Maintaining channel occupancy time (COT) on sidelink interface

Abstract

The disclosure relates to maintaining channel occupancy time (COT) on a sidelink interface. Methods, systems, and computer readable media are disclosed for performing operations including: generating a plurality of sidelink synchronization signal blocks (S-SSBs) for transmission on a sidelink unlicensed (SL-U) channel; determining a transmit power for the plurality of S-SSBs using the per-S-SSB calculation; and transmitting the plurality of S-SSBs using the transmission power.

Description

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority to 63 / 531,749, filed on August 9, 2023, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Background Art

[0003] Wireless communication networks provide integrated communication platforms and telecommunication services to wireless user devices, referred to as user equipment (UE). Example telecommunication services include telephone, data (e.g., voice, audio and / or video data), messaging and / or other services. Wireless communication networks have radio access nodes that exchange wireless signals with wireless user devices using wireless network protocols (such as protocols described in various telecommunication standards promulgated by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP)). Example wireless communication networks include time division multiple access (TDMA) networks, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) networks, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) networks, long term evolution (LTE) and fifth generation new radio (5G NR). Wireless communication networks use technologies such as OFDM, multiple input multiple output (MIMO), advanced channel coding, massive MIMO, beamforming and / or other features to facilitate mobile broadband services.

[0004] Recent wireless communication networks support device-to-device communications, where UEs communicate directly with each other, e.g., without intermediate infrastructure equipment such as base stations. Such peer-to-peer communications utilize a "side link" interface facilitated by the wireless communication network. In such communications, a UE that is sending a signal on the side link interface is referred to as a transmitting UE (TX UE), and a UE that receives a signal is referred to as a receiving UE (RX UE). BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0005] Figure 1A and Figure 1B Each illustrates an example time slot including a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) opportunity according to some specific implementations.

[0006] Figure 2A The physical resources of a sidelink timeslot including a PSFCH opportunity according to some specific implementations are illustrated.

[0007] Figure 2B The physical resources of a sidelink timeslot excluding a PSFCH opportunity according to some implementations are illustrated.

[0008] Figure 3A , Figure 3B , Figure 3C Each illustrates an example sidelink SSB transmission according to some specific implementations.

[0009] Figure 4An example communication system including sidelink communications according to some implementations is illustrated.

[0010] Figure 5A , Figure 5B and Figure 5C Each illustrates a flow chart of an example method according to some specific implementations.

[0011] Figure 6 An example user equipment (UE) according to some implementations is illustrated.

[0012] Figure 7 Example access nodes according to some implementations are illustrated. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0013] One of the features developed for the latest generation of wireless communication systems is sidelink communication on unlicensed spectrum (SL-U). Unlicensed spectrum refers to frequency bands that are not dedicated or licensed for use by only one technology, such as 5 gigahertz (GHz) and / or 6 GHz. Since the frequency bands are not dedicated to use by only one technology, UEs operating on the unlicensed spectrum are configured with features for accessing and communicating on the unlicensed spectrum. These features include channel access mechanisms, such as listen before talk (LBT) and channel occupation time (COT), and channel access requirements, such as occupied channel bandwidth (OCB) requirements. Generally speaking, the channel access mechanism involves an initiating UE obtaining access to a sidelink channel on the unlicensed spectrum to communicate with a responding UE. The initiating UE may be a sending UE, and the responding UE may be a receiving UE, or vice versa.

[0014] The COT procedure specifies that an initiating UE that has accessed an unlicensed spectrum channel will maintain control of the channel until there is a threshold gap in channel occupancy, such as 16 microseconds (us). This gap signals other UEs attempting to access the channel that the channel is no longer occupied. Therefore, if the initiating UE does not use the channel (e.g., by sending or receiving on the channel) for at least 16us, the UE will lose control of the channel even if the UE has additional data to send or receive. The occupied channel bandwidth (OCB) requirement specifies that the initiating UE must use a threshold percentage (e.g., 80%) of the access channel bandwidth when using the channel. If the initiating UE does not meet this requirement, the UE may lose access to the channel.

[0015] Although these unlicensed spectrum features have been used in non-sidelink communications (e.g., New Radio - Unlicensed (NR-U)), using them for SL-U presents challenges unique to the sidelink. One issue involves the physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH). Before discussing this issue, it is helpful to understand how the PSFCH is used in the sidelink. Generally speaking, in some or all time slots, sidelink communications include PSFCH opportunities for carrying feedback related to the successful or failed reception of a previous sidelink transmission on, for example, a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) or a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH).

[0016] Figure 1A and Figure 1B Example sidelink time slots 100, 110 including PSFCH opportunities according to some implementations are illustrated. PSFCH opportunities may occur periodically (e.g., in every other time slot), such as Figure 1A As shown, or it can occur in each time slot, such as Figure 1B As shown. The receiving UE may use each PSFCH opportunity to send feedback (e.g., ACK or NACK) related to a previous sidelink transmission (e.g., a PSSCH or PSCCH transmission). As an example, PSFCH opportunity 102 may carry feedback related to a PSSCH / PSCCH transmission 104 that occurred in two time slots prior to the time slot of PSFCH opportunity 102. As another example, PSFCH opportunity 112 may carry feedback related to a PSSCH / PSCCH transmission 114 that occurred in two time slots prior to the time slot of PSFCH opportunity 112. However, not all scheduled PSFCH opportunities are used. For example, the receiving UE may not have feedback to be sent on the PSFCH, thereby leaving the PSFCH blank.

[0017] Figure 2A The physical resources of the sidelink time slot including the PSFCH opportunity according to some specific implementations are illustrated. Figure 2A As shown, a time slot may include an automatic gain control (AGC) symbol, a PSCCH symbol, a PSSCH symbol, and two PSFCH symbols. The PSFCH symbol includes resources for AGC training. For example, one symbol may be dedicated to AGC training, while another symbol may be dedicated to PSFCH. In addition, a time slot includes a gap symbol before the PSFCH symbol and a gap symbol after the PSFCH symbol. For reference, Figure 2B The physical resources of the sidelink timeslot excluding the PSFCH opportunity are illustrated.

[0018] Returning to the PSFCH related issues that arise in SL-U, the problem stems from unused PSFCH opportunities. Specifically, leaving PSFCH opportunities blank on unlicensed spectrum may cause the originating UE to lose its access to the channel because the UE not transmitting / receiving during the PSFCH opportunity may cause a gap that is larger than the threshold gap for maintaining COT. This occurs even if the originating UE has additional data to transmit / receive.

[0019] Another issue involves meeting the OCB requirements in SL-U. The unlicensed spectrum consists of 20 megahertz (MHz) channels, referred to as resource block (RB) sets. The sidelink bandwidth part (SL-BWP) may include one or more RB sets. In either scenario, the transmitting UE must occupy at least a threshold percentage of the access channel bandwidth to meet the OCB requirements. However, some communications may not occupy enough of one or more RB sets to meet the OCB requirements.

[0020] For example, Figure 3A As shown in FIG. 1 , the sidelink synchronization signal block (S-SSB) is sent on 11 resource blocks (RBs). In order to meet the OCB requirement when accessing a set of RBs, the transmitting UE may repeat the S-SSB in the frequency domain in a set of RBs, such as Figure 3B And in order to meet the OCB requirement when accessing on more than one RB set, the sending UE may repeat the S-SSB in each RB set, such as Figure 3C As shown. If the UE does this on only one of the RB sets, the UE may lose control of the other RB sets. However, when repeating S-SSB transmissions, the transmitting UE cannot use traditional S-SSB parameters (e.g., transmit power) because these parameters do not take into account the repeated signal. For example, using the same traditional transmit power for each S-SSB transmission will result in a transmission failure because the total transmit power will exceed the UE capability.

[0021] The present disclosure describes systems and methods for supporting sidelink communications on unlicensed spectrum. In addition, the present disclosure also describes systems and methods for (i) maintaining COT during a PSFCH opportunity by performing different transmissions using a PSFCH opportunity when there is no PSFCH transmission, and (ii) maintaining COT by appropriately performing simultaneous multiple S-SSB transmissions in one or more RB sets. Specifically, performing different types of transmissions using a PSFCH opportunity when there is no PSFCH transmission allows the initiating UE to maintain access to the channel even in the absence of a PSFCH transmission. And appropriately performing simultaneous multiple S-SSB transmissions allows the initiating UE to maintain COT while meeting the OCB requirements when transmitting S-SSBs.

[0022] Figure 4An example communication system 400 including sidelink communication according to some implementations is illustrated. Note that Figure 4 The system is just one example of a possible system, and features of the present disclosure may be implemented in other wireless communication systems.

[0023] The following description is provided for an example communication system operating in conjunction with a fifth generation (5G) network provided by the 3GPP technical specifications. However, the example implementation is not limited in this regard, and the described examples may be applied to other networks that may benefit from the principles described herein, such as 3GPP long term evolution (LTE) networks, etc. In addition, other types of communication standards are also possible, including future 3GPP systems (e.g., sixth generation (6G)), IEEE 802.16 protocols, etc. Although various aspects may be described herein using terms typically associated with 5G NR, various aspects of the present disclosure may be applied to other systems, such as 4G and / or systems after 5G (e.g., 6G).

[0024] The frequency bands for 5G NR can be divided into two different frequency ranges. Frequency Range 1 (FR1) may include frequency bands operating at frequencies below 6 GHz, some of which may be used by previous standards and may potentially be expanded to cover new spectrum products from 410 MHz to 7125 MHz. Frequency Range 2 (FR2) may include frequency bands from 24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz. Frequency bands in the millimeter wave (mmWave) range of FR2 may have a smaller range but potentially higher available bandwidth than frequency bands in FR1.

[0025] As shown, the communication system 400 includes multiple user equipments. More specifically, the communication system 400 includes two UEs 405 (UE 405-1 and UE 405-2 are collectively referred to as "UE 405" or "multiple UEs 405"), two base stations 410 (base stations 410-1 and base stations 410-2 are collectively referred to as "base stations 410" or "multiple base stations 410"), two cells 415 (cells 415-1 and cells 415-2 are collectively referred to as "cells 415" or "multiple cells 415"), and one or more servers 435 in a core network (CN) 440 connected to the Internet 445.

[0026] In some implementations, UE 405 may communicate directly with base station 410 via links 420 (links 420-1 and 420-2 are collectively referred to as "links 420" or "links 420"), which utilize a direct interface with the base station (referred to as a "Uu interface"). Each of links 420 may represent one or more channels. Links 420 are illustrated as air interfaces that implement communication coupling and may conform to cellular communication protocols, such as 3GPP LTE protocols, advanced long term evolution (LTE-A) protocols, LTE-based unlicensed spectrum access (LTE-U), 5G protocols, NR protocols, NR-based unlicensed spectrum access (NR-U) protocols, and / or any other communication protocols discussed herein.

[0027] As shown, some user equipments may be able to communicate directly with each other, for example, without intermediate infrastructure equipment (such as base station 410-1). In this example, UE 405-1 may communicate directly with UE 405-2. Similarly, UE 405-2 may communicate directly with UE 405-1. This peer-to-peer communication may utilize a "side link" interface such as a PC5 interface. In some specific implementations, the PC5 interface supports direct cellular communication between user equipments (e.g., between UE 405), while the Uu interface supports cellular communication with infrastructure equipment (such as a base station). For example, UE 405 may use the PC5 interface for radio resource control (RRC) signaling exchange (also referred to as PC5-RRC signaling) between UEs. The PC5 / Uu interface is used only as an example, and PC5 as used herein may represent various other possible wireless communication technologies that allow direct side link communication between user equipments, while Uu may represent cellular communication performed between user equipments and infrastructure equipment (such as a base station).

[0028] In order to transmit / receive data to / from one or more base stations 410 or UE 405, UE 405 may include a transmitter / receiver (or alternatively, a transceiver), a memory, one or more processors (e.g., a baseband processor), and / or other similar components that enable UE 405 to operate according to one or more wireless communication protocols and / or one or more cellular communication protocols. UE 405 may have multiple antenna elements that enable UE 405 to maintain multiple links 420 and / or side links 425 to transmit / receive data to / from multiple base stations 410 and / or multiple UE 405. For example, as Figure 4 As shown, UE 405 - 1 may be connected to base station 410 - 1 via link 420 and simultaneously connected to UE 405 - 2 via side link 425 .

[0029] In some implementations, one or more sidelink radio bearers can be established on the sidelink 425. The sidelink radio bearers can include signaling radio bearers (SL-SRBs) and / or data radio bearers (SL-DRBs).

[0030] The PC5 interface may alternatively be referred to as a sidelink interface and may include one or more logical channels, including but not limited to a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH), a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH), a physical sidelink discovery channel (PSDCH), a physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH), a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH), and / or any other similar communication channel. The PSFCH carries feedback related to the success or failure reception of the sidelink transmission. The PSSCH may be scheduled by the sidelink control information (SCI) carried in the sidelink PSCCH. In some examples, the sidelink interface may operate on an unlicensed spectrum (e.g., in unlicensed 5 GHz and 6 GHz bands) or a (licensed) shared spectrum.

[0031] In one example, the sidelink interface implements vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications. V2X communications may, for example, follow the 3GPP cellular V2X (C-V2X) specification, or follow one or more other or subsequent standards, whereby vehicles and other devices and network entities may communicate. V2X communications may utilize both long-range (e.g., cellular) communications and short-range to medium-range (e.g., non-cellular) communications. V2X communications with cellular capabilities may be referred to as cellular V2X (C-V2X) communications. C-V2X systems may use various cellular radio access technologies (RATs), such as 4G LTE or 5G NR RAT (or RATs after 5G, e.g., 6G RAT). Certain LTE standards available in V2X systems may be referred to as LTE-vehicle (LTE-V) standards. As used herein in the context of a V2X system, and as defined above, the term "user equipment" may generally refer to a device associated with a mobile participant or traffic participant in a V2X system, for example, a mobile (capable of moving) communication device such as a vehicle, a pedestrian user equipment (PUE) device, and a roadside unit (RSU).

[0032] In some implementations, the UEs 405 may be physical hardware devices capable of running one or more applications, accessing network services via one or more radio links 420 with corresponding base stations 410 (also referred to as "serving" base stations), and communicating with each other via side links 125. The links 420 may allow the UEs 405 to send and receive data from the base stations 410 providing the links 420. The side links 425 may allow the UEs 405 to send and receive data with each other. The side links 425 between the UEs 405 may include one or more channels for transmitting information from the UE 405-1 to the UE 405-2 (and vice versa) and / or between the UE 405 and a UE-type RSU (and vice versa).

[0033] In some implementations, base stations 410 can communicate with each other via a backhaul connection 430, and can communicate with one or more servers 435 within CN 440 via another backhaul connection 433. The backhaul connection can be a wired and / or wireless connection.

[0034] In some implementations, UE 405 is configured to use a resource pool for sidelink communication. The sidelink resource pool defines the time-frequency resources used for sidelink communication and can be divided into multiple time slots, frequency channels, and frequency subchannels. In some examples, UE 405 is synchronized and performs sidelink transmission aligned with time slot boundaries. It is expected that the UE selects several time slots and subchannels for the transmission of a transport block. In some examples, the UE can use different subchannels to transmit a transport block across multiple time slots within its own resource selection window.

[0035] In some implementations, the base station 410 may configure a special exception resource pool for the UE 405. The special exception resource pool includes resources that the UE 405 can use under special exception conditions such as radio link failure (RLF). The special exception resource pool may include resources selected based on random resource allocation.

[0036] In some specific implementations, UE 405 may be configured with parameters for communicating via a Uu interface and / or a side link interface. In some examples, UE 405 may be "pre-configured with" some parameters. In these examples, the parameters may be hardwired into UE 405 or decoded into the specification. Additionally and / or alternatively, UE 405 may be configured by receiving parameters from one or more base stations in base station 410. In the present disclosure, the phrase "(pre) configuration" means that the UE is pre-configured or configured by a base station. "(pre) configured by resource pool" indicates that the resource pool is configured when the device is produced. Here, the resource pool configuration does not come from the network, but from the device OEM. The (pre) configuration allows side link communications in areas without network coverage.

[0037] In some implementations, a UE that is initiating communication with another UE on a sidelink unlicensed spectrum is referred to as an initiating UE or a COT initiating UE, and the other UE is referred to as a responding UE. The initiating UE may be a receiving UE and the responding UE may be a sending UE, or the initiating UE may be a sending UE and the responding UE may be a receiving UE. Although Figure 4 It is illustrated that a single TX UE communicates with a single RX UE, but the TX UE may communicate with more than one RX UE via a side link.

[0038] In some implementations, a TX UE initiating sidelink communication may determine available resources (e.g., sidelink resources) and may select a subset of these resources to communicate with the RX UE based on a resource allocation scheme. Example resource allocation schemes include a Mode 1 resource allocation scheme and a Mode 2 resource allocation scheme. In a Mode 1 resource allocation scheme (referred to as "Mode 1"), resources are allocated by a network node to UEs within coverage. In a Mode 2 resource allocation scheme (referred to as "Mode 2"), the TX UE selects sidelink resources (e.g., sidelink transmission resources).

[0039] In some implementations, the communication system 400 supports different broadcast types, including unicast, broadcast, and groupcast (or multicast) communications. Unicast refers to direct communication between two UEs. Broadcast refers to communication broadcasted by a single UE to multiple other UEs. Groupcast refers to communication transmitted from a single UE to a set of UEs that meet a certain condition (e.g., as members of a specific group).

[0040] In some specific implementations, UE 405 is configured so that a PSCCH / PSSCH transmission has "N" associated candidate PSFCH opportunities. The value range of N includes at least {1,2,3,4}. In addition, the value of N can be defined by (pre) configuration. When N>1, at least when two PSCCH / PSSCH transmissions are on non-overlapping resources, the N associated PSFCH opportunities for one PSCCH / PSSCH transmission have different time and / or frequency resources from the candidate PSFCH opportunities for another PSCCH / PSSCH transmission. In SL-U, the PSFCH opportunities may be included on common interleaved and dedicated physical resource blocks (PRBs) in one or more PSFCH symbols in a time slot.

[0041] Based on the above discussion, the present disclosure describes systems and methods that enable an initiating UE to maintain a COT during a PSFCH opportunity by sending different types of signals in a PSFCH opportunity where there is no PSFCH transmission. In some implementations, the transmitting UE is configured to fill the PSFCH opportunity (otherwise empty) with a PSSCH transmission. The design of the PSSCH transmission and the options for indicating the transport block size (TBS) to the receiving UE are described in more detail below. In other implementations, the transmitting UE or the receiving UE fills the PSFCH opportunity (otherwise empty) with a PSFCH-like sequence. The design of the PSFCH-like sequence (also referred to as a pseudo-PSFCH signal) is described in more detail below.

[0042] In some specific implementations, a PSFCH-like signal is sent in an unused PSFCH opportunity. An unused PSFCH opportunity is a time when there is no PSFCH signal to be sent in the opportunity. In the example, UE 405 is configured with different options for selecting a UE that sends a PSFCH-like signal. In the first option, the UE that sends a PSFCH-like signal is a COT initiating UE. In the second option, the UE that sends a PSFCH-like signal is a sending UE (e.g., a PSSCH sending UE). In the third option, the UE that sends a PSFCH-like signal is a receiving UE (e.g., a PSSCH receiving UE). In the fourth option, in (i) the SCI of the PSSCH that occurs before the PSFCH opportunity, or (ii) in the SCI of the COT initiating PSSCH transmission, the PSSCH sending UE dynamically indicates which UE is to send a PSFCH-like signal. COT initiation transmission refers to the first PSCCH / PSSCH transmission that starts the COT to be shared with other UEs. In some examples, which option of one or more options from the previously listed options is used is based on the resource pool (pre) configuration.

[0043] In some implementations, the UE 405 is configured with one or more parameters that specify the design of the PSFCH-like signal. The first parameter is the portion of the PSFCH resource on which the PSFCH-like signal is sent. For the case where each PSFCH transmission occupies 1 common interlace and K3 dedicated PRBs, in a first option, the PSFCH-like signal is sent only on the common interlace for PSFCH and not on the dedicated PRBs for PSFCH. In a second option, the PSFCH-like signal is sent on both the common interlace and the dedicated PRBs for PSFCH.

[0044] For the case where each PSFCH transmission occupies 1 dedicated interlace, the PSFCH-like signal occupies the dedicated interlace, while the PSFCH sequence is generated by using the (pre-)configured cyclic shift value.

[0045] The second parameter is the cyclic shift of a signal like PSFCH (m CS ) value. In the first option, the cyclic shift (m CS ) is predefined, for example, equal to 0. In the second option, the cyclic shift (m CS ) is (pre)configured per resource pool. In the third option, the cyclic shift (m CS ) depends on the source ID and / or target ID of the COT initiating PSCCH / PSSCH transmission.

[0046] The third parameter is a cyclic shift initialization parameter (m0) for a PSFCH-like signal. In the first option, the cyclic shift (m0) is predefined, for example, equal to 0. In the second option, the cyclic shift (m0) is (pre) configured by the resource pool. In the third option, the cyclic shift (m0) depends on the number of cyclic shift pairs and the source ID and / or target ID initiated by the COT. In the fourth option, the cyclic shift (m0) depends on the number of cyclic shift pairs and the PSSCH / PSCCH transmission time-frequency resources. The total number of cyclic shift pairs is (pre) configured by the resource pool. The selection of the cyclic shift pair index depends on the group member ID (M_{ID}) and the physical layer source ID (P_{ID}). The selection is described in more detail in Section 16.3.0 of TS 38.213. Generally speaking, the PSSCH / PSCCH transmission time-frequency resources refer to the resources of the PSSCH / PSCCH transmission associated with the PSFCH opportunity. For a PSFCH opportunity, its associated PSCCH / PSSCH resources may be in several time slots and on different frequency sub-channels. Depending on which time slot and which sub-channel of the PSCCH / PSSCH, m0 of the associated PSFCH may be determined.

[0047] In some specific implementations, the transmitting UE is configured to send PSSCH on the PSFCH opportunity (otherwise empty). In these specific implementations, the transmitting UE is configured to send a 1-bit indication, which indicates to the receiving UE whether the PSSCH is extended to a subsequent PSFCH opportunity. In some examples, the transmitting UE is configured with one or more options for sending a 1-bit indication. In the first option, the transmitting UE is configured to dynamically indicate 1 bit in the SCI of the PSSCH before the relevant PSFCH opportunity. In the second option, the transmitting UE is configured to dynamically indicate 1 bit in the SCI that initiates the PSSCH transmission. In the first option and the second option, the SCI can be a level 1 or level 2 SCI. In some examples, whether the first option or the second option is used depends on the resource pool (pre) configuration.

[0048] In some implementations, the transmitting UE is configured to transmit a PSSCH with a specific slot structure on a PSFCH occasion. In some examples, both the two symbols of the PSFCH and the gap symbol before the PSFCH are used for PSSCH transmission.

[0049] In some implementations, the transmitting UE is configured with one or more options for indicating to the receiving UE the TBS used for PSSCH transmission in SCI level 1 of the PSSCH before the PSFCH opportunity. In the first option, the "PSFCH Overhead Indication" bit in SCI level 1 is set to "0". This means that and PSSCH transmission can use all symbols previously dedicated to PSFCH in the current time slot. Note that this field applies to scenarios where there is scheduled PSFCH in the time slot, such as "sl-PSFCH-Period=1". Therefore, if the higher layer parameter "sl-PSFCH-Period" is 0, then Otherwise, if the "PSFCH Overhead Indication" field in SCI Level 1 is set to 0, then Or if "PSFCH Overhead Indication" in SCI Level 1 is set to 1, then

[0050] In the second option, the transmitting UE is configured to use a new SCI bit field (e.g., the "PSFCH padding" field) to indicate the TBS used for PSSCH transmission to the receiving UE. The new SCI bit field can be included in SCI level 1 or SCI level 2. In this option, if the higher layer parameter "sl-PSFCH-Period" is 0 or the "PSFCH padding" field is set to 1, then Otherwise, if the "PSFCH Overhead Indication" field in SCI Level 1 is set to 0, then Or if "PSFCH Overhead Indication" in SCI Level 1 is set to 1, then

[0051] In some specific implementations, the UE (e.g., a transmitting UE) is configured to control the transmit power for S-SSB transmission in an S-SSB repetition scenario. Specifically, the UE is configured with one or more power control equations that enable the UE to calculate the transmit power for S-SSB transmission. The power control equation allows the UE to transmit S-SSB repetitions that meet OCB requirements without exceeding the UE capabilities. By way of background, the formula for normal (legacy) S-SSB transmit power is specified in 3GPP TS 38.213 V17.6.0 as:

[0052]

[0053] In equation [1], P CMAX is the maximum transmit power of the UE, P O,S-SSB (if provided) is the value of dl-P0-PSBCH; otherwise, P S-SSB (i) = P CMAX dl-P0-PSBCH is the (pre)configured receive power target (also called base power) assuming full path loss compensation. In addition, α S-SSB (if provided) is the value of dl-Alpha-PSBCH; otherwise, α S-SSB =1. dl-Alpha-PSBCH is the fractional power control factor. And is the number of resource blocks used for S-SSB transmission, where μ = subcarrier spacing (SCS), and PL is the downlink path loss. In one example,

[0054] In some embodiments, the UE is configured with one or more options for S-SSB transmit power control. In the first option, the transmit power is calculated on a per S-SSB basis. Here, the UE uses a power equation to calculate the power transmitted by each S-SSB. In one example, the UE is configured with a power control equation for calculating the power in an anchor RB set. The anchor RB set refers to the RB set in which the S-SSB (e.g., sl-AbsoluteFrequencySSB-r16) indicated by an information element (IE) provided by the network is located. In addition, the UE may be configured with another power control equation for calculating the power in other (non-anchor) RB sets.

[0055] In one example, the equation for calculating the S-SSB transmit power in the anchor RB set where S-SSB repetition is applied is:

[0056]

[0057] In equation [2], N is the (pre-)configured number of S-SSB repetitions in the anchor RB set.

[0058] In one example, the S-SSB transmit power in the non-anchor RB set where S-SSB repetition is applied is:

[0059]

[0060] In equation [3], N is the (pre)configured number of S-SSB repetitions in the anchor RB set, and M is (the total number of RB sets to be used for S-SSB transmission - 1). As shown in the equation, the UE distributes the available or remaining power from the UE's maximum transmit power equally among the non-anchor RB sets after subtracting the power allocated to the anchor RB set (e.g., the difference between the UE's maximum transmit power and the transmit power of the anchor RB set).

[0061] In the second option, the transmit power is defined on a per RB set basis. In this option, a power equation is used to calculate the S-SSB transmit power in the entire RB set (e.g., for all repetitions in the RB set). In one example, the equation for calculating the power on a per RB set basis is:

[0062]

[0063] In equation [4], P CMAX is the maximum transmit power of the UE, and P O,S-SSB (if provided) is the value of dl-P0-PSBCH; otherwise, P S-SSB (i) = P CMAX In addition, α S-SSB (if provided) is the value of dl-Alpha-PSBCH; otherwise, α S-SSB =1. In addition, is the number of resource blocks used for S-SSB transmission, where μ=SCS, and PL is the downlink path loss. In one example, Furthermore, N is the (pre-)configured number of S-SSB repetitions in the anchor RB set.

[0064] In a third option, the power equation is defined on a per-time slot basis. In this option, the power equation is used to calculate the S-SSB transmit power for all S-SSBs in a particular time slot. In one example, the equation for calculating the power on a per-time slot basis is:

[0065]

[0066] In equation [5], N is the (pre)configured number of S-SSB repetitions in the anchor RB set (which is the same as the number of repetitions to be applied in each additional RB set), and M is the number of RB sets to be used for S-SSB transmission.

[0067] Figure 5A A flowchart of an example method 500 according to some specific implementations is illustrated. For clarity of presentation, the following description generally describes the method 500 in the context of other figures in this specification. For example, the method 500 may be performed by Figure 6 It should be understood that the method 500 may be performed by any suitable system, environment, software, hardware, or a combination of systems, environments, software, and hardware, as appropriate. In some specific implementations, the steps of the method 500 may be performed in parallel, in combination, in a loop, or in any order. In some specific implementations, the method 500 may be performed by a UE.

[0068] At step 502, method 500 involves determining that a scheduled physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) opportunity on a sidelink unlicensed (SL-U) channel is unused, wherein the PSFCH opportunity is associated with a previously transmitted physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) signal.

[0069] In some implementations, if the UE is a TX UE, the UE may determine that the PSFCH opportunity is not used because the TX UE does not request SL HARQ feedback (e.g., which is indicated in the SCI associated with the PSSCH transmission). The UE may also determine that the PSFCH opportunity is not used if the PSFCH opportunity occurs at the beginning of the COT and the PSFCH opportunity is associated with some PSSCH transmissions before the COT is initiated (considering the time gap between the PSSCH and its associated PSFCH). In some examples, if the UE is an RX UE, the RX UE may determine that the PSFCH opportunity is not used if the RX UE does not receive a request for SL HARQ feedback from the TX UE. Other examples are also possible.

[0070] At step 504, method 500 involves generating a substitute signal to send in a PSFCH opportunity.

[0071] At step 506, the method 500 involves sending a substitute signal to the second UE via the SL-U channel in a PSFCH opportunity, wherein the first UE or the second UE initiated a channel occupancy time (COT) on the SL-U channel.

[0072] In some implementations, the replacement signal is a pseudo PSFCH signal.

[0073] In some implementations, a PSFCH opportunity includes a common interlace and dedicated physical resource blocks (PRBs), and wherein sending a substitute signal in the PSFCH opportunity involves sending a dummy PSFCH signal on (i) the common interlace, or (ii) the common interlace and the dedicated PRBs.

[0074] In some implementations, generating the substitute signal involves generating a dummy PSFCH signal based on a cyclic shift value and a cyclic shift initialization value.

[0075] In some implementations, the cyclic shift value: is a predefined value, is a preconfigured value per resource pool, or depends on at least one of a source ID and a target ID of a transmission initiating the COT on the SL-U channel.

[0076] In some embodiments, the cyclic shift initialization value: is a predefined value, is a preconfigured value according to a resource pool, depends on the number of cyclic shift pairs and at least one of the source ID and the target ID for initiating the COT transmission on the SL-U channel, or depends on the number of cyclic shift pairs and the time-frequency resources of a previously transmitted PSSCH signal.

[0077] In some specific implementations, the first UE is a COT initiating UE, a PSSCH signal sending UE, or a PSSCH signal receiving UE.

[0078] In some specific implementations, the method also involves: receiving an indication in a sidelink control information (SCI) message and from a second UE that the first UE is to send a pseudo PSFCH signal, wherein the SCI message is associated with a previous PSSCH signal to PSFCH timing or is associated with a COT initiated PSSCH transmission.

[0079] In some implementations, the replacement signal includes an extension of a previous PSSCH signal to a PSFCH opportunity.

[0080] In some implementations, the method further involves sending, in a sidelink control information (SCI) message and to the second UE, an indication that a previous PSSCH signal is being extended to a PSFCH opportunity.

[0081] In some implementations, the SCI message is a SCI level 1 message or a SCI level 2 message.

[0082] In some implementations, sending the replacement signal in a PSFCH opportunity involves sending an extension of a previous PSSCH signal in one or more symbols of the PSFCH opportunity and in interstitial symbols preceding the PSFCH opportunity.

[0083] Figure 5B A flowchart of an example method 510 according to some specific implementations is illustrated. For clarity of presentation, the following description generally describes the method 510 in the context of other figures in this specification. For example, the method 510 can be performed by Figure 6 It should be understood that method 510 may be performed by any suitable system, environment, software, hardware, or a combination of systems, environments, software, and hardware, as appropriate. In some specific implementations, the steps of method 510 may be executed in parallel, in combination, in a loop, or in any order.

[0084] At step 512, method 510 involves generating a plurality of sidelink synchronization signal blocks (S-SSBs) for transmission on a sidelink unlicensed (SL-U) channel.

[0085] At step 514, method 510 involves determining transmit powers for a plurality of S-SSBs using a per S-SSB calculation.

[0086] At step 516, method 510 involves transmitting a plurality of S-SSBs using the transmit power.

[0087] In some implementations, determining transmit power for a plurality of S-SSBs using a per-S-SSB calculation involves calculating, using a first equation, a first transmit power for a first subset of the plurality of S-SSBs for transmission on an anchor RB set.

[0088] In some implementations, the first equation depends on the number of S-SSB repetitions in the anchor RB set.

[0089] In some implementations, the number of S-SSB repetitions in an RB set is configured by the network serving the UE.

[0090] In some implementations, the first equation includes the maximum transmit power (P CMAX ) and the base 10 logarithm of the number of S-SSB repetitions in the anchor RB set (log10(N)).

[0091] In some implementations, determining the transmit power of multiple S-SSBs using a per-S-SSB calculation further involves calculating a second transmit power for a second subset of the multiple S-SSBs for transmission on a non-anchor RB set using a second equation different from the first equation.

[0092] In some implementations, the second equation includes the total number of RB sets to be used for S-SSB transmission.

[0093] Figure 5C A flowchart of an example method 520 according to some specific implementations is illustrated. For clarity of presentation, the following description generally describes the method 520 in the context of other figures in this specification. For example, the method 520 can be performed by Figure 6 It should be understood that method 520 may be performed by any suitable system, environment, software, hardware, or a combination of systems, environments, software, and hardware, as appropriate. In some specific implementations, the steps of method 520 may be executed in parallel, in combination, in a loop, or in any order.

[0094] At step 514, method 510 involves generating a plurality of sidelink synchronization signal block (S-SSB) repetitions for transmission over a sidelink unlicensed (SL-U) channel on a set of resource blocks (RBs).

[0095] At step 514, method 510 involves calculating a transmit power of a plurality of S-SSB repetitions based on a base 10 logarithm of a number of S-SSB repetitions (log10(N)).

[0096] At step 516, method 510 involves transmitting a plurality of S-SSBs over the SL-U channel using the transmit power.

[0097] In some implementations, the RB set is an anchor RB set.

[0098] In some implementations, calculating the transmit power of multiple S-SSB repetitions based on the logarithm to base 10 of the number of S-SSB repetitions (log10(N)) involves: calculating the transmit power of multiple S-SSB repetitions based on the maximum transmit power (P CMAX ) and log10(N) to calculate the transmit power.

[0099] In some implementations, calculating the transmit power of a plurality of S-SSB repetitions based on the base 10 logarithm of the number of S-SSB repetitions (log10(N)) involves calculating the transmit power using the following formula:

[0100]

[0101] In some specific implementations, the method also involves: receiving a number of S-SSB repetitions from a network serving the UE.

[0102] In some implementations, the number of S-SSB repetitions is received via radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

[0103] Figure 6 An example UE 600 according to some implementations is illustrated. The UE 600 may be similar to Figure 4 UE 405 and is substantially interchangeable therewith.

[0104] UE 600 may be any mobile or non-mobile computing device, such as, for example, a mobile phone, a computer, a tablet computer, a wearable device (eg, a smart watch), a slack IoT device.

[0105] UE 600 may include a processor 602, an RF interface circuit 604, a memory / storage 606, a user interface 608, a sensor 610, a driver circuit 612, a power management integrated circuit (PMIC) 614, one or more antennas 616, and a battery 618. The components of UE 600 may be implemented as an integrated circuit (IC), a portion of an integrated circuit, a discrete electronic device or other module, logic component, hardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof. Figure 6 The block diagram of UE 600 is intended to show a high-level view of certain of the components of UE 600. However, some of the components shown may be omitted, additional components may be present, and different arrangements of the components shown may occur in other implementations.

[0106] Components of UE 600 may be coupled to various other components via one or more interconnects 620, which may represent any type of interface, input / output, bus (local, system, or extension), transmission line, trace, optical connection, etc., that allows various circuit components (on a common or different chip or chipset) to interact with each other.

[0107] The processor 602 may include one or more processors. For example, the processor 602 may include processor circuits such as, for example, a baseband processor circuit (BB) 622A, a central processor unit circuit (CPU) 622B, and a graphics processor unit circuit (GPU) 622C. The processor 602 may include any type of circuit or processor circuit that executes or otherwise operates computer-executable instructions (such as program codes, software modules, or functional processes from the memory / storage device 606) to cause the UE 600 to perform operations as described herein.

[0108] In some implementations, the baseband processor circuit 622A may access a communication protocol stack 624 in the memory / storage device 606 to communicate over a 3GPP compatible network. Generally speaking, the baseband processor circuit 622A may access a communication protocol stack to: perform user plane functions at the physical (PHY) layer, the medium access control (MAC) layer, the radio link control (RLC) layer, the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer, and the PDU layer; and perform control plane functions at the PHY layer, the MAC layer, the RLC layer, the PDCP layer, the RRC layer, and the non-access layer. In some implementations, the PHY layer operations may be additionally / alternatively performed by components of the RF interface circuit 604. The baseband processor circuit 622A may generate or process a baseband signal or waveform that carries information in a 3GPP compatible network. In some implementations, the waveform used for NR can be based on cyclic prefix orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) "CP-OFDM" in uplink or downlink, and discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM "DFT-S-OFDM" in uplink.

[0109] The memory / storage 606 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media including instructions (e.g., the communication protocol stack 624) that may be executed by the processor 602 to cause the UE 600 to perform various operations described herein. The memory / storage 606 includes any type of volatile or non-volatile memory that may be distributed throughout the UE 600. In some implementations, some of the memory / storage 606 may be located on the processor 602 itself (e.g., L1 cache and L2 cache), while other memory / storage 606 are located external to the processor 602 but can be accessed via a memory interface. The memory / storage 606 may include any suitable volatile or non-volatile memory, such as, but not limited to, dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, solid-state memory, or any other type of memory device technology.

[0110] The RF interface circuit 604 may include a transceiver circuit and a radio frequency front end module (RFEM), which allows the UE 600 to communicate with other devices through a radio access network. The RF interface circuit 604 may include various components arranged in a transmit path or a receive path. These components may include, for example, switches, mixers, amplifiers, filters, synthesizer circuits, control circuits, etc.

[0111] In the receive path, the RFEM may receive the radiated signal from the air interface via antenna 616 and proceed to filter and amplify the signal (using a low noise amplifier). The signal may be provided to the transceiver's receiver, which downconverts the RF signal to a baseband signal that is provided to a baseband processor.

[0112] In the transmit path, the transmitter of the transceiver up-converts the baseband signal received from the baseband processor and provides the RF signal to the RFEM. The RFEM may amplify the RF signal through a power amplifier before the signal is radiated across the air interface via the antenna 616. In various implementations, the RF interface circuit 604 may be configured to send / receive signals in a manner compatible with NR access technology.

[0113] Antenna 616 may include one or more antenna elements to convert electrical signals into radio waves to travel through the air and convert received radio waves into electrical signals. These antenna elements may be arranged into one or more antenna panels. Antenna 616 may have an antenna panel that is omnidirectional, directional, or a combination thereof to achieve beamforming and multiple-input / multiple-output communications. Antenna 616 may include a microstrip antenna, a printed antenna made on the surface of one or more printed circuit boards, a patch antenna, a phased array antenna, etc. Antenna 616 may have one or more panels designed for a specific frequency band including a band in FR1 or FR2.

[0114] The user interface 608 includes various input / output (I / O) devices designed to enable the user to interact with the UE 600. The user interface 608 includes input device circuits and output device circuits. The input device circuit includes any physical or virtual components for accepting input, including in particular one or more physical or virtual buttons (e.g., reset button), physical keyboard, keypad, mouse, touch pad, touch screen, microphone, scanner, headset, etc. The output device circuit includes any physical or virtual components for displaying information or otherwise conveying information (such as sensor readings, actuator positions, or other similar information). The output device circuit may include any number or combination of audio or visual displays, including in particular one or more simple visual outputs / indicators (e.g., binary state indicators, such as light emitting diodes (LEDs)) and multi-character visual outputs, or more complex outputs, such as display devices or touch screens (e.g., liquid crystal displays "LCDs", LED displays, quantum dot displays, projectors, etc.), where the output of characters, graphics, multimedia objects, etc. is generated or produced by the operation of the UE 600.

[0115] Sensor 610 may include a device, module, or subsystem whose purpose is to detect events or changes in its environment and send information about the detected events (sensor data) to some other device, module, subsystem, etc. Examples of such sensors include, among others: an inertial measurement unit including an accelerometer, gyroscope, or magnetometer; a microelectromechanical system or nanoelectromechanical system including a three-axis accelerometer, three-axis gyroscope, or magnetometer; a liquid level sensor; a temperature sensor (e.g., a thermistor); a pressure sensor; an image capture device (e.g., a camera or a lensless aperture); a light detection and ranging sensor; a proximity sensor (e.g., an infrared radiation detector, etc.); a depth sensor; an ambient light sensor; an ultrasonic transceiver; a microphone or other similar audio capture device; and the like.

[0116] The driver circuit 612 may include software and hardware elements that operate to control specific devices embedded in, attached to, or otherwise communicatively coupled to the UE 600. The driver circuit 612 may include separate drivers to allow other components to interact with or control various input / output (I / O) devices that may be present in or connected to the UE 600. For example, the driver circuit 612 may include: a display driver for controlling and allowing access to a display device, a touch screen driver for controlling and allowing access to a touch screen interface, a sensor driver for obtaining sensor readings of the sensor 610 and controlling and allowing access to the sensor 610, a driver for obtaining an actuator position of an electromechanical component or controlling and allowing access to an electromechanical component, a camera driver for controlling and allowing access to an embedded image capture device, and an audio driver for controlling and allowing access to one or more audio devices.

[0117] The PMIC 614 may manage the power provided to various components of the UE 600. Specifically, with respect to the processor 602, the PMIC 614 may control power source selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC to DC conversion.

[0118] In some implementations, the PMIC 614 may control or otherwise function as part of various power saving mechanisms of the UE 600. The battery 618 may power the UE 600, but in some examples, the UE 600 may be installed or deployed in a fixed location and may have a power source coupled to a power grid. The battery 618 may be a lithium-ion battery, a metal-air battery such as a zinc-air battery, an aluminum-air battery, a lithium-air battery, etc. In some implementations, such as in vehicle-based applications, the battery 618 may be a typical lead-acid automotive battery.

[0119] Figure 7An example access node 700 (e.g., a base station or gNB) is illustrated according to some specific implementations. The access node 700 may be similar to the base station 410 and substantially interchangeable therewith. The access node 700 may include a processor 702, an RF interface circuit 704, a core network (CN) interface circuit 706, a memory / storage circuit 708, and one or more antennas 710. The processor 702 may include any type of circuit or processor circuit that executes or otherwise operates computer-executable instructions (such as program code, software modules, or functional processes from the memory / storage circuit 708) to cause the access node 700 to perform operations as described herein.

[0120] The components of access node 700 may be coupled to various other components via one or more interconnects 712. Processor 702, RF interface circuitry 704, memory / storage circuitry 708 (including communication protocol stack 714), antenna 710, and interconnect 712 may be similar to those of reference 700. Figure 6 Like-named elements are shown and described.For example, processor 702 may include processor circuits such as, for example, baseband processor circuit (BB) 716A, central processor unit circuit (CPU) 716B, and graphics processor unit circuit (GPU) 716C.

[0121] The CN interface circuit 706 may provide connectivity to a core network (e.g., a 5GC using a 5th Generation Core Network (5GC) compatible network interface protocol such as a Carrier Ethernet protocol or some other suitable protocol). Network connectivity may be provided to / from the access node 700 via optical fiber or wireless backhaul. The CN interface circuit 706 may include one or more dedicated processors or FPGAs for communicating using one or more of the aforementioned protocols. In some implementations, the CN interface circuit 706 may include multiple controllers for providing connectivity to other networks using the same or different protocols.

[0122] As used herein, the terms "access node", "access point", etc. may be described as equipment that provides radio baseband functionality for data and / or voice connections between a network and one or more users. These access nodes may be referred to as BS, gNB, RAN node, eNB, NodeB, RSU, TRxP or TRP, etc., and may include ground stations (e.g., terrestrial access points) or satellite stations that provide coverage within a geographic area (e.g., a cell). As used herein, the terms "NG RAN node", etc. may refer to an access node 700 (e.g., a gNB) operating in an NR or 5G system, and the terms "E-UTRAN node", etc. may refer to an access node 700 (e.g., an eNB) operating in an LTE or 4G system. According to various specific implementations, the access node 700 may be implemented as one or more of a dedicated physical device such as a macrocell base station and / or a low power (LP) base station for providing a femtocell, picocell or other similar cell with a smaller coverage area, smaller user capacity or higher bandwidth than a macrocell.

[0123] In some implementations, all or part of the access node 700 may be implemented as one or more software entities running on a server computer as part of a virtual network that may be referred to as a CRAN and / or a virtual baseband unit pool (vBBUP). In a V2X scenario, the access node 700 may be or act as a "road side unit". The term "road side unit" or "RSU" may refer to any traffic infrastructure entity used for V2X communications. The RSU may be implemented in or by a suitable RAN node or a stationed (or relatively stationed) UE, where an RSU implemented in or by a UE may be referred to as a "UE-type RSU", an RSU implemented in or by an eNB may be referred to as an "eNB-type RSU", an RSU implemented in or by a gNB may be referred to as a "gNB-type RSU", and so on.

[0124] For ease of description, various components may be described as performing one or more tasks. Such descriptions should be interpreted as including the phrase "configured to". Representing a component configured to perform one or more tasks expressly intends that the component does not invoke the interpretation of 35 U.S.C. §112(f).

[0125] In the following sections, additional exemplary embodiments are provided.

[0126] Embodiment 1 comprises one or more processors of a first user equipment (UE), wherein the one or more processors are configured to cause the first UE to perform operations including: determining that a scheduled physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) opportunity on a sidelink unlicensed (SL-U) channel is not used, wherein the PSFCH opportunity is associated with a previously transmitted physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) signal; generating a replacement signal to be sent in the PSFCH opportunity; and sending the replacement signal to a second UE via the SL-U channel in the PSFCH opportunity, wherein the first UE or the second UE initiates a channel occupancy time (COT) on the SL-U channel.

[0127] Embodiment 2 includes one or more processors according to embodiment 1, wherein the substitute signal is a pseudo PSFCH signal.

[0128] Embodiment 3 comprises one or more processors according to embodiment 2, wherein the PSFCH opportunity comprises a common interlace and a dedicated physical resource block (PRB), and wherein sending the alternative signal in the PSFCH opportunity comprises: (i) sending the pseudo PSFCH signal on the common interlace, or (ii) sending the pseudo PSFCH signal on the common interlace and the dedicated PRB.

[0129] Embodiment 4 includes one or more processors according to embodiment 2, wherein generating the substitute signal comprises generating the pseudo PSFCH signal based on a cyclic shift value and a cyclic shift initialization value.

[0130] Embodiment 5 includes one or more processors according to embodiment 4, wherein the cyclic shift value: is a predefined value, is a preconfigured value according to a resource pool, or depends on at least one of a source ID and a target ID that initiates the transmission of the COT on the SL-U channel.

[0131] Embodiment 6 includes one or more processors according to embodiment 4, wherein the cyclic shift initialization value: is a predefined value, is a preconfigured value according to a resource pool, depends on the number of cyclic shift pairs and at least one of the source ID and the target ID for initiating the transmission of the COT on the SL-U channel, or depends on the number of cyclic shift pairs and the time-frequency resources of the previously transmitted PSSCH signal.

[0132] Embodiment 7 includes one or more processors according to embodiment 2, wherein the first UE is the COT initiating UE, the PSSCH signal sending UE, or the PSSCH signal receiving UE.

[0133] Embodiment 8 includes one or more processors according to embodiment 2, and the operation further includes: receiving an indication in a sidelink control information (SCI) message and from the second UE that the first UE is to send the pseudo PSFCH signal, wherein the SCI message is associated with a previous PSSCH signal to the PSFCH opportunity or is associated with a COT initiated PSSCH transmission.

[0134] Embodiment 9 includes one or more processors according to embodiment 1, wherein the replacement signal comprises an extension of a previous PSSCH signal to the PSFCH opportunity.

[0135] Embodiment 10 includes one or more processors according to embodiment 9, and the operation also includes: sending an indication in a sidelink control information (SCI) message and to the second UE that the previous PSSCH signal is being extended to the PSFCH opportunity.

[0136] Embodiment 11 includes one or more processors according to embodiment 10, wherein the SCI message is a SCI level 1 message or a SCI level 2 message.

[0137] Embodiment 12 comprises one or more processors according to embodiment 9, wherein sending the replacement signal in the PSFCH opportunity comprises: sending the previous PSSCH signal extension in one or more symbols of the PSFCH opportunity and in a gap symbol preceding the PSFCH opportunity.

[0138] Embodiment 13 includes one or more processors of a user equipment (UE), wherein the one or more processors are configured to perform operations including the following when executing instructions stored in a memory: generating a plurality of sidelink synchronization signal blocks (S-SSBs) for transmission on a sidelink unlicensed (SL-U) channel; determining a transmit power of the plurality of S-SSBs using a per-S-SSB calculation; and commanding a radio frequency (RF) circuit to transmit the plurality of S-SSBs using the transmit power.

[0139] Embodiment 14 includes one or more processors according to embodiment 13, wherein determining the transmit power of the multiple S-SSBs using a per-S-SSB calculation involves: using a first equation to calculate a first transmit power for a first subset of the multiple S-SSBs for transmission on an anchor RB set.

[0140] Embodiment 15 includes one or more processors according to embodiment 14, wherein the first equation depends on the number of S-SSB repetitions in the anchor RB set.

[0141] Embodiment 16 includes one or more processors according to embodiment 15, wherein the number of S-SSB repetitions in the anchor RB set is configured by a network serving the UE.

[0142] Embodiment 17 includes one or more processors according to embodiment 14, wherein the first equation includes the maximum transmit power (P CMAX ) and the base 10 logarithm of the number of S-SSB repetitions in the anchor RB set (log10(N)).

[0143] Embodiment 18 includes one or more processors according to embodiment 14, wherein the first equation is: And where P CMAX is the maximum transmit power of the UE, N is the number of S-SSB repetitions in the anchor RB set, P O,S-SSB is the received power target, α S-SSB is the power control factor, is the number of resource blocks used for S-SSB transmission, μ is the subcarrier spacing (SCS), and PL is the downlink path loss.

[0144] Embodiment 19 includes one or more processors according to embodiment 14, wherein determining the transmit power of the multiple S-SSBs using a per-S-SSB calculation also involves: using a second equation different from the first equation to calculate a second transmit power for a second subset of the multiple S-SSBs for transmission on a non-anchor RB set.

[0145] Embodiment 20 includes one or more processors according to embodiment 14, wherein determining the transmit power of the multiple S-SSBs using a per-S-SSB calculation also involves: equally allocating the remaining available transmit power among one or more non-anchor RB sets, the remaining available transmit power being calculated as the difference between the maximum transmit power of the UE and the first transmit power.

[0146] Embodiment 21 comprises one or more processors according to embodiment 13, wherein determining the transmit power of the multiple S-SSBs using a per-S-SSB calculation involves: using a first equation to calculate a first transmit power for a first subset of the multiple S-SSBs for transmission on a non-anchor RB set.

[0147] Embodiment 22 includes one or more processors according to embodiment 21, wherein the first equation includes a total number of RB sets allocated for S-SSB transmission.

[0148] Embodiment 23 includes one or more processors according to embodiment 21, wherein the first equation includes the maximum transmit power (P CMAX ) and the difference between the second transmit power allocated to the anchor RB set.

[0149] Embodiment 24 includes one or more processors according to embodiment 21, wherein the first equation is: And where P CMAX is the maximum transmit power of the UE, N is the number of S-SSB repetitions in the anchor RB set, M is (the total number of RB sets to be used for S-SSB transmission - 1), P O,S-SSB is the received power target, α S-SSB is the power control factor, is the number of resource blocks used for S-SSB transmission, μ is the subcarrier spacing (SCS), and PL is the downlink path loss.

[0150] Embodiment 25 includes one or more processors of a user equipment (UE), the one or more processors configured to cause the UE to perform operations including: generating a plurality of sidelink synchronization signal block (S-SSB) repetitions for transmission on a set of resource blocks (RBs) over a sidelink unlicensed (SL-U) channel; and generating a plurality of sidelink synchronization signal block (S-SSB) repetitions based on a logarithm (log 10) of the number of S-SSB repetitions. 10 (N)) to calculate the transmission power of the multiple S-SSB repetitions; and use the transmission power to send the multiple S-SSBs through the SL-U channel.

[0151] Embodiment 26 includes one or more processors according to embodiment 25, and the RB set is an anchor RB set or a non-anchor RB set.

[0152] Embodiment 27 includes one or more processors according to embodiment 25, wherein the number of S-SSB repetitions is based on the logarithm of the number of S-SSB repetitions. 10 (N)) to calculate the transmit power of the plurality of S-SSB repetitions involves: based on the maximum transmit power (P CMAX ) and the log 10 The transmit power is calculated by the difference between (N).

[0153] Embodiment 28 includes one or more processors according to embodiment 25, wherein calculating the transmit power of the plurality of S-SSB repetitions based on a base 10 logarithm of the number of S-SSB repetitions (log10(N)) involves: calculating the transmit power using the following formula: Where PCMAX is the maximum transmit power of the UE, N is the number of S-SSB repetitions in the anchor RB set, P O,S-SSB is the received power target, α S-SSB is the power control factor, is the number of resource blocks used for S-SSB transmission, μ is the subcarrier spacing (SCS), and PL is the downlink path loss.

[0154] Embodiment 29 includes one or more processors according to embodiment 25, wherein calculating the transmit power of the plurality of S-SSB repetitions based on the base 10 logarithm of the number of S-SSB repetitions (log10(N)) involves: calculating the transmit power using the following formula: Where P CMAX is the maximum transmit power of the UE, N is the number of S-SSB repetitions in the anchor RB set, M is (the total number of RB sets to be used for S-SSB transmission - 1), P O,S-SSB is the received power target, α S-SSB is the power control factor, is the number of resource blocks used for S-SSB transmission, μ is the subcarrier spacing (SCS), and PL is the downlink path loss.

[0155] Embodiment 30 includes one or more processors according to embodiment 25, and the operation further includes: receiving the number of S-SSB repetitions from a network serving the UE.

[0156] Embodiment 31 includes one or more processors as described in Embodiment 30, wherein the number of S-SSB repetitions is received via radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

[0157] Embodiment 32 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media, which include instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device, cause the electronic device to perform operations described in or related to any of Embodiments 1 to 31 or one or more elements of any other method or process described herein.

[0158] Embodiment 33 may include a device comprising logic components, memory, modules and / or circuits (e.g., processing circuits) for performing one or more elements of operations described or associated with any of Embodiments 1 to 31 or any other method or process described herein.

[0159] Embodiment 34 may include a method, technique or process as described or related to any one of Embodiments 1 to 31, or a portion or component thereof.

[0160] Embodiment 35 may include a device comprising: one or more processors; and a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the device to perform operations as described in or related to any one of Embodiments 1 to 31, or portions thereof.

[0161] Embodiment 36 may include the apparatus of Embodiment 35, wherein the apparatus is user equipment.

[0162] Embodiment 37 may include a computer program comprising instructions, wherein execution of the program by one or more processors will cause the one or more processors to perform operations as described in or related to any one of Embodiments 1 to 31, or portions thereof.

[0163] Embodiment 38 may include a method of communicating in a wireless communication network as shown and described herein.

[0164] Embodiment 39 may include a system for providing wireless communication as shown and described herein. The operations or actions performed by the system may include operations according to any one of Embodiments 1 to 31.

[0165] Embodiment 40 may include an apparatus for providing wireless communication as shown and described herein. The operations or actions performed by the apparatus may include operations according to any one of Embodiments 1 to 31.

[0166] Embodiment 41 may include a user equipment including one or more processors according to any one of Embodiments 1-31.

[0167] Embodiment 42 may include a user equipment configured to perform operations according to any one of Embodiments 1-31.

[0168] A device (e.g., user equipment including one or more baseband processors, etc.) may be configured to perform specific operations or actions by having software, firmware, hardware, or a combination thereof installed on the system that causes the system to perform actions in operation. The operations or actions performed by the device may include operations according to any one of embodiments 1 to 31.

[0169] Although the above embodiments have been described in considerable detail, numerous variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated. It is intended that the following claims be interpreted to include all such variations and modifications.

[0170] It is understood that the use of personally identifiable information should be subject to privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized to meet or exceed industry or government requirements for maintaining user privacy. Specifically, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of the authorized use should be clearly stated to users.

Claims

1. One or more processors of a user equipment (UE), the one or more processors configured to perform operations including the following when executing instructions stored in a memory: generating a plurality of sidelink synchronization signal blocks (S-SSBs) for transmission on a sidelink unlicensed (SL-U) channel; determining a transmit power for the plurality of S-SSBs using a per S-SSB calculation; and A radio frequency (RF) circuit is commanded to transmit the plurality of S-SSBs using the transmit power.

2. The one or more processors of claim 1 , wherein determining the transmit power of the plurality of S-SSBs using a per-S-SSB calculation comprises: A first transmit power for a first subset of the plurality of S-SSBs for transmission on the anchor RB set is calculated using a first equation.

3. The one or more processors of claim 2, wherein the first equation depends on the number of S-SSB repetitions in the anchor RB set.

4. The one or more processors of claim 3, wherein the number of S-SSB repetitions in the anchor RB set is configured by a network serving the UE.

5. The one or more processors of claim 2, wherein the first equation comprises a maximum transmit power (P CMAX ) and the logarithm to the base 10 of the number of S-SSB repetitions in the anchor RB set (log 10 (N)).

6. The one or more processors of claim 2, wherein the first equation is: Where P CMAX is the maximum transmit power of the UE, N is the number of S-SSB repetitions in the anchor RB set, P O,S-SSB is the received power target, α S-SSB is the power control factor, is the number of resource blocks used for S-SSB transmission, μ is the subcarrier spacing (SCS), and PL is the downlink path loss.

7. The one or more processors of claim 2, wherein determining the transmit power of the plurality of S-SSBs using a per S-SSB calculation further comprises: A second transmit power for a second subset of the plurality of S-SSBs transmitted on the non-anchor RB set is calculated using a second equation different from the first equation.

8. The one or more processors of claim 2, wherein determining the transmit power of the plurality of S-SSBs using a per-S-SSB calculation further comprises: A remaining available transmit power is equally distributed among one or more non-anchor RB sets, the remaining available transmit power being calculated as a difference between a maximum transmit power of the UE and the first transmit power.

9. The one or more processors of claim 1 , wherein determining the transmit power of the plurality of S-SSBs using a per-S-SSB calculation comprises: A first transmit power for a first subset of the plurality of S-SSBs for transmission on a non-anchor RB set is calculated using a first equation.

10. The one or more processors of claim 9, wherein the first equation comprises a total number of RB sets allocated for S-SSB transmission.

11. The one or more processors of claim 9, wherein the first equation comprises a maximum transmit power (P CMAX ) and the difference between the second transmit power allocated to the anchor RB set.

12. The one or more processors of claim 9, wherein the first equation is: Where P CMAX is the maximum transmit power of the UE, N is the number of S-SSB repetitions in the anchor RB set, M is (the total number of RB sets to be used for S-SSB transmission - 1), P O,S-SSB is the received power target, α S-SSB is the power control factor, is the number of resource blocks used for S-SSB transmission, μ is the subcarrier spacing (SCS), and PL is the downlink path loss.

13. A user equipment (UE), comprising: one or more processors; and a memory storing instructions, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the UE to perform operations including: generating a plurality of sidelink synchronization signal block (S-SSB) repetitions for transmission on a set of resource blocks (RBs) over a sidelink unlicensed (SL-U) channel; The logarithm of the number of S-SSB repeats to base 10 (log 10 (N) to calculate the transmit power of the plurality of S-SSB repetitions; and The multiple S-SSBs are transmitted through the SL-U channel using the transmit power. The UE according to claim 13 , wherein the RB set is an anchor RB set or a non-anchor RB set.

15. The UE according to claim 13, wherein the logarithm based on the number of repetitions of the S-SSB is 10 (N)) to calculate the transmit power of the plurality of S-SSB repetitions includes: Based on the maximum transmit power (P CMAX ) and the log 10 The transmit power is calculated by the difference between (N).

16. The UE of claim 13, wherein calculating the transmit power of the plurality of S-SSB repetitions based on a base 10 logarithm (log10(N)) of the number of S-SSB repetitions comprises: The transmit power is calculated using the following formula: Where P CMAX is the maximum transmit power of the UE, N is the number of S-SSB repetitions in the anchor RB set, P O,S-SSB is the received power target, α S-SSB is the power control factor, is the number of resource blocks used for S-SSB transmission, μ is the subcarrier spacing (SCS), and PL is the downlink path loss.

17. The UE of claim 13, wherein calculating the transmit power of the plurality of S-SSB repetitions based on a base 10 logarithm (log10(N)) of the number of S-SSB repetitions comprises: The transmit power is calculated using the following formula: Where P CMAX is the maximum transmit power of the UE, N is the number of S-SSB repetitions in the anchor RB set, M is (the total number of RB sets to be used for S-SSB transmission - 1), P O,S-SSB is the received power target, α S-SSB is the power control factor, is the number of resource blocks used for S-SSB transmission, μ is the subcarrier spacing (SCS), and PL is the downlink path loss.

18. A method comprising: generating a plurality of sidelink synchronization signal blocks (S-SSBs) for transmission on a sidelink unlicensed (SL-U) channel; determining, using a per S-SSB calculation, a transmit power for the plurality of S-SSBs; as well as The multiple S-SSBs are transmitted using the transmit power.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein determining the transmit power of the plurality of S-SSBs using a per S-SSB calculation comprises: A first transmit power for a first subset of the plurality of S-SSBs for transmission on the anchor RB set is calculated using a first equation.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the first equation depends on the number of S-SSB repetitions in the anchor RB set.

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