User equipment and communication method

Abstract

A method performed by a user equipment (UE) is described. The method includes receiving a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) with interleaved transmissions from another UE, the PSSCH being allocated with one or more resource block (RB) sets and one or more interlaces in a frequency domain; physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) resources for HARQ feedback transmissions are determined in response to the reception of the PSSCH, where the PSFCH resources in the frequency domain correspond to interlaces and RB sets, and are determined by using a lowest RB set index in the one or more RB sets and a lowest interlace index in the one or more interlaces.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to user equipment and communication methods. Background Art

[0002] Currently, as radio access systems and radio network technologies for the fifth generation cellular system, as extension standards of Long Term Evolution (LTE), technical investigations and standard development are being conducted on Advanced LTE Pro (LTE-A Pro) and New Radio Technology (NR) in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).

[0003] In the fifth generation cellular system, three services of enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) that enables high-speed and large-capacity transmission, ultra-reliability and low-latency communication (URLLC) that enables low-latency and high-reliability communication, and massive machine type communication (mMTC) that allows connection of a large number of machine type devices such as the Internet of Things (IoT) have been requested as hypothetical scenarios.

[0004] For example, a wireless communication device may communicate with one or more devices. For sidelink communications, two communication devices may communicate with each other via a PC-5 interface. However, given that existing sidelink communication methods cannot be directly applied to unlicensed spectrum, the flexibility and / or efficiency of the entire sidelink communication system will be limited. As shown in this discussion, systems and methods according to the present invention support HARQ feedback transmission and reception on PSFCH on unlicensed spectrum, which may improve communication flexibility and / or efficiency and would be beneficial. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0005] Figure 1 is a block diagram illustrating one configuration of one or more base stations and one or more user equipment (UE) in which systems and methods for interleaved PSFCH transmissions may be implemented; Figure 2 is a diagram showing one example 200 of a resource grid; Figure 3 is a diagram showing one example 300 of common resource block grid, carrier configuration, and WP configuration performed by UE 102 and base station 160; Figure 4 is a diagram showing one example 400 of CORESET configuration performed by UE 102 and base station 160 in a BWP; Figure 5 is a diagram showing one example 500 of interleaved resource blocks for transmission and reception; Figure 6 is a diagram showing one example 600 of an interleaved mapping for a BWP; Figure 7is a diagram showing one example 700 of a SL BWP and a resource pool within the SL BWP; Figure 8 is a diagram showing one example 800 of a resource pool configuration; Fig. 9 is a diagram showing an example 900 of PSSCH allocation in a resource pool; Fig.10 is a flow chart illustrating one specific implementation of a method 1000 for determining PSFCH resources for HARQ feedback transmission by a UE 102; Fig.11 is a flow chart illustrating one specific implementation of a method 1100 for determining PSFCH resources for HARQ feedback reception by a UE 102; Fig.12 shows various components that may be utilized in a UE; Fig.13 shows various components that may be utilized in a base station; DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0006] The present invention describes a user equipment (UE). The UE includes a receiving circuit configured to receive a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) with interleaved transmission from another UE, the PSSCH being allocated with one or more resource block (RB) sets and one or more interlaces in the frequency domain; and a control circuit configured to determine a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) resource for HARQ feedback transmission in response to the reception of the PSSCH, wherein the PSFCH resource in the frequency domain corresponds to an interlace and an RB set, and is determined by using the lowest RB set index in the one or more RB sets and the lowest interlace index in the one or more interlaces.

[0007] The present invention describes a user equipment (UE). The UE includes a transmitting circuit configured to transmit a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) with interleaved transmission to another UE, the PSSCH being allocated with one or more resource block (RB) sets and one or more interlaces in the frequency domain; and a control circuit configured to determine a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) resource for HARQ feedback reception in response to the transmission of the PSSCH, wherein the PSFCH resource in the frequency domain corresponds to an interlace and an RB set, and is determined by using the lowest RB set index in the one or more RB sets and the lowest interlace index in the one or more interlaces.

[0008] The present invention describes a communication method performed by a user equipment (UE). The method includes receiving a physical side link shared channel (PSSCH) with interleaved transmission from another UE, the PSSCH being allocated with one or more resource block (RB) sets and one or more interleavings in the frequency domain; determining a physical side link feedback channel (PSFCH) resource for HARQ feedback transmission in response to the reception of the PSSCH, wherein the PSFCH resource in the frequency domain corresponds to an interleaving and an RB set, and is determined by using the lowest RB set index in the one or more RB sets and the lowest interleaving index in the one or more interleavings.

[0009] The present invention describes a communication method performed by a user equipment (UE). The method includes transmitting a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) with interleaved transmission to another UE, the PSSCH being allocated with one or more resource block (RB) sets and one or more interlaces in the frequency domain; determining a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) resource for HARQ feedback reception in response to the transmission of the PSSCH, wherein the PSFCH resource in the frequency domain corresponds to an interlace and an RB set, and is determined by using the lowest RB set index in the one or more RB sets and the lowest interlace index in the one or more interlaces.

[0010] 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) is the name given to a project to improve the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) mobile phone or device standard to cope with future needs. In one aspect, UMTS has been modified to provide support and specifications for Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) and Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN). 3GPP NR (New Radio) is the name given to a project to improve the LTE mobile phone or device standard to cope with future needs. In one aspect, LTE has been modified to provide support and specifications for New Radio Access (NR) and Next Generation Radio Access Network (NG-RAN) (TS 38.331, 38.321, 38.300, 37.340, 38.211, 38.212, 38.213, 38.214, etc.).

[0011] At least some aspects of the systems and methods disclosed herein may be described in conjunction with 3GPP LTE, Advanced LTE (LTE-A), Advanced LTE Pro, New Radio (NR), and other 3G / 4G / 5G standards (e.g., 3GPP Releases 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and / or 16 and / or Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT)). However, the scope of the present disclosure should not be limited in this regard. At least some aspects of the systems and methods disclosed herein may be used in other types of wireless communication systems.

[0012] A wireless communication device may be an electronic device that is used to transmit voice and / or data to a base station, which in turn may communicate with a network of devices (e.g., a public switched telephone network (PSTN), the Internet, etc.). When describing the systems and methods herein, a wireless communication device may alternatively be referred to as a mobile station, UE (user equipment), access terminal, subscriber station, mobile terminal, remote station, user terminal, terminal, subscriber unit, mobile device, relay node, etc. Examples of wireless communication devices include cellular phones, smart phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), laptops, netbooks, e-readers, wireless modems, industrial wireless sensors, video surveillance, wearable devices, vehicles, roadside units, infrastructure equipment, etc. In the 3GPP specification, a wireless communication device is generally referred to as a UE. However, since the scope of the present disclosure should not be limited to the 3GPP standard, the terms "UE" and "wireless communication device" may be used interchangeably herein to represent the more general term "wireless communication device".

[0013] In the 3GPP specifications, base stations are often referred to as gNBs, Node Bs, eNBs, Home Enhanced or Evolved Node Bs (HeNBs), or some other similar terms. Since the scope of the present disclosure should not be limited to the 3GPP standards, the terms "base station", "gNB", "Node B", "eNB", and "HeNB" may be used interchangeably herein to represent the more general term "base station". In addition, an example of a "base station" is an access point. An access point may be an electronic device that provides wireless communication devices with access to a network (e.g., a local area network (LAN), the Internet, etc.). The term "communication device" may be used to represent a wireless communication device and / or a base station.

[0014] It should be noted that, as used herein, a "cell" may be any communication channel that is specified by a standardization or regulatory body for use in International Mobile Telecommunications-Advanced (IMT-Advanced), IMT-2020 (5G), and all or a subset thereof, such that it is adopted by 3GPP as an authorized band (e.g., a frequency band) for communication between a base station and a UE. It should also be noted that in the NR, NG-RAN, E-UTRA, and E-UTRAN general descriptions, as used herein, a "cell" may be defined as "a combination of downlink resources and optional uplink resources." The link between the carrier frequency of the downlink resources and the carrier frequency of the uplink resources may be indicated in the system information transmitted on the downlink resources.

[0015] "Configured cells" are those cells that the UE is aware of and is allowed by the base station to transmit or receive information. "Configured cells" may be serving cells. The UE may receive system information and perform the required measurements on the configured cells. The "configured cells" for a radio connection may consist of a primary cell and / or zero, one or more secondary cells. "Activated cells" are those configured cells on which the UE is transmitting and receiving. That is, activated cells are those cells on which the UE monitors its physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), and in the case of downlink transmissions, those cells on which the UE decodes its physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH). "Deactivated cells" are those configured cells on which the UE does not monitor the transmitted PDCCH. It should be noted that "cells" may be described in different dimensions. For example, a "cell" may have time, space (e.g., geographic) and frequency characteristics.

[0016] The base station can be connected to the 5G core network (5G-CN) via the NG interface. 5G-CN may be referred to as the next generation core network (NGC) or the 5G core network (5GC). The base station may also be connected to the evolved packet core (EPC) via the S1 interface. For example, the base station may be connected to the next generation (NG) mobility management function via the NG-2 interface, and to the NG core user plane (UP) function via the NG-3 interface. The NG interface supports a many-to-many relationship between the NG mobility management function, the NG core UP function, and the base station. The NG-2 interface is an NG interface for the control plane, and the NG-3 interface is an NG interface for the user plane. For example, for an EPC connection, the base station may be connected to the MME via the S1-mobility management entity (MME) interface, and to the serving gateway (S-GW) via the S1-U interface. The S1 interface supports a many-to-many relationship between the MME, the serving gateway, and the base station. The S1-MME interface is an S1 interface for the control plane, and the S1-U interface is an S1 interface for the user plane. The Uu interface is a radio interface for a radio protocol between a UE and a base station.

[0017] The radio protocol architecture may include a user plane and a control plane. The user plane protocol stack may include a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), a radio link control (RLC), a medium access control (MAC), and a physical (PHY) layer. A DRB (data radio bearer) is a radio bearer that carries user data (as opposed to control plane signaling). For example, a DRB may be mapped to a user plane protocol stack. The PDCP, RLC, MAC, and PHY sublayers (terminating at the base station 460a on the network) may perform user plane functions (e.g., header compression, encryption, scheduling, ARQ, and HARQ). The PDCP entity is located in the PDCP sublayer. The RLC entity may be located in the RLC sublayer. The MAC entity may be located in the MAC sublayer. The PHY entity may be located in the PHY sublayer.

[0018] The control plane may include a control plane protocol stack. The PDCP sublayer (terminated in the base station on the network side) may perform functions of the control plane (e.g., encryption and integrity protection). The RLC sublayer and the MAC sublayer (terminated in the base station on the network side) may perform the same functions as the user plane. The Radio Resource Control (RRC) (terminated in the base station on the network side) may perform the following functions. RRC may perform broadcast functions, paging, RRC connection management, radio bearer (RB) control, mobility functions, UE measurement reporting and control. The Non-Access Stratum (NAS) control protocol (terminated in the MME on the network side) may perform Evolved Packet System (EPS) bearer management, authentication, Evolved Packet System Connection Management (ECM)-IDLE mobility processing, paging initiation and security control in ECM-IDLE, etc.

[0019] A signaling radio bearer (SRB) is a radio bearer (RB) that can only be used to transmit RRC and NAS messages. Three SRBs can be defined. SRB0 can be used for RRC messages using the common control channel (CCCH) logical channel. SRB1 can be used for RRC messages (which may include piggybacked NAS messages) and NAS messages before SRB2 is established, all of which use the dedicated control channel (DCCH) logical channel. SRB2 can be used for RRC messages including recorded measurement information and NAS messages, all of which use the DCCH logical channel. The priority of SRB2 is lower than that of SRB1, and it can be configured by the network (e.g., base station) after security activation. The broadcast control channel (BCCH) logical channel can be used to broadcast system information. Some BCCH logical channels can transmit system information that can be sent from the network to the UE via the BCH (broadcast channel) transport channel. BCH can be sent on the physical broadcast channel (PBCH). Some BCCH logical channels can transmit system information that can be sent from the network to the UE via the DL-SCH (downlink shared channel) transport channel. Paging can be provided by using the paging control channel (PCCH) logical channel.

[0020] For example, the DL-DCCH logical channel may be used for (but not limited to) RRC reconfiguration message, RRC reestablishment message, RRC release, UE capability query message, DL information transfer message or security mode command message. The UL-DCCH logical channel may be used for (but not limited to) measurement report message, RRC reconfiguration complete message, RRC reestablishment complete message, RRC setup complete message, security mode complete message, security mode failure message, UE capability information message, UL handover preparation delivery message, UL information delivery message, counter check response message, UE information response message, neighbor indication message, RN (relay node) reconfiguration complete message, MBMS counting response message, inter-frequency RSTD measurement indication message, UE assistance information message, in-device coexistence indication message, MBMS interest indication message and SCG failure information message. The DL-CCCH logical channel may be used for (but not limited to) RRC reestablishment message, RRC reestablishment rejection message, RRC rejection message or RRC setup message. The UL-CCCH logical channel may be used for (but not limited to) RRC reestablishment request message or RRC setup request message.

[0021] The system information may be divided into a master information block (MIB) and a plurality of system information blocks (SIBs).

[0022] The UE may receive one or more RRC messages from the base station to obtain the RRC configuration or parameters. The RRC layer of the UE may configure the RRC layer and / or lower layers (e.g., PHY layer, MAC layer, RLC layer, and PDCP layer) of the UE according to the RRC configuration or parameters that may be configured by the RRC message, the broadcast system information, etc. The base station may transmit one or more RRC messages to the UE so that the UE configures the RRC layer and / or lower layers of the UE according to the RRC configuration or parameters that may be configured by the RRC message, the broadcast system information, etc.

[0023] When carrier aggregation is configured, the UE may have one RRC connection with the network. One radio interface may provide carrier aggregation. During RRC establishment, re-establishment, and handover, one serving cell may provide non-access stratum (NAS) mobility information (e.g., tracking area identity (TAI)). During RRC re-establishment and handover, one serving cell may provide security input. The cell may be referred to as a primary cell (PCell). In the downlink, the component carrier corresponding to the PCell may be a downlink primary component carrier (DL PCC), and in the uplink, the component carrier may be an uplink primary component carrier (UL PCC). In the present disclosure, the terms "component carrier" and "carrier" may be interchangeable with each other.

[0024] Depending on UE capabilities, one or more SCells may be configured to form a group of serving cells together with the PCell. In the downlink, the component carrier corresponding to the SCell may be a downlink secondary component carrier (DL SCC), and in the uplink, the component carrier may be an uplink secondary component carrier (UL SCC).

[0025] Thus, the configured set of serving cells for the UE may consist of one PCell and one or more SCells. For each SCell, the use of uplink resources (in addition to downlink resources) performed by the UE may be configurable. The number of configured DL SCCs may be greater than or equal to the number of UL SCCs, and the SCell may not be configured only for use of uplink resources.

[0026] From the perspective of the UE, each uplink resource may belong to one serving cell. The number of configurable serving cells depends on the aggregation capability of the UE. The PCell can only be changed using a switching process (for example, using a security key change and a random access process). The PCell can be used for the transmission of the PUCCH. The primary secondary cell (PSCell) can also be used for the transmission of the PUCCH. The PSCell may be referred to as the primary SCG cell or SpCell of the secondary cell group. The PCell or PSCell cannot be deactivated. Reestablishment may be triggered when the PCell experiences a radio link failure (RLF), rather than when the SCell experiences an RLF. In addition, NAS information may be obtained from the PCell.

[0027] Reconfiguration, addition, and removal of SCells may be performed by RRC. In case of synchronous handover or reconfiguration, the radio resource control (RRC) layer may also add, remove, or reconfigure SCells for use with the target PCell. When a new SCell is added, dedicated RRC signaling may be used to send all necessary system information for the SCell (e.g., when in connected mode, the UE does not need to obtain broadcast system information directly from the SCell).

[0028] The systems and methods described herein can enhance the effective use of radio resources in carrier aggregation (CA) operations. Carrier aggregation refers to the simultaneous use of more than one component carrier (CC). In carrier aggregation, more than one cell can be aggregated into a UE. In one example, carrier aggregation can be used to increase the effective bandwidth available for UE. In traditional carrier aggregation, it is assumed that a single base station provides multiple service cells for the UE. Even in scenarios where two or more cells can be aggregated (e.g., macro cells aggregated with remote radio head (RRH) cells), the cells can be controlled (e.g., scheduled) by a single base station. However, in smaller cell deployment scenarios, each node (e.g., base station, RRH, etc.) can have its own independent scheduler. In order to maximize the efficiency of radio resource utilization of two nodes, the UE can be connected to two or more nodes with different schedulers. The systems and methods described herein can enhance the effective use of radio resources in dual-connection operations. The UE can configure multiple groups of service cells, each of which can have carrier aggregation operations (e.g., if the group includes more than one service cell).

[0029] In dual connectivity (DC), the UE may be required to be able to have UL-CA with simultaneous PUCCH / PUCCH and PUCCH / PUSCH transmissions across cell groups (CGs). In smaller cell deployment scenarios, each node (e.g., eNB, RRH, etc.) may have its own independent scheduler. In order to maximize the radio resource utilization efficiency of the two nodes, the UE may be connected to two or more nodes with different schedulers. The UE may be configured with multiple groups of service cells, each of which may have carrier aggregation operation (e.g., if the group includes more than one service cell). When configured with a primary cell group and a secondary cell group, a UE in RRC_CONNECTED may be configured with dual connectivity or MR-DC. A cell group (CG) may be a subset of the UE's service cells configured with dual connectivity (DC) or MR-DC, i.e., a primary cell group (MCG) or a secondary cell group (SCG). The primary cell group may be a UE's service cell group including a PCell and zero or more secondary cells. A secondary cell group (SCG) may be a secondary cell group of a UE configured with DC or MR-DC, which includes a PSCell and zero or more other secondary cells. A primary secondary cell (PSCell) may be an SCG cell in which the UE is instructed to perform random access when performing an SCG change procedure. "PSCell" may also be referred to as a primary SCG cell. In dual connectivity or MR-DC, two MAC entities may be configured in the UE: one for the MCG and one for the SCG. Each MAC entity may be configured by an RRC having a serving cell that supports PUCCH transmission and contention-based random access. In the MAC layer, the term "special cell" (SpCell) may refer to such a cell, while the term SCell may refer to other serving cells. The term SpCell may refer to a PCell of an MCG or a PSCell of an SCG, depending on whether the MAC entity is associated with an MCG or an SCG, respectively. The timing advance group (TAG) of the SpCell containing the MAC entity may be referred to as a primary TAG (pTAG), while the term secondary TAG (sTAG) refers to other TAGs.

[0030] DC can be further enhanced to support multi-RAT dual connectivity (MR-DC). MR-DC can be a generalization of dual connectivity (DC) within E-UTRA described in 36.300, where a multi-Rx / Tx UE can be configured to utilize resources provided by two different nodes connected via a non-ideal backhaul, one providing E-UTRA access and the other providing NR access. One node acts as a master node (MN) and the other node acts as a secondary node (SN). MN and SN are connected via a network interface, and at least Mn is connected to the core network. In DC, the PSCell can be a primary and secondary cell. In EN-DC, the PSCell can be a primary SCG cell or SpCell of a secondary cell group.

[0031] E-UTRAN can support MR-DC via E-UTRA-NR dual connectivity (EN-DC), where the UE is connected to one eNB acting as MN and one en-gNB acting as SN. The en-gNB is the node that provides NR user plane and control plane protocol termination to the UE and acts as a secondary node in EN-DC. The eNB is connected to the EPC via the S1 interface and to the en-gNB via the X2 interface. The en-gNB can also be connected to the EPC via the S1-U interface and to other en-gNBs via the X2-U interface.

[0032] Once started, a timer runs until it is stopped or until it expires; otherwise, it does not run. You can start a timer if it is not running, or restart it if it is running. You can always start or restart a timer from its initial value.

[0033] For NR, technologies for aggregating NR carriers can be studied. Lower layer aggregation such as carrier aggregation (CA) for LTE and upper layer aggregation such as DC are studied. From a layer 2 / 3 perspective, aggregation of carriers with different numerologies can be supported in NR.

[0034] The main services and functions of the RRC sublayer may include the following: - Broadcast of system information related to the Access Stratum (AS) and the Non-Access Stratum (NAS); -Paging initiated by CN or RAN; - Establishment, maintenance and release of the RRC connection between the UE and the NR RAN, including: -Addition, modification and release of carrier aggregation; - Addition, modification and release of dual connectivity in NR or between LTE and NR; - Security features including key management; - Establishment, configuration, maintenance and release of signalling radio bearers and data radio bearers; - Mobility features, including: - Switch; -UE cell selection and reselection and control of cell selection and reselection; -Context transfer during switching; -QoS management function; -UE measurement reporting and control of reporting; - Message delivery from NAS / UE to UE / NAS.

[0035] Each MAC entity of the UE can be configured by RRC with a discontinuous reception (DRX) function, which controls the UE's PDCCH monitoring activities for the C-RNTI (Radio Network Temporary Identifier), CS-RNTI, INT-RNTI, SFI-RNTI, SP-CSI-RNTI, TPC-PUCCH-RNTI, TPC-PUSCH-RNTI and TPC-SRS-RNTI of the MAC entity. For cell-level scheduling, the following identifiers are used: -C (Cell)-RNTI: a unique UE identity used as an identifier for the RRC connection and for scheduling; -CS (Configured Scheduling)-RNTI: unique UE identity used for semi-persistent scheduling in downlink; -INT-RNTI: downlink preemption identifier; -P-RNTI: Identifier for paging and system information change notification in downlink; -SI-RNTI: identification of broadcast and system information in downlink; -SP-CSI-RNTI: unique UE identity used for semi-persistent CSI reporting on PUSCH; -CI-RNTI: Cancellation indication RNTI for uplink. For power and slot format control, the following flags are used: -SFI-RNTI: identification of the timeslot format; -TPC-PUCCH-RNTI: unique UE identifier used to control PUCCH power; -TPC-PUSCH-RNTI: unique UE identifier used to control PUSCH power; -TPC-SRS-RNTI: unique UE identifier used to control SRS power; During random access, the following flags are also used: -RA-RNTI: Random access response identifier in downlink; - Temporary C-RNTI: UE identity temporarily used for scheduling during the random access procedure; - Random value for contention resolution: UE identity temporarily used for contention resolution purposes during the random access procedure. For NR connected to 5GC, the following UE identities are used at NG-RAN level: -I-RNTI: used to identify the RRC_INACTIVE UE context.

[0036] The sizes of various fields in the time domain are expressed in time units T. c =1 / (Δfmax ×N f ) represents, where Δf max =480×10 3 Hz and N f =4096. Constant κ = T s / T c =64, where T s =1 / (Δf ref ·N f,ref ), Δf ref =15·10 3 Hz and N f,ref =2048.

[0037] As given in Table 4.2-1 of [TS 38.211], multiple OFDM parameters are supported, where μ and the cyclic prefix of the bandwidth part are obtained from the higher layer parameters subcarrierSpacing and cyclicPrefix respectively.

[0038] The size of each field in the time domain can be expressed as multiple time units T c =1 / (15000×2048) seconds. Downlink and uplink transmissions are organized into T f =(Δf max N f / 100)·T c =10ms frame, each frame consists of T sf =(Δf max N f / 1000)·T c =1 ms duration. The number of consecutive OFDM symbols in each subframe is Each frame is divided into two equally sized half-frames of five sub-frames, with each frame having half-frame 0 including sub-frames 0-4 and half-frame 1 including sub-frames 5-9.

[0039] For subcarrier spacing (SCS) configuration p, the slots are numbered in increasing order within a subframe. And they are numbered in ascending order within the frame is the number of time slots per subframe for subcarrier spacing μ. consecutive OFDM symbols, where Depends on the cyclic prefix given in Table 4.3.2-1 and Table 4.3.2-2 of [TS38.211]. Slots in a subframe The start time of the OFDM symbol in the same subframe The starting time of the subcarrier is aligned. The subcarrier spacing refers to the spacing (or frequency bandwidth) between two consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain. For example, the subcarrier spacing can be set to 15kHz (i.e., μ=0), 30kHz (i.e., μ=1), 60kHz (i.e., μ=2), 120kHz (i.e., μ=3) or 240kHz (i.e., μ=4). A resource block is defined as a plurality of consecutive subcarriers (e.g., 12) in the frequency domain. For carriers with different frequencies, applicable subcarriers may be different. For example, for carriers in frequency range 1, only the subcarrier spacing in the set {15kHz, 30kHz, 60kHz} is applicable. For carriers in frequency range 2, only the subcarrier spacing in the set {60kHz, 120kHz, 240kHz} is applicable. The base station cannot configure an inapplicable subcarrier spacing for a carrier.

[0040] The OFDM symbols in a slot can be classified as "downlink", "flexible" or "uplink". The signaling of the slot format is described in subclause 11.1 of [TS 38.213].

[0041] In a slot in a downlink frame, the UE may assume that downlink transmissions occur only in "downlink" or "flexible" symbols. In a slot in an uplink frame, the UE may transmit only in "uplink" or "flexible" symbols.

[0042] Various examples of the systems and methods disclosed herein will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals may indicate functionally similar elements. The systems and methods as generally described and illustrated in the drawings herein can be arranged and designed in a variety of different specific implementations. Therefore, the following more detailed description of several specific implementations presented in the drawings is not intended to limit the scope of the claims, but is merely representative of the systems and methods.

[0043] Figure 1 1 is a block diagram illustrating one configuration of one or more base stations 160 (e.g., eNBs, gNBs) and one or more user equipment (UEs) 102 in which systems and methods for interleaved PSFCH transmissions may be implemented. One or more UEs 102 may communicate with one or more base stations 160 using one or more antennas 122a-n. For example, the UE 102 transmits electromagnetic signals to and receives electromagnetic signals from the base station 160 using one or more antennas 122a-n. The base station 160 communicates with the UE 102 using one or more antennas 180a-n. Additionally, one or more UEs 102 may communicate with one or more UEs 102 using one or more antennas 122a-n. For example, the UE 102 transmits electromagnetic signals to and receives electromagnetic signals from another UE 102 using one or more antennas 122a-n. That is, the one or more UEs communicate with each other via sidelink communication.

[0044] UE 102 can communicate directly with each other by using side link communication. For example, UE 102 capable of side link communication includes UE 1A, UE 1B and UE 1C. UE 1A may be located within the coverage of base station 160. UE 1B and UE 1C may be located outside the coverage of base station 160. UE 1A and UE 1B may communicate directly with each other via side link communication. In addition, UE 1B and UE 1C may communicate directly with each other via side link communication.

[0045] It should be noted that in some configurations, one or more of the UEs 102 described herein may be implemented in a single device. For example, in some implementations, multiple UEs 102 may be combined into a single device. Additionally or alternatively, in some configurations, one or more of the base stations 160 described herein may be implemented in a single device. For example, in some implementations, multiple base stations 160 may be combined into a single device. Figure 1 In the context of, for example, according to the systems and methods described herein, a single device may include one or more UEs 102. Additionally or alternatively, according to the systems and methods described herein, one or more base stations 160 may be implemented as a single device or multiple devices.

[0046] The UE 102 and the base station 160 may communicate with each other using one or more channels 119, 121. For example, the UE 102 may send information or data to the base station 160 using one or more uplink (UL) channels 121 and signals. Examples of uplink channels 121 include physical uplink control channels (PUCCH) and physical uplink shared channels (PUSCH), etc. Examples of uplink signals include demodulation reference signals (DMRS) and sounding reference signals (SRS), etc. One or more base stations 160 may also use, for example, one or more downlink (DL) channels 119 and signals to transmit information or data to one or more UEs 102. Examples of downlink channels 119 include PDCCH, PDSCH, etc. PDCCH may be used to schedule DL transmissions on PDSCH and UL transmissions on PUSCH, wherein downlink control information (DCI) on PDCCH includes downlink allocations and uplink scheduling grants. PDCCH is used to transmit downlink control information (DCI) in the case of downlink radio communication (radio communication from a base station to a UE). Here, one or more DCIs (which may be referred to as DCI formats) are defined for transmission of downlink control information. Information bits are mapped to one or more fields defined in the DCI format. Examples of downlink signals include primary synchronization signal (PSS), secondary synchronization signal (SSS), cell-specific reference signal (CRS), non-zero power channel state information reference signal (NZP CSI-RS), and zero power channel state information reference signal (ZP CSI-RS). Other types of channels or signals may also be used.

[0047] For UEs 102 capable of sidelink communication, the UEs 102 may communicate with each other using one or more sidelink channels. For example, a UE 102 may transmit information or data to another UE 102 using one or more sidelink (SL) channels 121 and signals.

[0048] Each of the one or more UEs 102 may include one or more transceivers 118, one or more demodulators 114, one or more decoders 108, one or more encoders 150, one or more modulators 154, one or more data buffers 104, and one or more UE operation modules 124. For example, one or more receive paths and / or transmit paths may be implemented in the UE 102. For convenience, only a single transceiver 118, decoder 108, demodulator 114, encoder 150, and modulator 154 are shown in the UE 102, but multiple parallel elements (e.g., multiple transceivers 118, decoders 108, demodulators 114, encoders 150, and modulators 154) may be implemented.

[0049] The transceiver 118 may include one or more receivers 120 and one or more transmitters 158. The one or more receivers 120 may receive signals (e.g., downlink channels, downlink signals, sidelink channels, sidelink signals) from a base station 160 or from another UE 102 using one or more antennas 122a-n. For example, the receiver 120 may receive and downconvert the signals to produce one or more received signals 116. The one or more received signals 116 may be provided to the demodulator 114. The one or more transmitters 158 may transmit signals (e.g., uplink channels, uplink signals, sidelink channels, sidelink signals) to the base station 160 or another UE 102 using one or more antennas 122a-n. For example, the one or more transmitters 158 may upconvert and transmit the one or more modulated signals 156.

[0050] The demodulator 114 may demodulate one or more received signals 116 to produce one or more demodulated signals 112. The one or more demodulated signals 112 may be provided to the decoder 108. The UE 102 may use the decoder 108 to decode the signal. The decoder 108 may produce one or more decoded signals 106, 110. For example, the first UE decoded signal 106 may include received payload data, which may be stored in the data buffer 104. The second UE decoded signal 110 may include overhead data and / or control data. For example, the second UE decoded signal 110 may provide data that the UE operation module 124 may use to perform one or more operations.

[0051] As used herein, the term "module" may mean that a particular element or component may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software. However, it should be noted that any element denoted as a "module" herein may alternatively be implemented in hardware. For example, the UE operation module 124 may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of the two.

[0052] In general, the UE operation module 124 may enable the UE 102 to communicate with one or more base stations 160. For a UE capable of sidelink communication, the UE operation module 124 may enable the UE 102 to communicate with one or more other UEs. The UE operation module 124 may include a UE RRC information configuration module 126. For a UE capable of sidelink communication, the UE operation module 124 may include a UE sidelink (SL) control module 128. In some specific implementations, the UE operation module 124 may include a physical (PHY) entity, a medium access control (MAC) entity, a radio link control (RLC) entity, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) entity, and a radio resource control (RRC) entity. For example, the UE RRC information configuration module 126 may process RRC parameters for random access configuration, initial UL BWP configuration, maximum bandwidth that the UE can support, and cell-specific PUCCH resource configuration.

[0053] For UEs capable of sidelink transmission, the UE RRC information configuration module 126 may process (pre)configured parameters including those related to sidelink communication. For example, the UE RRC information configuration module 126 may process parameters to determine the SL BWP, one or more resource pools in the frequency domain and time domain for SL communication within the SLBWP. The UE SL control module 128 may determine the frequency resources and time resources for transmitting or receiving PSCCH, PSSCH, and PSFCH. The frequency resources for transmitting or receiving PSCCH, PSSCH, and PSFCH include information related to the allocated interleaving and RB sets. The UE SL control module (processing module) 128 may determine the PSFCH resources carrying HARQ feedback information in response to PSSCH reception / transmission. The UE SL control module 128 may determine the PSFCH resources in the frequency domain by using a first interleaving index and / or a first RB set index.

[0054] The UE operation module 124 may provide information 148 to one or more receivers 120. For example, the UE operation module 124 may inform the receiver 120 when to receive a transmission or when not to receive a transmission based on a radio resource control (RRC) message (e.g., broadcasted system information, RRC reconfiguration message), a MAC control element, and / or DCI (downlink control information). The UE operation module 124 may provide information 148 to one or more receivers 120, including a PDCCH monitoring opportunity, a DCI format size, a PSCCH monitoring opportunity, and an SCI format size. The UE operation module 124 may inform the receiver 120 when or where to receive / monitor a PDCCH candidate in a DCI format and / or a PSCCH candidate in an SCI format.

[0055] The UE operations module 124 may provide the information 138 to the demodulator 114. For example, the UE operations module 124 may inform the demodulator 114 of the modulation pattern expected for transmissions from the base station 160.

[0056] The UE operation module 124 may provide the information 136 to the decoder 108. For example, the UE operation module 124 may inform the decoder 108 of the expected encoding for the transmission from the base station 160. For example, the UE operation module 124 may inform the decoder 108 of the expected PDCCH candidate encoding with which DCI size for the transmission from the base station 160.

[0057] The UE operation module 124 may provide information 142 to the encoder 150. The information 142 may include data to be encoded and / or instructions for encoding. For example, the UE operation module 124 may instruct the encoder 150 to encode the transmit data 146 and / or other information 142.

[0058] The encoder 150 may encode the transmit data 146 and / or other information 142 provided by the UE operations module 124. For example, encoding the data 146 and / or other information 142 may involve error detection and / or correction coding, mapping the data to spatial, time, and / or frequency resources for transmission, multiplexing, etc. The encoder 150 may provide the encoded data 152 to a modulator 154.

[0059] The UE operations module 124 may provide the information 144 to the modulator 154. For example, the UE operations module 124 may inform the modulator 154 of the type of modulation (e.g., constellation mapping) to be used for transmission to the base station 160. The modulator 154 may modulate the coded data 152 to provide one or more modulated signals 156 to one or more transmitters 158.

[0060] The UE operations module 124 may provide information 140 to the one or more transmitters 158. The information 140 may include instructions for the one or more transmitters 158. For example, the UE operations module 124 may instruct the one or more transmitters 158 when to transmit a signal to a base station 160 or another UE 102. The one or more transmitters 158 may upconvert the one or more modulated signals 156 and transmit the one or more modulated signals to the one or more base stations 160 or another one or more UEs 102.

[0061] The base station 160 may include one or more transceivers 176, one or more demodulators 172, one or more decoders 166, one or more encoders 109, one or more modulators 113, one or more data buffers 162, and one or more base station operation modules 182. For example, one or more receive paths and / or transmit paths may be implemented in the base station 160. For convenience, only a single transceiver 176, decoder 166, demodulator 172, encoder 109, and modulator 113 are shown in the base station 160, but multiple parallel elements (e.g., multiple transceivers 176, decoders 166, demodulators 172, encoders 109, and modulators 113) may be implemented.

[0062] The transceiver 176 may include one or more receivers 178 and one or more transmitters 117. The one or more receivers 178 may receive signals (e.g., uplink channels, uplink signals) from the UE 102 using one or more antennas 180a-n. For example, the receiver 178 may receive and downconvert the signals to produce one or more received signals 174. The one or more received signals 174 may be provided to the demodulator 172. The one or more transmitters 117 may transmit signals (e.g., downlink channels, downlink signals) to the UE 102 using one or more antennas 180a-n. For example, the one or more transmitters 117 may upconvert and transmit one or more modulated signals 115.

[0063] The demodulator 172 may demodulate one or more received signals 174 to produce one or more demodulated signals 170. The one or more demodulated signals 170 may be provided to the decoder 166. The base station 160 may use the decoder 166 to decode the signal. The decoder 166 may produce one or more decoded signals 164, 168. For example, the signal 164 decoded by the first base station may include received payload data, which may be stored in the data buffer 162. The signal 168 decoded by the second base station may include overhead data and / or control data. For example, the signal 168 decoded by the second base station may provide data (e.g., PUSCH transmission data) that the base station operation module 182 may use to perform one or more operations.

[0064] In general, the base station operation module 182 may enable the base station 160 to communicate with one or more UEs 102. The base station operation module 182 may include a base station RRC information configuration module 194. The base station operation module 182 may include a base station resource management (RM) control module 196 (or a base station RM processing module 196). The base station operation module 182 may include a PHY entity, a MAC entity, an RLC entity, a PDCP entity, and an RRC entity.

[0065] The base station RM control module 196 can determine when and where to transmit the preamble, time and frequency resources of the PRACH opportunity for each UE and input this information to the base station RRC information configuration module 194. The base station RM control module 196 can generate a DCI format to indicate the frequency and time resources of the PSSCH to the UE 102.

[0066] The base station operation module 182 may provide the benefit of efficiently performing PDCCH candidate searches and monitoring. The base station operation module 182 may provide information 190 to one or more receivers 178. For example, the base station operation module 182 may inform the receiver 178 when to receive a transmission or when not to receive a transmission based on an RRC message (e.g., broadcasted system information, an RRC reconfiguration message), a MAC control element, and / or a DCI (downlink control information).

[0067] The base station operations module 182 can provide information 188 to the demodulator 172. For example, the base station operations module 182 can inform the demodulator 172 of the modulation pattern expected for transmissions from one or more UEs 102.

[0068] The base station operations module 182 can provide information 186 to the decoder 166. For example, the base station operations module 182 can inform the decoder 166 of the encoding expected for transmissions from one or more UEs 102.

[0069] The base station operation module 182 may provide information 101 to the encoder 109. The information 101 may include data to be encoded and / or instructions for encoding. For example, the base station operation module 182 may instruct the encoder 109 to encode the transmission data 105 and / or other information 101.

[0070] Generally speaking, the base station operation module 182 can enable the base station 160 to communicate with one or more network nodes (e.g., NG mobility management function, NG core UP function, mobility management entity (MME), serving gateway (S-GW), gNB). The base station operation module 182 can also generate an RRC reconfiguration message to be sent to the UE 102.

[0071] The encoder 109 may encode the transmit data 105 and / or other information 101 provided by the base station operations module 182. For example, encoding the data 105 and / or other information 101 may involve error detection and / or correction coding, mapping the data to space, time, and / or frequency resources for transmission, multiplexing, etc. The encoder 109 may provide the encoded data 111 to the modulator 113. The transmit data 105 may include network data to be relayed to the UE 102.

[0072] The base station operations module 182 may provide information 103 to the modulator 113. The information 103 may include instructions for the modulator 113. For example, the base station operations module 182 may inform the modulator 113 of the type of modulation (e.g., constellation mapping) to be used for transmission to the UE 102. The modulator 113 may modulate the coded data 111 to provide one or more modulated signals 115 to one or more transmitters 117.

[0073] The base station operation module 182 may provide information 192 to one or more transmitters 117. The information 192 may include instructions for the one or more transmitters 117. For example, the base station operation module 182 may instruct the one or more transmitters 117 when (or when not) to send a signal to one or more UEs 102. The base station operation module 182 may provide information 192 to the one or more transmitters 117, including PDCCH monitoring opportunities and DCI format sizes. The base station operation module 182 may inform the transmitter 117 when or where to transmit a PDCCH candidate with a DCI format of which DCI size. The one or more transmitters 117 may up-convert the modulated signal 115 and transmit the modulated signal to the one or more UEs 102.

[0074] It should be noted that one or more of the elements or components thereof included in the base station 160 and the UE 102 may be implemented in hardware. For example, one or more of these elements or components thereof may be implemented as a chip, a circuit, a hardware component, etc. It should also be noted that one or more of the functions or methods described herein may be implemented in hardware and / or performed using hardware. For example, one or more of the methods described herein may be implemented in a chipset, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a large scale integrated circuit (LSI), or an integrated circuit, etc., and / or implemented using a chipset, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a large scale integrated circuit (LSI), or an integrated circuit, etc.

[0075] The base station may generate an RRC message including the one or more RRC parameters, and may transmit the RRC message to the UE. The UE may receive an RRC message including one or more RRC parameters from the base station. The term "RRC parameter" in the present disclosure may alternatively be referred to as an "RRC information element". The RRC parameter may also include one or more RRC parameters. In the present disclosure, the RRC message may include system information, and the RRC message may include one or more RRC parameters. The RRC message may be sent on a broadcast control channel (BCCH) logical channel, a common control channel (CCCH) logical channel, or a dedicated control channel (DCCH) logical channel.

[0076] In the present disclosure, the description "the base station may configure the UE" may also imply / refer to "the base station may transmit an RRC message including one or more RRC parameters to the UE". Additionally or alternatively, "RRC parameters configure the UE" may also refer to "the base station may transmit an RRC message including one or more RRC parameters to the UE". Additionally or alternatively, "the UE is configured to" may also refer to "the UE may receive an RRC message including one or more RRC parameters from the base station".

[0077] Figure 2 is a diagram illustrating one example of a resource grid 200 .

[0078] For each parameter set and carrier, the common resource block N indicated by the higher layer signaling grid start,μ Start defining N grid,x size,μ Nsc RB subcarriers and N symb subframe,μ OFDM symbols. There is a set of resource grids per transmission direction (uplink or downlink), where the subscript x is set to DL and UL for downlink and uplink respectively. There is one resource grid for a given antenna port p, subcarrier spacing configuration μ, and transmission direction (downlink or uplink). The subscript x can be dropped when there is no risk of aliasing.

[0079] exist Figure 2 In the frequency domain, resource grid 200 includes N grid,x sizeμ N SC RB (202) subcarriers, and in the time domain includes N symb subframe,μ (204) symbols. Figure 2 In the example for illustration, the subcarrier spacing configuration μ is set to 0. That is, Figure 2 The number of consecutive OFDM symbols in each subframe is N symb subframe,μ (204) equals 14.

[0080] Carrier bandwidth N for subcarrier spacing configuration μ grid size,μ (N grid,x size,μ ) is given by the higher layer (RRC) parameter carrierBandwidth in the SCS-SpecificCarrierIE. The starting position N of the subcarrier spacing configuration μ grid start,μIt is given by the higher layer parameter offsetToCarrier in the SCS-SpecificCarrier IE. The frequency position of a subcarrier refers to the center frequency of the subcarrier.

[0081] exist Figure 2 In, for example, the value of the offset is provided by the higher layer parameter offsetToCarrier. That is, k=12×offset is the lowest available subcarrier on the carrier.

[0082] Each element in the resource grid for antenna port p and subcarrier spacing configuration μ is called a resource element and is represented by (k, l) p,μ Uniquely identifies, where k is the index in the frequency domain and l refers to the symbol position in the time domain relative to some reference point. A resource element consists of one subcarrier during one OFDM symbol.

[0083] Resource blocks are defined as N in the frequency domain SC RB = 12 consecutive subcarriers. Figure 2 As shown, resource block 206 includes 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain. Resource blocks can be classified into common resource blocks (CRBs) and physical resource blocks (PRBs).

[0084] The common resource blocks for subcarrier spacing configuration p are numbered in the frequency domain starting from 0. The center of subcarrier 0 of the common resource block with index 0 (i.e., CRB0) for subcarrier spacing configuration μ coincides with point A. The common resource block index in the frequency domain and the subcarrier spacing configuration μ are The relationship between resource elements (k, l) is given by formula (1) CRBμ =floor(k / N SCRB ), where k is defined relative to point A, so that k=0 corresponds to a subcarrier centered at point A. The function floor(A) below will output the largest integer not greater than A.

[0085] Point A refers to the common reference point. For all subcarrier spacings, point A coincides with subcarrier 0 of CRB 0 (i.e. k=0). Point A can be obtained from the RRC parameter offsetToPointA or the RRC parameter absoluteFrequencyPointA. The RRC parameter offsetToPointA is used for the PCell downlink and represents the frequency offset between point A and the lowest subcarrier of the lowest resource block, which has a subcarrier spacing provided by the higher-layer parameter subCarrierSpacingCommon and overlaps with the SS / PBCH block used by the UE for initial cell selection, expressed in units of resource blocks, assuming 15kHz subcarrier spacing for frequency range (FR) 1 and 60kHz subcarrier spacing for frequency range (FR2). FR1 corresponds to a frequency range between 410MHz and 7125MHz. FR2 corresponds to a frequency range between 24250MHz and 52600MHz. The RRC parameter absoluteFrequencyPointA is used for all cases except the PCell case and represents the frequency position of point A as expressed in ARFCN. The frequency position of point A may be the lowest subcarrier of the carrier bandwidth (or the actual carrier). In addition, point A may be located outside the carrier bandwidth (or the actual carrier).

[0086] As described above, the information element (IE) SCS-SpecificCarrier provides parameters for determining the location and width of the carrier bandwidth or the actual carrier. That is, the carrier (or carrier bandwidth or actual carrier) is determined (identified or defined) by at least the RRC parameter offsetToCarrier, the RRC parameter subcarrierSpacing, and the RRC parameter carrierBandwidth in the SCS-SpecificCarrier IE.

[0087] subcarrierSpacing indicates (or defines) the subcarrier spacing of a carrier. offsetToCarrier uses the subcarrier spacing defined for a carrier to indicate the offset between point A in the frequency domain and the lowest available subcarrier on that carrier, in units of the number of resource blocks (e.g., CRBs). carrierBandwidth uses the subcarrier spacing defined for a carrier to indicate the width of that carrier, in units of the number of resource blocks (e.g., CRBs or PRBs). A carrier includes a maximum of 275 resource blocks.

[0088] The physical resource blocks for the subcarrier spacing configuration μ are defined within the bandwidth part and are numbered from 0 to N. BWP,i size,μ , where i is the number of the bandwidth part. Physical resource block n in bandwidth part (BWP) iPRB μ With common resource block n CRB μ The relationship between CRB μ =n PRB μ +N BWP,i startμ Given, where N BWP,i start,μ is a common resource block, where bandwidth part i starts relative to common resource block 0 (CRB0). When there is no risk of confusion, the index μ may be dropped.

[0089] A BWP is a subset of contiguous common resource blocks for a given subcarrier spacing configuration μ on a given carrier. Specifically, a BWP may be determined (defined) by at least the subcarrier spacing μ indicated by the RRC parameter subcarrierSpacing, the cyclic prefix determined by the RRC parameter cyclicPrefix, the frequency domain position, the bandwidth, the BWP index indicated by bwp-Id, etc. locationAndBandwidth may be used to indicate the frequency domain position and bandwidth of a BWP. The value indicated by locationAndBandwidth is interpreted as corresponding to the offset (starting resource block) RB start and according to the length L of the consecutive resource blocks RB Resource indicator value (RIV). Offset RB start is the number of DRBs between the lowest CRB of the carrier and the lowest CRB of the BWP. BWP,i start,μ From formula (3) N BWP,i start,μ =O carrier +RB start Given. For the corresponding subcarrier spacing configuration μ, O carrier The value of offsetTocarrier is provided by

[0090] A UE 102 configured to operate in a BWP of a serving cell is configured by a higher layer for the serving cell with a set of up to four BWPs for reception in the downlink. At a given time, a single downlink BWP is active. The base station 160 may not transmit PDSCH and / or PDCCH outside of the active downlink BWP to the UE 102. A UE 102 configured to operate in a BWP of a serving cell is configured by a higher layer for the serving cell with a set of up to four BWPs for transmission. At a given time, a single uplink BWP is active. The UE 102 may not transmit PUSCH or PUCCH outside of the active BWP to the base station 160. Specific signaling (high layer signaling) for BWP configuration is described later.

[0091] A UE 102 configured to operate in a SL BWP is configured or preconfigured by a higher layer of the serving cell, or is configured or preconfigured by a preconfigured SL BWP for sidelink reception and / or transmission. At a given time, a single SL BWP is active. A UE 102 may not transmit sidelink channels (PSCCH, PSCCH, and / or PSFCH) outside of the active SL BWP to another UE 102.

[0092] Figure 3 is a diagram showing one example 300 of common resource block grid, carrier configuration, and BWP configuration performed by UE 102 and base station 160 .

[0093] For all subcarrier spacing configurations, point A 301 is the lowest subcarrier of CRB0. CRB grid 302 and CRB grid 312 correspond to two different subcarrier spacing configurations. CRB grid 302 is for subcarrier spacing configuration μ=0 (i.e., with a subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz). CRB grid 312 is for subcarrier spacing configuration μ=1 (i.e., with a subcarrier spacing of 30 kHz).

[0094] One or more carriers are determined by the corresponding SCS-SpecificCarrier IE. Figure 3 In FIG. 1 , carrier 304 uses a subcarrier spacing configuration μ=0. And carrier 314 uses a subcarrier spacing configuration μ=1. The starting position N of carrier 304 grid start,μ Based on the value of offset 303 indicated by offsetToCarrier in the SCS-SpecificCarrier IE (i.e., carrier ) is given. Figure 3 As shown, for example, offsetToCarrier indicates the value of offset 303 as 0. carrier =3. That is, for the subcarrier spacing configuration μ=0, the starting position N of the carrier 304 is grid start,μ Corresponding to CRB3 of CRB grid 302. Meanwhile, the starting position N of carrier 314 grid start,μ Based on the value of offset 313 indicated by offsetToCarrier in another SCS-SpecificCarrier IE (i.e., carrier ). For example, offsetToCarrier indicates the value of offset 313 as 0. carrier =1, that is, the starting position N of the carrier 314 grid start,μCorresponding to CRB1 of CRB grid 312 for subcarrier spacing configuration μ = 1. Carriers using different subcarrier spacing configurations may occupy different frequency ranges.

[0095] As described above, a BWP is used for a given subcarrier spacing configuration μ. One or more BWPs may be configured for the same subcarrier spacing configuration μ. Figure 3 In the example, BWP 306 is composed of at least μ=0, frequency domain position, bandwidth (L RB ) and the BWP index (index A). The first PRB of the BWP (i.e., PRB0) is determined by at least the subcarrier spacing of the BWP, the offset derived by locationAndBandwidth, and the offset indicated by offsetToCarrier corresponding to the subcarrier spacing of the BWP. start ) is derived as 1 according to locationAndBandwidth. According to equations (2) and (3), PRB0 of BWP 306 corresponds to CRB 4 of CRB grid 302, and PRB1 of BWP 306 corresponds to CRB 5 of CRB grid 302, and so on.

[0096] In addition, Figure 3 In the example, BWP 308 is composed of at least μ=0, frequency domain position, bandwidth (L RB ) and the BWP index (index B). For example, offset 307 (RB start ) is derived from locationAndBandwidth to be 6. According to equations (2) and (3), PRB0 of BWP 308 corresponds to CRB 9 of CRB grid 302, and PRB1 of BWP 308 corresponds to CRB 10 of CRB grid 302, and so on.

[0097] In addition, Figure 3 In the example, BWP 316 is composed of at least μ=l, frequency domain position, bandwidth (L RB ) and BWP index (index C). For example, offset 315 (RB start ) is derived as 1 according to locationAndBandwidth. According to equations (2) and (3), PRB0 of BWP 316 corresponds to CRB 2 of CRB grid 312, and PRB1 of BWP 316 corresponds to CRB 3 of CRB grid 312, and so on.

[0098] Figure 3 The BWP shown in may refer to a DL BWP, a UL BWP, or a sidelink BWP.

[0099] like Figure 3As shown, carriers with defined subcarrier spacing are located in corresponding CRB grids with the same subcarrier spacing. BWPs with defined subcarrier spacing are also located in corresponding CRB grids with the same subcarrier spacing.

[0100] The base station may transmit an RRC message including one or more RRC parameters related to the BWP configuration to the UE. The UE may receive an RRC message including one or more RRC parameters related to the BWP configuration from the base station. For each cell, the base station may configure at least an initial DL BWP, an initial uplink bandwidth portion (initial UL BWP), and a sidelink BWP to the UE. In addition, for a cell, the base station may configure additional UL and DL BWPs to the UE.

[0101] The RRC parameter initialDownlinkBWP may indicate the initial downlink BWP (initial DL BWP) configuration of the serving cell (e.g., SpCell and Scell). The base station may configure the RRC parameter locationAndBandwidth included in the initialDownlinkBWP so that the initial DL BWP contains the entire CORESET 0 of the serving cell in the frequency domain. locationAndBandwidth may be used to indicate the frequency domain location and bandwidth of the BWP. The RRC parameter initialUplinkBWP may indicate the initial uplink BWP (initial UL BWP) configuration of the serving cell (e.g., SpCell and Scell). The base station may transmit the initialDownlinkBWP and / or initialUplinkBWP, which may be included in SIB1, the RRC parameter ServingCellConfigCommon, or the RRC parameter ServingCellConfig, to the UE.

[0102] initialDownlinkBWP may include one, more, or all of the following: (I) common parameters of the initial downlink BWP (e.g., locationAndBandwidth, subcarrierSpacing, cyclicPrefix), (II) cell-specific parameters of the PDCCH for the initial downlink BWP (e.g., pdcch-ConfigCommon), (III) cell-specific parameters of the PDSCH for the initial downlink BWP (e.g., pdsch-ConfigCommon). initialUplinkBWP may include one, more, or all of the following: (I) common parameters of the initial UL BWP (e.g., locationAndBandwidth, subcarrierSpacing, cyclicPrefix), (II) cell-specific parameters of the PUCCH for the initial UL BWP (e.g., pucch-ConfigCommon), (III) cell-specific parameters of the PUSCH for the initial UL BWP (e.g., pusch-ConfigCommon), and (IV) cell-specific random access parameters (e.g., rach-ConfigCommon).

[0103] SIB1 is a cell-specific system information block (System Information Block, SIB), which may contain information relevant to evaluating whether a UE is allowed to access a cell and defining the scheduling of other system information. SIB1 may also contain radio resource configuration information common to all UEs and prohibition information applied to unified access control. The RRC parameter ServingCellConfigCommon is used to configure the cell-specific parameters of the UE's serving cell. The RRC parameter ServingCellConfig is used to configure (add or modify) the UE with a serving cell, which can be a SpCell or SCell of an MCS or SCG. The RRC parameter ServingCellConfig in this article is mainly UE-specific, but also partially cell-specific.

[0104] The base station may configure the UE using the RRC parameter BWP-Downlink and the RRC parameter BWP-Uplink. The RRC parameter BWP-Downlink may be used to configure an additional DL BWR. The RRC parameter BWP-Uplink may be used to configure an additional UL BWP. The base station may transmit BWP-Downlink and BWP-Uplink to the UE, which may be included in the RRC parameter ServingCellConfig.

[0105] .If the UE is not configured (provided) with initialDownlinkBWP from the base station, the initial DL BWP is defined by the location and number of consecutive physical resource blocks (PRBs), starting from the PRB with the lowest index and ending at the PRB with the highest index in the CORESET (i.e., CORESET 0) for Type0-PDCCH CSS set and the subcarrier spacing (SCS) and cyclic prefix for PDCCH reception in the CORESET of the Type0-PDCCH CSS set. If the UE is configured (provided) with initialDownlinkBWP from the base station, the initial DL BWP is provided by initialDownlinkBWP. If the UE is configured (provided) with initialUplinkBWP from the base station, the initial UL BWP is provided by initialUplinkBWP.

[0106] The UE may be configured by a base station, at least one initial BWP and up to 4 additional BWPs. One of the initial BWP and the configured additional BWP may be activated as an active BWP. The UE may monitor the DCI format and / or receive the PDSCH in the active DL BWP. The UE may not monitor the DCI format and / or receive the PDSCH in a DL BWP other than the active DL BWP. The UE may transmit PUSCH and / or PUCCH in an active UL BWP. The UE may not transmit PUSCH and / or PUCCH in a BWP other than the active UL BWP.

[0107] As described above, the UE may monitor the DCI format in the active DL BWP. More specifically, the UE may monitor a set of PDCCH candidates in one or more CORESETs on the active DL BWP on each activated serving cell configured with PDCCH monitoring according to the corresponding search space set, where monitoring means decoding each PDCCH candidate according to the monitored DCI format.

[0108] The PDCCH candidate set to be monitored by the UE is defined according to the PDCCH search space set. The search space set may be a CSS set or a USS set. The UE may monitor the PDCCH candidate set in one or more search space sets.

[0109] For DL ​​BWP, if the UE is configured (provided) with one of the above search space sets, the UE can determine the PDCCH monitoring timing of a set of PDCCH candidates of the configured search space set. The PDCCH monitoring timing for monitoring the PDCCH candidates of the search space set s is determined according to the search space set s configuration and the CORESET configuration associated with the search space set s. In other words, the UE can monitor a set of PDCCH candidates of the search space set in the determined (configured) PDCCH monitoring timing in one or more configured control resource sets (CORESETs) according to the corresponding search space set configuration and the CORESET configuration. The base station can transmit information specifying one or more CORESET configurations and / or search space configurations to the UE. The information may be included in the MIB and / or SIB broadcasted by the base station. The information may be included in the RRC configuration or RRC parameters. The base station may broadcast system information such as MIB, SIB to indicate the CORESET configuration or search space configuration to the UE. Or the base station may transmit an RRC message including one or more RRC parameters related to the CORESET configuration and / or search space configuration to the UE.

[0110] An example of a search space set configuration is described below.

[0111] The base station may transmit an RRC message including one or more RRC parameters related to the search space configuration. The base station may determine one or more RRC parameters related to the search space configuration of the UE. The UE may receive an RRC message including one or more RRC parameters related to the search space configuration from the base station. The RRC parameters related to the search space configuration (e.g., SearchSpace, searchSpaceZero) define how and where to search for PDCCH candidates. "Search / monitor PDCCH candidates in DCI format" may also be referred to as "monitor / search DCI format".

[0112] For example, the RRC parameter searchSpaceZero is used to configure the common search space 0 of the initial DL BWP. searchSpaceZero corresponds to 4 bits. The base station may transmit searchSpaceZero via PBCH (MIB) or ServingCell.

[0113] In addition, the RRC parameter SearchSpace is used to define how / where to retrieve PDCCH candidates. The RRC parameter searchspace may include multiple RRC parameters, such as searchSpaceId, controlResourceSetId, monitoringSlotPeriodicityAndOffset, duration, monitoringSymbolsWithinSlot, nrofCandidates, searchSpaceType. Some of the above RRC parameters may or may not exist in the RRC parameter SearchSpace. That is, the RRC parameter SearchSpace may include all of the above RRC parameters. That is, the RRC parameter SearchSpace may include one or more of the above RRC parameters. If some of the parameters do not exist in the RRC parameter SearchSpace, the UE 102 may apply default values ​​for each of those parameters.

[0114] Herein, the RRC parameter searchSpaceId is an identifier or index of a search space. The RRC parameter searchSpaceId is used to identify a search space. More specifically, the RRC parameter serchSpaceId provides a search space set index s, 0≤s<40. Then, the search space s in the following text may refer to the search space identified by the index s indicated by the RRC parameter searchSpaceId. The RRC parameter controlResourceSetId relates to the identifier of a CORESET and is used to identify a CORESET. The RRC parameter controlResourceSetId indicates the association between the search space s and the CORESET identified by the controlResourceSetId. The RRC parameter controlResourceSetId indicates the CORESET applicable to the search space. The CORESET p in the following text may refer to the CORESET identified by the index p indicated by the RRC parameter controlResourceSetId. Each search space is associated with a CORESET. The RRC parameter monitoringSlotPeriodicityAndOffset indicates the time slots for PDCCH monitoring that are configured as periodicity and offset. Specifically, the RRC parameter monitoringSlotPeriodicityAndOffset indicates k s The PDCCH monitoring period of the time slot is sThe PDCCH monitoring offset of a time slot. The UE can determine which time slot is configured for PDCCH monitoring based on the RRC parameter monitoringSlotPeriodicityAndOffset. The RRC parameter monitoringSymbolsWithinSlot is used to indicate the first symbol used for PDCCH monitoring in the time slot configured for PDCCH monitoring. That is, the parameter monitoringSymbolsWithinSlot provides a PDCCH monitoring pattern within a time slot, thereby indicating the first symbol of the CORESET within the time slot (configured time slot) used for PDCCH monitoring. The RRC parameter duration indicates the number of consecutive time slots T that the search space lasts (or exists) at each opportunity (PDCCH opportunity, PDCCH monitoring opportunity). s The number of

[0115] The RRC parameters may include aggregation level 1, aggregation level 2, aggregation level 4, aggregation level 8, and aggregation level 16. For CCE aggregation level 1, CCE aggregation level 2, aggregation level 4, aggregation level 8, and aggregation level 16, respectively, the RRC parameter nrofCandidates may provide multiple PDCCH candidates for each CCE aggregation level L through aggregation level 1, aggregation level 2, aggregation level 4, aggregation level 8, and aggregation level 16. In other words, the value L may be set to any one of the set {1,2,4,8,16}. The number of PDCCH candidates for each CCE aggregation level L may be configured to be 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 8. For example, in the case where the number of PDCCH candidates for each CCE aggregation level L is configured to be 0, the UE may not search for PDCCH candidates for CCE aggregation L. That is, in this case, the UE may not monitor the PDCCH candidates for CCE aggregation L of the search space set s. For example, the number of PDCCH candidates per CCE aggregation level L is configured as 4, and the UE may monitor 4 PDCCH candidates of the CCE aggregation level L in the search space set s.

[0116] The RRC parameter searchSpaceType is used to indicate whether the search space set s is a CSS set or a USS set. The RRC parameter searchSpaceType may include common or ue-Specific. The RRC parameter common configures the search space set s as a CSS set and the monitored DCI format. The RRC parameter ue-Specific configures the search space set s as a USS set. The RRC parameter ue-Specific may include dci-Formats. The RRC parameter dci-Formats indicates that PDCCH candidates are monitored in the search space set s for DCI format 0_0 and DCI format 1_0, or for DCI format 0_1 ​​and DCI format 1_1. That is, the RRC parameter searchSpaceType indicates whether the search space set s is a CSS set or a USS set, and the DCI format to be monitored. In addition to dci-Formats, the RRC parameter ue-Specific may also include new RRC parameters (e.g., dci-FormatsExt). The RRC parameter dci-FormatsExt indicates monitoring of PDCCH candidates for DCI format 0_2 and DCI format 1_2, or PDCCH candidates for DCI format 0_1, DCI format 1_1, DCI format 0_2, and DCI format 1_2. If the RRC parameter dci-FormatsExt is included in the RRC parameter ue-Specific, the UE may ignore the RRC parameter dci-Formats. That is, the UE may not monitor the PDCCH candidates for the DCI format indicated by the RRC parameter dci-Format, and may monitor the PDCCH candidates for the DCI format indicated by the RRC parameter dci-FormatsExt.

[0117] UE 102 may monitor PDCCH candidates for DCI format 0_0 and / or DCI format 1_0 in the CSS or USS. UE 102 may monitor PDCCH candidates for DCI format 0_1, DCI format 1_1, DCI format 0_2, and / or DCI format 1_2 only in the USS, but may not monitor PDCCH candidates for DCI format 0_1, DCI format 1_1, DCI format 0_2, and / or DCI format 1_2 in the CSS. DCI format 0_1 ​​may schedule two transport blocks for one PUSCH, while DCI format 0_2 may only schedule one transport block for one PUSCH. DCI format 0_2 may not include some fields (e.g., a "CBG transmission information" field) that may exist in DCI format 0_1. Similarly, DCI format 1_1 may schedule two transport blocks for one PDSCH, while DCI format 1_2 may only schedule one transport block for one PDSCH. DCI format 1_2 may not include some fields (eg, the "CBG transmit information" field) that may exist in DCI format 1_1. DCI format 1_2 and DCI format 1_1 may consist of one or more identical DCI fields (eg, the "antenna port" field).

[0118] The base station 160 may schedule the UE 102 to receive the PDSCH via downlink control information (DCI). The DCI format provides the DCI and includes one or more DCI fields. One or more DCI fields in the DCI format are mapped to information bits. As described above, the UE 102 may be configured by the base station 160 to have one or more search space sets to monitor the PDCCH for detecting the corresponding DCI format. If the UE 102 detects a DCI format (e.g., DCI format 1_0, DCI format 1_1, or DCI format 1_2) in the PDCCH, the UE 102 may be scheduled to receive the PDSCH via the DCI format.

[0119] A USS of CCE aggregation level L is defined by a set of PDCCH candidates of CCE aggregation L. A USS set may be constructed by a plurality of USSs corresponding to the corresponding CCE aggregation level L. A USS set may include one or more USSs corresponding to the corresponding CCE aggregation level L. A CSS of CCE aggregation level L is defined by a set of PDCCH candidates of CCE aggregation L. A CSS set may be constructed by a plurality of USSs corresponding to the corresponding CCE aggregation level L. A CSS set may include one or more CSSs corresponding to the corresponding CCE aggregation level L.

[0120] In this document, "UE monitoring PDCCH for search space set s" is also referred to as "UE may monitor a set of PDCCH candidates for search space set s". Alternatively, "UE monitoring PDCCH for search space set s" is also referred to as "UE may attempt to decode each PDCCH candidate for search space set s according to the monitored DCI format". As mentioned above, PDCCH is used to transmit or carry downlink control information (DCI). Therefore, "PDCCH", "DCI", "DCI format" and / or "PDCCH candidates" are actually interchangeable. In other words, "UE monitoring PDCCH" means "UE monitors PDCCH for DCI format". That is, "UE monitoring PDCCH" means "UE monitors PDCCH for detecting the configured DCI format".

[0121] In the present disclosure, the term "PDCCH search space set" may also be referred to as "PDCCH search space". The UE monitors PDCCH candidates in one or more of the search space sets. The search space set may be a common search space (CSS) set or a UE-specific search space (USS) set. In some implementations, the CSS set may be shared / configured between multiple UEs. The multiple UEs may search for PDCCH candidates in the CSS set. In some implementations, the USS set is configured for a specific UE. The UE may search for one or more PDCCH candidates in the USS set. In some implementations, the USS set may be derived from at least the value of the C-RNTI addressed to the UE.

[0122] An example of a CORESET configuration is described below.

[0123] The base station may configure one or more CORESETs for each DL BWP in the serving cell for the UE. For example, the RRC parameter ControlResourceSetZero is used to configure CORESET 0 for the initial DL BWP. The RRC parameter ControlResourceSetZero corresponds to 4 bits. The base station may transmit ControlResourceSetZero to the UE, which may be included in the MIB or the RRC parameter ServingCellConfigCommon. The MIB may include system information transmitted on the BCH (PBCH). The RRC parameters related to the initial DL BWP configuration may also include the RRC parameter ControlResourceSetZero. The RRC parameter ServingCellConfigCommon is used to configure the cell-specific parameters of the UE's serving cell, and contains parameters that the UE would normally obtain from the SSB, MIB, or SIB when accessing a cell from idle.

[0124] In addition, the RRC parameter ControlResourceSet is used to configure time and frequency CORESETs other than CORESET 0. The RRC parameter ControlResourceSet may include multiple RRC parameters, such as ControlResourceSetId, frequencyDomainResource, duration, cce-REG-MappingType, precoderGranularity, tci-PresentInDCI, pdcch-DMRS-ScramblingID, etc.

[0125] Here, the RRC parameter ControlResourceSetId is the CORESET index p used to identify the CORESET within the serving cell, where 0 < p < 12. The RRC parameter duration indicates the number of consecutive symbols N of the CORESET Symb CORESET , which can be configured as 1, 2, or 3 symbols. The CORESET consists of a set of N Symb CORESET resource blocks (RBs) in the frequency domain and N Symb CORESET symbols in the time domain. The RRC parameter frequencyDomainResource indicates a set of N RB CORESET RBs of the CORESET. Each bit in frequencyDomainResource corresponds to a set of 6 RBs, where the grouping starts from the first RB group in the BWR. The first (leftmost / highest significant) bit corresponds to the first RB group in the BWP, and so on. The first common RB of the first RB group has the common RB index 6 × ceiling(N BWP start / 6). The bit set to 1 indicates that the RB group belongs to the frequency domain resources of the CORESET. The bits corresponding to a set of RBs not fully contained in the bandwidth part in which the CORESET is configured are set to zero. The ceiling(A) function in the following text will output the smallest integer not less than A.

[0126] Depending on the CORESET configuration, a CORESET (CORESET 0 or CORESET p) consists of a group of PRBs with a duration of 1 to 3 OFDM symbols. Resource unit resource element groups (REGs) and control channel elements (CCEs) are defined within a CORESET. A CCE consists of 6 REGs, where a REG is equal to one resource block during one OFDM symbol. The control channel is formed by CCE aggregation. That is, a PDCCH consists of one or more CCEs. Different code rates for the control channel are achieved by aggregating different numbers of CCEs. Interleaved and non-interleaved CCE-to-REG mapping are supported in a CORESET. Each resource element group carrying a PDCCH carries its own DMRS.

[0127] Figure 4 is a diagram showing one example 400 of CORESET configuration performed by UE 102 and base station 160 in a BWP.

[0128] Figure 4 UE 102 is shown configured with three CORESETs for receiving PDCCH transmissions in two BWPs. Figure 4 In the SCS-SpecificCarrier IE, 401 represents point A. 402 is the offset (in number of CRBs) between point A 401 in the frequency domain and the lowest available subcarrier on carrier 403, and the offset 402 is given by offsetToCarrier in the SCS-SpecificCarrier IE. The BWP 405 with index A and the carrier 403 are used for the same subcarrier spacing configuration μ. The offset 404 (in number of CRBs) between the lowest CRB of the carrier and the lowest CRB of the BWP is given by locationAndBandwidth included in the BWP configuration of BWP A. The BWP 407 with index B and the carrier 403 are used for the same subcarrier spacing configuration μ. The offset 406 (in number of RBs) between the lowest CRB of the carrier and the lowest CRB of the BWP is given by locationAndBandwidth included in the BWP configuration of BWP B.

[0129] For BWP 405, two CORESETs are configured. As described above, the RRC parameter frequencyDomainResource in the corresponding CORESET configuration indicates the frequency domain resources for the corresponding CORESET. In the frequency domain, a CORESET is defined in multiple RB groups, and each RB group consists of 6 RBs. For example, in Figure 4In the RRC parameter frequencyDomainResource, a bit string with a fixed size (e.g., 45 bits) is provided, such as "11010000 ... 000000" for CORESET#1. That is, the first RB group, the second RB group, and the fourth RB group belong to the frequency domain resources of CORESET#1. In addition, the RRC parameter frequencyDomainResource provides a bit string with a fixed size (e.g., 45 bits), such as "00101110 ... 000000" for CORESET#2. That is, the third RB group, the fifth RB group, the sixth RB group, and the seventh RB group belong to the frequency domain resources of CORESET#2.

[0130] For BWP 407, one CORESET is configured. As described above, the RRC parameter frequencyDomainResource in the CORESET configuration indicates the frequency domain resources for CORESET#3. In the frequency domain, a CORESET is defined in multiple RB groups, and each RB group consists of 6 RBs. For example, in Figure 4 In the RRC parameter frequencyDomainResource, a bit string with a fixed size (e.g., 45 bits) is provided, such as "11010000...000000" for CORESET#3. That is, the first RB group, the second RB group, and the fourth RB group belong to the frequency domain resources of CORESET#3. Although the bit string configured for CORESET#3 is the same as the bit string configured for CORESET#1, the first RB group of BWP B in the carrier is different from the first RB group of BWP A. Therefore, the frequency domain resources of CORESET#3 in the carrier are also different from the frequency domain resources of CORESET#1.

[0131] For BWP communication systems, the spectrum is divided into licensed spectrum and unlicensed spectrum. NR technology has been developed in both licensed and unlicensed spectrum. As a complementary solution, operation in unlicensed spectrum can increase the throughput of the entire wireless communication system. However, operation in unlicensed spectrum is subject to regulatory restrictions and constraints. For example, the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) has established rules for operating on unlicensed spectrum. For example, the occupied channel bandwidth (OCB), which is defined as the bandwidth containing 99% of the signal power, should be greater than a certain percentage of the nominal channel bandwidth (NCB). For example, according to ETSI regulations, for the 5GHz band, the OCB should be between 70% and 100% of the NCB.

[0132] For example, the unlicensed band (or channel bandwidth or sub-band) will be divided into multiple non-overlapping channels of 20MHz bandwidth. Interleaved transmission is introduced to ensure compliance with the provisions of OCB and NCB. Specifically, the interleaved transmission is designed so that each interlace can occupy a channel bandwidth, wherein the occupied channel bandwidth can meet the requirements of NCB.

[0133] Figure 5 is a diagram showing an example 500 of interleaved resource blocks for transmission and reception. Figure 5 In , each block in the frequency domain corresponds to a resource block. Figure 5 In , the subcarrier spacing is configured as 30kHz, and the number of resource block interlaces denoted as M is 5. Then, these interlaces will be indexed from 0 to M-1. That is, interlace m (where m=0, 1, ..., M-1) consists of multiple common resource blocks indexed as {m, M+m, 2M+m, 3M+m, ...}. For example, in Figure 5 In the example, interlace m=0 consists of common resource blocks with indices {0, 5, 10, 15, ...}, interlace m=1 consists of common resource blocks with indices {1, 6, 11, 16, ...}, and so on.

[0134] Figure 6 6 is a diagram showing an example 600 of an interleaving mapping for a BWP. The number M of resource block interleavings may be specific to the SCS. If the SCS is equal to 15 kHz, the number M of resource block interleavings may be equal to 10 accordingly. If the SCS is equal to 30 kHz, the number M of resource block interleavings may be equal to 5 accordingly. Figure 6 In the example, the subcarrier spacing is configured as 30kHz, and the number of resource block interleaving M is 5. In the frequency domain, Figure 3 Determine BWP 601 as specified in .

[0135] The interleaved resource blocks in BWP are represented as in The BWP is indexed from 0, 1, ... Interleaved Resource Block and interleave m and common resource blocks The relationship between Given. is the common resource block at which the BWP starts relative to common resource block 0 (i.e., the common resource block with index 0). Figure 6 , BWP 601 starts in CRB with index 4 relative to CRB with index 0.

[0136] At least for NR-U operation in, for example, a 5 GHz spectrum, the BWP may have a bandwidth in multiples of 20 MHz. A subband may include a 20 MHz bandwidth or a bandwidth in multiples of 20 MHz. A subband may also be referred to as a subchannel or a channel access bandwidth (e.g., a 20 MHz channel). In this way, the BWP may include one or more subbands in the frequency domain. A subband consists of a plurality of non-overlapping RBs. The number of resource blocks within a subband may depend on the SCS of the BWP. For example, for a 40 MHz BWP, the subband size for SCS=15 kHz may be equal to 108, and for a 40 MHz BWP, the subband size for SCS=30 kHz may be equal to 53. That is, a subband is an RB set of non-overlapping continuous (common) resource blocks. And a subband may be defined by a starting common RB and an ending common RB in the frequency domain. In the following, an RB set is used to refer to a subband. In other words, an RB set consists of non-overlapping resource blocks and may be defined by a starting common RB and an ending common RB.

[0137] like Figure 6 As shown, BWP 601 includes two RB sets, namely RB set 602 and RB set 603. The RB sets within the BWP may be indexed with frequency in increasing order starting from 0. Depending on the higher layer (RRC) configuration, there may be a gap 604 between two consecutive RB sets. The gap in resource blocks may be indicated by the higher layer configuration. Additionally or alternatively, there may be no gap between the two RB sets. In other words, there may be a gap of zero, one or more RBs between two consecutive RB sets in the frequency domain within the BWP.

[0138] exist Figure 6 In the frequency domain, the interleaving of the RB with the lowest CRB index in the first RB set is interleaving m=4, while the interleaving of the RB with the lowest CRB index in the second RB set is m=0.

[0139] To ensure fair coexistence with another NR-U node and / or another radio access technology (RAT) node such as a wireless LAN node, the gNB 160 and / or the UE 102 may have to perform a listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure before it transmits. The LBT procedure is also referred to as a channel access procedure. There may be several types of channel access (CA) procedures. For example, Cat-1 LBT is a channel access procedure without channel sensing. Cat-2 LBT is a channel access procedure with single channel sensing. Cat-2 LBT may also be referred to as a type 2 channel access procedure. Cat-1 LBT and Cat-2 LBT may only be allowed within the COT. Cat-3 LBT is a channel access procedure with a fixed contention window (CW) size and random backoff. Cat-4 LBT is a channel access procedure with an adaptive CW size and random backoff. Cat-4 LBT may also be referred to as a type 1 channel access procedure.

[0140] In the BWP, before the gNB and / or UE attempts to transmit a signal, the gNB and / or UE may first perform channel sensing in each RB set to check whether the channel (or one or more RB sets allocated for transmission within the BWP) is available for transmission. If it is sensed that the channel or the allocated RB set is considered idle (i.e., the channel is available for transmission or the gNB and / or UE successfully obtains channel access), the gNB and / or UE may transmit on the channel or on the allocated RB set. On the other hand, if it is sensed that the channel or the allocated RB set is considered busy (i.e., the channel is not available or the gNB and / or UE does not successfully obtain channel access), the gNB and / or UE may not transmit on the channel or on the allocated RB set.

[0141] 3GPP has developed vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication technology for the automotive industry. V2X refers to the communication technology used by a vehicle to exchange information with another vehicle, pedestrians, objects with infrastructure, etc. V2X is divided into 4 types, such as vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), vehicle-to-network (V2N), and vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P). Therefore, V2X communication is different from the communication between UE and gNB. V2X communication enables communication between UEs, also known as sidelink. That is, sidelink communication supports UE-to-UE direct communication via the PC5 interface. In other words, sidelink communication is performed or transmitted directly between a transmitting UE and one or more receiving UEs.

[0142] Sidelink communication consists of unicast, groupcast and broadcast. Unicast may refer to communication between two UEs (i.e., one transmitting UE and one receiving UE). Groupcast and / or broadcast may refer to communication between one transmitting UE and multiple receiving UEs.

[0143] Currently, NR sidelink communication supports two sidelink resource allocation modes: Mode 1 and Mode 2. In Mode 1, the sidelink resource allocation is provided by the base station and / or the network. For example, the base station can allocate resources for sidelink communication to UEs with network coverage. In Mode 2, the UE determines the sidelink transmission resources in the resource pool. The UE can autonomously determine the resources selected for sidelink communication based on the sensing process.

[0144] Sidelink communications support physical channels such as a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH), a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH), a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH), and a physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH).

[0145] The PSCCH indicates the resources and other transmission parameters used by the UE for the PSSCH.The PSCCH transmission is associated with the DM-RS.

[0146] PSSCH transmits TBs of data itself, control information for HARQ process, CSI feedback trigger, etc. At least 6 OFDM symbols in a slot are used for PSSCH transmission. PSSCH transmission is associated with DM-RS and may be associated with PT-RS.

[0147] The PSFCH is used to carry HARQ feedback on the sidelink from a UE that is the intended recipient of a PSSCH transmission to the UE performing the PSSCH transmission.The PSFCH sequence is transmitted in one PRB repeated over two OFDM symbols near the end of the sidelink resources in a slot.

[0148] The PSBCH occupies 9 and 7 symbols for the normal and extended CP cases, respectively, including the associated DM-RS.

[0149] Sidelink communication supports physical signals such as demodulation reference signal (DM-RS), phase tracking reference signal (PT-RS), channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), and sidelink synchronization signal.

[0150] The DMRS is associated with the PSCCH, PSSCH and / or PSBCH. The transmitting UE may transmit the DMRS within the associated sidelink physical channel. The receiving UE may use the DMRS to decode the associated sidelink physical channel.

[0151] PT-RS is used to mitigate the effects of phase noise. A transmitting UE may transmit PT-RS within a PSSCH transmission. A receiving UE may receive PT-RS and use PT-RS to mitigate the effects of phase noise.

[0152] CSI-RS is used to measure channel state information. A transmitting UE may transmit a sidelink CSI-RS within a unicast PSSCH transmission. A receiving UE may measure channel state information using CSI-RS and transmit a CSI report to the transmitting UE based on the measurement.

[0153] The sidelink synchronization signal consists of a sidelink primary synchronization signal and a sidelink secondary synchronization signal (S-PSS, S-SSS), each of which occupies 2 symbols and 127 subcarriers.

[0154] In various specific implementations of the present disclosure, NR sidelink communication (pre) configuration may be provided to the UE. For simplicity, the (pre) configuration hereinafter refers to the NR sidelink communication (pre) configuration. The (pre) configuration in the present disclosure may include a configuration received from a base station via system information (e.g., SIB 12), a configuration received from a base station via dedicated RRC signaling (e.g., RRC configuration / parameter / message), and / or a configuration pre-configured in the UE.

[0155] In various examples or implementations of the present disclosure, the (pre) configuration may include the configuration of one or more sidelink BWPs for sidelink communication. That is, the configuration of the one or more BWPs may be received in system information, received in dedicated RRC signaling, and / or pre-configured in pre-configuration. In the present disclosure, the UE may have a (pre) configuration of a BWP for sidelink transmission.

[0156] In various examples or implementations of the present disclosure, the SL BWP configuration may include a configuration of one or more resource pools for sidelink communication. That is, the configuration of the one or more resource pools (configuration related to the one or more resource pools) may be received in system information, received in dedicated RRC signaling, and / or pre-configured in a pre-configuration. According to the configuration, the resource pool may be indicated for sidelink communication reception or for sidelink communication transmission. Additionally or alternatively, the resource pool may be indicated for both sidelink communication reception and sidelink communication transmission.

[0157] Figure 7 is a diagram illustrating one example 700 of a SL BWP and resource pools within the SL BWP.

[0158] UE 102 has a parameter SL-BWP-Config that configures the BWP for sidelink transmission (SL BWP) through a parameter set and a resource grid. The determination of SL BWP 701 is similar to how Figure 3 The BWP specified in .

[0159] exist Figure 7In the SL BWP 701, each block in the time domain represents a time slot. A resource pool is configured within the SL BWP 701. The resource pool can be used for the transmission of PSSCH, PSCCH and / or PSFCH, and / or for the reception of PSSCH, PSCCH and / or PSFCH. The first RB 702 of the resource pool relative to the first RB of the SL BWP can be indicated by a parameter included in the (pre-) configuration.

[0160] Not all time slots within the SL BWP can be allocated to the resource pool within the SL BWP. That is, not all time slots can belong to the resource pool. The time slots allocated to the resource pool (or the time slots belonging to the resource pool) may also be referred to as time slots available for the resource pool. Conversely, time slots that are not allocated to the resource pool (or the time slots that do not belong to the resource pool) may also be referred to as time slots that are not available for the resource pool. Therefore, the resource pool may consist of multiple non-continuous time slots (sets) in the time domain. In the SL BWP, different resource pools may be allocated different sets of time slots. The UE may determine the set of time slots allocated to the resource pool based on (pre) configuration. The transmitting UE may transmit one or more physical SL channels or one or more SL signals in one or more resource pools within the SL BWP, and the receiving UE may receive one or more physical SL channels or one or more SL signals in one or more resource pools within the SL BWP.

[0161] exist Figure 7 In the example, slot #0 refers to the first slot of the radio frame corresponding to SFN 0 or DFN 0 of the serving cell. Figure 7 As shown, a set of time slots with indices #4, #5, #7 and #10 belong to the resource pool. The time slots in the set of resource pools are re-indexed so that the logical time slot indexes are from 0 to T' max -1 continuous, where T' max is the number of time slots in the set. For example, Figure 7 In the example, the four time slots in the set may be re-indexed into time slots with logical time slot indices 0, 1, 2, and 3. The time slots available for the resource pool may be provided or indicated by the parameter sl-TimeResource and may occur in a period of 10240 ms.

[0162] Figure 8 is a diagram illustrating one example 800 of resource pool configuration in the time and frequency domains.

[0163] In the frequency domain, the resource pool within the SL BWP can be divided into one or more consecutive subchannels in the frequency domain. The number of the one or more subchannels is indicated by the parameter sl-NumSubchannel included in the configuration of the resource pool. Each subchannel includes a plurality of consecutive RBs. The number of consecutive RBs is indicated by the parameter sl-SubchannelSize included in the configuration of the resource pool. Figure 8 In , each block in the frequency domain represents a subchannel of resource pool 801. For example, in Figure 8 In the example, resource pool 801 consists of 4 subchannels, which is indicated by the parameter sl-NumSubchannel. The first RB of the first subchannel of resource pool 801 in the SL BWP may be indicated by the parameter sl-StartRB-Subchannel.

[0164] In the time domain, each block in the time domain represents a time slot in a set of time slots allocated to the resource pool 801 . Figure 8 The slot index in refers to the logical slot index. The OFDM symbols allocated for sidelink transmission within a slot are provided by parameters included in the (pre-)configuration.

[0165] For example, SL transmission may start from the first symbol indicated by the parameter sl-StartSymbol and continue for a number of consecutive symbols indicated by the parameter sl-LengthSymbols. Figure 8 As in the example, duration 802 starts at the third OFDM symbol indicated by parameter sl-StartSymbol and consists of 11 consecutive OFDM symbols, the number of which is indicated by parameter sl-LengthSymbols. For a time slot indicated for transmission of an S-SS / PSBCH block, the number of first symbols and consecutive symbols is predetermined.

[0166] A UE that receives a PSSCH transmission may transmit sidelink HARQ feedback via PSFCH to another UE that transmitted the PSSCH. Sidelink HARQ feedback may operate in one of two options. In one option that may be configured for unicast and multicast, the PSFCH transmits an ACK or NACK using resources dedicated to a single PSFCH transmitting UE. In another option that may be configured for multicast, the PSFCH transmits a NACK on resources that may be shared by multiple PSFCH transmitting UEs, or does not transmit a PSFCH signal. Additionally, in sidelink resource allocation mode 1, a UE that receives a PSFCH may report sidelink HARQ feedback to the gNB via PUCCH or PUSCH.

[0167] In NR Release 16 / 17, sidelink communications were developed to operate in licensed spectrum. In NR Release 18, to further support commercial use cases with increased sidelink data rates, sidelink on unlicensed spectrum was added to the agenda. As mentioned above, operation on unlicensed spectrum should meet different regulatory restrictions and constraints.

[0168] However, if HARQ feedback is transmitted on an unlicensed spectrum, the existing solution of HARQ feedback transmission on PSFCH transmitted in one PRB in the frequency domain does not meet the OCB requirement. That is, the existing solution of HARQ feedback transmission on PSFCH cannot be applied to sidelink communications on unlicensed spectrum. Therefore, interleaved HARQ transmission on PSFCH should be introduced for sidelink communications on unlicensed spectrum so that regulatory requirements can be met. The present disclosure provides the following new method / solution on how to determine PSFCH resources for interleaved PSFCH transmission, which will provide more efficient and flexible sidelink communications on unlicensed spectrum.

[0169] In various specific implementations of the present disclosure, the sidelink transmission operates on an unlicensed spectrum. In the frequency domain, the resource pool may include one or more RB sets according to the configured bandwidth of the resource pool. In other words, the resource pool may be divided into one or more RB sets, wherein each of the one or more RB sets does not overlap with each other in the frequency domain. That is, the one or more RB sets do not have overlapping RBs in the frequency domain. The one or more RB sets within the resource pool are indexed starting from 0 according to the ascending order of the one or more RB sets.

[0170] An RB set consists of multiple consecutive common resource blocks and can be defined by a starting common RB and an ending common RB in the frequency domain. For different SCSs, an RB set may include different numbers of resource blocks. For example, when the subcarrier spacing is equal to 15kHz, the number of resource blocks in the RB set can be configured to be between 100 and 110. When the subcarrier spacing is equal to 30kHz, the number of resource blocks in the RB set can be configured to be between 50 and 55. However, as an exception, for a resource pool, a maximum of one RB set can be configured to contain 56 resource blocks. Specifically, a single RB set is defined by a starting common RB and an ending common RB in the frequency domain.

[0171] Additionally or alternatively, zero, one, or more RBs may be used as a guard band to separate two consecutive RB sets among multiple RB sets within a resource pool.

[0172] In addition, each RB within the resource pool is mapped to an interlace. In other words, in the present disclosure, a resource pool may consist of multiple interlaces. In the frequency domain, the resource pool is divided into a number M of interlaces, where each interlace consists of non-contiguous (common) resource blocks. As described above, the value of M is determined for each SCS.

[0173] Fig. 9 is a diagram showing an example 900 of PSSCH allocation in a resource pool.

[0174] exist Fig. 9 In , resource pool 901 starts in the RPB with index A relative to the starting PRB of the SL BWP (i.e., the PRB with index 0). Fig. 9 , the subcarrier spacing is configured as 30 kHz, and the number of resource block interleavings M is 5. Each RB in the resource pool is mapped to an interleaving. For example, a PRB with index A is mapped to an interleaving m=4, a PRB with index A+1 is mapped to an interleaving m=0, and so on. Resource pool 901 is configured to include two RB sets in the frequency domain, namely RB set 902 and RB set 903. The gap interval 904 between the two RB sets may include zero, one or more RBs.

[0175] SCI format 1-A may indicate or allocate frequency resources for PSSCH transmission, wherein the frequency resources include one or more interlaces and one or more RB sets. Fig. 9 As shown, PSSCH transmission is allocated in both RB sets 902 and 903. In addition, two interlaces m=0 and 4 within RB set 903 are allocated for PSSCH transmission, while three interlaces m=1, 2, and 3 within RB set 902 are allocated for PSSCH transmission. Thus, resource blocks of interlaces m=0 and 4 within RB set 902 and resource blocks of interlaces m=1, 2, and 3 within RB set 903 are used for PSSCH transmission.

[0176] In various embodiments of the present disclosure, the PSFCH resource for HARQ feedback transmission in response to the reception of PSSCH is implicitly determined based on its associated PSCCH and / or its associated PSSCH. PSFCH transmission is an interleaved transmission. The PSFCH resource for PSFCH transmission is implicitly determined based on the interleaving index allocated for PSSCH and the RB set index allocated for PSSCH.

[0177] Fig.101 is a flow chart illustrating one implementation of a method 1000 for determining PSFCH resources for HARQ feedback transmission by UE 102. In an implementation of the present disclosure, a resource pool within a SL BWP is selected by UE 102 (i.e., a receiving UE, a second UE, or an RX UE) for PSCCH / PSSCH reception. At the same time, in response to reception of PSCCH and PSSCH, the RX UE may transmit HARQ feedback on PSFCH in a resource pool within the SL BWP. In this implementation, transmission and / or reception of PSCCH, PSSCH, and / or PSFCH are performed on an interleaved basis.

[0178] In 1001, an RX UE may receive a PSCCH and an associated PSSCH from a TX UE. The PSCCH carries an SCI format 1-A, which is also referred to as a level 1 SCI format. SCI format 1-A is used to schedule an associated PSSCH and a level 2 SCI format on the PSSCH. A level 2 SCI format (e.g., SCI format 2-A or 2-B) is used for decoding of the PSSCH. In addition, SCI format 1-A may indicate which of SCI format 2-A or SCI format 2-B is on the PSSCH.

[0179] The number of interleavings used for PSCCH transmission in a time slot may be preconfigured or indicated in the above (pre) configuration. Similarly, the number of symbols used for PSCCH transmission in a time slot may be preconfigured or indicated in the (pre) configuration. In other words, the Rx UE may determine one or more interleavings for PSCCH reception in a time slot according to the (pre) configuration. PSCCH reception or PSCCH candidate detection may be performed once within a set of RBs in a resource pool. The RX UE may blindly detect PSCCH candidates in each set of RBs in the resource pool. That is, PSCCH reception may be limited to one RB set in one or more RB sets in a resource pool. That is, one or more interleaved RBs used for PSCCH transmission are within one RB set in the frequency domain.

[0180] Upon successful detection of the PSCCH, the RX UE may derive the SCI format 1-A. The SCI format 1-A includes a frequency resource allocation field to indicate or allocate frequency resources for the PSSCH scheduled by the SCI format 1-A. The RX UE may determine one or more interlaces allocated or indicated for the scheduled PSSCH reception based on the frequency resource allocation field. In addition, the RX UE may determine one or more RB sets allocated or indicated for the scheduled PSSCH transmission based on the frequency resource allocation field. In other words, the PSSCH scheduled by the SCI format 1-A is transmitted on one or more interlaces in one or more RB sets within the resource pool.

[0181] In addition, SCI format 1-A includes a time resource allocation field to indicate one or more time slots in which the PSSCH is transmitted. SCI format 1-A may include other fields such as a modulation and coding scheme field, a priority field, a resource reservation period field, and the like.

[0182] According to SCI format 1-A, the RX UE may receive the PSSCH in the determined frequency resources and the determined time resources. In response to the PSSCH reception, the RX UE may provide HARQ-ACK feedback information to the TX UE. The RX UE may determine 1002 a PSFCH resource for HARQ feedback transmission. The PSFCH resource in the frequency domain may be defined by or may correspond to an interlace and / or an RB set. The PSFCH resource in the frequency domain may consist of a plurality of RBs.

[0183] The RX UE may determine 1002 the PSFCH resources in the frequency domain based on a first interleaving index and / or a first RB set index, wherein the first interleaving index is an index of an interleaving allocated for PSSCH reception, and the RB set index is an index of an RB set allocated for PSSCH reception. In other words, the RX UE 1002 may determine the PSFCH resources in the frequency domain using a first interleaving index and / or a first RB set index, wherein the first interleaving index is an index of an interleaving allocated for PSSCH reception, and the first RB set index is an index of an RB set allocated for PSSCH reception. In this document, "first interleaving index", "interleaving with a first index", and "first interleaving" may be used interchangeably. Similarly, "first RB set index", "RB set with a first index", and "first RB set" may be used interchangeably.

[0184] The determination of PSFCH resources may include two steps, namely, the determination of RB sets and the determination of interleaving. There is no particular order for these two steps. The RX UE may perform these two steps in any order, or may perform these two steps simultaneously. For example, the RX UE may first determine the RB set in the resource pool, namely, the RB set with the first index. The resource blocks used for HARQ feedback may be limited or constrained within the determined RB set. In other words, the RX UE may use the resource blocks within the determined RB set for HARQ transmission, and may not use the resource blocks outside the determined RB set for HARQ transmission. The RX UE may also determine the interleaving for HARQ feedback transmission, namely, the interleaving with the first index. Specifically, for the determined interleaved RB, if the determined interleaved RB is within the RB set determined in the frequency domain, the determined interleaved RB is determined by the RX UE as being used for HARQ feedback transmission. If the determined interleaved RB is outside the RB set determined in the frequency domain, the determined interleaved RB is determined by the RX UE as not being used for HARQ feedback transmission. That is, the RX UE may determine the resource blocks for PSFCH resources as the resource blocks within the determined RB set in the frequency domain of the determined interlace. Additionally or alternatively, the RX UE may determine the resource blocks for PSFCH resources as the intersection of the determined interlace resource blocks and the determined RB set resource blocks.

[0185] According to an example of a specific implementation, the first RB set index is determined as the lowest RB set index in one or more RB sets, where the one or more RB sets are allocated for PSSCH reception. That is, the RX UE may select an RB set with the lowest RB set index in the one or more RB sets from the one or more RB sets allocated or scheduled for PSSCH reception. The RX UE may then determine the selected RB set index as the first RB set index. In this example, Fig. 9 As shown, an RB set 902 having a lowest RB set index among RB sets allocated to PSSCH reception may be determined as a first RB set.

[0186] According to an example of a specific implementation, the first RB set index is determined as an index of an RB set in one or more RB sets, wherein the one or more RB sets are allocated for PSSCH reception. The first RB set is an RB set in which the RX UE performs channel sensing and can determine that the RB set can be used for transmission. In the case where there are more than one RB sets determined to be available for transmission by the RX UE in the one or more RB sets, the RX UE can select the RB set with the lowest RB set index in the more than one RB sets as the first RB set. Additionally or alternatively, the RX UE can randomly select an RB set in the more than one RB sets as the first RB set.

[0187] According to a specific implementation example, the first interleaving index is determined as the lowest interleaving index among one or more interleavings, wherein the one or more interleavings are interleavings allocated for PSSCH reception within the first RB set. In this example, the interleaving allocated for PSSCH reception within the RB set may be different from the interleaving allocated for PSSCH reception within another RB set. Specifically, the number of interleavings allocated for PSSCH reception within the RB set may be different from the number of interleavings allocated for PSSCH reception within another RB set. Additionally or alternatively, the interleaving index allocated for PSSCH reception within the RB set may be different from the interleaving index allocated for PSSCH reception within another RB set.

[0188] In this example, if Fig. 9 As shown, when RB set 902 is determined as the first RB set, interleaving m=0 may be determined as the first interleaving index. When RB set 903 is determined as the first RB set, interleaving m=1 may be determined as the first interleaving index.

[0189] According to an example of a specific implementation, the first interlace index is determined to be the lowest interlace index among the one or more interlaces allocated for PSSCH reception.

[0190] According to an example of a specific implementation, the first interlace index is determined as an index of an interlace in one or more interlaces, wherein the one or more interlaces are interlaces allocated for PSSCH reception within the first RB set, and the interlace has an RB with the lowest CRB index within the first RB set. In this example, Fig. 9 As shown, when RB set 902 is determined as the first RB set, interleaving m=4 can be determined as the first interleaving index, and the RBs of this interleaving have the lowest CRB index. When RB set 903 is determined as the first RB set, interleaving m=1 can be determined as the first interleaving index, and the RBs of this interleaving have the lowest CRB index.

[0191] According to an example of a specific implementation, the first RB set index is determined as the index of the RB set for receiving the PSCCH. Then the first interleaving index may be determined as the index of the interleaving for receiving the PSCCH. In the case where there is more than one interleaving for PSCCH reception, the first interleaving index may be determined as the lowest interleaving index among the more than one interleaving for PSCCH reception.

[0192] After determining the PSFCH resources for the HARQ feedback transmission, the RX UE may transmit 1003 the PSFCH with the HARQ feedback transmission to the TX UE.

[0193] In this implementation, the RX UE may transmit HARQ feedback on PSFCH resources in response to unicast PSSCH reception or groupcast PSSCH reception. HARQ feedback is enabled by level 2 SCI. The RX UE may use one, more, or all of the above examples in combination to determine PSFCH resources for HARQ feedback.

[0194] Fig.11 1 is a flow chart illustrating one implementation of a method 1100 for determining PSFCH resources for HARQ feedback reception by UE 102. In an implementation of the present disclosure, a resource pool within a SL BWP is selected by UE 102 (i.e., a transmitting UE, a first UE, or a TX UE) for PSCCH / PSSCH transmission. At the same time, the TX UE that transmitted the PSCCH / PSSCH attempts to receive HARQ feedback on the PSFCH in the resource pool within the SL BWP. In this implementation, the transmission and / or reception of the PSCCH, PSSCH, and / or PSFCH is performed on an interleaved basis.

[0195] The TX UE may transmit 1101 a PSCCH and an associated PSSCH to the RX UE. The PSCCH carries an SCI format 1-A scheduling the associated PSSCH.

[0196] The number of interlaces used for PSCCH transmission in a time slot may be preconfigured or indicated in the above (pre) configuration. Similarly, the number of symbols used for PSCCH transmission in a time slot may be preconfigured or indicated in the (pre) configuration. In other words, the TX UE may determine one or more interlaces for PSCCH transmission in a time slot according to the (pre) configuration. The TX UE may then further determine to use one RB set in a resource pool for PSCCH transmission.

[0197] The TX UE may determine the frequency resources for PSSCH transmission. The determined frequency resources include one or more interlaces allocated to PSSCH transmission and one or more RB sets allocated to PSSCH transmission. The TX UE may then generate a frequency resource allocation field in SCI format 1-A to indicate the allocated frequency resources to the RX UE. Similarly, the TX UE may generate a time resource allocation field to indicate one or more time slots (time resources) determined to transmit the PSSCH. In addition, the TX UE may generate other fields in SCI format 1-A, such as a modulation and coding scheme field, a priority field, a resource reservation period field, etc.

[0198] Then the TX UE may transmit a PSCCH carrying SCI format 1-A on the determined one or more interlaces and the determined one RB set in the resource pool. The PSCCH transmission may be limited to one RB set in one or more RB sets in the resource pool. That is, the RBs of one or more interlaces used for PSCCH transmission are in one RB set in the frequency domain.

[0199] The TX UE may transmit the PSSCH in the determined frequency resources and the determined time resources.After transmitting the PSSCH, the TX UE may attempt to receive the associated PSFCH in the PSFCH resources.

[0200] The TX UE may determine 1102 the PSFCH resources in the frequency domain based on a first interleaving index and / or a first RB set index, wherein the first interleaving index is an index of an interleaving allocated for PSSCH transmission, and the RB set index is an index of an RB set allocated for PSSCH transmission. In other words, the TX UE 1102 may determine the PSFCH resources in the frequency domain using a first interleaving index and / or a first RB set index, wherein the first interleaving index is an index of an interleaving allocated for PSSCH transmission, and the first RB set index is an index of an RB set allocated for PSSCH transmission. In this document, "first interleaving index", "interleaving with a first index", and "first interleaving" may be used interchangeably. Similarly, "first RB set index", "RB set with a first index", and "first RB set" may be used interchangeably.

[0201] The determination of PSFCH resources may include two steps, namely, the determination of RB sets and the determination of interleaving. There is no particular order for these two steps. The TX UE may perform these two steps in any order, or may perform these two steps simultaneously. For example, the TX UE may first determine the RB set in the resource pool, namely, the RB set with the first index. The resource blocks used for HARQ feedback may be limited or constrained within the determined RB set. In other words, the TX UE may use the resource blocks within the determined RB set for HARQ reception, and may not use the resource blocks outside the determined RB set for HARQ reception. The TX UE may also determine the interleaving for HARQ feedback reception, namely, the interleaving with the first index. Specifically, for the determined interleaved RB, if the determined interleaved RB is within the RB set determined in the frequency domain, the determined interleaved RB is determined by the TX UE as being used for HARQ feedback reception. If the determined interleaved RB is outside the RB set determined in the frequency domain, the determined interleaved RB is determined by the TX UE as not being used for HARQ feedback reception. That is, the TX UE may determine the resource blocks for the PSFCH resources as resource blocks within the RB set determined in the frequency domain of the determined interlace.

[0202] According to an example of a specific implementation, the first RB set index is determined as the lowest RB set index in one or more RB sets, wherein the one or more RB sets are allocated for PSSCH reception. That is, the TX UE may select an RB set with the lowest RB set index in the one or more RB sets from the one or more RB sets allocated or scheduled for PSSCH transmission. The TX UE may then determine the selected RB set index as the first RB set index.

[0203] According to an example of a specific implementation, the TX UE may randomly select an RB set as a first RB set from among one or more RB sets, wherein the one or more RB sets are allocated for PSSCH transmission.

[0204] According to a specific implementation example, the first interleaving index may be determined as the lowest interleaving index in one or more interleavings, wherein the one or more interleavings are interleavings allocated for PSSCH transmission within the first RB set. In this example, the interleaving allocated for PSSCH transmission within the RB set may be different from the interleaving allocated for PSSCH transmission within another RB set. Specifically, the number of interleavings allocated for PSSCH transmission within the RB set may be different from the number of interleavings allocated for PSSCH transmission within another RB set. Additionally or alternatively, the interleaving index allocated for PSSCH transmission within the RB set may be different from the interleaving index allocated for PSSCH transmission within another RB set.

[0205] According to an example of a specific implementation, the first interlace index may be determined as a lowest interlace index among the one or more interlaces allocated for PSSCH transmission.

[0206] According to an example of a specific implementation, a first interlace index is determined as an index of an interlace among one or more interlaces, wherein the one or more interlaces are interlaces allocated for PSSCH transmission within a first RB set, and the interlace has an RB with a lowest CRB index within the first RB set.

[0207] After determining the PSFCH resources for HARQ feedback reception, the TX UE may receive 1103 a PSFCH carrying HARQ feedback information from the RX UE.

[0208] Additionally or alternatively, in the above specific implementation of the present disclosure, after determining the PSFCH resource for HARQ feedback transmission, the RX UE may determine which PSFCH format to select between the first PSFCH format and the second PSFCH format based on the number of HARQ-ACK information bits to be transmitted in the PSFCH resource. In the case where the number of HARQ-ACK information bits does not exceed the first value, the first PSFCH format is used for HARQ feedback transmission in the PSFCH resource. In the case where the number of HARQ-ACK information bits exceeds the first value, the second PSFCH format is used for HARQ feedback transmission in the PSFCH resource. The first value may be 1 bit or 2 bits.

[0209] The first PSFCH format is similar to PUCCH (PSFCH) format 0, in which a low PAPR sequence (i.e., a Zadoff-Chu sequence) having a length (e.g., 12) is used as a base sequence for the first PSFCH format. In the case of generating a low PAPR sequence of length 12, the RX UE may repeat the generated sequence on each RB of the PSFCH resource.

[0210] Unlike the first PSFCH format based on sequence selection (with a base sequence of different cyclic shifts), the second PSFCH format uses QPSK to modulate the HARQ-ACK information bits, where the HARQ-ACK information bits and the associated DMRS are multiplexed in frequency (e.g., in different resource elements in the RB of the PSFCH resource). The design of the second PSFCH format can be similar to PUCCH format 2.

[0211] In the above specific implementation of the present disclosure, a new RRC parameter included in the system information is introduced to indicate how the UE 102 calculates the PRB index of the PUCCH resource for PUCCH transmission. The introduction of the new RRC parameter will result in the overhead of the broadcasted system information. Instead of introducing the new RRC parameter in the system information, the implicit determination method of the PRB index of the PUCCH resource when frequency hopping is not performed (enabled) for cell-specific PUCCH transmission is shown as follows.

[0212] Fig.12 Various components that may be used in a UE 1202 are shown. Fig.12 The UE 1202 (UE 102) described herein may be configured in accordance with the combination of Figure 1102 described herein. UE 1202 includes a processor 1281 that controls the operation of UE 1202. Processor 1281 may also be referred to as a central processing unit (CPU). Memory 1287 (which may include a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a combination of these two memories, or any type of device that can store information) provides instructions 1283a and data 1285a to processor 1281. A portion of memory 1287 may also include non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM). Instructions 1283b and data 1285b may also reside in processor 1281. Instructions 1283b and / or data 1285b loaded into processor 1281 may also include instructions 1283a and / or data 1285a from memory 1287, which are loaded for execution or processing by processor 1281. Instructions 1283b may be executed by processor 1281 to implement one or more of the above methods.

[0213] The UE 1202 may also include a housing that houses one or more transmitters 1258 and one or more receivers 1220 to allow transmission and reception of data. The transmitters 1258 and receivers 1220 may be combined into one or more transceivers 1218. One or more antennas 1222a-n are attached to the housing and electrically coupled to the transceiver 1218.

[0214] The various components of the UE 1202 are coupled together via a bus system 1289 (which may include a power bus, a control signal bus, and a status signal bus in addition to a data bus). However, for the sake of clarity, the various buses are described in detail in the following sections. Fig.12 1202 is shown as bus system 1289. UE 1202 may also include a digital signal processor (DSP) 1291 for processing signals. UE 1202 may also include a communication interface 1293 that provides a user with access rights to functions of UE 1202. Fig.12 The UE 1202 is shown as a functional block diagram rather than a listing of specific components.

[0215] Fig.13 Various components that may be utilized in base station 1360 are shown. Fig.13The described base station 1360 may be implemented according to the base station 160 described in conjunction with FIG. 1. The base station 1360 includes a processor 1381 that controls the operation of the base station 1360. The processor 1381 may also be referred to as a central processing unit (CPU). A memory 1387 (which may include a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a combination of these two memories, or any type of device that can store information) provides instructions 1383a and data 1385a to the processor 1381. A portion of the memory 1387 may also include a non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM). The instructions 1383b and data 1385b may also reside in the processor 1381. The instructions 1383b and / or data 1385b loaded into the processor 1381 may also include instructions 1383a and / or data 1385a from the memory 1387, which are loaded for execution or processing by the processor 1381. The instructions 1383 b may be executed by the processor 1381 to implement one or more of the above-described methods 300 .

[0216] The base station 1360 may also include a housing that houses one or more transmitters 1317 and one or more receivers 1378 to allow transmission and reception of data. The transmitters 1317 and receivers 1378 may be combined into one or more transceivers 1376. One or more antennas 1380a-n are attached to the housing and electrically coupled to the transceivers 1376.

[0217] The various components of the base station 1360 are coupled together via a bus system 1389 (which may include a power bus, a control signal bus, and a status signal bus in addition to a data bus). However, for the sake of clarity, the various buses are described in detail in the figure. Fig.13 The base station 1360 may also include a digital signal processor (DSP) 1391 for processing signals. The base station 1360 may also include a communication interface 1393 that provides user access to the functions of the base station 1360. Fig.13 The base station 1360 is shown as a functional block diagram rather than a listing of specific components.

[0218] The term "computer-readable medium" refers to any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or processor. As used herein, the term "computer-readable medium" may refer to a non-transitory and tangible computer-readable medium and / or a processor-readable medium. By way of example, and not limitation, a computer-readable medium or a processor-readable medium may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage devices, magnetic disk storage devices or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store the desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer or processor. As used herein, disks and optical disks include compact disks (CDs), laser disks, optical disks, digital versatile disks (DVDs), floppy disks, and Optical disks, where magnetic disks usually reproduce data magnetically, optical disks reproduce data optically using lasers.

[0219] It should be noted that one or more of the methods described herein may be implemented in hardware and / or performed using hardware. For example, one or more of the methods described herein may be implemented in and / or performed using a circuit, a chipset, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a large scale integrated circuit (LSI), or an integrated circuit, etc.

[0220] Each method in the methods disclosed herein includes one or more steps or actions for implementing the method. These method steps and / or actions may be interchangeable with each other and / or combined into a single step without departing from the scope of the claims. In other words, unless a specific order of steps or actions is required for the correct operation of the method, the order and / or use of specific steps and / or actions may be modified without departing from the scope of the claims.

[0221] It is to be understood that the claims are not limited to the precise configuration and components shown above. Various modifications, changes and variations may be made in the arrangement, operation and details of the systems, methods, and apparatus described herein without departing from the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A user equipment (UE), the UE include: a receiving circuit configured to receive a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) with an interleaved transmission from another UE, the PSSCH being allocated with one or more resource block (RB) sets and one or more interlaces in the frequency domain; and a control circuit configured to determine a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) resource for HARQ feedback transmission in response to the reception of the PSSCH, wherein The PSFCH resources in the frequency domain correspond to an interlace and an RB set and are determined by using a lowest RB set index among the one or more RB sets and a lowest interlace index among the one or more interlaces.

2. The UE according to claim 1: The control circuit is further configured to: determining a first RB set for the PSFCH resource, wherein the first RB set is the RB set having the lowest RB set index, determining a first interlace for the PSFCH resource, wherein the first interlace is the interlace with the lowest interlace index, and The RBs used for the PSFCH resources are determined to be RBs of the first interlace within the first RB set.

3. The UE according to claim 2: wherein RBs for the PSFCH resources are determined as an intersection of RBs of the first interlace and RBs of the first RB set.

4. The UE according to claim 1: The control circuit is further configured to determine a PUCCH format to be used in the PSFCH resource, wherein The control circuit determines whether the number of HARQ-ACK bits to be transmitted in the PSFCH resource exceeds a first value, In a case where the number of HARQ-ACK bits does not exceed the first value, using a first PUCCH format, In case the number of HARQ-ACK bits exceeds the first value, a second PUCCH format is used.

5. The UE according to claim 1: wherein A single RB set is defined by a start common RB and an end common RB in the frequency domain.

6. A user equipment (UE), wherein the UE include: a transmit circuit configured to transmit a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) with an interleaved transmission to another UE, the PSSCH being allocated with one or more resource block (RB) sets and one or more interlaces in the frequency domain; and a control circuit configured to determine a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) resource for HARQ feedback reception in response to the transmission of the PSSCH, wherein The PSFCH resources in the frequency domain correspond to an interlace and an RB set and are determined by using a lowest RB set index among the one or more RB sets and a lowest interlace index among the one or more interlaces.

7. The UE according to claim 6: The control circuit is further configured to: determining a first RB set for the PSFCH resource, wherein the first RB set is the RB set having the lowest RB set index, determining a first interlace for the PSFCH resource, wherein the first interlace is the interlace with the lowest interlace index, and The RBs used for the PSFCH resources are determined to be RBs of the first interlace within the first RB set.

8. The UE according to claim 7: wherein RBs for the PSFCH resources are determined as an intersection of RBs of the first interlace and RBs of the first RB set.

9. The UE according to claim 6: The control circuit is further configured to determine a PSFCH format to be used in the PSFCH resource, wherein The control circuit determines whether the number of HARQ-ACK bits to be transmitted in the PSFCH resource exceeds a first value, In a case where the number of HARQ-ACK bits does not exceed the first value, using a first PSFCH format, In case the number of HARQ-ACK bits exceeds the first value, a second PSFCH format is used.

10. The UE according to claim 6: wherein A single RB set is defined by a start common RB and an end common RB in the frequency domain.

11. A communication method performed by a user equipment (UE), the method include: receiving a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) with an interleaved transmission from another UE, the PSSCH being allocated with one or more resource block (RB) sets and one or more interlaces in the frequency domain; and determining a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) resource for HARQ feedback transmission in response to the reception of the PSSCH, wherein The PSFCH resources in the frequency domain correspond to an interlace and an RB set and are determined by using a lowest RB set index among the one or more RB sets and a lowest interlace index among the one or more interlaces.

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