based on the mapping to generate at least one fourth carrier packet.

[0162] In some embodiments, the first frequency band is higher than the second frequency band. In some embodiments, applying at least one first carrier group includes applying at least one first carrier group to each component carrier in a second set of component carriers. In some embodiments, the second set of second component carriers is within a sidelink resource pool, and applying at least one first carrier group includes applying at least one first carrier group to each second subcarrier in the second set of second component carriers within the sidelink resource pool.

[0163] In some embodiments, at least one second carrier group includes an additional carrier group, which includes at least one second component carrier that is not mapped to its corresponding first component carrier in the first component carrier. In some embodiments, the second component carrier set includes more component carriers than the first component carrier set.

[0164] In some embodiments, mapping includes mapping each second component carrier to a corresponding first component carrier, and wherein applying includes applying each of at least one first carrier group to a corresponding mapped second component carrier.

[0165] In some embodiments, identification includes identifying a first carrier packet, the first carrier packet including a third carrier packet of a first type and a fourth carrier packet of a second type for a first component carrier, and wherein application includes applying the third carrier packet and the fourth carrier packet to corresponding mapped second component carriers. In some embodiments, the first type includes at least one of a timing advance group, a beamforming group, a sleep group, a discontinuous reception group, a physical uplink control channel group, and a multi-packet scheduling group, and wherein the second type includes another of a timing advance group, a beamforming group, a sleep group, a discontinuous reception group, a physical uplink control channel group, and a multi-packet scheduling group.

[0166] In some embodiments, a third carrier group includes a first subset of the first component carriers, and a fourth carrier group includes a second subset of the first component carriers. In some embodiments, mapping at least one second component carrier to its corresponding first component carrier includes mapping multiple second component carriers to multiple first component carriers based on multiple corresponding group types between corresponding carrier groups of multiple first component carriers in a first set of first component carriers and multiple second component carriers in a second set of second component carriers.

[0167] Some embodiments further include transmitting sidelink control information (SCI) identifying a second carrier packet from the first wireless communication device to the second wireless communication device on the sidelink. In some embodiments, communicating with the second wireless communication device further includes communicating with the second wireless communication device by aggregating at least two second component carriers in a second set of second component carriers within the first frequency band.

[0168] In some embodiments, each of the second component carrier sets utilizes the same physical bandwidth and frequency as its counterpart in the first set of first component carriers. Some embodiments further include receiving the second component carrier set in an RRC configuration message from a base station. In some embodiments, each first component carrier includes a corresponding first bandwidth, and each second component carrier includes a corresponding second bandwidth, wherein mapping includes mapping each second component carrier to a corresponding first component carrier for which the corresponding first bandwidth includes the corresponding second bandwidth.

[0169] Figure 12This is a flowchart illustrating an example method 1200 for a wireless communication system according to some aspects of this disclosure. As described below, some or all of the shown features may be omitted in certain implementations within the scope of this disclosure, and some shown features may not be necessary for implementations of all embodiments. In some examples, method 1200 may be performed by... Figure 10 The method is executed by UE1000 shown below. In some examples, method 1200 may be executed by any suitable means or unit for performing the functions or algorithms described below.

[0170] At block 1202, the UE can identify at least one carrier packet for a set of component carriers in the first frequency band used for the side walkway. This operation can optionally be accomplished by communicating with the BS or other scheduling entity on the cellular downlink. This operation can be performed well before any side walkway communication. For out-of-coverage operations, this operation can be performed while the UE is still within the coverage area of ​​the BS. In some examples, the communication and processing circuitry 1041 is combined with the above. Figure 10 The side link CC configuration circuit 1042 shown and described can cooperate to receive and identify carrier packets and store this information in the CC allocation and packet information 1015 of the memory 1005. To receive CC and packet information from the BS, for example, in conjunction with the above... Figure 10 The communication and processing circuitry 1041 shown and described, together with transceiver 1010, can cooperate with a transmitter or transceiver to establish a Uu with the BS and communicate with the BS on the Uu.

[0171] At box 1204, the UE may optionally broadcast a synchronization reference signal to a second wireless communication device. For example, in conjunction with the above... Figure 10 The communication and processing circuitry 1041 shown and described, together with transceiver 1010, can cooperate with a transmitter or transceiver (e.g., it may be the same as or different from the transmitter or transceiver mentioned above at block 1202) to establish a side link and communicate on the side link. Alternatively, a synchronization reference may be broadcast by a different UE.

[0172] At box 1206, the UE can utilize the identified set of component carriers within the first frequency band to communicate with a second wireless communication device on the side link. For example, in conjunction with the above... Figure 10 The communication and processing circuitry 1041 shown and described, together with transceiver 1010, can cooperate with a transmitter or transceiver to establish a side link and communicate on the side link.

[0173] At box 1208, the UE can transmit sidelink control information (SCI) identifying at least one carrier packet to a second wireless communication device on the sidelink. For example, in conjunction with the above... Figure 10The communication and processing circuitry 1041 shown and described, together with transceiver 1010, can cooperate with a transmitter or transceiver to establish and communicate on a side link and transmit information from memory 1005. Alternatively, different message formats can be used to transmit control information.

[0174] In some embodiments, at least one carrier packet includes at least one of a timing advance group, a beamforming group, a sleep group, a discontinuous reception group, a physical side-link control channel group, and a multi-packet scheduling group. In some embodiments, communicating with the second wireless communication device further includes aggregating at least two component carriers for use in communication with the second wireless communication device. In some embodiments, the identification includes identifying a second carrier packet for a second set of second component carriers in a second frequency band used for the side-link, and wherein communicating with the second wireless communication device further includes communicating using the second set of component carriers in the second frequency band.

[0175] Figure 13 This is a flowchart illustrating an example method 1300 for a wireless communication system according to some aspects of this disclosure. As described below, some or all of the shown features may be omitted in certain implementations within the scope of this disclosure, and some shown features may not be necessary for implementations of all embodiments. In some examples, method 1300 may be performed by... Figure 10 The method is executed by UE1000 shown below. In some examples, method 1300 may be executed by any suitable means or unit for performing the functions or algorithms described below.

[0176] At block 1302, the UE can receive at least one carrier packet from the second wireless communication device for a set of component carriers in the first frequency band used for lateral link data communication. This operation can optionally be accomplished by communicating with the SynchRef UE in an out-of-coverage scenario or with another wireless communication device. In some examples, the communication and processing circuitry 1041 is combined with the above. Figure 10 The sidelink CC configuration circuit 1042 shown and described cooperates to receive and identify carrier packets and stores the information in CC allocation and packet information 1015 in memory 1005. To receive CC and packet information from the UE, for example, in conjunction with the above... Figure 10 The communication and processing circuitry 1041 shown and described, together with transceiver 1010, can cooperate with a transmitter or transceiver to receive on an SL or SL broadcast channel.

[0177] At box 1304, the UE can utilize the component carrier set within the first frequency band to communicate with a third wireless communication device on the side walkway. For example, in conjunction with the above... Figure 10The communication and processing circuitry 1041 shown and described, together with transceiver 1010, can cooperate with a transmitter or transceiver to establish a side link and communicate on the side link.

[0178] In some embodiments, receiving at least one carrier packet includes receiving at least one carrier packet from sidelink control information (SCI) from a second wireless communication device on the sidelink. In some embodiments, communicating with a third wireless communication device further includes aggregating at least two component carriers for use when communicating with the second wireless communication device.

[0179] The following provides an overview of examples of this disclosure.

[0180] Example 1: A wireless communication device in a wireless communication network includes: a transceiver; a memory; and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory, wherein the processor and the memory are configured to perform the following operations at the wireless communication device: communicating with a base station on a cellular link using a first set of first component carriers in a first frequency band; identifying at least one first carrier packet for the first set of first component carriers with respect to the base station; communicating with a second wireless communication device on a side link using a second set of second component carriers in the first frequency band; mapping at least one second component carrier to a corresponding first component carrier; and applying the at least one first carrier packet to the second set of second component carriers based on the mapping to generate at least one second carrier packet.

[0181] Example 2: According to the wireless communication device of Example 1, wherein identifying the at least one first carrier packet includes: receiving a Radio Resource Control (RRC) configuration message from the base station.

[0182] Example 3: A wireless communication device according to Example 1 or 2, wherein the processor and the memory are further configured to: communicate with a base station on a cellular link using a third set of third component carriers in a second frequency band; identify at least one third carrier packet for the third set of third component carriers with respect to the base station; communicate with the second wireless communication device on a side link using a fourth set of fourth component carriers in the second frequency band; map at least one fourth component carrier to its corresponding third component carrier; and apply the at least one second carrier packet to the fourth set of fourth component carriers based on the mapping to generate at least one fourth carrier packet.

[0183] Example 4: The wireless communication device according to Example 3, wherein the first frequency band is higher than the second frequency band.

[0184] Example 5: A wireless communication device according to any one of Examples 1 to 4, wherein applying the at least one first carrier group comprises: applying the at least one first carrier group to each component carrier in a second set of the second component carriers.

[0185] Example 6: A wireless communication device according to any one of Examples 1 to 5, wherein a second set of the second component carriers is located within a sidelink resource pool, and wherein applying the at least one first carrier group comprises: applying the at least one first carrier group to each of the second component carriers in the second set of the second component carriers within the sidelink resource pool.

[0186] Example 7: A wireless communication device according to any one of Examples 1 to 6, wherein the at least one second carrier group includes an additional carrier group, the additional carrier group including at least one second component carrier in the second component carrier that is not mapped to a corresponding first component carrier in the first component carrier.

[0187] Example 8: A wireless communication device according to any one of Examples 1 to 7, wherein the second set of the second set of component carriers comprises more component carriers than the first set of the first component carriers.

[0188] Example 9: A wireless communication device according to any one of Examples 1 to 8, wherein the mapping includes mapping each second component carrier to a corresponding first component carrier, and wherein the application includes applying each of the at least one first carrier group to a corresponding mapped second component carrier.

[0189] Example 10: A wireless communication device according to Example 1, wherein the identification includes identifying the first carrier group, the first carrier group including a third carrier group of a first type and a fourth carrier group of a second type for a first of the first component carriers, and wherein the application includes applying the third carrier group and the fourth carrier group to corresponding mapped second component carriers.

[0190] Example 11: A wireless communication device according to Example 10, wherein the first type includes at least one of a timing advance group, a beamforming group, a sleep group, a discontinuous reception group, a physical uplink control channel group, and a multi-packet scheduling group, and wherein the second type includes another of the timing advance group, the beamforming group, the sleep group, the discontinuous reception group, the physical uplink control channel group, and the multi-packet scheduling group.

[0191] Example 12: A wireless communication device according to Example 10 or 11, wherein the third carrier group includes a first subset of the first component carriers, and the fourth carrier group includes a second subset of the first component carriers.

[0192] Example 13: A wireless communication device according to any one of Examples 1 to 12, wherein mapping the at least one second component carrier to the respective corresponding first component carrier further includes: mapping the plurality of second component carriers to the plurality of first component carriers based on a plurality of corresponding group types between the corresponding carrier groups of a plurality of first component carriers in a first set of first component carriers and a plurality of second component carriers in a second set of second component carriers.

[0193] Example 14: A wireless communication device according to any one of Examples 1 to 13, wherein the processor and the memory are further configured to: transmit sidelink control information (SCI) identifying the second carrier packet from the first wireless communication device to the second wireless communication device on the sidelink.

[0194] Example 15: A wireless communication device according to any one of Examples 1 to 14, wherein communicating with the second wireless communication device further includes: communicating with the second wireless communication device by means of at least two second component carriers in a second set of second component carriers in the first frequency band.

[0195] Example 16: A wireless communication device according to any one of Examples 1 to 15, wherein the at least one first carrier group includes at least one of a timing advance group, a beamforming group, a sleep group, a discontinuous reception group, a physical uplink control channel group, and a multi-packet scheduling group.

[0196] Example 17: A wireless communication device according to Example 1, wherein each of the second set of the second component carriers utilizes the same physical bandwidth and frequency as a corresponding one of the first set of the first component carriers.

[0197] Example 18: A wireless communication device according to any one of Examples 1 to 17, wherein the processor and the memory are further configured to receive a second set of the second component carriers in an RRC configuration message from the base station.

[0198] Example 19: A wireless communication device according to any one of Examples 1 to 18, wherein each first component carrier includes a corresponding first bandwidth and each second component carrier includes a corresponding second bandwidth, and wherein the mapping includes mapping each second component carrier to a corresponding first component carrier for which the corresponding first bandwidth includes the corresponding second bandwidth.

[0199] Example 20: A method for performing wireless communication at a first wireless communication device, the method comprising: communicating with a base station on a cellular link using a first set of first component carriers in a first frequency band; identifying at least one first carrier packet for the first set of first component carriers with respect to the base station; communicating with a second wireless communication device on a side link using a second set of second component carriers in the first frequency band; mapping at least one second component carrier to a corresponding first component carrier; and applying the at least one first carrier packet to the second set of second component carriers based on the mapping to generate at least one second carrier packet.

[0200] Example 21: According to the method of Example 20, wherein the second set of the second component carriers is within a sidelink resource pool, and wherein applying the at least one first carrier group comprises: applying the at least one first carrier group to each of the second component carriers in the second set of the second component carriers within the sidelink resource pool.

[0201] Example 22: The method according to Example 20 or 21, wherein the at least one second carrier group includes an additional carrier group, the additional carrier group including at least one second component carrier in the second component carrier that is not mapped to a corresponding first component carrier in the first component carrier.

[0202] Example 23: A wireless communication device in a wireless communication network includes: a transceiver; a memory; and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory, wherein the processor and the memory are configured to perform the following operations at the wireless communication device: identify at least one carrier packet for a set of component carriers for a sidelink in a first frequency band; communicate with a second wireless communication device on the sidelink using the set of component carriers in the first frequency band; and transmit sidelink control information (SCI) identifying the at least one carrier packet to the second wireless communication device on the sidelink.

[0203] Example 24: The wireless communication device according to Example 23, wherein communicating with the second wireless communication device includes: broadcasting a synchronization reference signal to the second wireless communication device.

[0204] Example 25: The wireless communication device according to Example 24, wherein the at least one carrier group includes at least one of a timing advance group, a beamforming group, a sleep group, a discontinuous reception group, a physical side link control channel group, and a multi-packet scheduling group.

[0205] Example 26: A wireless communication device according to any one of Examples 23 to 25, wherein communicating with the second wireless communication device further includes: aggregating at least two component carriers in the component carrier set for use when communicating with the second wireless communication device.

[0206] Example 27: A wireless communication device according to any one of Examples 23 to 26, wherein the identification includes identifying a second carrier packet for a second set of second component carriers in the second frequency band for the side link, and wherein communicating with the second wireless communication device further includes utilizing the second set of the second component carriers in the second frequency band.

[0207] Example 28: A wireless communication device in a wireless communication network includes: a transceiver; a memory; and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory, wherein the processor and the memory are configured to perform the following operations at the wireless communication device: receiving from a second wireless communication device at least one carrier packet for a set of component carriers in a first frequency band for lateral link data communication; and communicating with a third wireless communication device on a lateral link using component carriers in the set of component carriers in the first frequency band.

[0208] Example 29: The wireless communication device according to Example 28, wherein receiving the at least one carrier packet includes: receiving the at least one carrier packet in side link control information (SCI) from the second wireless communication device on the side link.

[0209] Example 30: A wireless communication device according to Example 28 or 29, wherein communicating with the third wireless communication device further includes: aggregating at least two component carriers in the component carrier set for use when communicating with the second wireless communication device.

[0210] Several aspects of wireless communication networks have been described with reference to exemplary implementations. As will be readily recognized by those skilled in the art, the various aspects described throughout this disclosure can be extended to other telecommunications systems, network architectures, and communication standards.

[0211] For example, the various aspects can be implemented within other systems defined by 3GPP, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE), Evolved Packet System (EPS), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), and / or Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). The aspects can also be extended to systems defined by 3GPP2, such as CDMA2000 and / or Evolved Data Optimized (EV-DO). Other examples can be implemented within systems employing IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Ultra Wideband (UWB), Bluetooth, and / or other suitable systems. The actual telecommunications standards, network architecture, and / or communication standards employed depend on the specific application and the overall design constraints imposed on the system.

[0212] In this disclosure, the term "exemplary" is used to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any implementation or aspect described herein as "exemplary" should not be construed as being superior or advantageous to other aspects of this disclosure. Similarly, the term "aspect" does not require that all aspects of this disclosure include the features, advantages, or modes of operation discussed. The term "coupling" is used herein to refer to direct or indirect coupling between two objects. For example, if object A physically contacts object B, and object B contacts object C, objects A and C can still be considered coupled, even if they are not in direct physical contact with each other. For example, a first object can be coupled to a second object, even if the first object never physically contacts the second object. The terms “circuit” and “circuitry” are used extensively, and they are intended to include both hardware implementations of electronic devices and conductors (wherein such electronic devices and conductors, when connected and configured, perform the functions described in this disclosure, without limitation on the type of electronic circuit) and software implementations of information and instructions (wherein such information and instructions, when executed by a processor, perform the functions described in this disclosure).

[0213] Can be used in Figure 1-13 The components, steps, features, and / or functions shown herein may be rearranged and / or combined into a single component, step, feature, or function, or embodied in several components, steps, or functions. Furthermore, additional stages, components, steps, and / or functions may be added without departing from the novel features disclosed herein. Figure 1-3 The apparatus, devices, and / or components shown in 5-10 may be configured to perform one or more of the methods, features, or steps described herein. The novel algorithms described herein may also be efficiently implemented in software and / or embedded in hardware.

[0214] It is to be understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the methods disclosed herein is an illustration of an exemplary process. It is to be understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in these methods may be rearranged based on design preferences. The appended method claims give the stages of each step in an illustrative order, but are not intended to limit one to the given specific order or hierarchy unless expressly stated herein.

[0215] The preceding description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. Various modifications to these aspects will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein can be applied to other aspects. Therefore, the claims are not intended to be limited to the aspects shown herein, but are to be given the full scope consistent with the text of the claims, wherein references to the singular form of a stage are not intended to mean “one and only one,” but rather “one or more,” unless expressly stated otherwise. Unless expressly stated otherwise, the term “some” means one or more. The phrase “at least one” referring to a list of items means any combination of those items, including a single member. For example, “at least one of a, b, or c” is intended to cover: a; b; c; a and b; a and c; b and c; and a, b, and c. All structural and functional equivalents known or to be known by those skilled in the art throughout the various aspects described in this disclosure are expressly incorporated herein by reference, and are intended to be included by the claims. Furthermore, no disclosure herein is intended to be offered to the public, whether or not such disclosure is expressly recited in the claims.

Claims

1. A wireless communication device in a wireless communication network, comprising: transceiver; Memory; as well as A processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory, wherein the processor and the memory are configured to perform the following operations at the wireless communication device: Communicating with the base station on the cellular link using the first set of the first component carriers in the first frequency band; Identify at least one first carrier packet for a first set of first component carriers of the base station; The second set of second component carriers within the first frequency band is used to communicate with the second wireless communication device on the side link; Mapping at least one second component carrier to its corresponding first component carrier; and The at least one first carrier group is applied to a second set of the second component carriers based on the mapping to generate at least one second carrier group.

2. The wireless communication device according to claim 1, wherein, The identification of the at least one first carrier packet includes receiving a Radio Resource Control (RRC) configuration message from the base station.

3. The wireless communication device according to claim 1, wherein, The processor and the memory are further configured to: The third set of the third component carriers in the second frequency band is used to communicate with the base station on the cellular link; Identify at least one third carrier packet for a third set of third component carriers associated with the base station; The fourth set of the fourth component carriers within the second frequency band is used to communicate with the second wireless communication device on the side link; Map at least one fourth component carrier to its corresponding third component carrier; and The at least one second carrier group is applied to the fourth set of the fourth component carriers based on the mapping to generate at least one fourth carrier group.

4. The wireless communication device according to claim 3, wherein, The first frequency band is higher than the second frequency band.

5. The wireless communication device according to claim 1, wherein, The application of the at least one first carrier group includes: applying the at least one first carrier group to each component carrier in a second set of the second component carriers.

6. The wireless communication device according to claim 1, wherein, The second set of the second component carriers is located within the sidelink resource pool, and the application of the at least one first carrier group includes: applying the at least one first carrier group to each of the second component carriers in the second set of the second component carriers within the sidelink resource pool.

7. The wireless communication device according to claim 1, wherein, The at least one second carrier group includes an additional carrier group, which includes at least one second component carrier in the second component carrier that is not mapped to its corresponding first component carrier in the first component carrier.

8. The wireless communication device according to claim 1, wherein, Compared to the first set of the first component carriers, the second set of the second component carriers includes more component carriers.

9. The wireless communication device according to claim 1, wherein, The mapping includes mapping each second component carrier to a corresponding first component carrier, and the application includes applying each of the at least one first carrier group to a corresponding mapped second component carrier.

10. The wireless communication device according to claim 1, wherein, The identification includes identifying the first carrier group, the first carrier group including a third carrier group of a first type and a fourth carrier group of a second type for a first of the first component carriers, and wherein the application includes applying the third carrier group and the fourth carrier group to the corresponding mapped second component carriers.

11. The wireless communication device according to claim 10, wherein, The first type includes at least one of a timing advance group, a beamforming group, a sleep group, a discontinuous reception group, a physical uplink control channel group, and a multi-packet scheduling group, and wherein the second type includes the other one of the timing advance group, the beamforming group, the sleep group, the discontinuous reception group, the physical uplink control channel group, and the multi-packet scheduling group.

12. The wireless communication device according to claim 10, wherein, The third carrier group includes a first subset of the first component carriers, and the fourth carrier group includes a second subset of the first component carriers.

13. The wireless communication device according to claim 1, wherein, The step of mapping the at least one second component carrier to its corresponding first component carrier further includes: The plurality of second component carriers are mapped to the plurality of first component carriers based on the plurality of corresponding group types between the plurality of first component carriers in the first set of the first component carriers and the plurality of second component carriers in the second set of the second component carriers.

14. The wireless communication device according to claim 1, wherein, The processor and the memory are further configured to transmit sidelink control information (SCI) identifying the second carrier packet from the wireless communication device to the second wireless communication device on the sidelink.

15. The wireless communication device according to claim 1, wherein, The communication with the second wireless communication device further includes: The second wireless communication device is communicated by aggregating at least two second component carriers from a second set of second component carriers within the first frequency band.

16. The wireless communication device according to claim 1, wherein, The at least one first carrier group includes at least one of the following: timing advance group, beamforming group, sleep group, discontinuous reception group, physical uplink control channel group, and multi-packet scheduling group.

17. The wireless communication device according to claim 1, wherein, The second set of the second component carriers each utilizes the same physical bandwidth and frequency as the corresponding one in the first set of the first component carriers.

18. The wireless communication device according to claim 1, wherein, The processor and the memory are further configured to receive a second set of the second component carriers in an RRC configuration message from the base station.

19. The wireless communication device according to claim 1, wherein, Each first component carrier includes a corresponding first bandwidth, and each second component carrier includes a corresponding second bandwidth, wherein the mapping includes mapping each second component carrier to a corresponding first component carrier for which the corresponding first bandwidth includes the corresponding second bandwidth.

20. A method for performing wireless communication at a first wireless communication device, the method comprising: Communicating with the base station on the cellular link using the first set of the first component carriers in the first frequency band; Identify at least one first carrier packet for a first set of first component carriers of the base station; The second set of second component carriers within the first frequency band is used to communicate with the second wireless communication device on the side link; Map at least one second component carrier to its corresponding first component carrier; as well as The at least one first carrier group is applied to a second set of the second component carriers based on the mapping to generate at least one second carrier group.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein, The second set of the second component carriers is located within the sidelink resource pool, and the application of the at least one first carrier group includes: applying the at least one first carrier group to each of the second component carriers in the second set of the second component carriers within the sidelink resource pool.

22. The method according to claim 20, wherein, The at least one second carrier group includes an additional carrier group, which includes at least one second component carrier in the second component carrier that is not mapped to its corresponding first component carrier in the first component carrier.

23. A wireless communication device in a wireless communication network, comprising: transceiver; Memory; as well as A processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory, wherein the processor and the memory are configured to perform the following operations at the wireless communication device: Identify at least one carrier packet for a set of component carriers used for side-linking in the first frequency band; The component carrier set within the first frequency band is used to communicate with the second wireless communication device on the side link; as well as On the side link, side link control information (SCI) identifying the at least one carrier packet is transmitted to the second wireless communication device.

24. The wireless communication device according to claim 23, wherein, The communication with the second wireless communication device includes: broadcasting a synchronization reference signal to the second wireless communication device.

25. The wireless communication device according to claim 24, wherein, The at least one carrier group includes at least one of the following: timing advance group, beamforming group, sleep group, discontinuous reception group, physical side link control channel group, and multi-data packet scheduling group.

26. The wireless communication device according to claim 23, wherein, The communication with the second wireless communication device further includes: At least two component carriers in the component carrier set are aggregated for use when communicating with the second wireless communication device.

27. The wireless communication device according to claim 23, wherein, The identification includes identifying a second carrier group for a second set of second component carriers in the second frequency band for the side link, and wherein communicating with the second wireless communication device further includes utilizing the second set of the second component carriers in the second frequency band.

28. A wireless communication device in a wireless communication network, comprising: transceiver; Memory; as well as A processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory, wherein the processor and the memory are configured to perform the following operations at the wireless communication device: Receive at least one carrier packet from the second wireless communication device for a set of component carriers in the first frequency band used for side-link data communication; and The component carriers in the component carrier set in the first frequency band are used to communicate with a third wireless communication device on the side link.

29. The wireless communication device according to claim 28, wherein, Receiving the at least one carrier packet includes receiving the at least one carrier packet from the side link control information (SCI) from the second wireless communication device on the side link.

30. The wireless communication device according to claim 28, wherein, The communication with the third wireless communication device also includes: At least two component carriers in the component carrier set are aggregated for use when communicating with the second wireless communication device.

Images