Method, terminal device, network device, and computer-readable medium for side link communication

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a solution for improving side link communication between terminal devices. In a communication method, a first terminal device may send auxiliary information to a network device. The auxiliary information may be used by the network device to determine a side link resource for side link communication between the first terminal device and the second terminal device. The first terminal device may then receive an indication of the side link resource determined based on the auxiliary information from the network device. The first terminal device may then use the side link resource to perform side link communication between the first terminal device and the second terminal device. In this way, the resource utilization efficiency in the side link communication may be improved or the interference level in the side link communication may be reduced, thereby improving the performance of the side link communication.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of communications, and specifically relate to a side link communication method, a terminal device, a network device, and a computer-readable medium. Background Art

[0002] 5G New Radio (NR) is the fifth generation of mobile networks. It is the new global wireless standard following 1G, 2G, 3G and 4G networks. 5G enables a new type of network designed to connect virtually everyone and everything, including machines, objects and devices. 5G wireless technology is designed to deliver higher multi-Gbps peak data speeds, ultra-low latency, higher reliability, massive network capacity, increased availability and a more unified user experience to more users. Higher performance and improved efficiency enable new user experiences and connect new industries.

[0003] In order to extend the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) platform to the automotive industry, the standards for vehicle-to-everything (V2X) services or sidelink communications have been studied in Releases 14 to 16 and further developed in Release 17. Specifically, Release 14 performs 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE)-based V2X standard work (Phase 1), Release 15 involves continuous LTE-based V2X standard evolution (Phase 2), Release 16 provides NR-based V2X design (Phase 3), and Release 17 involves further NR-based V2 design (Phase 4). Summary of the invention

[0004] In general, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for improving sidelink communications between terminal devices, and in particular, a solution for improving resource utilization efficiency and reducing interference in sidelink communications.

[0005] In a first aspect, a method performed by a first terminal device is provided. The method includes sending auxiliary information to a network device, the auxiliary information to be used by the network device to determine a side link resource for side link communication between the first terminal device and a second terminal device. The method also includes receiving an indication of the side link resource determined based on the auxiliary information from the network device. The method also includes performing side link communication between the first terminal device and the second terminal device using the side link resource.

[0006] In a second aspect, a method performed by a network device is provided. The method includes receiving auxiliary information from a first terminal device, the auxiliary information to be used by the network device to determine a side link resource for side link communication between the first terminal device and a second terminal device. The method also includes determining the side link resource based on the auxiliary information. The method also includes sending an indication of the side link resource to at least one of the first terminal device or the second terminal device.

[0007] In a third aspect, a method performed by a first terminal device is provided. The method includes receiving a distance threshold for sidelink communication between the first terminal device and a second terminal device from a network device. The method also includes acquiring a sidelink resource for the sidelink communication based on the distance threshold. The method also includes performing sidelink communication between the first terminal device and the second terminal device using the sidelink resource.

[0008] In a fourth aspect, a method performed by a network device is provided. The method includes determining a distance threshold for sidelink communication between a first terminal device and a second terminal device. The method also includes sending the distance threshold to at least one of the first terminal device or the second terminal device.

[0009] In a fifth aspect, a first terminal device is provided. The first terminal device includes a processor and a memory storing instructions. The memory and the instructions are configured to, together with the processor, enable the first terminal device to execute any one of the methods of the first and third aspects.

[0010] In a sixth aspect, a network device is provided. The network device includes a processor and a memory storing instructions. The memory and the instructions are configured to, together with the processor, enable the network device to execute any one of the methods of the second aspect and the fourth aspect.

[0011] In a seventh aspect, a computer-readable medium is provided, wherein instructions are stored on the computer-readable medium, and when the instructions are executed on at least one processor of a device, the device executes the method of any one of the first aspect and the third aspect.

[0012] In an eighth aspect, a computer-readable medium is provided, wherein instructions are stored on the computer-readable medium, and when the instructions are executed on at least one processor of a device, the device executes the method of any one of the second aspect and the fourth aspect.

[0013] It should be understood that the invention summary is not intended to determine the key or essential features of the embodiments of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become easily understood through the following description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] Some embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0015] Figure 1A and Figure 1B Schematic diagrams of communication environments in which some embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented are respectively shown;

[0016] Figure 2 An example of a communication process performed between a network device, a first terminal device, and a second terminal device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown;

[0017] Figure 3 An example of a set of areas associated with a cell of a network device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown;

[0018] Figure 4 shows a current area and a future area associated with a first terminal device and a current area and a future area associated with a second terminal device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0019] Figure 5 shows an exemplary distance between a first terminal device and a second terminal device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0020] Figure 6 An example of a directional beam for sidelink communication between a first terminal device and a second terminal device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown;

[0021] Figure 7 An exemplary scenario according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown, in which two end devices in a sidelink communication are separately served by two different network devices;

[0022] Figure 8 An example of a communication process performed between a first network device and a second network device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown;

[0023] Fig. 9 An example of a communication process performed between a network device, a first terminal device, and a second terminal device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown;

[0024] Fig.10 An example of a communication process performed between a network device, a first terminal device, and a second terminal device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown;

[0025] Fig.11 An example of a communication process performed between a network device and a first terminal device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown;

[0026] Fig.12 Four terminal devices and their corresponding related areas according to some embodiments of the present disclosure are shown;

[0027] Fig.13 An example of a communication process performed between a first terminal device, a second terminal device, a third terminal device, and a fourth terminal device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown;

[0028] Fig.14 A flow chart illustrating an example communication method according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0029] Fig.15 A flow chart illustrating an example communication method according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0030] Fig.16 A flow chart illustrating an example communication method according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0031] Fig.17 A flowchart illustrating an example communication method according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; and

[0032] Fig.18 A simplified block diagram of an apparatus suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0033] Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals refer to the same or similar elements. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0034] The principle of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some embodiments. It should be understood that these embodiments are described only for illustrative purposes, and to help those skilled in the art understand and implement the present disclosure, without any limitation to the scope of the present disclosure. The disclosure described herein can be implemented in various ways different from the manner described below. In the following description and claims, unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as those generally understood by those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present disclosure belongs.

[0035] References in this disclosure to "one embodiment," "example embodiment," "embodiment," "some embodiments," etc. indicate that the described embodiment(s) may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but not every embodiment must include the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Furthermore, such phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment(s). Furthermore, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in conjunction with an embodiment, it is considered to be within the knowledge of those skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in conjunction with other embodiments (whether or not explicitly described).

[0036] It should be understood that, although the terms "first" and "second" etc. can be used to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another element. For example, without departing from the scope of the embodiment, the first element may also be referred to as the second element, and similarly, the second element may also be referred to as the first element. As used herein, the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms. In some examples, a value, process or device is referred to as "best", "lowest", "highest", "minimum", "maximum", etc. It should be understood that such description is intended to indicate that a selection can be made among a lot of functional alternatives used, and such selection does not need to be better, smaller, higher or otherwise preferred than other selections.

[0037] The terms used herein are only used to describe specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the embodiments. As used herein, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" should also include plural forms. It should be further understood that the terms "comprises", "comprising", "has", "having", "includes" and / or "including" when used herein specify the presence of the features, elements, components, etc., but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components and / or their combinations. For example, the term "includes" and its variants should be understood as open terms, meaning "including but not limited to". The term "based on" should be understood as "based at least in part on". The terms "one embodiment" and "embodiment" should be understood as "at least one embodiment". The term "another embodiment" should be understood as "at least one other embodiment". Other explicit and implicit definitions may be included below.

[0038] As used herein, the term "communication network" refers to a network that follows any suitable communication standard, such as 5GNR, long term evolution (LTE), advanced LTE (LTE-A), wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA), high speed packet access (HSPA), narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), etc. In addition, the communication between the terminal equipment and the network equipment in the communication network can be performed according to any suitable generation of communication protocols, including but not limited to the first generation (1G), second generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G), 4.5G, fifth generation (5G) communication protocols, and / or any other protocols currently known or to be developed in the future. The embodiments of the present disclosure can be applied to various communication systems. In view of the rapid development of communication, there will also be future types of communication technologies and systems in which the present disclosure can be embodied. It should not be regarded as limiting the scope of the present disclosure to the above-mentioned systems.

[0039] As used herein, the term "network device" generally refers to a node in a communication network, via which a terminal device can access the communication network and receive services therefrom. A network device may refer to a base station (BS) or an access point (AP), for example, a NodeB (NodeB or NB), a radio access network (RAN) node, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB), a NR NB (also known as a gNB), a remote radio unit (RRU), a radio head (RH), infrastructure equipment for V2X (vehicle-to-everything) communication, a transmission and reception point (TRP), a reception point (RP), a remote radio head (RRH), a repeater, an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node, a low power node (such as a femto BS, a pico BS), etc., depending on the terminology and technology applied.

[0040] As used herein, the term "terminal device" generally refers to any terminal device capable of wireless communication. By way of example and not limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, user equipment (UE), end-user equipment, subscriber station (SS), unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), portable subscriber station, mobile station (MS), or access terminal (AT). The terminal device may include, but is not limited to, a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a smart phone, a voice over IP (VoIP) phone, a wireless local loop phone, a tablet computer, a wearable terminal device, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a portable computer, a desktop computer, an image capture terminal device such as a digital camera, a game terminal device, a music storage and playback device, a vehicle-mounted wireless terminal device, a wireless endpoint, a mobile station, a laptop embedded device (LEE), a laptop mounted device (LME), a USB dongle, a smart device, a wireless customer premises equipment (CPE), an Internet of Things (IoT) device, a watch or other wearable device, a head mounted display (HMD), a vehicle, a drone, a medical device (e.g., a remote surgery device), an industrial device (e.g., a robot and / or other wireless devices operating in an industrial and / or automated processing chain environment), a consumer electronic device, a device operating on a commercial and / or industrial wireless network, etc. In the following description, the terms "terminal device", "communication device", "terminal", "user equipment" and "UE" may be used interchangeably.

[0041] As used herein, the terms "resource", "transmission resource", "resource block", "physical resource block", "uplink resource", "downlink resource" or "sidelink resource" may refer to any resource used to perform communication between a terminal device and a network device or between terminal devices, such as resources in the time domain, resources in the frequency domain, resources in the space domain or resources in the code domain, or any other resource capable of communication, etc. In the following, resources in both the frequency domain and the time domain will be used as examples of transmission resources for describing some embodiments of the present disclosure. Note that embodiments of the present disclosure are equally applicable to other resources in other domains.

[0042] As described above, the standards for vehicle-to-everything (V2X) services or sidelink communications have been studied in Releases 14 to 16 and further developed in Release 17. Specifically, Release 14 performs 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE)-based V2X standard work (Phase 1), Release 15 involves continuous LTE-based V2X standard evolution (Phase 2), Release 16 provides NR-based V2X design (Phase 3), and Release 17 involves further NR-based V2 design (Phase 4).

[0043] More specifically, Release 14 includes sidelink semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) enhancements, congestion control, sidelink synchronization enhancements, and simultaneous V2X operations over multiple carriers. Release 15 introduces new features for sidelink communications, including carrier aggregation, high-order modulation, latency reduction, and feasibility studies of both transmit diversity and short transmission time intervals (TTIs) in sidelink communications.

[0044] In Release 16, NR V2X will support some advanced V2X services determined by SA1, not just those supported in LTE Rel-15 V2X, such as vehicle platooning, extended sensors, advanced driving, and remote driving. In this release, sidelink unicast communication, sidelink multicast communication, and sidelink broadcast communication are developed for V2X services, taking into account in-network coverage, out-of-network coverage, and partial network coverage. In addition, end-to-end (E2E) quality of service (QoS) management for V2X services is also studied. Release 17 involves further energy-saving enhancements, enhanced reliability, and reduced latency, including resource allocation and discontinuous reception (DRX).

[0045] Through research and analysis of traditional sidelink communication solutions, the inventors found that there are some technical problems that may degrade the performance of sidelink communication. More specifically, the resource allocation mechanism described in traditional sidelink communication solutions (e.g., current 3GPP sidelink / V2X work) may lead to inefficient resource utilization and high interference levels during sidelink communication.

[0046] In order to solve the above-mentioned technical problems, as well as potential other technical problems found in traditional solutions, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a solution (or enhancement mechanism) for improving side link communications between terminal devices, in particular, to improve resource utilization efficiency in side link communications and reduce potential interference levels in side link communications.

[0047] In particular, in one aspect of the solution of the present disclosure, the first terminal device may send auxiliary information to the network device, and the auxiliary information may be used by the network device to determine the side link resources used for the side link communication between the first terminal device and the second terminal device. After receiving the auxiliary information, the network device may determine the side link resources based on the auxiliary information. Then, the network device may send an indication of the side link resources to one or both of the first terminal device and the second terminal device. Upon receiving the indication, the first terminal device may use the side link resources to perform side link communication between the first terminal device and the second terminal device.

[0048] In another aspect of the solution of the present disclosure, the network device may determine a distance threshold for the side link communication between the first terminal device and the second terminal device. Then, the network device may send the distance threshold to one or both of the first terminal device and the second terminal device. Upon receiving the distance threshold, the first terminal device may acquire the side link resources to be used for the side link communication based on the distance threshold. Then, the first terminal device may use the acquired side link resources to perform the side link communication with the second terminal device. Through the solution of the present disclosure, the resource utilization efficiency in the side link communication may be improved or the interference level in the side link communication may be reduced. The principles and implementations of the embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0049] Example Environment

[0050] Figure 1A and Figure 1B Schematic diagrams of communication environments 100 and 105 are shown, respectively, in which some embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. Figure 1A As shown, a communication environment 100 (also referred to as a communication network 100 or a communication system 100) includes a network device 110, which serves terminal devices 120-1 to 120-4 located in a cell 112 of the network device 110. For simplicity, the terminal devices 120-1 to 120-4 may be collectively referred to as terminal devices 120. In order to send data, control information, etc., the terminal device 120 may communicate with the network device 110 via a corresponding communication channel.

[0051] In particular, if Figure 1A As shown in the exemplary scenario of , the first terminal device 120-1 can communicate with the network device 110 via the communication channel 115-1, the second terminal device 120-2 can communicate with the network device 110 via the communication channel 115-2, the third terminal device 120-3 can communicate with the network device 110 via the communication channel 115-3, and the fourth terminal device 120-4 can communicate with the network device 110 via the communication channel 115-4. For simplicity, the communication channels 115-1 to 115-4 can be collectively referred to as communication channels 115. When the transmission of information from the network device 110 to the terminal device 120 occurs, the communication channel 115 can be referred to as a downlink channel, and when the transmission of information from the terminal device 120 to the network device 110 occurs, the communication channel 115 can be alternatively referred to as an uplink channel.

[0052] In addition, the terminal devices 120 may perform sidelink communications, also referred to as device-to-device (D2D) communications, with each other via a sidelink channel. Figure 1AIn an exemplary scenario, the first terminal device 120-1 can perform a first side link communication 125-1 with the second terminal device 120-2 via a first side link channel. More specifically, during the first side link communication 125-1, the first terminal device 120-1 can send a side link transmission to the second terminal device 120-2, or receive a side link transmission from the second terminal device 120-2. Similarly, the third terminal device 120-3 can perform a second side link communication 125-2 with the fourth terminal device 120-4 via a second side link channel. More specifically, during the second side link communication 125-2, the third terminal device 120-3 can send a side link transmission to the fourth terminal device 120-4, or receive a side link transmission from the fourth terminal device 120-4.

[0053] exist Figure 1A In an exemplary scenario, the pair of first terminal devices 120-1 and second terminal devices 120-2 may be located in a first local area within the cell 112, and the pair of third terminal devices 120-3 and fourth terminal devices 120-4 may be located in a second local area within the cell 112. In some embodiments, the first local area and the second local area may be considered to be separated in distance. Therefore, the first side link communication 125-1 and the second side link communication 125-2 may be performed using the same side link resources, thereby improving resource utilization efficiency without causing significant interference to each other.

[0054] like Figure 1B As shown, the communication environment 105 is similar to Figure 1A The difference between the communication environment 105 and the communication environment 100 is that Figure 1B As shown, the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2 are relatively far from each other, and therefore they cannot be considered to be in the same local area within the cell 112. Figure 1B The first side link communication 125-1 performed between the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2 shown needs to be performed at a high power level due to the long distance between the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2. The first side link communication 125-1 can be regarded as a long-range side link communication and may cause a significant level of interference in other side link communications (such as the second side link communication 125-2) performed in the cell 112.

[0055] As used herein, the term "sidelink transmission" generally refers to any transmission performed from one terminal device to another terminal device via a sidelink channel that has been established between one terminal device and the other terminal device. Sidelink transmissions can be used to send any data or control information associated with sidelink communications, such as sidelink data, sidelink control information, sidelink feedback information, etc. As used herein, the term "sidelink channel" generally refers to any channel used for sidelink communications, such as a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH), a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH), a physical sidelink discovery channel (PSDCH), a physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH), a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH), and other existing or future sidelink channels.

[0056] In some embodiments, the network device 110 may not be present in the communication environment 100 or 105. For example, one or more of the terminal device 120 and other terminal devices (not shown) may be outside the coverage of the network device 110 (i.e., outside the cell 112). In this case, communication between one or more terminal devices 120 and possibly outside the cell 112 may be performed. Figure 1A and Figure 1B There may only be side link communication between other terminal devices not shown.

[0057] Despite Figure 1A and Figure 1B The network device 110 and the terminal device 120 are described in the communication environments 100 and 105 of the present invention, but the embodiments of the present invention can be similarly applied to any other suitable communication devices that communicate with each other. That is, the embodiments of the present invention are not limited to Figure 1A and 1B At this point, it should be noted that although Figure 1A and Figure 1B In the embodiment, the network device 110 is schematically depicted as a base station and the terminal device 120 is schematically depicted as a mobile phone, but it should be understood that these depictions are exemplary in nature without any limitation. In other embodiments, the network device 110 and the terminal device 120 can be any other communication device, for example, any other wireless communication device.

[0058] In the case where the terminal device 120 is a vehicle-mounted terminal device, the communication related to them can be referred to as V2X communication. Figure 1A and Figure 1BAlthough not shown, V2X communication related to the terminal device 120 may include a corresponding communication channel between the first terminal device 120-1 or the second terminal device 120-2 and any other communication device (including but not limited to infrastructure equipment, another vehicle-mounted terminal device, a pedestrian's device, a roadside unit, etc.). In addition, although not shown, Figure 1A and Figure 1B All communication links shown may be via one or more repeaters.

[0059] It should be understood that Figure 1A and Figure 1B The specific number of various communication devices, the specific number of various communication links, the specific number of other elements, and the specific shape of the cell 112 shown are for illustration purposes only and do not set forth any limitation. The communication environment 100 may include any suitable number of communication devices, any suitable number of communication links, any suitable number of other elements, and any suitable shape of the cell 112 suitable for implementing the embodiments of the present disclosure. In addition, it should be understood that various wireless communications as well as wired communications (if desired) may exist between all communication devices.

[0060] The communication in the communication environment 100 or 105 can be implemented according to any appropriate (multiple) communication protocols, including but not limited to first generation (1G), second generation (2G), third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G) and fifth generation (5G) cellular communication protocols, NR-U, etc., wireless local area network communication protocols such as Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11, and / or any other protocol currently known or to be developed in the future. In addition, such communication can utilize any appropriate wireless communication technology, including but not limited to: code division multiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division duplex (FDD), time division duplex (TDD), multiple input multiple output (MIMO), orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM), and / or any other technology currently known or to be developed in the future.

[0061] Example Process

[0062] Figure 2 An example of a communication process 200 performed between a network device 110, a first terminal device 120-1, and a second terminal device 120-2 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. It should be understood that although the communication process 200 is depicted as being performed between the network device 110, the first terminal device 120-1, and the second terminal device 120-2, the communication process 200 may similarly be performed between the network device 110 and any other terminal device in the terminal device 120. For the purpose of discussion, reference will be made to Figure 1A and Figure 1B The communication process 200 is described. However, it should be understood that the communication process 200 may be equally applicable to other communication scenarios in which communication devices communicate with each other.

[0063] like Figure 2 As shown, in order to perform a first sidelink communication 125-1 between a first terminal device 120-1 and a second terminal device 120-2, the first terminal device 120-1 may send (210) auxiliary information 215 to the network device 110, and thus the network device 110 may receive (220) the auxiliary information 215 from the first terminal device 120-1. The auxiliary information 215 may be used by the network device 110 to determine (230) the sidelink resources for the first sidelink communication 125-1. For example, the auxiliary information 215 reported from the first terminal device 120-1 to the network device 110 may help the network device 110 perform sidelink resource management and interference control for the sidelink communication in the cell 112.

[0064] In general, the auxiliary information 215 may be any information that can help the network device 110 determine (230) appropriate side link resources for the first side link communication 125-1. For example, the auxiliary information 215 may include location information of the first terminal device 120-1, distance information about the distance between the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2, beamforming information associated with the first side link communication 125-1, interference information about interference detected by the first terminal device 120-1, etc. Based on such various information, the network device 110 can determine optimized side link resources for the first side link communication 125-1 to improve the resource utilization efficiency of the side link communication in the cell 112 and reduce the interference level to the side link communication in the cell 112. The following will refer to Figures 3 to 6 Some embodiments are described in further detail.

[0065] In some embodiments, the second terminal device 120-2 may also send (212) auxiliary information 217 to the network device 110, and thus, the network device 110 may also receive (222) the auxiliary information 217 from the second terminal device 120-2. The auxiliary information 217 may also be used by the network device 110 to determine (230) the sidelink resources for the first sidelink communication 125-1. For example, the auxiliary information 217 reported from the second terminal device 120-2 to the network device 110 may help the network device 110 perform sidelink resource management and interference control for the sidelink communication in the cell 112.

[0066] Similar to the auxiliary information 215, the auxiliary information 217 can be any information that can help the network device 110 determine (230) appropriate side link resources for the first side link communication 125-1, such as location information of the second terminal device 120-2, distance information about the distance between the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2, beamforming information associated with the first side link communication 125-1, interference information about interference detected by the second terminal device 120-2, etc.

[0067] After receiving (220) the auxiliary information 215, the network device 110 may determine (230) the sidelink resources for the first sidelink communication 125-1 based on the received auxiliary information 215. In some embodiments, if the network device 110 also receives (222) auxiliary information 217 from the second terminal device 120-2, the network device 110 may also use the auxiliary information 217 to determine (230) the sidelink resources for the first sidelink communication 125-1. More generally, in some embodiments, the network device 110 may receive auxiliary information from all terminal devices associated with the sidelink communication in the cell 112, and may determine the sidelink resources for all requested sidelink communications based on the received auxiliary information.

[0068] In some embodiments, based on the received auxiliary information 215 and other auxiliary information that may be received from other terminal devices, the network device 110 can determine (230) side link resources for the first side link communication 125-1, so that the resource utilization efficiency of the side link communication in the cell 112 can be improved and / or the interference level of the side link communication in the cell 112 can be reduced, thereby improving the performance of the side link communication in the cell 112.

[0069] For example, refer to Figure 1A , based on the received auxiliary information 215 and other auxiliary information that may be received from other terminal devices, the network device 110 can determine that the pair of first terminal devices 120-1 and second terminal devices 120-2 are located in the first local area, the pair of third terminal devices 120-3 and fourth terminal devices 120-4 are located in the second local area, and the first local area is far away from the second local area. Therefore, the network device 110 can determine that even if the same side link resources are to be used, the first side link communication 125-1 and the second side link communication 125-2 will not cause significant interference to each other. In this case, the network device 110 can determine (230) the same side link resources to be used for both the first side link communication 125-1 and the second side link communication 125-2, so as to improve the resource utilization efficiency of the side link communication in the cell 112 without causing severe interference.

[0070] As another example, and referring to Figure 1B Based on the received auxiliary information 215 and other auxiliary information that may be received from other terminal devices, the network device 110 can determine that the first side link communication 125-1 will not cause significant interference to the second side link communication 125-2 because the first side link communication 125-1 will be performed using a directional beam. In this case, the network device 110 can determine (230) the same side link resources for both the first side link communication 125-1 and the second side link communication 125-2 to improve resource utilization efficiency of the side link communication in the cell 112 without causing severe interference.

[0071] As a more general example, based on the received auxiliary information 215 and other auxiliary information that may be received from other terminal devices, the network device 110 may determine (230) a sidelink resource to be used by the first sidelink communication 125-1 in order to reduce an interference level caused by the first sidelink communication 125-1 to another sidelink communication (such as the second sidelink communication 125-2) in the cell 112. Alternatively or additionally, the network device 110 may determine (230) a sidelink resource for the first sidelink communication 125-1 to reduce interference caused by another sidelink communication (such as the second sidelink communication 125-2) in the cell 112 to the first sidelink communication 125-1. Thus, potentially high interference levels observed on sidelink communications in the cell 112 may be advantageously avoided, significantly reduced, or eliminated.

[0072] After determining (230) the side link resources for the first side link communication 125-1, the network device 110 can send (240) an indication 225 of the side link resources to the first terminal device 120-1, so that the first terminal device 120-1 can use the side link resources for the first side link communication 125-1. For example, in this case, the first terminal device 120-1 is a transmitting device in the first side link communication 125-1. In some embodiments, the network device 110 can send (245) an indication 225 to the second terminal device 120-2, so that the second terminal device 120-2 can know the side link resources to be used for the first side link communication 125-1. For example, when the second terminal device 120-2 is a transmitting device in the first side link communication 125-1, this is the case. However, note that the network device 110 can send an indication 225 to one or both of the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2, regardless of which terminal device is the transmitting device.

[0073] Upon receiving (250) indication 225 from network device 110, first terminal device 120-1 may perform (260) or initiate first side link communication 125-1 between first terminal device 120-1 and second terminal device 120-2 using the side link resources indicated by network device 110. For example, if first terminal device 120-1 is a transmitting device in first side link communication 125-1, first terminal device 120-1 may perform side link transmission to second terminal device 120-2 using the received side link resources. Alternatively, if first terminal device 120-1 is a receiving device in first side link communication 125-1, first terminal device 120-1 may receive side link transmission from second terminal device 120-2 using the side link resources. Since the side link resource is an optimized side link resource determined by the network device 110 based on the received auxiliary information 215 and other auxiliary information that may be received from other terminal devices, by using the side link resource to perform the first side link communication 125-1, the resource utilization efficiency and interference level in the side link communication in the cell 112 can be improved.

[0074] From the perspective of the second terminal device 120-2, upon receiving (255) the indication 225 from the network device 110, the second terminal device 120-2 may perform (270) the first sidelink communication 125-1 using the sidelink resources indicated by the network device 110. For example, if the second terminal device 120-2 is a transmitting device in the first sidelink communication 125-1, the second terminal device 120-2 may perform a sidelink transmission to the first terminal device 120-1 using the sidelink resources indicated by the network device 110. Alternatively, if the second terminal device 120-2 is a receiving device in the first sidelink communication 125-1, the second terminal device 120-2 may receive a sidelink transmission from the first terminal device 120-1 using the sidelink resources.

[0075] Through the communication process 200, the auxiliary information 215 and possibly the auxiliary information 217 may be provided by the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2 to the network device 110. Therefore, based on the received auxiliary information 215, the received auxiliary information 217, and / or other auxiliary information that may be received from other terminal devices, the network device 110 may determine appropriate sidelink resources to be used for the first sidelink communication 125-1 to improve the resource utilization efficiency in the sidelink communication in the cell 112 and reduce the interference level in the sidelink communication in the cell 112, thereby improving the performance of the sidelink communication.

[0076] As described above, the assistance information 215 provided by the first terminal device 120-1 may include various information that may assist the network device 110 in determining 230 appropriate sidelink resources for the first sidelink communication 125-1. In some embodiments, the assistance information 215 may include location information regarding the location of the first sidelink communication 125-1.

[0077] In order to facilitate the network device 110 to allocate side link resources based on the indicated location of various terminal devices, a zone concept can be defined for efficient resource use and interference handling. For example, the geographical area of ​​the cell 112 can be divided into multiple areas, such as rectangular areas, which can be transmitted to the terminal device via high-level signaling. In some embodiments, each area can be configured with a sequence number (also referred to as an area ID) and can be associated with a specific resource pool for side link communication. Therefore, when the terminal device is located in a specific area, the network device 110 can select a side link resource from the associated resource pool, and allocate the selected side link resource to the terminal device to perform side link communication. Therefore, some embodiments of the present disclosure can provide a region-based solution for enhancing side link communication.

[0078] In some embodiments, the network device 110 may use the SL-ZoneConfig information element in the high-layer signaling to configure the zone and notify the terminal device 120. For example, the SL-ZoneConfig information element may include various fields, such as a zoneLength field, a zoneWidth field, a zoneIdLongiMod field, a zoneIdLatiMod field, and the like. The zoneLength field may indicate the length of each geographic area, for example, a value of "m5" may correspond to 5 meters, a value of "m10" may correspond to 10 meters, and so on. The zoneWidth field may indicate the width of each geographic area, for example, a value of "m5" may correspond to 5 meters, a value of m10 may correspond to 10 meters, and so on. The zoneIdLongiMod field may indicate the total number of zones configured with respect to longitude. The zoneIdLatiMod field may indicate the total number of zones configured with respect to latitude.

[0079] Figure 3 1 shows an example of a set of regions 310-1 to 310-N (also collectively referred to as a set of regions 310) associated with a cell 112 of a network device 110 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Figure 3 As shown, the geographical area of ​​the cell 112 can be divided into a group of regions 310, including regions 310-1 to 310-N. The group of regions 310 can be configured with corresponding sequence numbers 320, such as Figure 3For example, region 310-1 may have sequence number 320-1, and region 310-N may have sequence number 320-N. Sequence number 320 may be used to identify individual regions and may also be referred to as region ID 320 as used herein. It should be understood that, as Figure 3 The specific number, size, and shape of the regions 310 shown are for illustration purposes only and do not represent any limitation. In other embodiments, the cell 112 may include any suitable number of regions 310, the regions 310 may have other suitable sizes or shapes, and different regions may have different sizes or shapes.

[0080] In the case where the cell 112 is divided into the group of areas 310, the location information of the first terminal device 120-1 can be provided to the network device 110 in the form of a serial number of the area associated with the first terminal device 120-1. Upon receiving the serial number of the area associated with the first terminal device 120-1 and other serial numbers that may be reported by other terminal devices, the network device 110 can determine the side link resources used for the first side link communication 125-1 based on the sequence number of the area and possible other sequence numbers. For example, the sequence numbers of the areas associated with the terminal devices 120 in the cell 112 can be reported to the network device 110, and then these sequence numbers can be used by the network device 110 to determine whether the current resource allocation for the relevant area is allowed. Reference will be made to Figure 4 Some embodiments are described in further detail.

[0081] Figure 4 The current area 401 and the future area 403 associated with the first terminal device 120-1 and the current area 402 and the future area 404 associated with the second terminal device 120-2 are shown according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Figure 4 In the exemplary scenario of , it is assumed that the first terminal device 120-1 is currently located in the area 401 with the serial number 411, and the second terminal device 120-2 is currently located in the area 402 with the serial number 412. Therefore, the area 401 can be referred to as the current area 401 of the first terminal device 120-1, and the area 402 can be referred to as the current area 402 of the second terminal device 120-2.

[0082] like Figure 4As shown, for example, it is assumed that the first terminal device 120-1 can predict the area 403 with the sequence number 413 as its location in the near future. For example, the prediction of the area 403 can be based on information related to the movement 450 of the first terminal device 120-1. Similarly, for example, the second terminal device 120-2 can predict the area 404 with the sequence number 414 as its location in the near future. In some embodiments, the prediction of the area 404 can be based on information related to the movement 460 of the second terminal device 120-2. Therefore, the area 403 can be referred to as the future area 403 of the first terminal device 120-1, and the area 404 can be referred to as the future area 404 of the second terminal device 120-2.

[0083] refer to Figure 2 and Figure 4 Both, in Figure 4 In the exemplary scenario of , the auxiliary information 215 sent (210) by the first terminal device 120-1 to the network device 110 may include the sequence number of the area associated with the first terminal device 120-1. More specifically, when sending (210) the auxiliary information 215, the first terminal device 120-1 may send (210) the sequence number 411 of the current area 401 in which it is located to the network device 110. Alternatively or additionally, the first terminal device 120-1 may send (210) the sequence number 413 of the future area 403 in which it will be located in the near future to the network device 110. On the receiving side of the auxiliary information 215, the network device 110 may receive (220) the sequence number 411 of the current area 401 in which the first terminal device 120-1 is located, the sequence number 413 of the future area 403 in which the first terminal device 120-1 will be located in the near future, or both.

[0084] Likewise, the auxiliary information 217 sent (212) by the second terminal device 120-2 to the network device 110 may include a sequence number of an area associated with the location of the second terminal device 120-2. Thus, when sending (212) the auxiliary information 217, the second terminal device 120-2 may send (212) the sequence number 412 of the current area 402 in which it is located to the network device 110. Alternatively or additionally, the second terminal device 120-2 may send (212) the sequence number 414 of the future area 404 in which it will be located in the near future to the network device 110. On the receiving side of the auxiliary information 217, the network device 110 may receive (222) the sequence number 412 of the current area 402 of the second terminal device 120-2, the sequence number 414 of the future area 404 of the second terminal device 120-2, or both.

[0085] Based on the area information associated with the locations of the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2, the network device 110 can determine (230) the side link resource for the first side link communication 125-1 by judging whether the current resource allocation of the reported area is allowed. In this way, the network device 110 can select appropriate side link resources for the first side link communication 125-1 to improve the resource utilization efficiency of the side link communication in the cell 112 without causing significant interference to the side link communication in the cell 112, and thereby improve the performance of the side link communication in the cell 112.

[0086] In some embodiments, instead of the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2 sending the region information to the network device 110 separately, the sending device in the first side link communication 125-1 can send the region information of both the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2 to the network device 110. For example, if the first terminal device 120-1 is the sending device, the region information of the second terminal device 120-2 can be provided to the first terminal device 120-1 through a synchronization process or in any other suitable manner. In this way, the second terminal device 120-2 does not need to send the region information to the network device 110, thereby saving the transmission resources that should be allocated for sending the region information of the second terminal device 120-2 separately.

[0087] More specifically, when sending (210) the auxiliary information 215 to the network device 110, in addition to the serial number 411 of the area 401 and / or the serial number 413 of the area 403 associated with the first terminal device 120-1, the first terminal device 120-1 may also send (210) the serial number 412 of the area 402 associated with the second terminal device 120-2 and / or the serial number 414 of the area 404. On the receiving side of the auxiliary information 215, the network device 110 may, for example, receive (220) the area information of both the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2 from the first terminal device 120-1, for example, the serial number 411 of the area 401 associated with the first terminal device 120-1 and / or the serial number 413 of the area 403, and the serial number 412 of the area 402 associated with the second terminal device 120-2 and / or the serial number 414 of the area 404.

[0088] In some embodiments, the region information of the first terminal device 120-1 may be sent to the network device 110 based on a specific condition. More generally, each terminal device associated with the side link communication may conditionally report its own region information to the network device 110. As an example condition, the transmission of the region information may be in response to a request from the network device 110. In particular, the network device 110 may send a request to the first terminal device 120-1 to request region information from the first terminal device 120-1, such as one or more of the sequence numbers 411-414 of the regions 401-404. Upon receiving the request from the network device 110, the first terminal device 120-1 may send the region information associated with the first side link communication 125-1 to the network device 110. In this way, the region information may be reported to the network device 110 only when the network device 110 needs the region information, thereby reducing the signaling overhead for sending unnecessary region information.

[0089] As another example condition, the transmission of the region information may be based on the difference between the current sequence number and the previous sequence number being greater than a predefined difference threshold. Figure 4 , if the first terminal device 120-1 determines that the difference between the sequence number 401 and the previously reported sequence number is greater than the difference threshold, the first terminal device 120-1 can send the area information to the network device 110. In this way, the area information can be reported to the network device 110 only when the position of the first terminal device 120-1 changes significantly, thereby ensuring the necessity of reporting the area information and reducing the signaling overhead associated with sending unnecessary area information. In addition, in some embodiments, the first terminal device 120-1 is a transmitting device in the first side link communication 125-1, and sends the area information of both the first terminal device 12-1 and the second terminal device 120-2 to the network device 110. In these embodiments, the first terminal device 120-1 can send the area information in response to the difference between the current sequence number and the previous sequence number being greater than the difference threshold. In some embodiments, the network device 110 can configure or preconfigure the difference threshold according to a specific communication environment or performance requirements.

[0090] As another example condition, the transmission of regional information can be based on the number of changes in the sequence number being greater than a predefined number threshold. For example, if the first terminal device 120-1 determines that the number of changes in the sequence number associated with the current area is greater than the number threshold since the previously reported sequence number, the first terminal device 120-1 can send regional information to the network device 110. In this way, only when the first terminal device 120-1 has moved through a sufficient number of areas, the regional information can be reported to the network device 110, thereby ensuring the necessity of reporting regional information and reducing the signaling overhead for sending unnecessary regional information. In addition, in some embodiments, the first terminal device 120-1 is a transmitting device in the first side link communication 125-1, and sends the regional information of both the first terminal device 12-1 and the second terminal device 120-2 to the network device 110. In these embodiments, the first terminal device 120-1 can send regional information in response to the number of changes in the sequence number being greater than a predefined number threshold. In some embodiments, the network device 110 can configure or preconfigure the number threshold according to a specific communication environment or performance requirements.

[0091] In addition to or instead of location information (such as area information), the auxiliary information 215 may include distance information between the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2. In some embodiments, the distance information may be required in ranging-based services, which are services that utilize the distance (and possibly the direction) between two UEs, for example, UE discovery services for picture sharing between friends.

[0092] Typically, ranging does not require the network device 110 to deploy positioning infrastructure or provide positioning services, because it is performed directly between the two or more UEs involved. Ranging-based services are different from positioning services, which may be sensitive due to privacy or regulatory issues. Ranging-based services are becoming increasingly popular in various verticals such as consumer, smart home, smart city, smart transportation, and industry.

[0093] In addition to the need in ranging-based services, the distance information between the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2 can also be used by the network device 110 to determine whether the first side link communication 125-1 is a long-range side link communication. If the first side link communication 125-1 is a long-range side link communication, the network device 110 can optimize the selection of side link resources for the first side link communication 125-1 to avoid potential severe interference caused by the long-range side link communication.

[0094] Therefore, in some embodiments, the auxiliary information 215 provided by the first terminal device 120-1 to the network device 110 may include distance information (also referred to as ranging information) between the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2, and therefore, the network device 110 may improve the first side link communication 125-1 based on the distance information, thereby providing a ranging-based solution for enhancing the side link communication. In these embodiments, it is assumed that the location of the terminal device can be determined by the terminal device and can be provided to another terminal device. Therefore, the location information of the terminal device can be known between the terminal devices, and then, the distance between the UEs can be easily determined. More specifically, the location information of the terminal device can be derived via a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) / global positioning system (GPS) solution or a network-based positioning solution (e.g., an observed time difference of arrival (OTDOA) solution).

[0095] Figure 5 FIG. 5 shows an exemplary distance 510 between the first terminal device 120 - 1 and the second terminal device 120 - 2 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Figure 5 In the exemplary scenario of FIG. 5 , it is assumed that the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2 have positioning capabilities, and any one of the two terminal devices can provide its position to the other of the two terminal devices. Therefore, one or both of the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2 can determine the distance 510 between the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2.

[0096] refer to Figure 2 and Figure 5 In both cases, the auxiliary information 215 sent (210) by the first terminal device 120-1 to the network device 110 may include distance information 520 indicating the distance 510 between the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2. Therefore, when the auxiliary information 215 is sent (210) to the network device 110, the first terminal device 120-1 may send (210) the distance information 520 to the network device 110, and the network device 110 may receive (220) the distance information 520 from the first terminal device 120-1.

[0097] In this way, the network device 110 can select appropriate side link resources for the first side link communication 125-1 based on the distance 510 to improve the resource utilization efficiency of the side link communication in the cell 112 without causing significant interference to the side link communication in the cell 112, thereby improving the performance of the side link communication. In addition, the network device 110 can improve the ranging-based service based on the distance information 520. In some embodiments, the transmitting device of the first side link communication 125-1 can report the distance information 520 to the network device 110. However, it should be understood that, alternatively, the distance information 520 can be reported by the receiving device of the first side link communication 125-1, or by both the transmitting device and the receiving device.

[0098] In some embodiments, the distance information 520 may include the value of the distance 510. Such distance information 520 may be referred to as absolute distance information, which may be an absolute distance value in meters or kilometers. In this way, the network device 110 may obtain an accurate value of the distance 510, thereby allowing a more accurate calculation based on the value of the distance 510. Alternatively, the distance information 520 may include an indication of a value range that includes the value of the distance 510. Such distance information 520 may be referred to as relative communication ranging information. In this way, the signaling overhead for reporting the distance 510 may be reduced. For example, the relative communication ranging may be a coded value of a certain number of bits, such as 2 bits for indicating a 4-level relative distance as follows: "00" may represent 0-5 meters, "01" may represent 6-10 meters, "10" may represent 11-15 meters, and "11" may represent 16-20 meters. It should be understood that 3 bits for indicating an 8-level relative distance or any other number of bits for indicating the relative distance are also possible. Furthermore, it should be understood that the specific values ​​listed above are exemplary in nature and do not represent any limitations.

[0099] In some embodiments, the distance information 520 may be sent to the network device 110 based on certain conditions. For example, if the change in the distance between the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2 is greater than a predefined distance difference threshold, the new distance may be reported and authorized by the network device 110. More specifically, referring to Figure 5, the first terminal device 120-1 may determine the current distance 510 between the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2, and may also determine the previous distance 505 between the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2 reported to the network device 110. If the first terminal device 120-1 determines that the difference between the current distance 510 and the previous distance 505 is greater than the distance difference threshold, the first terminal device 120-1 may send distance information 520 to the network device 110. In this way, the distance information 520 may be reported to the network device 110 only when the distance changes significantly, thereby ensuring the necessity of reporting the distance information 520 and reducing the signaling overhead for sending unnecessary distance information. In some embodiments, the network device 110 may configure or preconfigure the distance difference threshold according to a specific communication environment or performance requirements.

[0100] In addition to or instead of the location information (such as area information) and the distance information 520, the auxiliary information 215 provided by the first terminal device 120-1 to the network device 110 may include beamforming information related to the first side link communication 125-1. For example, if a directional antenna or beamforming is to be used in the first side link communication 125-1, for example, in frequency range 2 (FR2) defined in the 3GPP specification, the antenna direction and related antenna parameters may be reported to the network device 110. Figure 6 Some embodiments are described in detail.

[0101] Figure 6 An example of a directional beam 610 for a first side link communication 125-1 between a first terminal device 120-1 and a second terminal device 120-2 is shown according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Figure 6 In the exemplary scenario of FIG. 1 , it is assumed that the first terminal device 120-1 will send a side link transmission using a directional beam 610, and the first terminal device 120-1 may generate beamforming information 620 to indicate the directional beam 610. For example, the beamforming information 620 may include information related to a directional antenna, antenna direction information, beamforming parameters, or other antenna parameters.

[0102] Therefore, reference Figure 2 and Figure 6 Both, in Figure 6In the exemplary scenario of , the auxiliary information 215 sent (210) by the first terminal device 120-1 to the network device 110 may include beamforming information 620 about the directional beam 610 to be used for the first side link communication 125-1. Therefore, upon receiving the beamforming information 620, the network device 110 will know that the directional beam 610 will be used to perform the first side link communication 125-1. Due to the directional beam 610, the first side link communication 125-1 will not cause significant interference to other side link communications (e.g., the second side link communication 125-2) in the cell 112, even if the first side link communication 125-1 is a remote side link communication. Therefore, the network device 110 can allocate the same side link resources to both the first side link communication 125-1 and the second side link communication 125-2.

[0103] In this way, the network device 110 can select appropriate sidelink resources for the first sidelink communication 125-1 based on the received beamforming information 620 to improve the resource utilization efficiency of the sidelink communication in the cell 112 without causing significant interference in the sidelink communication in the cell 112, thereby improving the performance of the sidelink communication. On the contrary, if the network device 110 does not have the beamforming information 620, even if a directional antenna or a beamforming mechanism is used for the first sidelink communication 125-1, the sidelink resources used for the first sidelink communication 125-1 cannot be reused for the second sidelink communication 125-2.

[0104] More specifically, based on beamforming information 620, network device 110 may determine that interference caused by first side link communication 125-1 to second side link communication 125-2 is below an interference threshold. In this case, when determining (230) the side link resources for first side link communication 125-1, network device 110 may determine (230) the side link resources for both first side link communication 125-1 and second side link communication 125-2 to improve resource utilization efficiency without causing significant interference. In some embodiments, the interference threshold may be configured or preconfigured by network device 110 according to a specific communication environment or performance requirements.

[0105] In the above, some embodiments are described in which both the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2 associated with the first side link communication 125-1 are served by the network device 110. Figure 7 Some other embodiments are described, in which the first terminal device 120 - 1 and the second terminal device 120 - 2 are located in different cells of different network devices and are served by different network devices respectively.

[0106] Figure 7An exemplary scenario 700 is shown according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, in which a first end device 120-1 and a second end device 120-2 associated with a first side link communication 125-1 are separately served by two different network devices. Figure 7 As shown, communication environment 700 includes network device 110 (also referred to as first network device) serving terminal devices 120-1, 120-3, and 120-4 located in cell 112 of first network device 110. In addition, communication environment 700 includes second network device 130 serving terminal devices 120-2, 120-5, and 120-6 located in cell 132 of second network device 130. In some embodiments, second network device 130 is a neighboring network device of first network device 110, and thus cells 112 and 132 are neighboring cells.

[0107] exist Figure 7 In the exemplary scenario of , the first terminal device 120-1 can communicate with the first network device 110 via the communication channel 115-1, the third terminal device 120-3 can communicate with the first network device 110 via the communication channel 115-3, and the fourth terminal device 120-4 can communicate with the first network device 110 via the communication channel 115-4. Similarly, the second terminal device 120-2 can communicate with the second network device 130 via the communication channel 115-9, the fifth terminal device 120-5 can communicate with the second network device 130 via the communication channel 115-5, and the sixth terminal device 120-6 can communicate with the second network device 130 via the communication channel 115-6.

[0108] In addition, Figure 7 In the exemplary scenario of , the first terminal device 120-1 can perform a first side link communication 125-1 with the second terminal device 120-2. Similarly, the third terminal device 120-3 can perform a second side link communication 125-2 with the fourth terminal device 120-4, and the fifth terminal device 120-5 can perform a third side link communication 125-3 with the sixth terminal device 120-6. Figure 7 It can be seen that Figure 1A and Figure 1B In contrast, the second terminal device 120 - 2 is served by the second network device 130 instead of the first network device 110 .

[0109] In this case, there may be no communication channel between the first network device 110 and the second terminal device 120-2, and there may be no communication channel between the second network device 120 and the first terminal device 120-1. Therefore, the auxiliary information 217 provided by the second terminal device 120-2 cannot be directly sent to the first network device 110. Similarly, the auxiliary information 215 provided by the first terminal device 120-1 cannot be directly sent to the second network device 130. In some embodiments, the first network device 110 can obtain the auxiliary information 217 by, for example, communicating with the second network device 130 via an X2 or Xn interface. In a similar manner, the second network device 130 can also obtain the auxiliary information 215 via an X2 or Xn interface.

[0110] More specifically, location information (such as area information), distance information, beamforming information, and / or sensed interference information provided by the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2 may be exchanged between the first network device 110 and the second network device 130 via an X2 or Xn interface. Otherwise, if there is no such inter-gNB information exchange between the first network device 110 and the second network device 130, the first side link communication 125-1 may interfere with the second terminal device 120-2 and / or the third side link communication 125-3. Figure 8 Some embodiments of information exchange between the first network device 110 and the second network device 130 are further described in detail.

[0111] Figure 8 FIG. 8 is an example of a communication process 800 performed between a first network device 110 and a second network device 130 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. For discussion purposes, reference will be made to FIG. Figure 7 The communication process 800 is described. However, it should be understood that the communication process 800 can be equally applied to other communication scenarios in which communication devices communicate with each other.

[0112] like Figure 8As shown, the first network device 110 can send (810) auxiliary information 215 to the second network device 130, and thus the second network device 130 can receive (820) auxiliary information 215 from the first network device 110. Therefore, if the second terminal device 120-2 is a transmitting device in the first side link communication 125-1, the second network device 130 can determine the side link resources for the first side link communication 125-1 based on the auxiliary information 215 and the auxiliary information 217. In addition, based on the auxiliary information 215 and the auxiliary information 217, the second network device 130 can determine the side link resources for other side link communications (e.g., the third side link communication 125-3) in the cell 132. In this way, the resource utilization efficiency in the side link communication in the cell 132 can be improved, and the interference in the side link communication in the cell 132 can be reduced, thereby improving the performance of the side link communication in the cell 132.

[0113] Similarly, the second network device 130 may send (830) second auxiliary information 217 to the first network device 110. The auxiliary information 217 may be sent by the second terminal device 120-2 to the second network device 130. Upon receiving (840) the auxiliary information 217 from the second network device 130, if the first terminal device 120-1 is a transmitting device in the first side link communication 125-1, the first network device 110 may determine the side link resources for the first side link communication 125-1 based on the auxiliary information 215 and the auxiliary information 217. In addition, based on the auxiliary information 215 and the auxiliary information 217, the first network device 110 may determine the side link resources for other side link communications (e.g., the second side link communication 125-2) in the cell 112. In this way, the resource utilization efficiency in the side link communication in the cell 112 may be improved, and the interference in the side link communication in the cell 112 may be reduced, thereby improving the performance of the side link communication in the cell 112.

[0114] Through the communication process 800, the auxiliary information 215 and the auxiliary information 217 may be exchanged between the first network device 110 and the second network device 130. Therefore, based on the auxiliary information 215 and the auxiliary information 217, the first network device 110 or the second network device 130 may determine appropriate sidelink resources for the first sidelink communication 125-1 between the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2, so as to improve resource utilization efficiency in the sidelink communication in the cell 112 and the cell 132 and reduce interference in the sidelink communication in the cell 112 and the cell 132.

[0115] In the above, some embodiments are described in which auxiliary information is provided to the network device 110, and the network device 110 determines the side link resources for the first side link communication 125-1. However, if the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2 perform side link communication in the UE autonomous operation mode (mode 2), in which the side link resources can be selected by the transmitting device in the side link communication, the network device 110 may not determine the side link resources for the first side link communication 125-1. In this case, refer to Figure 1A and Figure 1B Because the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2 may not detect the signals from the third terminal device 120-3 and the fourth terminal device 120-4 due to the hidden node problem, the first side link communication 125-1 may interfere with the second side link communication 125-2.

[0116] To at least address this issue, some embodiments are described below in which the network device 110 can configure a distance threshold for side link communications between terminal devices served by the network device 110 to avoid destructive interference caused by side link communications with long communication distances (also referred to as remote side link communications). If the communication distance of the side link communication is greater than the distance threshold, the side link communication can be considered to be a remote side link communication. Typically, due to the long distance between terminal devices, the transmitting device in the remote side link communication may need to send a high-power signal and may therefore cause significant interference to other side link communication channels.

[0117] Therefore, if the distance between the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2 is greater than the distance threshold configured by the network device 110, the first terminal device 120-1 may need to acquire the side link resources for the first side link communication 125-1 so that potential severe interference to other side link communication channels can be avoided. Fig. 9 Some embodiments are described in detail.

[0118] Fig. 9 An example of a communication process 900 performed between a network device 110, a first terminal device 120-1, and a second terminal device 120-2 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. It should be understood that although the communication process 900 is depicted as being performed between the network device 110, the first terminal device 120-1, and the second terminal device 120-2, the communication process 900 may similarly be performed between the network device 110 and any other terminal device in the terminal device 120. For the purpose of discussion, reference will be made to Figure 1A and Figure 1BThe communication process 900 is described. However, it should be understood that the communication process 900 can be equally applied to other communication scenarios in which communication devices communicate with each other.

[0119] like Fig. 9 As shown, the network device 110 can determine (910) a distance threshold 915 (also referred to as a range limit) to be applied to the first side link communication 125-1 between the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2. As indicated, the distance threshold 915 can be regarded as a criterion for determining whether the side link communication is a long-range side link communication that may cause significant interference on other side link communication channels. Typically, the distance threshold 915 can be determined based on various factors (or metrics) related to the side link communication in the cell 112. In some embodiments, the network device 110 can determine (910) the distance threshold 915 based on the business type of the first side link communication 125-1.

[0120] In this way, the network device 110 can determine a more appropriate and targeted distance threshold 915 for the first side link communication 125-1. For example, if the first side link communication 125-1 has a business type that requires high reliability or low latency, the distance threshold 915 can be configured to be a relatively small value, for example, the inter-distance allowed between the two side link devices is shorter to ensure high reliability and low latency of the first side link communication 125-1. On the contrary, if the first side link communication 125-1 has a business type that does not require high reliability or low latency, the distance threshold 915 can be configured to be a relatively large value, for example, the inter-distance allowed between the two side link devices is longer to reduce potential interference caused by the first side link communication 125-1.

[0121] Alternatively or additionally, the network device 110 may determine (910) a distance threshold 915 based on the locations of the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2. For example, if either or both of the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2 are in an area with high side link communication traffic, the distance threshold 915 may be configured to be relatively low to reduce potential interference caused by the first side link communication 125-1. On the contrary, if the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2 are in an area with low side link communication traffic, the distance threshold 915 may be configured to be relatively high to improve resource utilization efficiency.

[0122] In some other embodiments, the network device 110 may determine (910) the distance threshold 915 based on interference information reported by the first terminal device 120-1. The interference information may indicate interference detected by the first terminal device 120-1 and may reflect the sidelink communication load in the cell 112. Fig.11 Such embodiments are described in further detail.

[0123] In some embodiments, the distance threshold 915 may be specific to a region including a group of regions or regional clusters. For example, a first range limit may be allowed for a regional cluster, while a second range limit may be applied to another regional cluster. In this way, different regions may be associated with different distance thresholds, so that a specific distance threshold for a specific region may be determined based on the side link communication environment in the region, thereby improving the effectiveness of the distance threshold 915. In some embodiments, the distance threshold 915 may be specific to a radio link between a first terminal device 120-1 and a second terminal device 120-2. For example, if a terminal device has multiple simultaneous side link communication links with multiple terminal devices, the distance threshold 915 may be a per-radio link configuration. For example, one radio link may use a first range limit, while another radio link may use a second range limit.

[0124] After determining (910) the distance threshold 915, the network device 110 may send the distance threshold 915 to one or both of the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2. In the following, without loss of generality, some embodiments will be described assuming that the network device 110 sends (920) the distance threshold 915 to the first terminal device 120-1. It should be understood that the embodiments of the present disclosure can be equally applied to other scenarios in which the distance threshold 915 is only sent to the second terminal device 120-2. In some embodiments, in addition to sending (920) the distance threshold 915 to the first terminal device 120-1, the network device 110 may also send (925) the distance threshold 915 to the second terminal device 120-2. Therefore, the first terminal device 120-1 can receive (930) the distance threshold 915 from the network device 110, and in some embodiments, the second terminal device 120-2 can also receive (935) the distance threshold 915 from the network device 110.

[0125] Then, the first terminal device 120-1 can acquire (940) the side link resources for the first side link communication 125-1 based on the distance threshold 915. More specifically, in some embodiments, the first terminal device 120-1 can determine that the distance between the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2 is less than the distance threshold 915, which indicates that the first side link communication 125-1 is not a remote side link communication. In these embodiments, the first terminal device 120-1 can acquire (940) the side link resources for the first side link communication 125-1 in a conventional manner. For example, the side link resources can be determined by the network device 110, or can be selected by the first terminal device 120-1 from a predetermined side link resource pool.

[0126] Conversely, in some embodiments, the first terminal device 120-1 may determine that the distance between the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2 is greater than the distance threshold 915, which indicates that the first side link communication 125-1 is a remote side link communication. In these embodiments, the first terminal device 120-1 may acquire (940) the side link resources for the first side link communication 125-1 in a special manner that may reduce potential interference caused by the remote side link communication. Some embodiments of such special manners are further described below.

[0127] After acquiring (940) the side link resources for the first side link communication 125-1, the first terminal device 120-1 can use the side link resources to perform (950) the first side link communication 125-1 between the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2. For example, the first terminal device 120-1 can use the side link resources to perform a side link transmission to the second terminal device 120-2. From the perspective of the second terminal device 120-2, the second terminal device 120-2 can use the side link resources to perform (960) the first side link communication 125-1. For example, the second terminal device 120-2 can use the side link resources to receive the side link transmission from the first terminal device 120-1. It should be understood that if the second terminal device 120-2 is a transmitting device in the first side link communication 125-1, the second terminal device 120-2 can obtain the side link resources for the first side link communication 125-1 based on the distance threshold 915. The second terminal device 120-2 may then send a sidelink transmission to the first terminal device 120-1 using the sidelink resources.

[0128] Through the communication process 900, the network device 110 can configure the distance threshold 915 for the first side link communication 125-1, and the first terminal device 110 can obtain the side link resource for the first side link communication 125-1 based on the distance threshold 915. Therefore, potentially severe interference that may be caused by the long-range side link communication can be avoided, thereby improving the performance of the side link communication in the cell 112.

[0129] As described above, if the first terminal device 120-1 determines that the distance between the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2 is greater than the distance threshold 915, the first terminal device 120-1 can obtain (940) the side link resources for the first side link communication 125-1 in a special manner. Some embodiments of the special manner will now be described in detail.

[0130] As an example of such a special manner, if the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2 were previously operating in the UE autonomous operation mode (mode 2), the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2 need to automatically fall back (or switch) to the network device control mode (mode 1). In other words, if the side link resources used for the previous side link communication between the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2 are determined by the transmitting device, the side link resources used for the subsequent side link communication between the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2 need to be determined by the network device 110. In this way, the network device 110 can determine appropriate side link resources for the first side link communication 125-1 as a remote side link communication to avoid potential significant interference otherwise caused by the remote side link communication.

[0131] More specifically, if the distance between the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2 is greater than the distance threshold 915, the first terminal device 120-1 may send a request to the network device 110 for allocating side link resources for the first side link communication 125-1. Upon receiving the request from the first terminal device 120-1, the network device 110 may determine the side link resources for the first side link communication 125-1 so that the first side link communication 125-1 does not cause severe interference to other side link communications in the cell 112. After determining the side link resources for the first side link communication 125-1, the network device 110 may send an indication of the side link resources to the first terminal device 120-1. Therefore, the first terminal device 120-1 may receive an indication of the side link resources from the network device 110, and may acquire (940) the side link resources based on the indication.

[0132] As another example of a special manner, if the distance between the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2 is greater than the distance threshold 915, the dedicated side link resource pool can be activated and used to perform the first side link communication 125-1. That is, the remote side link communication determined according to the distance threshold 915 can be associated with the dedicated side link resource pool. In the case where the distance between the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2 is greater than the distance threshold 915 and therefore the first side link communication 125-1 is a remote side link communication, the dedicated side link resource pool can be used by the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2. Fig.10 Some embodiments are described in further detail.

[0133] Fig.10 An example of a communication process 1000 performed between a network device 110, a first terminal device 120-1, and a second terminal device 120-2 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. It should be understood that although the communication process 1000 is depicted as being performed between the network device 110, the first terminal device 120-1, and the second terminal device 120-2, the communication process 1000 can similarly be performed between the network device 110 and any other terminal device in the terminal device 120. For the purpose of discussion, reference will be made to Figure 1A and Figure 1B The communication process 1000 is described. However, it should be understood that the communication process 1000 can be equally applied to other communication scenarios in which communication devices communicate with each other.

[0134] like Fig.10 As shown, network device 110 can determine (1010) a dedicated side link resource pool, which is specific to side link communications with a communication distance greater than a distance threshold. In other words, if the side link communication is a remote side link communication with a communication distance greater than a distance threshold 915, it may be necessary to use a dedicated side link resource pool that may not be used by a normal side link communication channel to perform the remote side link communication. In some embodiments, network device 110 can allocate specific resources to form a dedicated side link resource pool for a specific distance threshold 915. Using a dedicated side link resource pool, a side link resource selected from a dedicated side link resource pool can be used to perform remote side link communications, thereby avoiding potential significant interference that would otherwise be caused by remote side link communications.

[0135] After determining (1010) the dedicated side link resource pool, the network device 110 may send an indication 1015 of the dedicated side link resource pool to one or both of the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2. In the following, without loss of generality, some embodiments will be described assuming that the network device 110 sends (1020) the indication 1015 to the first terminal device 120-1. It should be understood that the embodiments of the present disclosure can be equally applied to other scenarios in which the indication 1015 is only sent to the second terminal device 120-2. In some embodiments, in addition to sending (1020) the indication 1015 to the first terminal device 120-1, the network device 110 may also send (1025) the indication 1015 to the second terminal device 120-2. Therefore, the first terminal device 120-1 can receive (1030) the indication 1015 from the network device 110 and can know the dedicated side link resource pool. In some embodiments, the second terminal device 120-2 may also receive (1035) the indication 1015 from the network device 110 and may be aware of the dedicated side link resource pool.

[0136] Since the dedicated side link resource pool is specific to the remote side link communication, if the distance between the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2 is greater than the distance threshold 915, the first terminal device 120-1 needs to fall back to use the dedicated side link resource pool to avoid potential severe interference that may be caused by the remote side link communication. For example, in some scenarios, the first terminal device 120-1 can determine (1040) that the distance between the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2 is greater than the distance threshold 915. Then, the first terminal device 120-1 can determine (1050) the side link resources from the dedicated side link resource pool, thereby obtaining (940) the side link resources to reduce or eliminate potential interference that may be caused by the remote side link communication. It should be understood that if the second terminal device 120-2 is a transmitting device in the first side link communication 125-1, the second terminal device 120-2 can determine that the distance between the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2 is greater than the distance threshold 915. The second terminal device 120-2 may then determine the side link resources for the first side link communication 125-1 from the pool of dedicated side link resources.

[0137] Through the communication process 1000, a dedicated side link resource pool can be configured by the network device 110 to the terminal device, and the first terminal device 120-1 can select side link resources from the dedicated side link resource pool for the first side link communication 125-1 as a remote side link communication to avoid potential significant interference that would otherwise be caused by the first side link communication 125-1 as a remote side link communication.

[0138] In some embodiments, the network device 110 can enable or disable the dedicated side link resource pool in an implicit or explicit manner. As an example of an implicit manner, the network device 110 can enable the dedicated side link resource pool by configuring the dedicated side link resource pool and indicating to the terminal device. On the other hand, if the network device 110 does not configure the dedicated side link resource pool, the dedicated side link resource pool is implicitly disabled. In this way, the flexibility of the function of the dedicated side link resource pool can be improved.

[0139] As an example of an explicit manner, the network device 110 may send an indication to one or both of the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2, for example, via radio resource control (RRC) signaling, media access control (MAC) signaling, physical signaling, etc. The indication may be used to explicitly indicate whether the dedicated side link resource pool is enabled or disabled. On the receiving side of the indication, the first terminal device 120-1 and / or the second terminal device 120-2 may receive the indication from the network device 110, and may determine whether the dedicated side link resource pool is enabled or disabled by the network device 110 based on the indication. In this way, the flexibility of the functionality of the dedicated side link resource pool may also be improved.

[0140] As described above, in some embodiments, the network device 110 may determine (910) the distance threshold 915 based on the interference information reported by the first terminal device 120-1. Fig.11 Such embodiments are described in further detail.

[0141] Fig.11 An example of a communication process 1100 performed between the network device 110 and the first terminal device 120-1 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. It should be understood that although the communication process 1100 is depicted as being performed between the network device 110 and the first terminal device 120-1, the communication process 1100 can be similarly performed between the network device 110 and any other terminal device in the terminal device 120. For the purpose of discussion, reference will be made to Figure 1A and Figure 1B The communication process 1100 is described. However, it should be understood that the communication process 1100 can be equally applied to other communication scenarios in which communication devices communicate with each other.

[0142] like Fig.11As shown, the first terminal device 120-1 may send (1110) interference information 1115 to the network device 110. The interference information 1115 may be information about the interference detected by the first terminal device 120-1, and may reflect the side link communication load (also referred to as the side link traffic load) in the cell 112. Therefore, the interference information 1115 may be used by the network device 110 to determine a more appropriate distance threshold 915. In some embodiments, the interference information 1115 may include the magnitude of the interference (e.g., the true interference value), the level (or state) of the interference (such as high interference, medium interference, low interference, etc.), the direction of the interference, or any combination thereof. In this way, the network device 110 may obtain more comprehensive information about the interference between the side link communications in the cell 112. In some embodiments, if the interference detected by the first terminal device 120-1 is greater than a predefined interference threshold, it may be sent to the network device 110. In some embodiments, the interference threshold may be configured or preconfigured by the network device 110 according to a specific communication environment or performance requirement.

[0143] Upon receiving (1120) interference information 1115 from the first terminal device 120-1, the network device may determine (1130) the sidelink communication load in the cell 112 based on the interference information 1115. For example, if the interference information 1115 indicates a high interference level, the sidelink communication load may be high, and if the interference information 1115 indicates a low interference level, the sidelink communication load may be low. More specifically, the sidelink communication load in the communication system 100 or 105 may be calculated by the network device 110 based on the reported interference information 1115. The network device may then determine (1140) the distance threshold 915 based on the sidelink communication load. In other words, the sidelink communication range allowed in the cell 112 may be associated with the sidelink communication load in the communication system 100 or 105. For example, if the sidelink communication load is above the load threshold, the network device 110 may shorten the allowed sidelink communication range.

[0144] Through the communication process 1100, the network device 110 can determine a more appropriate distance threshold 915 based on the interference level between the sidelink communications and the sidelink communication load in the cell 122, thereby improving the resource utilization efficiency of the sidelink communication in the cell 122 without causing significant interference, thereby improving the performance of the sidelink communication in the cell 122.

[0145] In some embodiments, two pairs of terminal devices can perform two side link communications in a UE autonomous operation mode, where the side link resources can be selected by a transmitting device in the side link communication. In these embodiments, the two transmitting devices of the two side link communications can exchange auxiliary information for the purpose of side link resource management and interference control. For example, regional information associated with the corresponding side link communication can be exchanged between the transmitting devices. Therefore, the transmitting device in the side link communication can consider the regional information associated with the other side link communication to determine the optimized side link resources for the side link communication, thereby improving the performance of the side link communication. The following will refer to Fig.12 and Fig.13 Such embodiments are described in detail.

[0146] Fig.12 Four terminal devices 120-1 to 120-4 and their corresponding related areas 1201 to 1204 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure are shown. Fig.12 In the exemplary scenario of FIG. 1 , it is assumed that the first terminal device 120-1 is currently located in the area 1201 with a serial number of 1211, the second terminal device 120-2 is currently located in the area 1202 with a serial number of 1212, the third terminal device 120-3 is currently located in the area 1203 with a serial number of 1213, and the fourth terminal device 120-2 is currently located in the area 1204 with a serial number of 1214. Therefore, the areas 1201 to 1204 can be respectively referred to as the current areas 1201 to 1204 of the first terminal device 120-1 to the fourth terminal device 120-4. In some embodiments, the first terminal device 120-1 to the fourth terminal device 120-4 can be adjacent terminal devices.

[0147] Fig.13 An example of a communication process 1300 performed between a first terminal device 120-1, a second terminal device 120-2, a third terminal device 120-3, and a fourth terminal device 120-4 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. It should be understood that although the communication process 1300 is depicted as being performed between the first terminal device 120-1, the second terminal device 120-2, the third terminal device 120-3, and the fourth terminal device 120-4, the communication process 1300 can be similarly performed between any other terminal devices in the terminal device 120. For the purpose of discussion, reference will be made to Fig.12 The communication process 1300 is described. However, it should be understood that the communication process 1300 can be equally applied to other communication scenarios in which communication devices communicate with each other.

[0148] like Fig.13As shown, the first terminal device 120-1 can send (1310) control information 1315 to the second terminal device 120-2. The control information 1315 can be configured to schedule the first side link communication 125-1 between the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2. In addition, the control information 1315 can include area information associated with the first side link communication 125-1, for example, the sequence number 1211 of the current area 1201 where the first terminal device 120-1 is located and the sequence number 1212 of the current area 1202 where the second terminal device 120-2 is located. Upon receiving (1320) the control information 1315 from the first terminal device 120-1, the second terminal device 120-2 can obtain the scheduling information of the first side link communication 125-1 from the control information 1311, and thus can perform the first side link communication 125-1 with the first terminal device 120-1.

[0149] like Fig.13 As further shown, the third terminal device 120-3 can also receive (1330) control information 1315 from the first terminal device 120-1, so that the third terminal device 120-3 can obtain the regional information in the control information 1315. Based on the regional information associated with the first side link communication 125-1, that is, the sequence numbers 1211 and 1212, the third terminal device 120-3 can determine the areas 1201 and 1202 where the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2 are located respectively. Therefore, if the third terminal device 120-3 is a transmitting device in the second side link communication 125-2, the third terminal device 120-3 can determine the side link resources for the second side link communication 125-2 based on the regional information associated with the first side link communication 125-1. Therefore, the resource utilization efficiency in the side link communication can be improved, and interference can be reduced, thereby improving the performance of the side link communication.

[0150] Similarly, the third terminal device 120-3 may send (1340) control information 1325 to the fourth terminal device 120-4. The control information 1325 may be configured to schedule the second side link communication 125-2 between the third terminal device 120-3 and the fourth terminal device 120-4. In addition, the control information 1325 may include region information associated with the second side link communication 125-2, for example, the sequence number 1213 of the current region 1203 in which the third terminal device 120-3 is located and the sequence number 1214 of the current region 1204 in which the fourth terminal device 120-4 is located. Upon receiving (1350) the control information 1325 from the third terminal device 120-3, the fourth terminal device 120-4 may obtain the scheduling information of the second side link communication 125-2 from the control information 1325, and thus may perform the second side link communication 125-2 with the third terminal device 120-3.

[0151] like Fig.13 As further shown, the first terminal device 120-1 can also receive (1360) control information 1325 from the third terminal device 120-3, so that the first terminal device 120-1 can obtain the regional information in the control information 1325. Based on the regional information associated with the second side link communication 125-2, that is, the sequence numbers 1213 and 1214, the first terminal device 120-1 can determine the areas 1203 and 1204 where the third terminal device 120-3 and the fourth terminal device 120-4 are located, respectively. Therefore, if the first terminal device 120-1 is a transmitting device in the first side link communication 125-1, the first terminal device 120-1 can determine the side link resources used for the first side link communication 125-1 based on the regional information associated with the second side link communication 125-2. Therefore, the resource utilization efficiency in the side link communication can be improved, and interference can be reduced, thereby improving the performance of the side link communication.

[0152] Through the communication process 1300, if two pairs of terminal devices perform two sidelink communications in the UE autonomous operation mode, the sequence numbers of the regions associated with the two sidelink communications can be exchanged between the transmitting devices of the two sidelink communications. Therefore, the transmitting device in the sidelink communication can determine the appropriate sidelink resource for the sidelink communication by considering the region information associated with the other sidelink communication, thereby improving resource utilization efficiency and reducing interference within the sidelink communication.

[0153] For example, in Figure 7 In the exemplary scenario of FIG. 130 , it is assumed that the terminal device 120 performs side link communication in the UE autonomous operation mode. Through the communication process 1300 , potential interference that may be caused by the first side link communication 125 - 1 to the second side link communication 125 - 2 and / or the third side link communication 125 - 3 can be avoided.

[0154] Example Method

[0155] Fig.14 1400 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the method 1400 may be implemented at a device in a communication network, such as Figure 1A and Figure 1B The first terminal device 120-1 shown in FIG. Additionally or alternatively, the method 1400 may be performed in Figure 1A and Figure 1B In some other embodiments, the method 1400 may be implemented at other devices shown. Figure 1A and Figure 1B In addition, it should be understood that method 1400 may include additional blocks not shown and / or may omit some of the blocks shown, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this regard. For the purpose of discussion, reference will be made to Figure 1A and Figure 1B The method 1400 is described from the perspective of the first terminal device 120 - 1 .

[0156] At block 1410, the first terminal device 120-1 may send auxiliary information to the network device 110. The auxiliary information may be used by the network device 110 to determine a side link resource for side link communication between the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2. At block 1420, the first terminal device 120-1 may receive an indication from the network device 110. The indication may indicate a side link resource determined based on the auxiliary information. At block 1430, the first terminal device 120-1 may perform side link communication between the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2 using the side link resource.

[0157] In some embodiments, when sending auxiliary information, the first terminal device 120-1 may send at least one of the following to the network device 110: a first sequence number of a current area where the first terminal device 120-1 is located, or a second sequence number of a future area where the first terminal device 120-1 will be located.

[0158] In some embodiments, at least one of the first sequence number or the second sequence number is sent based on at least one of the following: receiving a request for at least one of the first sequence number or the second sequence number from the network device 110, determining that the difference between the first sequence number and a previously reported sequence number is greater than a difference threshold, or determining that the number of changes in the first sequence number since the previously reported sequence number is greater than a number threshold.

[0159] In some embodiments, the first terminal device 120-1 is a sending device in the side link communication, and when sending auxiliary information, the first terminal device 120-1 may also send at least one of the following to the network device 110: a third sequence number of a current area where the second terminal device 120-2 is located, or a fourth sequence number of a future area where the second terminal device 120-2 will be located.

[0160] In some embodiments, when sending the auxiliary information, the first terminal device 120 - 1 may send distance information between the first terminal device 120 - 1 and the second terminal device 120 - 2 to the network device 110 .

[0161] In some embodiments, when sending distance information, the first terminal device 120-1 can determine the current distance between the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2; determine the previous distance between the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2 reported to the network device 110; and if the difference between the current distance and the previous distance is greater than a distance difference threshold, send the distance information to the network device 110.

[0162] In some embodiments, the distance information comprises a value of the distance between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, or an indication of a range of values ​​that includes the value of the distance.

[0163] In some embodiments, the assistance information includes beamforming information regarding a directional beam used for sidelink communications.

[0164] Fig.15 1 shows a flow chart of an example communication method 1500 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the method 1500 may be implemented at a device in a communication network, such as Figure 1A and Figure 1B The network device 110 shown. Additionally or alternatively, the method 1500 may be performed at Figure 1A and Figure 1B In some other embodiments, the method 1500 may be implemented at other devices shown. Figure 1A and Figure 1B In addition, it should be understood that method 1500 may include additional blocks not shown and / or may omit some of the blocks shown, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this regard. For the purpose of discussion, reference will be made to Figure 1A and Figure 1B Method 1500 is described from the perspective of network device 110 .

[0165] At block 1510, network device 110 may receive auxiliary information from first terminal device 120-1. The auxiliary information may be used by network device 110 to determine a side link resource for side link communication between first terminal device 120-1 and second terminal device 120-2. At block 1520, network device 110 may determine the side link resource based on the auxiliary information. At block 1530, network device 110 may send an indication of the side link resource to at least one of first terminal device 120-1 or second terminal device 120-2.

[0166] In some embodiments, when receiving auxiliary information, network device 110 may receive at least one of the following from first terminal device 120-1: a first sequence number of a current area where first terminal device 120-1 is located, or a second sequence number of a future area where first terminal device 120-1 will be located.

[0167] In some embodiments, the network device 110 may also send a request for at least one of the first sequence number or the second sequence number to the first terminal device 120 - 1 .

[0168] In some embodiments, the first terminal device 120-1 is a transmitting device in the side link communication, and when receiving auxiliary information, the network device 110 can also receive at least one of the following from the first terminal device 120-1: a third sequence number of a current area where the second terminal device 120-2 is located, or a fourth sequence number of a future area where the second terminal device 120-2 will be located.

[0169] In some embodiments, when receiving the auxiliary information, the network device 110 may receive distance information between the first terminal device 120 - 1 and the second terminal device 120 - 2 from the first terminal device 120 - 1 .

[0170] In some embodiments, the distance information comprises a value of the distance between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, or an indication of a range of values ​​that includes the value of the distance.

[0171] In some embodiments, the assistance information includes beamforming information regarding a directional beam used for sidelink communications.

[0172] In some embodiments, the side link communication is a first side link communication, and when determining the side link resources, if the network device 110 determines based on the beamforming information that the interference to be caused by the first side link communication to the second side link communication to be performed between the third terminal device 120-3 and the fourth terminal device 120-4 is lower than the interference threshold, the network device 110 can determine the side link resources for both the first side link communication and the second side link communication.

[0173] In some embodiments, the network device 110 is a first network device serving the first terminal device 120-1, and the auxiliary information is first auxiliary information, and the network device 110 can also perform at least one of the following: sending the first auxiliary information to the second network device 130 serving the second terminal device 120-2; or receiving from the second network device 130 second auxiliary information sent by the second terminal device 120-2 to the second network device 130.

[0174] In some embodiments, the side link communication is a first side link communication, and when determining the side link resources, the network device 110 may perform at least one of the following: determine the side link resources to reduce interference caused by the first side link communication to the second side link communication between the third terminal device 120-3 and the fourth terminal device 120-4; or determine the side link resources to reduce interference caused by the second side link communication to the first side link communication.

[0175] Fig.16 1600 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the method 1600 may be implemented at a device in a communication network, such as Figure 1A and Figure 1B The first terminal device 120-1 shown. Additionally or alternatively, the method 1600 may be Figure 1A and Figure 1B In some other embodiments, method 1600 may be implemented at other devices shown. Figure 1A and Figure 1B In addition, it should be understood that method 1600 may include additional blocks not shown and / or may omit some of the blocks shown, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this regard. For the purpose of discussion, reference will be made to Figure 1A and Figure 1B The method 1600 is described from the perspective of the first terminal device 120 - 1 .

[0176] At block 1610, the first terminal device 120-1 may receive a distance threshold from the network device 110. The distance threshold may be used for sidelink communication between the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2. At block 1620, the first terminal device 120-1 may acquire a sidelink resource for the sidelink communication based on the distance threshold. At block 1630, the first terminal device 120-1 may perform sidelink communication between the first terminal device 120-2 and the second terminal device 120-2 using the sidelink resource.

[0177] In some embodiments, when acquiring side link resources, if the distance between the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2 is greater than a distance threshold, the first terminal device 120-1 may send a request to the network device 110 to allocate side link resources for side link communication; and receive an indication of the side link resources from the network device 110.

[0178] In some embodiments, when acquiring side link resources, the first terminal device 120-1 may receive an indication of a dedicated side link resource pool from the network device 110, wherein the dedicated side link resource pool is specific to side link communications having a communication distance greater than a distance threshold; and if the distance between the first terminal device 120-1 and the second terminal device 120-2 is greater than the distance threshold, the first terminal device 120-1 may determine the side link resource from the dedicated side link resource pool.

[0179] In some embodiments, the first terminal device 120 - 1 may also receive an indication from the network device 110 indicating whether the dedicated side link resource pool is enabled or disabled.

[0180] In some embodiments, the first terminal device 120 - 1 may also send interference information about the interference detected by the first terminal device 120 - 1 to the network device 110 , so that the network device determines the distance threshold based on the interference information.

[0181] In some embodiments, the interference information includes at least one of a magnitude, a level, or a direction of the interference.

[0182] In some embodiments, the distance threshold is specific to at least one of: a region comprising a set of areas, or a radio link between the first terminal device 120 - 1 and the second terminal device 120 - 2 .

[0183] In some embodiments, the first terminal device 120-1 may also send control information for scheduling side link communication to the second terminal device 120-2, and the control information includes a first sequence number of the current area where the first terminal device 120-1 is located and a second sequence number of the current area where the second terminal device 120-2 is located.

[0184] In some embodiments, the side link communication is a first side link communication, and when acquiring side link resources, the first terminal device 120-1 can receive control information for scheduling a second side link communication between the third terminal device 120-3 and the fourth terminal device 120-4 from the third terminal device 120-3, and the control information includes a first sequence number of a current area in which the third terminal device 120-3 is located and a second sequence number of a current area in which the fourth terminal device 120-4 is located; and the side link resources for the first side link communication are also determined based on the first sequence number and the second sequence number.

[0185] Fig.17 1700 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the method 1700 can be implemented at a device in a communication network, such as Figure 1A and Figure 1B The network device 110 shown. Additionally or alternatively, the method 1700 may be performed at Figure 1A and Figure 1B In some other embodiments, method 1700 may be implemented at other devices shown. Figure 1A and Figure 1B In addition, it should be understood that method 1700 may include additional blocks not shown and / or may omit some of the blocks shown, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this regard. For the purpose of discussion, reference will be made to Figure 1A and Figure 1B Method 1700 is described from the perspective of network device 110.

[0186] At block 1710, network device 110 may determine a distance threshold for sidelink communication between first terminal device 120-1 and second terminal device 120-2. At block 1720, network device 110 may send the distance threshold to at least one of first terminal device 120-1 or second terminal device 120-2.

[0187] In some embodiments, the network device 110 may also determine a dedicated side link resource pool, which is specific to side link communications with a communication distance greater than a distance threshold; and send an indication of the dedicated side link resource pool to at least one of the first terminal device 120-1 or the second terminal device 120-2.

[0188] In some embodiments, the network device 110 may also send an indication to at least one of the first terminal device 120-1 or the second terminal device 120-2 indicating whether the dedicated side link resource pool is enabled or disabled.

[0189] In some embodiments, when determining the distance threshold, the network device 110 may receive interference information about interference detected by the first terminal device 120-1 from the first terminal device 120-1; determine the side link communication load based on the interference information; and determine the distance threshold based on the side link communication load.

[0190] In some embodiments, the interference information includes at least one of a magnitude, a level, or a direction of the interference.

[0191] In some embodiments, when determining the distance threshold, the network device 110 may determine the distance threshold based on at least one of the traffic type of the side link communication or the locations of the first terminal device 120 - 1 and the second terminal device 120 - 2 .

[0192] In some embodiments, the distance threshold is specific to at least one of: a region comprising a set of areas, or a radio link between the first terminal device 120 - 1 and the second terminal device 120 - 2 .

[0193] Example Device

[0194] Fig.18 1 shows a simplified block diagram of an apparatus 1800 (also referred to as device 1800) suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. The apparatus 1800 may be viewed as Figure 1A to Figure 1B Yet another example implementation of the network device 110 and the terminal device 120 is shown. Thus, the apparatus 1800 may be implemented at the network device 110 and the terminal device 120 or implemented as at least a part of the network device 110 or the terminal device 120.

[0195] As shown, the apparatus 1800 includes a processor 1810, a memory 1820 coupled to the processor 1810, a suitable transmitter (TX) and receiver (RX) 1840 coupled to the processor 1810, and a communication interface coupled to the TX / RX 1840. The memory 1820 stores at least a portion of the program 1830. The TX / RX 1840 is used for bidirectional communication. The TX / RX 1840 has at least one antenna to facilitate communication, although in practice, the access node mentioned in the present application may have several antennas. The communication interface may represent any interface required for communication with other network elements, such as an X2 interface for bidirectional communication between eNBs, an S1 interface for communication between a mobility management entity (MME) / serving gateway (S-GW) and an eNB, a Un interface for communication between an eNB and a relay node (RN), a Uu interface for communication between an eNB and a terminal device, or a PC5 interface for communication between two terminal devices.

[0196] It is assumed that the program 1830 includes program instructions that, when executed by the associated processor 1810, enable the device 1800 to operate according to the embodiments of the present disclosure discussed herein. The embodiments herein may be implemented by computer software executable by the processor 1810 of the device 1800, or by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware. The processor 1810 may be configured to implement various embodiments of the present disclosure. In addition, the combination of the processor 1810 and the memory 1820 may form a processing component 1850 suitable for implementing various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0197] Memory 1820 may be of any type suitable for a local technology network and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as non-transitory computer-readable storage media, semiconductor-based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory, and removable memory, as non-limiting examples. Although only one memory 1820 is shown in device 1800, there may be several physically distinct memory modules within device 1800. Processor 1810 may be of any type suitable for a local technology network and may include one or more of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), and a processor based on a multi-core processor architecture, as non-limiting examples. Device 1800 may have multiple processors, such as an application-specific integrated circuit chip that is time-dependent to a clock that synchronizes a main processor.

[0198] In some embodiments, a device capable of executing method 1400 (e.g., first terminal device 120-1) may include a component for executing the corresponding steps of method 1400. The component may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the component may be implemented in a circuit system or a software module.

[0199] In some embodiments, the apparatus includes a component for sending auxiliary information to a network device, the auxiliary information to be used by the network device to determine a side link resource for side link communication between the first terminal device and the second terminal device. The apparatus also includes a component for receiving an indication of the side link resource determined based on the auxiliary information from the network device. The apparatus also includes a component for performing side link communication between the first terminal device and the second terminal device using the side link resource.

[0200] In some embodiments, the component for sending auxiliary information includes: a component for sending at least one of the following to the network device: a first serial number of a current area where the first terminal device is located, or a second serial number of a future area where the first terminal device will be located.

[0201] In some embodiments, at least one of the first sequence number or the second sequence number is sent based on at least one of the following: receiving a request for at least one of the first sequence number or the second sequence number from a network device, determining that the difference between the first sequence number and a previously reported sequence number is greater than a difference threshold, or determining that the number of changes in the first sequence number since the previously reported sequence number is greater than a number threshold.

[0202] In some embodiments, the first terminal device is a sending device in side link communication, and the component for sending auxiliary information also includes: a component for sending at least one of the following to the network device: a third sequence number of a current area where the second terminal device is located, or a fourth sequence number of a future area where the second terminal device will be located.

[0203] In some embodiments, the component for sending auxiliary information includes: a component for sending distance information between the first terminal device and the second terminal device to the network device.

[0204] In some embodiments, the component for sending distance information includes: a component for determining a current distance between a first terminal device and a second terminal device; a component for determining a previous distance between the first terminal device and the second terminal device reported to the network device; and a component for sending distance information to the network device based on a determination that a difference between the current distance and the previous distance is greater than a distance difference threshold.

[0205] In some embodiments, the distance information comprises a value of the distance between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, or an indication of a range of values ​​that includes the value of the distance.

[0206] In some embodiments, the assistance information includes beamforming information regarding a directional beam used for sidelink communications.

[0207] In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for performing other steps in some embodiments of method 1400. In some embodiments, the means comprises at least one processor and at least one memory comprising computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured to enable execution of method 1400 together with the at least one processor.

[0208] In some embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing method 1500 (e.g., network device 110) may include components for performing the corresponding steps of example method 1500. The components may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the components may be implemented in a circuit system or a software module.

[0209] In some embodiments, the apparatus includes means for receiving auxiliary information from a first terminal device, the auxiliary information to be used by a network device to determine a side link resource for side link communication between the first terminal device and a second terminal device. The apparatus also includes means for determining the side link resource based on the auxiliary information. The apparatus also includes means for sending an indication of the side link resource to at least one of the first terminal device or the second terminal device.

[0210] In some embodiments, the component for receiving auxiliary information includes: a component for receiving at least one of the following from the first terminal device: a first serial number of a current area where the first terminal device is located, or a second serial number of a future area where the first terminal device will be located.

[0211] In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises: means for sending a request for at least one of the first serial number or the second serial number to the first terminal device.

[0212] In some embodiments, the first terminal device is a transmitting device in side link communication, and the component for receiving auxiliary information also includes: a component for receiving at least one of the following from the first terminal device: a third sequence number of a current area where the second terminal device is located, or a fourth sequence number of a future area where the second terminal device will be located.

[0213] In some embodiments, the means for receiving auxiliary information includes: means for receiving distance information between the first terminal device and the second terminal device from the first terminal device.

[0214] In some embodiments, the distance information comprises a value of the distance between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, or an indication of a range of values ​​that includes the value of the distance.

[0215] In some embodiments, the assistance information includes beamforming information regarding a directional beam used for sidelink communications.

[0216] In some embodiments, the side link communication is a first side link communication, and the component for determining the side link resources includes: a component for determining the side link resources for both the first side link communication and the second side link communication based on determining that interference to be caused by the first side link communication to a second side link communication to be performed between a third terminal device and a fourth terminal device is lower than an interference threshold based on beamforming information.

[0217] In some embodiments, the network device is a first network device serving a first terminal device, and the auxiliary information is first auxiliary information, and the apparatus further includes at least one of: a component for sending the first auxiliary information to a second network device serving a second terminal device; or a component for receiving from the second network device second auxiliary information sent by the second terminal device to the second network device.

[0218] In some embodiments, the side link communication is a first side link communication, and the component for determining the side link resources includes at least one of the following: a component for determining the side link resources to reduce interference caused by the first side link communication to the second side link communication between the third terminal device and the fourth terminal device; or a component for determining the side link resources to reduce interference caused by the second side link communication to the first side link communication.

[0219] In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for performing other steps in some embodiments of method 1500. In some embodiments, the means comprises at least one processor and at least one memory comprising computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured to enable execution of method 1500 together with the at least one processor.

[0220] In some embodiments, an apparatus capable of executing method 1600 (eg, first terminal device 120-1) may include a component for executing corresponding steps of method 1600. The component may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the component may be implemented in a circuit system or a software module.

[0221] In some embodiments, the apparatus includes a component for receiving a distance threshold for side link communication between a first terminal device and a second terminal device from a network device. The apparatus also includes a component for acquiring a side link resource for side link communication based on the distance threshold. The apparatus also includes a component for performing side link communication between the first terminal device and the second terminal device using the side link resource.

[0222] In some embodiments, the component for acquiring side link resources includes: a component for sending a request to a network device for allocating side link resources for side link communication based on a determination that a distance between a first terminal device and a second terminal device is greater than a distance threshold; and a component for receiving an indication of the side link resources from the network device.

[0223] In some embodiments, the component for acquiring side link resources includes: a component for receiving an indication of a dedicated side link resource pool from a network device, wherein the dedicated side link resource pool is specific to side link communications having a communication distance greater than a distance threshold; and a component for determining the side link resource from the dedicated side link resource pool based on a determination that the distance between the first terminal device and the second terminal device is greater than the distance threshold.

[0224] In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for receiving an indication from a network device indicating whether the dedicated side link resource pool is enabled or disabled.

[0225] In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises: a component for sending interference information about interference detected by the first terminal device to a network device, so that the network device determines the distance threshold based on the interference information.

[0226] In some embodiments, the interference information includes at least one of a magnitude, a level, or a direction of the interference.

[0227] In some embodiments, the distance threshold is specific to at least one of: a region comprising a set of areas, or a radio link between the first terminal device and the second terminal device.

[0228] In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises: a component for sending control information for scheduling side link communication to the second terminal device, the control information comprising a first serial number of a current region where the first terminal device is located and a second serial number of a current region where the second terminal device is located.

[0229] In some embodiments, the side link communication is a first side link communication, and the component for acquiring the side link resources includes: a component for receiving control information for scheduling a second side link communication between the third terminal device and a fourth terminal device from a third terminal device, the control information including a first sequence number of a current area in which the third terminal device is located and a second sequence number of a current area in which the fourth terminal device is located; and a component for determining the side link resources for the first side link communication also based on the first sequence number and the second sequence number.

[0230] In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for performing other steps in some embodiments of method 1600. In some embodiments, the means comprises at least one processor and at least one memory comprising computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured to enable execution of method 1600 together with the at least one processor.

[0231] In some embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing method 1700 (e.g., network device 110) may include components for performing the corresponding steps of example method 1700. The components may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the components may be implemented in a circuit system or a software module.

[0232] In some embodiments, the apparatus includes means for determining a distance threshold for sidelink communication between the first terminal device and the second terminal device. The apparatus also includes means for sending the distance threshold to at least one of the first terminal device or the second terminal device.

[0233] In some embodiments, the apparatus further includes: a component for determining a dedicated side link resource pool, wherein the dedicated side link resource pool is specific to side link communications having a communication distance greater than a distance threshold; and a component for sending an indication of the dedicated side link resource pool to at least one of the first terminal device or the second terminal device.

[0234] In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for sending an indication to at least one of the first terminal device or the second terminal device indicating whether the dedicated side link resource pool is enabled or disabled.

[0235] In some embodiments, the component for determining the distance threshold includes: a component for receiving interference information about interference detected by the first terminal device from the first terminal device; a component for determining the side link communication load based on the interference information; and a component for determining the distance threshold based on the side link communication load.

[0236] In some embodiments, the interference information includes at least one of a magnitude, a level, or a direction of the interference.

[0237] In some embodiments, the means for determining the distance threshold comprises: means for determining the distance threshold based on at least one of a traffic type of the side link communication or locations of the first terminal device and the second terminal device.

[0238] In some embodiments, the distance threshold is specific to at least one of: a region comprising a set of areas, or a radio link between the first terminal device and the second terminal device.

[0239] In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for performing other steps in some embodiments of method 1700. In some embodiments, the means comprises at least one processor and at least one memory comprising computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured to enable execution of method 1700 together with the at least one processor.

[0240] In general, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or dedicated circuits, software, logic, or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software, which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor, or other computing device. Although various aspects of the embodiments of the present disclosure are shown and described as block diagrams, flow charts, or using some other illustrations, it should be understood that, as non-limiting examples, the boxes, devices, systems, techniques, or methods described herein may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, dedicated circuits or logic, general hardware or controllers or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

[0241] The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The computer program product includes computer executable instructions, such as instructions included in a program module, that are executed in a device on a target real or virtual processor to perform a process or method as described above. Typically, a program module includes routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, etc. that perform specific tasks or implement specific abstract data types. In various embodiments, the functions of the program modules can be combined or split between program modules as needed. Machine executable instructions for program modules can be executed in local or distributed devices. In distributed devices, program modules can be located in both local and remote storage media.

[0242] The program code for executing the disclosed method can be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. These program codes can be provided to a processor or controller of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer or other programmable data processing device so that the program code causes the function / operation specified in the flow chart and / or block diagram to be implemented when executed by the processor or controller. The program code can be executed completely on the machine, partially on the machine, executed as an independent software package, partially on the machine and partially on a remote machine, or completely on a remote computer or server.

[0243] The above program code can be embodied in a machine-readable medium, which can be any tangible medium that can contain or store a program for use by or in combination with an instruction execution system, device or equipment. The machine-readable medium can be a machine-readable signal medium or a machine-readable storage medium. The machine-readable medium can include, but is not limited to, electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared or semiconductor systems, devices or equipment, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. A more specific example of a machine-readable storage medium will include an electrical connection with one or more wires, a portable computer floppy disk, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

[0244] In addition, although the operations are depicted in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring such operations to be performed in the particular order shown or in sequence or requiring the execution of all the operations shown to obtain the desired result. In some cases, multitasking and parallel processing can be advantageous. Similarly, although several specific implementation details are included in the above discussion, these details should not be interpreted as limitations on the scope of the present disclosure, but rather descriptions of features that can be specific to a particular embodiment. Certain features described in the context of a separate embodiment may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. On the contrary, the various features described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented individually or in any suitable sub-combination in multiple embodiments.

[0245] Although the disclosure is described in language specific to structural features and / or methodological acts, it should be understood that the disclosure defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

[0246] Embodiments of the present disclosure may be further described using the following clauses.

[0247] 1. A method performed by a first terminal device, comprising: sending auxiliary information to a network device, wherein the auxiliary information will be used by the network device to determine a side link resource for side link communication between the first terminal device and a second terminal device; receiving an indication of the side link resource determined based on the auxiliary information from the network device; and performing the side link communication between the first terminal device and the second terminal device using the side link resource.

[0248] 2. The method according to clause 1, wherein sending the auxiliary information comprises: sending at least one of the following to the network device: a first serial number of a current area where the first terminal device is located, or a second serial number of a future area where the first terminal device will be located.

[0249] 3. The method of clause 2, wherein the at least one of the first sequence number or the second sequence number is sent according to at least one of the following:

[0250] A request for at least one of the first sequence number or the second sequence number is received from the network device, and a difference between the first sequence number and a previously reported sequence number is determined to be greater than a difference threshold, or a number of changes in the first sequence number since the previously reported sequence number is determined to be greater than a number threshold.

[0251] 4. A method according to clause 2, wherein the first terminal device is a sending device in the side link communication, and wherein sending the auxiliary information further comprises: sending at least one of the following to the network device: a third sequence number of a current area where the second terminal device is located, or a fourth sequence number of a future area where the second terminal device will be located.

[0252] 5. The method according to clause 1, wherein sending the auxiliary information comprises: sending distance information between the first terminal device and the second terminal device to the network device.

[0253] 6. A method according to clause 5, wherein sending the distance information includes: determining a current distance between the first terminal device and the second terminal device; determining a previous distance between the first terminal device and the second terminal device reported to the network device; and sending the distance information to the network device based on a determination that a difference between the current distance and the previous distance is greater than a distance difference threshold.

[0254] 7. A method according to clause 5, wherein the distance information comprises a value of a distance between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, or an indication of a range of values ​​including the value of the distance.

[0255] 8. The method of clause 1, wherein the auxiliary information comprises beamforming information regarding a directional beam used for the sidelink communication.

[0256] 9. A method performed by a network device, comprising: receiving auxiliary information from a first terminal device, wherein the auxiliary information is used by the network device to determine a side link resource for side link communication between the first terminal device and a second terminal device; determining the side link resource based on the auxiliary information; and sending an indication of the side link resource to at least one of the first terminal device or the second terminal device.

[0257] 10. The method according to clause 9, wherein receiving the auxiliary information comprises: receiving at least one of the following from the first terminal device: a first serial number of a current area where the first terminal device is located, or a second serial number of a future area where the first terminal device will be located.

[0258] 11. The method of clause 10, further comprising: sending a request for at least one of the first serial number or the second serial number to the first terminal device.

[0259] 12. A method according to clause 10, wherein the first terminal device is a transmitting device in the side link communication, and wherein receiving the auxiliary information further comprises: receiving at least one of the following from the first end device: a third sequence number of a current area in which the second terminal device is located, or a fourth sequence number of a future area in which the second terminal device will be located.

[0260] 13. The method of clause 9, wherein receiving the auxiliary information comprises: receiving distance information between the first terminal device and the second terminal device from the first terminal device.

[0261] 14. A method according to clause 13, wherein the distance information comprises a value of a distance between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, or comprises an indication of a value range for the value of the distance.

[0262] 15. The method of clause 9, wherein the auxiliary information comprises beamforming information regarding a directional beam used for the sidelink communication.

[0263] 16. A method according to clause 15, wherein the side link communication is a first side link communication, and wherein determining the side link resources comprises: determining the side link resources for both the first side link communication and the second side link communication based on determining, based on the beamforming information, that interference to be caused by the first side link communication to a second side link communication to be performed between a third terminal device and a fourth terminal device is lower than an interference threshold.

[0264] 17. A method according to clause 9, wherein the network device is a first network device serving the first terminal device, and the auxiliary information is first auxiliary information, and wherein the method further comprises at least one of the following: sending the first auxiliary information to a second network device serving the second terminal device; or receiving from the second network device second auxiliary information sent by the second terminal device to the second network device.

[0265] 18. A method according to clause 9, wherein the side link communication is a first side link communication, and wherein determining the side link resources includes at least one of the following: determining the side link resources to reduce interference caused by the first side link communication to a second side link communication between a third terminal device and a fourth terminal device; or determining the side link resources to reduce interference caused by the second side link communication to the first side link communication.

[0266] 19. A method performed by a first terminal device, comprising: receiving a distance threshold for side link communication between the first terminal device and a second terminal device from a network device; acquiring side link resources for the side link communication based on the distance threshold; and performing the side link communication between the first terminal device and the second terminal device using the side link resources.

[0267] 20. A method according to clause 19, wherein obtaining the side link resources includes: sending a request to the network device for allocating side link resources for the side link communication based on a determination that the distance between the first terminal device and the second terminal device is greater than the distance threshold; and receiving an indication of the side link resources from the network device.

[0268] 21. A method according to clause 19, wherein obtaining the side link resources includes: receiving an indication of a dedicated side link resource pool from the network device, the dedicated side link resource pool being specific to side link communications with a communication distance greater than the distance threshold; and determining the side link resources from the dedicated side link resource pool based on a determination that the distance between the first terminal device and the second terminal device is greater than the distance threshold.

[0269] 22. The method of clause 21, further comprising: receiving an indication from the network device indicating whether the dedicated side link resource pool is enabled or disabled.

[0270] 23. The method according to clause 19, further comprising: sending interference information about interference detected by the first terminal device to the network device, so that the network device determines the distance threshold based on the interference information.

[0271] 24. The method of clause 23, wherein the interference information comprises at least one of a magnitude, a level, or a direction of the interference.

[0272] 25. The method of clause 19, wherein the distance threshold is specific to at least one of: a region comprising a set of areas, or a radio link between the first terminal device and the second terminal device.

[0273] 26. The method according to clause 19 also includes: sending control information for scheduling the side link communication to the second terminal device, the control information including a first sequence number of the current area where the first terminal device is located and a second sequence number of the current area where the second terminal device is located.

[0274] 27. A method according to clause 19, wherein the side link communication is a first side link communication, and wherein obtaining the side link resources includes: receiving control information for scheduling a second side link communication between the third terminal device and a fourth terminal device from a third terminal device, the control information including a first sequence number of a current area in which the third terminal device is located and a second sequence number of a current area in which the fourth terminal device is located; and also determining the side link resources for the first side link communication based on the first sequence number and the second sequence number.

[0275] 28. A method performed by a network device, comprising: determining a distance threshold for sidelink communication between a first terminal device and a second terminal device; and sending the distance threshold to at least one of the first terminal device or the second terminal device.

[0276] 29. The method according to clause 28 also includes: determining a dedicated side link resource pool, which is specific to side link communications with a communication distance greater than the distance threshold; and sending an indication of the dedicated side link resource pool to at least one of the first terminal device or the second terminal device.

[0277] 30. A method as described in clause 29, further comprising sending an indication to at least one of the first terminal device or the second terminal device indicating whether the dedicated side link resource pool is enabled or disabled.

[0278] 31. A method according to clause 28, wherein determining the distance threshold comprises: receiving interference information about interference detected by the first terminal device from the first terminal device; determining a side link communication load based on the interference information; and determining the distance threshold based on the side link communication load.

[0279] 32. The method of clause 31, wherein the interference information comprises at least one of a magnitude, a level, or a direction of the interference.

[0280] 33. The method of clause 28, wherein determining the distance threshold comprises determining the distance threshold based on at least one of a traffic type of the sidelink communication or locations of the first terminal device and the second terminal device.

[0281] 34. The method of clause 28, wherein the distance threshold is specific to at least one of: a region comprising a set of areas, or a radio link between the first terminal device and the second terminal device.

[0282] 35. A first terminal device, comprising: a processor; and a memory storing instructions, the memory and the instructions being configured to, together with the processor, cause the terminal device to perform a method according to any one of clauses 1 to 8 and 19 to 27.

[0283] 36. A network device comprising: a processor; and a memory storing instructions, the memory and the instructions being configured to, together with the processor, cause the network device to perform a method according to any one of clauses 9 to 18 and 28 to 34.

[0284] 37. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions which, when executed on at least one processor of a device, cause the device to perform the method of any of clauses 1 to 8 and 19 to 27.

[0285] 38. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions which, when executed on at least one processor of a device, cause the device to perform the method of any of clauses 9 to 18 and 28 to 34.

Claims

1. A first terminal device, comprising: processor; as well as Memory for storing instructions, The memory and the instructions are configured to, together with the processor, enable the terminal device to: Sending auxiliary information to a network device, the auxiliary information to be used by the network device to determine a sidelink resource for sidelink communication between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, wherein the auxiliary information includes at least one of the following: The distance information between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, or beamforming information regarding a directional beam for the sidelink communication; receiving, from the network device, an indication of the sidelink resource determined based on the auxiliary information; as well as The sidelink communication is performed between the first terminal device and the second terminal device using the sidelink resources.

2. The first terminal device according to claim 1, wherein sending the auxiliary information further comprises: At least one of the following is sent to the network device: a first sequence number of a current area where the first terminal device is located, or a second sequence number of a future area where the first terminal device will be located.

3. The first terminal device according to claim 2, wherein the at least one of the first sequence number or the second sequence number is sent according to at least one of the following: receiving a request for at least one of the first sequence number or the second sequence number from the network device, determining that a difference between the first sequence number and a previously reported sequence number is greater than a difference threshold, or It is determined that the number of changes in the first sequence number since a previously reported sequence number is greater than a number threshold.

4. The first terminal device according to claim 2, wherein the first terminal device is a transmitting device in the sidelink communication, and wherein transmitting the auxiliary information further comprises: At least one of the following is sent to the network device: a third sequence number of a current area where the second terminal device is located, or a fourth sequence number of a future area where the second terminal device will be located.

5. The first terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the auxiliary information includes the distance information between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, and the terminal device is further configured to: determining a current distance between the first terminal device and the second terminal device; and determining a previous distance between the first terminal device and the second terminal device reported to the network device, and in, Sending the auxiliary information includes: Based on determining that a difference between the current distance and the previous distance is greater than a distance difference threshold, the distance information is sent to the network device.

6. A first terminal device, comprising: processor; as well as Memory for storing instructions, The memory and the instructions are configured to, together with the processor, enable the terminal device to: receiving, from a network device, a distance threshold for side link communication between the first terminal device and the second terminal device; sending, to the network device, a request for allocating side link resources for the side link communication based on determining that the distance between the first terminal device and the second terminal device is greater than the distance threshold; receiving an indication of the sidelink resource from the network device; as well as The sidelink communication is performed between the first terminal device and the second terminal device using the sidelink resources.

7. The first terminal device of claim 6, wherein receiving the indication of the sidelink resource comprises: receiving an indication of a dedicated side link resource pool from the network device, the dedicated side link resource pool being specific to side link communications having a communication distance greater than the distance threshold, and The terminal device is also configured to: The side link resource is determined from the dedicated side link resource pool based on determining that the distance between the first terminal device and the second terminal device is greater than the distance threshold.

8. The first terminal device according to claim 7, further comprising: An indication is received from the network device indicating whether the dedicated side link resource pool is enabled or disabled.

9. The first terminal device according to claim 6, further comprising: Interference information about interference detected by the first terminal device is sent to the network device, so that the network device determines the distance threshold based on the interference information.

10. The first terminal device according to claim 6, further comprising: Control information for scheduling the side link communication is sent to the second terminal device, the control information including a first sequence number of a current area where the first terminal device is located, and a second sequence number of a current area where the second terminal device is located.

11. A processor for wireless communications, wherein the processor is coupled to at least one memory storing at least a portion of a program, and the program comprises program instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause: Sending auxiliary information to a network device, the auxiliary information to be used by the network device to determine a sidelink resource for sidelink communication between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, wherein the auxiliary information includes at least one of the following: The distance information between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, or beamforming information regarding a directional beam for the sidelink communication; receiving, from the network device, an indication of the sidelink resource determined based on the auxiliary information; as well as The sidelink communication is performed between the first terminal device and the second terminal device using the sidelink resources.

12. A processor for wireless communications, wherein the processor is coupled to at least one memory storing at least a portion of a program, and the program includes program instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause: receiving, from the network device, a distance threshold for sidelink communication between the first terminal device and the second terminal device; sending, to the network device, a request for allocating side link resources for the side link communication based on determining that the distance between the first terminal device and the second terminal device is greater than the distance threshold; receiving an indication of the sidelink resource from the network device; as well as The sidelink communication is performed between the first terminal device and the second terminal device using the sidelink resources.

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