Sidelink resource allocation in unlicensed spectrum

Abstract

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques for communicating using sidelink resources allocated in an unlicensed spectrum. A method, which may be performed by a first UE, includes establishing a connection with a second UE for sidelink communication in an unlicensed spectrum; and communicating with the second UE via the connection using one or more sidelink sub-channels in an unlicensed spectrum according to a mapping between the sidelink sub-channels and sets of resource blocks (RBs) of the unlicensed spectrum, where the unlicensed spectrum comprises a plurality of RB sets and one or more guard bands arranged between RB sets of the plurality of RB sets.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application of the Chinese patent application with application number 202080105778.2. Technical Field

[0002] Aspects of the present disclosure relate to wireless communications and, more particularly, to techniques for sidelink resource allocation in unlicensed spectrum. Background Art

[0003] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various telecommunication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, broadcast, etc. These wireless communication systems may employ multiple access technologies capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power, etc.). Examples of such multiple access systems include 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, Advanced LTE (LTE-A) systems, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) systems, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) systems, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) systems, Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) systems, and Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA) systems, to name a few.

[0004] These multiple access technologies have been adopted in various telecommunication standards to provide a common protocol that enables different wireless devices to communicate at a city, country, region, and even global level. New radio (e.g., 5G NR) is an example of an emerging telecommunication standard. NR is an enhancement set to the LTE mobile standard released by 3GPP. NR is designed to better integrate with other open standards by improving spectrum efficiency, reducing costs, improving services, utilizing new spectrum, and using OFDMA with cyclic prefix (CP) on the downlink (DL) and on the uplink (UL), thereby better supporting mobile broadband Internet access. To this end, NR supports beamforming, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna technology, and carrier aggregation.

[0005] However, as the demand for mobile broadband access continues to grow, there is a need for further improvements to NR and LTE technologies. Preferably, these improvements should be applicable to other multiple access technologies and the telecommunication standards that employ these technologies. Summary of the invention

[0006] The systems, methods, and devices of the present disclosure each have several aspects, no single one of which is solely responsible for its desirable attributes. Without limiting the scope of the present disclosure as expressed by the claims that follow, some features will now be briefly discussed. After considering this discussion, and particularly after reading the section entitled "Detailed Description," it will be understood how the features of the present disclosure provide advantages, including improvements to sidelink resource allocation in unlicensed spectrum.

[0007] Certain aspects of the subject matter described in the present disclosure may be implemented in a method for wireless communication by a user equipment (UE). In summary, the method includes: establishing a connection with a second UE for sidelink communication in an unlicensed spectrum; and communicating with the second UE via the connection using one or more sidelink subchannels in the unlicensed spectrum based on a mapping between the sidelink subchannels and resource block (RB) sets of the unlicensed spectrum, wherein the unlicensed spectrum includes a plurality of RB sets and one or more guard bands arranged between RB sets in the plurality of RB sets.

[0008] The subject matter described in the present disclosure may be implemented in a first user equipment (UE) for wireless communication. In summary, the first UE includes: a unit for establishing a connection with a second UE for sidelink communication in an unlicensed spectrum; and a unit for communicating with the second UE via the connection using one or more sidelink subchannels in the unlicensed spectrum based on a mapping between the sidelink subchannels and resource block (RB) sets of the unlicensed spectrum, wherein the unlicensed spectrum includes a plurality of RB sets and one or more guard bands arranged between RB sets in the plurality of RB sets.

[0009] Certain aspects of the subject matter described in the present disclosure may be implemented in a first user equipment (UE) for wireless communication. In summary, the first UE includes: a memory; and a processor coupled to the memory, the memory and the processor being configured to: establish a connection with a second UE for sidelink communication in an unlicensed spectrum; and communicate with the second UE via the connection using one or more sidelink subchannels in the unlicensed spectrum based on a mapping between the sidelink subchannels and resource block (RB) sets of the unlicensed spectrum, wherein the unlicensed spectrum includes a plurality of RB sets and one or more guard bands arranged between RB sets in the plurality of RB sets.

[0010] Certain aspects of the subject matter described in the present disclosure may be implemented in a computer-readable medium for wireless communications. The medium includes a method of causing at least one processor of a first user equipment (UE) to perform the following operations when executed by the at least one processor: establishing a connection with a second UE for sidelink communication in an unlicensed spectrum; and communicating with the second UE via the connection using one or more sidelink subchannels in the unlicensed spectrum according to a mapping between the sidelink subchannels and resource block (RB) sets of the unlicensed spectrum, wherein the unlicensed spectrum includes a plurality of RB sets and one or more guard bands arranged between RB sets in the plurality of RB sets.

[0011] To achieve the aforementioned and related purposes, one or more aspects include the features fully described below and particularly pointed out in the claims. The following description and the accompanying drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative features of one or more aspects. However, these features indicate only a few of the various ways in which the principles of the various aspects can be employed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] In order that the above-mentioned features of the present disclosure may be understood in detail, the contents briefly summarized above may be described in more detail with reference to various aspects, some of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. However, it should be noted that the accompanying drawings only illustrate certain typical aspects of the present disclosure and are therefore not to be considered as limiting the scope thereof, as the description may admit of other equally effective aspects.

[0013] Figure 1 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an example wireless communication network in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

[0014] Figure 2 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating designs of example base stations (BSs) and user equipment (UEs) in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

[0015] Figure 3 is an example frame format for certain wireless communication systems (e.g., New Radio (NR)) in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

[0016] Figure 4A and Figure 4B A diagrammatic representation of an example vehicle-to-everything (V2X) system is shown in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

[0017] Figure 4C An example sidelink link establishment process is shown in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

[0018] Figure 5A time-frequency grid illustrating example resource pools for sidelink communications is shown in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0019] Figure 6 An example resource allocation in an unlicensed spectrum is shown in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

[0020] Figure 7 An allocation of sidelink resources in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure is shown in comparison to resources allocated in unlicensed spectrum.

[0021] Figure 8 A first mapping of sidelink subchannels to a set of resource blocks (RBs) of unlicensed spectrum is illustrated in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

[0022] Fig. 9 A second mapping of sidelink subchannels to a set of resource blocks (RBs) of unlicensed spectrum is illustrated in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

[0023] Fig.10 A third mapping of sidelink subchannels to a set of resource blocks (RBs) of unlicensed spectrum is illustrated in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

[0024] Fig.11 A fourth mapping of sidelink subchannels to a set of resource blocks (RBs) of unlicensed spectrum is illustrated in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

[0025] Fig.12 An example resource pool configuration for sidelink subchannels of a set of RBs mapped to unlicensed spectrum in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0026] Fig.13 Another example resource pool configuration for sidelink subchannels of a set of RBs mapped to unlicensed spectrum in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0027] Fig.14 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations for wireless communications by a UE in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

[0028] Fig.15 A communication device in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown, which may include various components configured to perform operations for the techniques disclosed herein.

[0029] To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have been used, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common to the figures. It is contemplated that elements disclosed in one aspect may be beneficially utilized on other aspects without specific recitation. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] Various aspects of the present disclosure provide apparatus, methods, processing systems, and computer-readable media for communicating using sidelink resources allocated in an unlicensed spectrum. Specifically, certain aspects relate to mapping subchannels to resource blocks (RBs) in frequency in an unlicensed spectrum for sidelink communications.

[0031] In certain aspects, RBs may be assigned to sets (e.g., subbands), wherein each RB set includes a plurality of RBs. In addition, a guard band (e.g., an intra-cell guard band) may be defined between each RB set in the RB set. Therefore, certain aspects herein relate to mapping subchannels to RBs, taking into account RB sets and guard bands. In certain aspects, subchannels are mapped to RBs while taking into account the UE capabilities of UEs communicating on the sidelink. For example, some UEs (e.g., high-capability UEs) are able to receive in the guard band, while some UEs (e.g., traditional or low-capability UEs) may not be able to receive in the guard band. Aspects herein provide techniques that advantageously take such factors into account while efficiently utilizing spectrum in the following manner: a manner that would not be feasible without such techniques. In addition, aspects herein provide techniques for allowing both low-capability UEs and high-capability UEs to communicate efficiently based on subchannel mapping.

[0032] The following description provides an example of communicating using sidelink resources allocated in an unlicensed spectrum without limiting the scope, applicability, or examples set forth in the claims. Changes may be made to the functions and arrangements of the elements discussed without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Various processes or components may be omitted, replaced, or added to each example as appropriate. For example, the method described may be performed in an order different from the order described, and various steps may be added, omitted, or combined. In addition, the features described with respect to some examples may be combined into some other examples. For example, a device may be implemented or a method may be implemented using any number of aspects set forth herein. In addition, the scope of the present disclosure is intended to cover such devices or methods implemented using other structures, functions, or structures and functions other than or different from the various aspects of the disclosure set forth herein. It should be understood that any aspect of the disclosure disclosed herein may be embodied by one or more elements of the claims. The word "exemplary" is used herein to mean "used as an example, instance, or illustration". Any aspect described as "exemplary" herein may not necessarily be interpreted as being preferred or having advantages over other aspects.

[0033] Generally, any number of wireless networks may be deployed in a given geographic area. Each wireless network may support a specific radio access technology (RAT) and may operate on one or more frequencies. RAT may also be referred to as a radio technology, an air interface, etc. Frequency may also be referred to as a carrier, a subcarrier, a frequency channel, a tone, a subband, etc. Each frequency may support a single RAT in a given geographic area to avoid interference between wireless networks of different RATs.

[0034] The techniques described herein can be used for various wireless networks and radio technologies. Although various aspects herein may be described using terms commonly associated with 3G, 4G and / or new radio (e.g., 5G NR) wireless technologies, various aspects of the present disclosure can be applied to communication systems based on other generations.

[0035] NR access can support various wireless communication services, such as enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) targeting wide bandwidth (e.g., 80MHz or higher), millimeter wave (mmW) targeting high carrier frequency (e.g., 25GHz to 53GHz or higher), massive machine type communication MTC (mMTC) targeting non-backward compatible MTC technology, and / or mission critical services targeting ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC). These services may include latency and reliability requirements. These services may also have different transmission time intervals (TTIs) to meet corresponding quality of service (QoS) requirements. In addition, these services can coexist in the same subframe. NR supports beamforming, and the beam direction can be dynamically configured. MIMO transmission with precoding can also be supported. The MIMO configuration in DL can support up to 8 transmit antennas, with multi-layer DL transmission of up to 8 streams and up to 2 streams per UE. Multi-layer transmission with up to 2 streams per UE can be supported. Aggregation of multiple cells with up to 8 serving cells can be supported.

[0036] Figure 1 An example wireless communication network 100 is shown in which aspects of the present disclosure may be performed. For example, the wireless communication network 100 may be a NR system (e.g., a 5G NR network). Figure 1 As shown, the wireless communication network 100 may communicate with a core network 132. The core network 132 may communicate with one or more base stations (BSs) 110 and / or user equipments (UEs) 120 in the wireless communication network 100 via one or more interfaces.

[0037] like Figure 1As shown, the wireless communication network 100 may include multiple BSs 110a-z (each also referred to herein as BS 110 or collectively referred to as BS 110) and other network entities. BS 110 may provide communication coverage for a specific geographic area (sometimes referred to as a "cell"), which may be stationary or may move according to the location of the mobile BS 110. In some examples, BS 110 may be connected to each other and / or to one or more other BSs or network nodes (not shown) in the wireless communication network 100 through various types of backhaul interfaces (e.g., direct physical connections, wireless connections, virtual networks, etc.) using any appropriate transport network. Figure 1 In the example shown in , BSs 110a, 110b, and 110c may be macro BSs for macro cells 102a, 102b, and 102c, respectively. BS 110x may be a pico BS for pico cell 102x. For femto cells 102y and 102z, BSs 110y and BSs 110z may be femto BSs, respectively. A base station may support one or more cells.

[0038] BS 110 communicates with UEs 120a-y (each also individually referred to herein as UE 120 or collectively referred to as UE 120) in the wireless communication network 100. UEs 120 (e.g., 120x, 120y, etc.) may be dispersed throughout the wireless communication network 100, and each UE 120 may be stationary or mobile. The wireless communication network 100 may also include a relay station (e.g., relay station 110r) (also referred to as a repeater, etc.) that receives transmissions of data and / or other information from an upstream station (e.g., BS 110a or UE 120r) and sends transmissions of data and / or other information to a downstream station (e.g., UE 120 or BS 110), or relays transmissions between UEs 120 to facilitate communication between devices.

[0039] The network controller 130 may communicate with a set of BSs 110 and provide coordination and control (e.g., via a backhaul) for the BSs 110. In various aspects, the network controller 130 may communicate with a core network 132 (e.g., a 5G core network (5GC)), which provides various network functions such as access and mobility management, session management, user plane functions, policy control functions, authentication server functions, unified data management, application functions, network open functions, network repository functions, network slice selection functions, etc.

[0040] According to certain aspects, as described herein, UE 120 can be configured to communicate on one or more sidelink resources allocated in an unlicensed spectrum. Figure 1As shown, each of UE 120a and UE 120b includes a corresponding sidelink communication manager 122. The sidelink communication manager 122 may be configured to execute Fig.14 The operations shown in and other operations described herein for communicating on one or more sidelink resources allocated in an unlicensed spectrum.

[0041] Figure 2 BS 110a and UE 120a (eg, Figure 1 Example components of a wireless communication network 100) that can be used to implement aspects of the present disclosure.

[0042] At BS110a, the transmit processor 220 may receive data from the data source 212 and control information from the controller / processor 240. The control information may be for a physical broadcast channel (PBCH), a physical control format indicator channel (PCFICH), a physical hybrid ARQ indicator channel (PHICH), a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), a group common PDCCH (GC PDCCH), etc. The data may be for a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), etc. The medium access control (MAC)-control element (MAC-CE) is a MAC layer communication structure that may be used for control command exchange between wireless nodes. The MAC-CE may be carried in a shared channel such as a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), or a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH).

[0043] The processor 220 may process (e.g., encode and symbol map) data and control information, respectively, to obtain data symbols and control symbols. The transmit processor 220 may also generate reference signals such as for a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), a PBCH demodulation reference signal (DMRS), and a channel state information reference symbol (CSI-RS). The transmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor 230 may perform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) on ​​data symbols, control symbols, and / or reference symbols (if applicable), and may provide an output symbol stream to a modulator (MOD) 232a-232t in a transceiver. Each modulator 232a-232t in a transceiver may process a corresponding output symbol stream (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator may further process (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, and up-convert) the output sample stream to obtain a downlink signal. Downlink signals from modulators 232a-232t in the transceiver may be transmitted via antennas 234a-234t, respectively.

[0044] At UE 120a, antennas 252a-252r can receive downlink signals from BS110a and can provide received signals to demodulators (DEMODs) 254a-254r in the transceiver, respectively. Each demodulator 254a-254r in the transceiver can condition (e.g., filter, amplify, down-convert, and digitize) the corresponding received signal to obtain input samples. Each demodulator can further process the input samples (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain received symbols. MIMO detector 256 can obtain received symbols from all demodulators 254a-254r in the transceiver, perform MIMO detection on the received symbols (if applicable), and provide detected symbols. Receive processor 258 can process (e.g., demodulate, deinterleave, and decode) the detected symbols, provide decoded data for UE 120a to data sink 260, and provide decoded control information to controller / processor 280.

[0045] On the uplink, at the UE 120a, a transmit processor 264 may receive and process data from a data source 262 (e.g., for a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)) and control information from a controller / processor 280 (e.g., for a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH)). The transmit processor 264 may also generate reference symbols for reference signals (e.g., for a sounding reference signal (SRS)). The symbols from the transmit processor 264 may be precoded by a TX MIMO processor 266 (if applicable), further processed by modulators 254a-254r in the transceiver (e.g., for SC-FDM, etc.), and transmitted to the BS 110a. At BS 110a, the uplink signal from UE 120a may be received by antenna 234, processed by demodulators 232a-232t in the transceiver, detected by MIMO detector 236 (if applicable), and further processed by receive processor 238 to obtain decoded data and control information sent by UE 120a. Receive processor 238 may provide decoded data to data sink 239 and decoded control information to controller / processor 240.

[0046] Memory 242 and memory 282 may store data and program codes for BS 110a and UE 120a, respectively.A scheduler 244 may schedule UEs for data transmission on the downlink and / or uplink.

[0047] The antennas 252, processors 266, 258, 264 and / or controller / processor 280 of the UE 120a and / or the antennas 234, processors 220, 230, 238 and / or controller / processor 240 of the BS 110a may be used to perform the various techniques and methods described herein. Figure 2 As shown, the controller / processor 280 of the UE 120a has a sidelink communication manager 122, which can be configured to execute Fig.14 The operations shown in and other operations disclosed herein for communicating using sidelink resources allocated in an unlicensed spectrum. Although shown at the controller / processor, other components of the UE 120a and BS 110a may be used to perform the operations described herein.

[0048] NR can utilize orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) with cyclic prefix (CP) on uplink and downlink. NR can support half-duplex operation using time division duplex (TDD). OFDM and single carrier frequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) divide the system bandwidth into multiple orthogonal subcarriers, which are also commonly referred to as tones, frequency bands, etc. Each subcarrier can be modulated with data. Modulation symbols can be sent in the frequency domain using OFDM and in the time domain using SC-FDM. The spacing between adjacent subcarriers can be fixed, and the total number of subcarriers can depend on the system bandwidth. The minimum resource allocation, called a resource block (RB), can be 12 consecutive subcarriers. The system bandwidth can also be divided into subbands. For example, a subband can cover multiple RBs. NR can support a basic subcarrier spacing (SCS) of 15KHz, and other SCSs (e.g., 30kHz, 60kHz, 120kHz, 240kHz, etc.) can be defined relative to the basic SCS.

[0049] Figure 3300 is a diagram showing an example of a frame format for NR. The transmission timeline for each of the downlink and uplink can be divided into units of radio frames. Each radio frame can have a predetermined duration (e.g., 10ms) and can be divided into 10 subframes with indices 0 to 9, each subframe 1ms. Each subframe can include a variable number of slots (e.g., 1, 2, 4, 8, 16... slots), depending on the SCS. Each slot can include a variable number of symbol periods (e.g., 7, 12 or 14 symbols), depending on the SCS. An index can be assigned to the symbol period in each slot. A microslot (which can be referred to as a subslot structure) refers to a transmission time interval having a duration less than a slot (e.g., 2, 3 or 4 symbols). Each symbol in a slot can indicate a link direction (e.g., DL, UL or flexible) for data transmission, and the link direction of each subframe can be dynamically switched. The link direction can be based on the slot format. Each slot can include DL / UL data and DL / UL control information.

[0050] In NR, synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) are transmitted. In certain aspects, SSBs may be transmitted in bursts, where each SSB in the burst corresponds to a different beam direction for UE-side beam management (e.g., including beam selection and / or beam refinement). SSBs include PSS, SSS, and two-symbol PBCH. They may be transmitted at fixed time slot locations (such as at Figure 3 The SSB is sent in the symbols 0-3 shown in . PSS and SSS can be used by UE for cell search and acquisition. PSS can provide half-frame timing, and SS can provide CP length and frame timing. PSS and SSS can provide cell identification. PBCH carries some basic system information, such as downlink system bandwidth, timing information within the radio frame, SS burst set periodicity, system frame number, etc. SSB can be organized into SS bursts to support beam scanning. Additional system information, such as remaining minimum system information (RMSI), system information block (SIB), other system information (OSI), can be sent on the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) in certain subframes. For millimeter waves (mmWave), SSBs can be sent up to sixty-four times, for example, using up to sixty-four different beam directions. Multiple transmissions of SSB are called SS burst sets. SSBs in an SS burst set can be sent in the same frequency region, while SSBs in different SS burst sets can be sent at different frequency regions.

[0051] Figure 4A and Figure 4B A diagrammatic representation of an example V2X system according to some aspects of the present disclosure is shown. Figure 4A and 4BThe vehicles shown in can communicate via a sidelink channel and can relay sidelink transmissions as described herein.

[0052] exist Figure 4A and 4B The V2X system provided in the present invention provides two complementary transmission modes. The first transmission mode (also referred to as mode 4) (in Figure 4A The second transmission mode (also referred to as Mode 3) (shown by way of example in FIG. 1 ) involves direct communication between participants that are close to each other in a local area (e.g., also referred to as sidelink communication). Figure 4B ) involves network communication through a network, which can be implemented on a Uu interface (e.g., a wireless communication interface between a radio access network (RAN) and a UE).

[0053] refer to Figure 4A , a V2X system 400 (e.g., including vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications) is shown with two vehicles 302, 304. A first transmission mode allows direct communication between different participants in a given geographic location. As shown, the vehicle can have a wireless communication link 406 with a person (V2P) (e.g., via a UE) through a PC5 interface. Communication between vehicles 402 and 404 can also occur through a PC5 interface 408. In a similar manner, communication (V2I) from vehicle 402 to other highway components (e.g., highway component 410) (such as traffic signals or signs) can occur through a PC5 interface 412. Figure 4A Each communication link shown in , can carry out two-way communication between elements, so each element can be a sender and receiver of information. The V2X system 400 can be a self-management system implemented without assistance from a network entity. Since no network service interruption occurs during switching operations for mobile vehicles, the self-management system can achieve improved spectrum efficiency, reduced costs, and improved reliability. The V2X system can be configured to operate in a licensed or unlicensed spectrum, so any vehicle with an equipped system can access common frequencies and share information. Such coordinated / common spectrum operation allows safe and reliable operation.

[0054] Figure 4BA V2X system 450 is shown for communicating between vehicle 352 and vehicle 454 via a network entity 456. These network communications may occur via discrete nodes such as a BS (e.g., BS110a) that send information to and receive information from vehicles 452, 454 (e.g., relay information between them). For example, network communications via vehicle-to-network (V2N) links 458 and 460 may be used for long-range communications between vehicles, such as for communicating the presence of a traffic accident a distance ahead along a road or highway. Wireless nodes may send other types of communications to vehicles, such as traffic flow conditions, road hazard warnings, environmental / weather reports, and service station availability, among other examples. Such data may be obtained from a cloud-based sharing service.

[0055] Roadside units (RSUs) may be utilized. RSUs may be used for V2I communications. In some examples, RSUs may act as forwarding nodes to extend coverage for UEs. In some examples, RSUs may be co-located with BSs, or may be independent. RSUs may have different classifications. For example, RSUs may be classified as UE-type RSUs and micro-node B-type RSUs. Micro-node B-type RSUs have similar functions to macro eNBs or gNBs. Micro-node B-type RSUs may utilize the Uu interface. UE-type RSUs may be used to meet stringent quality of service (QoS) requirements by minimizing conflicts and improving reliability. UE-type RSUs may use centralized resource allocation mechanisms to allow efficient resource utilization. Critical information (e.g., traffic conditions, weather conditions, congestion statistics, sensor data, etc.) may be broadcast to UEs in the coverage area. Repeaters may rebroadcast critical information received from some UEs. UE-type RSUs may be reliable synchronization sources.

[0056] Example Sidelink Connection Establishment

[0057] Figure 4C FIG. 4 shows an example process for establishing a unicast sidelink connection in a V2X system 400 according to various aspects of the present disclosure. As shown, the V2X system 400 may include a first UE 120a and a second UE 120b, which may be as described above with reference to FIG. Figure 1 1. As described herein, UE 120a may attempt to establish a unicast connection with UE 120b on a sidelink. As shown, UE 120a and UE 120b may be vehicles, where the unicast connection on the sidelink may be a V2X communication link between UE 120a (e.g., a first vehicle) and UE 120b (e.g., a second vehicle). In some cases, UE 120a may be a Figure 4A4, and UE 120b may be a vehicle 402 in the example shown in FIG. Figure 4A 4. In addition or alternatively, the unicast connection on the sidelink can generally be used for sidelink communication (e.g., D2D communication) between any two UEs 120. In some cases, UE 120a can be referred to as an initiating UE 120 that initiates the unicast connection process, and UE 120b can be referred to as a target UE 120 that targets the unicast connection process performed by the initiating UE 120.

[0058] In order to establish a unicast connection, access stratum (AS) parameters may be configured and negotiated between UE 120a and UE 120b. For example, a transmit and receive capability match may be negotiated between UE 120a and UE 120b. Each UE 120 (e.g., V2X UE 120) may have different capabilities (e.g., transmit and receive capabilities, 64QAM, transmission diversity, carrier aggregation (CA) capabilities, etc.). In some cases, different services may be supported at the upper layers of the corresponding protocol stacks for UE 120a and UE 120b. In addition, a security association may be established between UE 120a and UE 120b for a unicast connection. Unicast services may benefit from security protection (e.g., integrity protection) at the link level. Security requirements may be different for different wireless communication systems. For example, V2X and Uu systems may have different security requirements (e.g., Uu security does not include confidentiality protection). Furthermore, IP configuration (eg, IP version, address, etc.) may be negotiated for a unicast connection between UE 120a and UE 120b.

[0059] In some cases, UE 120b may create a service announcement (e.g., a service capability message) to be sent over a cellular network (e.g., a CV2X network) to help establish a unicast connection. Traditionally, UE 120a may identify and locate candidates for unicast communication based on a basic service message (BSM) broadcasted unencrypted by a nearby UE 120 (e.g., UE 120b). The BSM may include location information, security and identity information, and vehicle information (e.g., speed, handling, size, etc.) for the corresponding UE 120 that broadcasts the unencrypted BSM. However, for different wireless communication systems (e.g., D2D or V2X communications), a discovery channel may not be configured so that UE 120a can detect the BSM. Therefore, the service announcements (e.g., discovery signals) sent by UE 120b and other nearby UEs 120 may be upper layer signals and broadcast (e.g., in NR sidelink broadcasts). In some cases, UE 120b may include one or more parameters for itself in the service announcement, including connection parameters and / or capabilities possessed by UE 120b. UE 120a may then monitor and receive the broadcasted service announcements to identify potential UEs 120 for corresponding unicast connections. In some cases, UE 120a may identify potential UEs 120 based on the capabilities indicated by each UE 120 in its respective service announcement.

[0060] The service announcement may include information for helping UE 120a (e.g., or any initiating UE 120) identify the UE 120 that sent the service announcement. For example, the service announcement may include channel information in which a direct communication request may be sent. In some cases, the channel information may be specific to a radio access technology (RAT) (e.g., LTE or NR) and may include a resource pool that UE 120a may use to send a communication request. In addition, if the destination address is different from the current address (e.g., the address of the streaming provider or the UE 120 that sent the service announcement), the service announcement may include a specific destination address for UE 120 (e.g., a layer 2 (L2) destination address). The service announcement may also include a network or transport layer for UE 120a to send the communication request on. For example, the network or transport layer may indicate the port number of the application for UE 120 to send the service announcement. In some cases, IP addressing may not be required if the signaling (e.g., PC5 signaling) directly carries a protocol (e.g., a real-time transport protocol (RTP)) or gives a locally generated random protocol. Additionally, the service announcement may include the protocol type and quality of service (QoS) related parameters used for credential establishment.

[0061] After identifying a potential unicast connection target (e.g., UE 120b), UE 120a (e.g., initiating UE 120) may send a connection request 415 to the identified target. In some cases, the connection request 415 may be a first RRC message (e.g., an RRCDirectConnectionSetupRequest message) sent by UE 120a to request a unicast connection with the identified target UE 120b. For example, the unicast connection may be a PC5 unicast link, and the connection request 415 may be an RRC connection setup request message. In addition, UE 120a may use the sidelink signaling radio bearer 405 to transmit the connection request 415.

[0062] After receiving the connection request 415, the UE 120b may determine whether to accept or reject the connection request 415. The UE 120b may base the determination on the following: the transmit / receive capability, the capability to accommodate the unicast connection on the sidelink, the specific service indicated for the unicast connection, the content to be sent on the unicast connection, or a combination thereof. For example, if the UE 120a wishes to use the first RAT to send or receive data, but the UE 120b does not support the first RAT, the UE 120b may reject the connection request 415. Additionally or alternatively, the UE 120b may reject the connection request 415 based on the inability to accommodate the unicast connection on the sidelink due to one or more conflicts (such as limited radio resources, scheduling issues, etc.). Therefore, the UE 120b may send an indication of whether the request is accepted or rejected in the connection response 420. Similar to the UE 120a and the connection request 415, the UE 120b may use the sidelink signaling radio bearer 411 to transmit the connection response 420. Additionally, the connection response 420 may be a second RRC message (eg, an RRCDirectConnectionResponse message) sent by the UE 120b in response to the connection request 415 .

[0063] In some cases, the sidelink signaling radio bearers 405 and 411 may be the same sidelink radio signal bearer, or may be separate sidelink signaling radio bearers. Thus, an RLC layer acknowledgement mode (AM) may be used for the sidelink signaling radio bearers 405 and 411. A UE 120 supporting unicast connections may monitor on a logical channel associated with the sidelink signaling radio bearer. In some cases, the AS layer may deliver information directly through RRC signaling (e.g., control plane) rather than the V2X layer (e.g., data plane).

[0064] If the connection response 420 indicates that the UE 120b accepted the connection request 415, the UE 120a may send a connection setup 425 message on the sidelink signaling radio bearer 405 to indicate that the unicast connection setup is complete. In some cases, the connection setup 425 may be a third RRC message (e.g., an RRCDirectConnectionSetupComplete message). Each of the connection request 415, the connection response 420, and the connection setup 425 may use basic capabilities when transmitted from one of the UEs 120 to the other UE 120 to enable each UE 120 to receive and decode the corresponding transmission (e.g., RRC message).

[0065] In addition, an identifier may be used for each of the connection request 415, the connection response 420, and the connection establishment 425 (e.g., RRC signaling). For example, the identifier may indicate which UE 120 is sending which message and / or which UE 120 the message is intended for. For PHY channels, the RRC signaling and any subsequent data transmission may use the same identifier (e.g., L2ID). However, for logical channels, the identifier may be separate for RRC signaling and data transmission. For example, on logical channels, RRC signaling and data transmission may be treated differently and have different acknowledgement (ACK) feedback messaging. In some cases, for RRC messaging, a PHY layer ACK may be used to ensure that the corresponding message is correctly sent and received.

[0066] One or more information elements may be included in the connection request 415 and / or the connection response 420 for UE 120a and / or UE 120b, respectively, to enable negotiation of corresponding AS layer parameters for unicast connection. For example, UE 120a and / or UE 120b may include PDCP parameters in the corresponding unicast connection setup message to set the PDCP context for the unicast connection. In some cases, the PDCP context may indicate whether PDCP duplication is used for the unicast connection. In addition, UE 120a and / or UE 120b may include RLC parameters when establishing a unicast connection to set the RLC context for the unicast connection. For example, the RLC context may indicate whether AM (e.g., reordering timer (t-reordering) is used) or unacknowledged mode (UM) is used for the RLC layer of unicast communication.

[0067] In addition, UE 120a and / or UE 120b may include MAC parameters to set a MAC context for a unicast connection. In some cases, the MAC context may implement a resource selection algorithm for a unicast connection, a HARQ feedback scheme (e.g., ACK or negative ACK (NACK) feedback), parameters for a HARQ feedback scheme, CA, or a combination thereof. In addition, UE 120a and / or UE 120b may include PHY layer parameters when establishing a unicast connection to set a PHY layer context for a unicast connection. For example, the PHY layer context may indicate a transport format for a unicast connection (unless a transport profile is included for each UE 120) and a radio resource configuration (e.g., bandwidth part (BWP), digital scheme, etc.). These information elements may be supported for different frequency range configurations (e.g., frequency range 1 (FR1) for bands below 6 GHz, frequency range 2 (FR2) for mmW, etc.).

[0068] In some cases, a security context may also be set for the unicast connection (e.g., after sending the connection establishment 425 message). Before a security association (e.g., a security context) is established between UE 120a and UE 120b, the sidelink signaling radio bearers 405 and 411 may be unprotected (e.g., unencrypted). After the security association is established, the sidelink signaling radio bearers 405 and 411 may be protected (e.g., encrypted). Thus, the security context may enable secure data transmission over the unicast connection and the sidelink signaling radio bearers 405 and 411. In addition, IP layer parameters (e.g., link-local IPv4 or IPv6 addresses) may also be negotiated. In some cases, the IP layer parameters may be negotiated by an upper layer control protocol that is run after RRC signaling is established (e.g., establishing a unicast connection). As described above, UE 120b may base its decision on whether to accept or reject the connection request 415 regarding a specific service indicated for the unicast connection and / or content to be sent over the unicast connection (e.g., upper layer information). Specific services and / or content may also be indicated by an upper layer control protocol running after the RRC signaling is established.

[0069] After establishing the unicast connection, UE 120a and UE 120b can communicate using the unicast connection on the sidelink 430, wherein the sidelink data 435 is sent between the two UEs 120. In some cases, the sidelink data 435 may include an RRC message sent between the two UEs 120. In order to maintain the unicast connection on the sidelink 430, UE 120a and / or UE 120b may send a keep-alive message (e.g., an RRCDirectLinkAlive message, a fourth RRC message, etc.). In some cases, the keep-alive message may be triggered periodically or on demand (e.g., an event trigger). Therefore, the triggering and transmission of the keep-alive message may be called by UE 120a or by both UE 120a and UE 120b. In addition or alternatively, a MAC control element (CE) (e.g., defined on the sidelink 430) may be used to monitor the state of the unicast connection on the sidelink 430 and maintain the connection. When the unicast connection is no longer needed (e.g., UE 120a travels far enough away from UE 120b), UE 120b and / or UE 120a may initiate a release procedure to drop the unicast connection on sidelink 430. Thus, after the unicast connection on sidelink 230 is dropped, subsequent RRC messages may not be sent between UE 120a and UE 120b over the unicast connection.

[0070] Example Sidelink Resource Allocation in Unlicensed Spectrum

[0071] When communicating on the sidelink, the UE may use resources selected from a resource pool. A resource pool may be defined as a continuous number of resource blocks (RBs) in the frequency domain in units of subchannels. In other words, a resource pool may consist of multiple continuous RBs in frequency. Specifically, a subchannel may be defined as one or more RBs (e.g., which are continuous) in an RB, and a resource pool may be defined as one or more subchannels.

[0072] Figure 5 A time-frequency grid of an example resource pool for sidelink communications according to certain aspects presented herein is shown. As can be seen, three different resource pools (e.g., 502, 504, and 506) are shown. Resource pool 502 may be composed of two subchannels 508 (e.g., assigned a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) and a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH)) and 510 (e.g., assigned to PSSCH), each of which includes a set of contiguous RBs across different frequencies. As shown, resource pools 504 and 506 may each include four subchannels across different frequency bands.

[0073] In some cases, the sidelink resource pool may be defined by multiple parameters (such as parameters sl-StartRB-Subchannel, sl-SubchannelSize, and sl-NumSubchannel), but it should be noted that they may be referenced in any appropriate manner. The parameter sl-StartRB-Subchannel may define the first RB of the lowest indexed subchannel of the resource pool. For example, referring to resource pool 502, the parameter sl-StartRB-Subchannel may specify the first RB of subchannel 508. In addition, the parameter sl-SubchannelSize may define the number of RBs for each subchannel in the resource pool, and the parameter sl-NumSubchannel may define the number of subchannels in the resource pool. Thus, for example, referring to resource pool 502, the parameter sl-NumSubchannel may define resource pool 502 to include two subchannels (e.g., 508 and 510), and the parameter sl-SubchannelSize may define that each of subchannels 508 and 510 includes 10 RBs to 100 RBs.

[0074] In some cases, within each subchannel, a sidelink control channel (such as a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH)) may occupy a first number of RBs (e.g., where the number is a value of a parameter sl-FreqResourcePSCCH) and a first number of symbols (e.g., where the number is a value of a parameter sl-TimeResourcePSCCH) assigned to a first subchannel of a sidelink shared data channel (such as a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH)). In some cases, control information included in the PSCCH may allocate how many subchannels may be included within the PSCCH starting from a current subchannel in which the PSCCH is transmitted.

[0075] In some cases, it may be beneficial to perform sidelink communications using wideband channel operation within an unlicensed spectrum in order to take advantage of globally available "free" spectrum. However, in some cases, performing sidelink communications in an unlicensed spectrum may be problematic due to the manner in which wideband channel operation is performed in the unlicensed spectrum.

[0076] For example, for operation in an unlicensed spectrum, since there may be issues regarding coexistence with WiFi, channel access in an unlicensed spectrum may be divided into multiple 20 MHz sub-bands, even if the system is operating in a wideband mode (e.g., multiples of 20 MHz). In order to be able to access a specific 20 MHz sub-band, the wireless device may first perform a listen-before-talk (LBT) process to determine whether the 20 MHz sub-band is available for use by the wireless device. If the wireless device senses that no other transmissions have occurred in the 20 MHz sub-band for a period of time (which indicates that the 20 MHz sub-band is in an idle state), the 20 MHz sub-band is available for use. In some cases, the wireless device may infer that the 20 MHz sub-band is in an idle state by sensing the energy level on the 20 MHz sub-band. If the energy level of the 20 MHz sub-band is below a threshold, the wireless device may infer that the 20 MHz sub-band is available for use. However, if the LBT process does not pass (e.g., the energy level of the 20 MHz sub-band is greater than a threshold), the wireless device may try another 20 MHz bandwidth portion.

[0077] To support this type of operation, such as in 5G New Radio Unlicensed (NR-U), intra-cell guard bands are introduced to define a guard band between each of the sub-bands (e.g., approximately 20 MHz). The passband between two adjacent intra-cell guard bands may be referred to as an "RB set," which may be approximately 20 MHz. For example, Figure 6 As shown, the unlicensed spectrum can be divided into a plurality of RB sets including a plurality of RBs 602 (eg, each RB set spanning a bandwidth of approximately 20 MHz). Figure 6 As shown in the example shown in , the unlicensed spectrum can be divided into four different RB sets (including RB set 0, RB set 1, RB set 2, and RB set 3), and an intra-cell guard band 604 can be inserted between each RB set. It should be noted that there may be a greater or lesser number of RB sets, and they may have a greater or lesser bandwidth / number of RBs. As described above, in order to communicate using the unlicensed spectrum, the wireless device may perform an LBT process to sense which RB sets are available for communication. Figure 6 As shown, RB Set 1 and RB Set 2 have passed the LBT process and are available for use / assignment by the wireless device.

[0078] In some cases, a (e.g., NR-U) system may support both continuous uplink resource allocation and staggered uplink resource allocation while complying with the regulations. In staggered uplink resource allocation, the basic unit of resource allocation for unlicensed channels is an interlace, e.g. Figure 6As shown, the interlace consists of ten equally spaced RBs 602 within a 20 MHz frequency bandwidth (e.g., RB set) for 15 KHz subcarrier spacing. In certain aspects, for RBs belonging to the assigned interlace set but falling in the intra-cell guard band, such RBs will be assigned only when the RB sets on both sides are assigned. In addition, in some cases, if two RB sets on either side of the intra-cell guard band are allocated to the UE, a wireless device such as the UE can transmit in the intra-cell guard band 604. Similarly, in some cases, if the UE is a high-capability UE, the UE can also receive transmissions in the intra-cell guard band 604. However, if the UE is a lower-capability UE, the UE can only receive transmissions within the RB set, and may not be able to receive transmissions in the intra-cell guard band 604. In some cases, the UE can send information indicating the capabilities of the UE to the base station. If the capability information indicates that the UE is a low-capability UE, the base station can avoid scheduling a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) to the low-capability UE on the guard band RB.

[0079] As described above, in order to take advantage of globally available "free" spectrum, it may be beneficial to perform sidelink communications using wideband channel operation within an unlicensed spectrum. However, a problem that may exist in the case of performing sidelink communications in an unlicensed spectrum arises from the manner in which the sidelink subchannels are defined relative to the manner in which RB sets are defined in the unlicensed spectrum. For example, as described above, the subchannels in the sidelink may be defined contiguously without any gaps between different subchannels. This poses a problem when mapping these contiguously defined subchannels to RB sets in the unlicensed band (which includes intra-cell guard bands arranged between RB sets). For example, if Figure 7 As shown, if the sidelink subchannels are defined in a traditional manner where the subchannels are continuous, some sidelink subchannels may partially overlap with the intra-cell protection band in the unlicensed spectrum, which may cause these sidelink subchannels to be unusable by certain UEs (e.g., low-capability UEs) in the unlicensed spectrum.

[0080] Thus, aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques for avoiding situations where certain sidelink subchannels are unavailable in an unlicensed spectrum. For example, in some cases, such techniques may involve a first UE establishing a connection with a second UE for sidelink communications in an unlicensed spectrum, and communicating using one or more sidelink subchannels in the unlicensed spectrum based on a mapping between the sidelink subchannels and a set of RBs for the unlicensed spectrum. In some cases, there may be different mappings between one or more sidelink subchannels and a set of RBs for the unlicensed spectrum. In some cases, the UE may use the mappings described above regarding Figure 4C The described techniques are used to establish a connection with a second UE.

[0081] In some cases, a first mapping for communicating using one or more sidelink subchannels in an unlicensed spectrum may involve contiguously packing sidelink subchannels of equal size starting from a starting RB as conventionally does, but introduces the following restriction: for a sidelink subchannel that partially overlaps with an intra-cell guard band, the sidelink subchannel can be used only when the LBT process passes through two RB sets on either side of the intra-cell guard band. Figure 8 A diagram of this mapping is provided.

[0082] For example, Figure 8 As shown, the first mapping between the sidelink subchannel and the RB set of the unlicensed spectrum includes mapping the sidelink subchannel continuously across multiple RB sets in the unlicensed spectrum and multiple intra-cell guard bands 802. As shown, when mapped continuously in the unlicensed spectrum, some sidelink subchannels may partially overlap with the intra-cell guard bands in the unlicensed spectrum. In such a case, the use of these overlapping sidelink subchannels can depend on the LBT process performed in the RB sets on either side of the intra-cell guard bands that overlap with the sidelink subchannels. Figure 8 The RB set LBT dependency for each sidelink subchannel is shown. For example, as shown, the use of sidelink subchannel 0 may depend only on the LBT process performed in RB set 0, while the use of sidelink subchannel 1 may depend on the LBT process performed in RB set 0 and RB set 1, because sidelink subchannel 1 partially overlaps with the intra-cell guard band.

[0083] For example, as shown in the figure, the sidelink subchannel 1 may span at least RB set 0 of the unlicensed spectrum and the first intra-cell guard band 802 arranged between RB set 0 and RB set 1. In such a case, in order to communicate with the second UE using the sidelink subchannel 1 spanning / overlapping the first intra-cell guard band 802, the first UE may need to perform an LBT process across RB set 0 and RB set 1 to determine whether resources in RB set 0 and resources in RB set 1 are available for use.

[0084] According to various aspects, when resources in RB set 0 are available for use and resources in RB set 1 are available for use based on the LBT process (e.g., when the LBT process is passed in RB set 0 and RB set 1), the first UE may use sidelink subchannel 1 (including resources in sidelink subchannel 1 that overlap with the intra-cell protection band 802) to communicate with the second UE. In some cases, whether the first UE can use subchannel 1 to communicate with the second UE may depend on the capabilities of at least one of the first UE or the second UE. For example, in some cases, if the second UE is a high-capability UE (e.g., a UE capable of receiving in the intra-cell protection band), the first UE may use sidelink subchannel 1 (including resources in sidelink subchannel 1 that overlap with the intra-cell protection band 802) to communicate with the second UE (e.g., information may be sent to the second UE in the intra-cell protection band 802). For example, in some cases, the first UE may use resources in sidelink subchannel 1 that overlap with the intra-cell protection band 802 to send a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH). However, if the second UE is a low-capability UE (eg, a UE that receives in an intra-cell guard band, for example), the first UE may not use sidelink subchannel 1 to communicate with the second UE.

[0085] However, while this mapping may allow high capability UEs to use sidelink subchannels that overlap with an intra-cell guard band, a general problem with this mapping is that different subchannels may have different probabilities of use due to the LBT dependency described above. For example, if a UE wishes to use a single sidelink subchannel, some sidelink subchannels may be more difficult to use than other subchannels due to higher LBT requirements. For example, as described above, sidelink subchannel 0 may be easier for a first UE to use than, for example, sidelink subchannel 1 because sidelink subchannel 1 requires the LBT process to pass through both RB set 0 and RB set 1, compared to sidelink subchannel 0 which only requires the LBT process to pass through in RB set 0.

[0086] About Figure 8 Another problem that may exist with the mapping shown in may be that if there is a sidelink subchannel that partially overlaps with an intra-cell guard band (e.g., 802), a low-capability UE may not be able to use the sidelink subchannel, as described above. This problem is particularly problematic because currently only contiguous sidelink subchannels may be allocated in one physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH). Therefore, since the sidelink subchannels that overlap with the intra-cell guard band are not available to low-capability UEs, the available size of the PSSCH may be limited, thereby reducing the throughput for these UEs.

[0087] In some cases, to help alleviate these issues with low-capability UEs, puncturing may be introduced to remove resources (e.g., RBs) from sidelink subchannels that overlap with intra-cell guard bands. Fig. 9 As shown, puncturing of certain sidelink subchannels overlapping with intra-cell guard bands can result in a second mapping between the sidelink subchannels and RB sets of the unlicensed spectrum, where the sidelink subchannels are continuously mapped across multiple RB sets in the unlicensed spectrum rather than multiple intra-cell guard bands 902.

[0088] For example, Fig. 9 As shown, sidelink subchannel 0 and sidelink subchannel 1 can be mapped consecutively to RB set 0 of the unlicensed spectrum. Figure 8 , since the sidelink subchannel 1 may include resources (RBs) that will overlap with the intra-cell guard band, these resources may be punctured, e.g. Fig. 9 As shown. Therefore, due to the puncturing, sidelink subchannel 1 may occupy less bandwidth than sidelink subchannel 0. In addition, in some cases, the amount of bandwidth occupied by each of the sidelink subchannels can be based on the relative frequency position of the corresponding sidelink subchannel relative to the multiple guard bands. For example, in some cases, if sidelink subchannel 1 is closer to the start of the intra-cell guard band 902, the bandwidth of sidelink subchannel 1 can be reduced because there may be a reduced number of RBs between the start of sidelink subchannel 1 and the start of the intra-cell guard band 902.

[0089] exist Figure 8 The first mapping shown in Fig. 9 In both of the second mappings shown in , contiguous allocation of subchannels for PSSCH is still possible. For example, for low-capability UEs, the intra-cell guard bands (e.g., 802, 902) may not be used (e.g., PSSCH is rate matched around them), but resources within contiguous sidelink subchannels that overlap with RB sets of unlicensed spectrum may be used for PSSCH transmissions. For high-capability UEs, if RB sets of intra-cell guard bands (e.g., 802, 902) on either side are allocated (e.g., through an LBT process), the intra-cell guard bands may also be used for PSSCH transmissions (e.g., PSSCH is rate matched thereto).

[0090] In addition, for Figure 8 The first mapping shown in Fig. 9With reference to the second mapping shown in , there are different options for placing the PSCCH. For example, in some cases, the PSCCH may be placed in a sidelink subchannel, similar to conventional approaches, in an RB at the beginning of the sidelink subchannel with puncturing. In other cases, the PSCCH may be placed in the sidelink subchannel starting from the starting RB of the sidelink subchannel, but with rate matching around a guard band within the cell. Furthermore, in other cases, if the amount of resources available for the PSCCH within a particular sidelink subchannel is too small (e.g., below a threshold), the sidelink subchannel may not carry the PSCCH. For example, referring to Fig. 9 If the amount of resources in sidelink subchannel 1 is below a threshold, sidelink subchannel 1 may not carry a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH). However, in some cases, sidelink subchannel 1 may still be used to carry a PSSCH.

[0091] According to various aspects, since sidelink subchannel 0 and sidelink subchannel 1 are confined to the same RB set (e.g., RB set 0), Figure 8 Unlike the two RB sets as shown in the first mapping, a UE (e.g., the first UE mentioned above) that wishes to communicate using sidelink subchannel 0 and sidelink subchannel 1 may only need to perform the LBT process across one RB set (e.g., RB set 0).

[0092] Fig.10 A third mapping is shown (e.g., the first UE may use the third mapping when communicating with the second UE), where rate matching may be performed on certain sidelink subchannels around an intra-cell guard band of unlicensed spectrum. Fig.10 As shown, the third mapping between the sidelink subchannel and the RB set of the unlicensed spectrum includes mapping the sidelink subchannel continuously across multiple RB sets in the unlicensed spectrum instead of multiple guard bands. For example, as shown, sidelink subchannel 0 and sidelink subchannel 1 can be continuously mapped to RB set 0 of the unlicensed spectrum. In addition, as shown in FIG. Fig.10 As shown, by performing rate matching on the sidelink subchannel 1 around the intra-cell guard band 1002 arranged between the RB set 0 and the RB set 1, the sidelink subchannel 1 can also be mapped to the RB set 1. Due to the rate matching around the intra-cell guard band 1002, the RBs included in the sidelink subchannel 1 can be discontinuous (e.g., in two segments / parts).

[0093] For example, as shown, the first portion 1004 of the sidelink subchannel 1 may be included in RB set 0 of the unlicensed spectrum, and the second portion 1006 of the sidelink subchannel 1 may be included in RB set 1 of the unlicensed spectrum. Fig. 9 The second mapping shown in Fig.10 Under the first mapping shown in , the sizes of consecutive sidelink subchannels 0 and 1 can be equal. For example, as shown, the bandwidth of sidelink subchannel 0 is equal to the sum of the bandwidth of the first part 1004 of sidelink subchannel 1 and the bandwidth of the second part 1006 of sidelink subchannel 1.

[0094] In addition, regarding Fig.10 In the third mapping, when the PSCCH is sent in the sidelink subchannel 1, the PSCCH may be rate matched around the intra-cell guard band 1002. In addition, in some cases, based on at least one of the capabilities of the first UE or the capabilities of the second UE, the PSSCH sent in the sidelink subchannel 1 may be one of the following: rate matched to the intra-cell guard band 1002 arranged between RB set 0 and RB set 1, or rate matched around the intra-cell guard band 1002. For example, in some cases, if the second UE is low-capability (e.g., unable to receive transmissions in the intra-cell guard period), the PSSCH sent by the first UE may be rate matched around the intra-cell guard band 1002 (e.g., not using RBs in the intra-cell guard band 1002 for transmission). In other words, if the second UE is a low-capability UE, the first UE may avoid using the intra-cell guard band 1002 arranged between RB set 0 and RB set 1 to communicate with the second UE. However, if the second UE is highly capable (e.g., capable of receiving transmissions in the intra-cell guard period), the PSSCH transmitted by the first UE may be rate matched into the intra-cell guard band 1002 (e.g., transmitted using RBs in the intra-cell guard band 1002). That is, if the second UE is highly capable, the first UE may communicate with the second UE using the intra-cell guard band 1002 arranged between RB set 0 and RB set 1.

[0095] According to various aspects, communicating with the second UE using the sidelink subchannel 1 that is rate matched into or around the intra-cell guard band 1002 may require going through an LBT procedure for RB set 0 and RB set 1 on either side of the intra-cell guard band 1002. For example, communicating with the second UE via a connection using the sidelink subchannel 1 may include performing an LBT procedure across RB set 0 and RB set 1 to determine whether resources in RB set 0 and resources in RB set 1 are available for use. Then, when resources in RB set 0 are available for use and resources in RB set 1 are available for use based on the LBT procedure, the first UE may communicate with the second UE using the sidelink subchannel 1 that spans RB set 0 and RB set 1.

[0096] Fig.11 A fourth mapping is shown (e.g., which the first UE can use when communicating with the second UE), wherein the sidelink subchannel can be confined to fit within a particular RB set. More specifically, in some cases, the fourth mapping between the sidelink subchannel and the RB set of the unlicensed spectrum can include each of the sidelink subchannels being completely confined within a corresponding RB set in the multiple RB sets, such that no sidelink subchannel spans a guard band arranged between two RB sets in the multiple RB sets.

[0097] like Fig.11 As shown, a first sidelink subchannel set (e.g., sidelink subchannels 0-3) may be mapped to RB set 0 of the unlicensed spectrum and confined within the RB set 0, while a second sidelink subchannel set (e.g., sidelink subchannels 4-6) may be mapped to RB set 1 of the unlicensed spectrum and confined within the RB set 1. As shown, although confining the sidelink subchannels to fit within the RB set of the unlicensed spectrum may avoid the above-mentioned problem of the sidelink subchannels overlapping with the intra-cell guard band, since no sidelink subchannels overlap with the resources defined in the intra-cell guard band, these resources may be wasted. Therefore, in order to solve the problem of RBs in the intra-cell guard band not being included in any sidelink subchannel, in some cases, for high-capability UEs, if two adjacent sidelink subchannels are included in the assignment of resources, the RBs between the two sidelink subchannels (e.g., including resources in the intra-cell guard band) may be included in the assignment. In other words, the RB between the two subchannels overlapping the intra-cell guard band may be interpreted as a special sidelink subchannel included in the resource assignment. However, in this case, the special sidelink subchannel may not include the PSCCH.

[0098] For example, Fig.11As shown, sidelink subchannel 3 may be confined to RB set 0 of the unlicensed spectrum, while sidelink subchannel 4 may be confined to RB set 1 of the unlicensed spectrum. As shown, RB set 0 is arranged contiguously (e.g., adjacent) to RB set 1, while sidelink subchannel 3 is arranged contiguously (e.g., adjacent) to sidelink subchannel 4, but is separated from the second sidelink subchannel by at least an intra-cell guard band 1102. In some cases, as shown at 1104, the first UE may receive a resource assignment for communicating with the second UE, the assignment including resources arranged between sidelink subchannel 3 and sidelink subchannel 4. In some cases, the resources arranged between sidelink subchannel 3 and sidelink subchannel 4 may include resources (e.g., RBs) in the intra-cell guard band 1102 and resources in sidelink subchannel 3 and sidelink subchannel 4.

[0099] Therefore, in this case, the first UE can communicate with the second UE via resources arranged between the first sidelink subchannel and the second sidelink subchannel based on at least one of the capabilities of the first UE or the second UE. For example, in some cases, if the second UE is high-capable, the first UE can use all resources arranged between the sidelink subchannel 3 and the sidelink subchannel 4 (including resources in the intra-cell guard band 1102) to communicate with the second UE. Such communication can also be conditioned on passing the LBT process in both RB set 0 and RB set 1.

[0100] In some cases, as shown at 1106, if the second UE is low capability, the first UE may receive an assignment that includes a set of resources within sidelink subchannel 3 and sidelink subchannel 4, but excludes resources arranged between sidelink subchannel 3 and sidelink subchannel 4. In this case, the first UE may communicate with the second UE using only the resources included within sidelink subchannel 3 and sidelink subchannel 4.

[0101] In some cases, as shown at 1108, if the second UE is low-capable, the first UE may receive an assignment that includes resources included in sidelink subchannel 3 and sidelink subchannel 4 and a set of resources located in RB sets 0 and 1 arranged between sidelink subchannel 3 and sidelink subchannel 4. However, in this case, the assignment may not include resources in the intra-cell guard band 1102. Therefore, in this case, the first UE may communicate with the second UE using resources included in sidelink subchannel 3 and sidelink subchannel 4 and resources arranged between sidelink subchannel 3 and sidelink subchannel 4 (excluding resources in the intra-cell guard band 1102).

[0102] In some cases, such as Fig.12 As shown, the Fig.11 The resource pool of the sidelink subchannel of the fourth mapping shown in . For example, Fig.12 As shown, the first sidelink subchannel set may be confined to RB set 1 of the unlicensed spectrum, and the second sidelink subchannel set may be confined to RB set 2 of the unlicensed spectrum. As shown, the first sidelink subchannel set may include, for example, sidelink subchannel 0, and the second sidelink subchannel set may include, for example, sidelink subchannel 2.

[0103] In some cases, the Fig.11 In a first option of a resource pool of a mapped sidelink subchannel as shown in , a first RB 1202 in frequency for sidelink subchannel 0 can be defined relative to a lowest indexed RB 1204 of the sidelink bandwidth portion. In addition, the first RB 1202 in frequency for sidelink subchannel 0 can start from a first offset 1206 in frequency from a start 1208 of RB set 1 of unlicensed spectrum. In some cases, the subchannel size (S) can be used to place the sidelink subchannels contiguously in RB set 1 (e.g., sidelink subchannels 0-1). According to various aspects, when the sidelink subchannel exceeds the upper end of RB set 1, the sidelink subchannel can be moved to the next RB set, such as RB set 2. When the sidelink subchannel is added to the next RB set, in some cases, as shown at 1209, the first RB 1210 in frequency for sidelink subchannel 2 can start from a first offset 1206 from a start 1212 of RB set 2. In other cases, the first RB 1210 in frequency of the sidelink subchannel 2 may be aligned with the start 1212 of the RB set 2 of the unlicensed spectrum, as shown at 1211. According to various aspects, sidelink subchannels may be added successively until the number of sidelink subchannels required for transmission is reached. In some cases, the remaining RBs in the RB set may be assigned / aggregated to the last sidelink subchannel in the RB set to avoid waste.

[0104] In some cases, the Fig.11In the second option of the resource pool for the mapped sidelink subchannel shown in , the starting RB and the number of sidelink subchannels can be defined relative to an RB set, and an RB set index set / range can be provided to indicate the RB set to which the sidelink subchannel is mapped. For example, the RB set / range (e.g., the starting RB set and the number of RB sets) can indicate which RB sets will have the configured sidelink subchannels. Within each RB set with configured sidelink subchannels, the starting RB indicates the starting RB in the RB set of the sidelink subchannel with the lowest index relative to the lowest index RB in the RB set. In addition, the number of sidelink subchannels can be defined relative to the RB set. Therefore, the total number of sidelink subchannels can be determined as the number of sidelink subchannels in the RB set multiplied by the number of RB sets with the configured sidelink subchannels.

[0105] For example, in some cases, such as Fig.13 As shown, the first RB 1302 in frequency of the sidelink subchannel 0 can be defined relative to the lowest index RB 1304 of the RB set 1 of the unlicensed spectrum. In some cases, the first UE can receive an indication of the starting RB index of the first RB in frequency indicating the first sidelink subchannel. The UE can also receive an indication of an RB set range (which indicates the RB set of the unlicensed spectrum with the configured sidelink subchannel) and an indication 1306 of the number of sidelink subchannels confined within each RB set. Therefore, based on the starting RB index, the RB set range, and the number of sidelink subchannels, the UE can determine a resource pool for the sidelink subchannel that spans the RB set indicated by the RB set range. The first UE can then communicate with the second UE based at least in part on the starting RB index, the indicated number of sidelink subchannels confined within each RB set, and the RB set range.

[0106] Fig.14 1 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations 1400 for wireless communication (e.g., for communicating using sidelink resources allocated in an unlicensed spectrum) in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. Operations 1400 may be performed, for example, by a first UE (e.g., UE 120a in wireless communication network 100). Operations 1400 may be implemented as a process on one or more processors (e.g., Figure 2 In addition, in operation 1400, the UE may transmit and receive signals, for example, through one or more antennas (e.g., Figure 2In some aspects, the UE may transmit and / or receive signals via a bus interface that obtains and / or outputs signals of one or more processors (eg, controller / processor 280).

[0107] At block 1402, operations 1400 may begin by establishing a connection with a second UE for sidelink communication in an unlicensed spectrum.

[0108] At box 1404, operation 1400 can continue by: communicating with the second UE (e.g., transmitting to the second UE) via the connection using one or more sidelink subchannels in the unlicensed spectrum based on a mapping between the sidelink subchannels and resource block (RB) sets of the unlicensed spectrum, wherein the unlicensed spectrum includes multiple RB sets and one or more guard bands arranged between the RB sets in the multiple RB sets.

[0109] In some cases, the mapping between the sidelink subchannels and the RB sets of the unlicensed spectrum includes mapping a plurality of sidelink subchannels to at least one RB set of the plurality of RB sets.

[0110] In some cases, the mapping between the sidelink subchannel and the RB set of the unlicensed spectrum includes mapping the sidelink subchannel continuously across multiple RB sets and one or more guard bands in the unlicensed spectrum. In addition, in some cases, the first sidelink subchannel spans at least a first RB set of the unlicensed spectrum and a first guard band arranged between the first RB set and the second RB set. In addition, in some cases, at 1404, communicating with the second UE via the connection using one or more sidelink subchannels may include: performing a listen-before-talk (LBT) process across the first RB set and the second RB set to determine whether resources in the first RB set and resources in the second RB set are available for use. Therefore, in such a case, when the resources in the first RB set are available for use and the resources in the second RB set are available for use based on the LBT process, the first UE may use the first sidelink subchannel spanning the first RB set and the second RB set to communicate with the second UE.

[0111] In some cases, at 1404, communicating with the second UE using the first sidelink subchannel further includes: communicating with the second UE using a guard band arranged between the first set of RBs and the second set of RBs based on capabilities of at least one of the first UE or the second UE. In some cases, at 1404, communicating with the second UE using the first sidelink subchannel further includes: avoiding communicating with the second UE using a guard band arranged between the first set of RBs and the second set of RBs based on capabilities of at least one of the first UE or the second UE.

[0112] In some cases, the mapping between the sidelink subchannel and the RB set of the unlicensed spectrum includes mapping the sidelink subchannel continuously across multiple RB sets in the unlicensed spectrum without crossing one or more guard bands in the unlicensed spectrum. In this case, a first sidelink subchannel in one or more sidelink subchannels and a second sidelink subchannel in one or more sidelink subchannels can be mapped to a first RB set of the unlicensed spectrum. In some cases, the second sidelink subchannel occupies less bandwidth than the first sidelink subchannel. In some cases, the second sidelink subchannel does not include a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) based on the amount of resources available in the second sidelink subchannel being lower than a threshold. In some cases, the amount of bandwidth occupied by each sidelink subchannel in the sidelink subchannel can be based on the relative frequency position of the corresponding sidelink subchannel relative to the one or more guard bands.

[0113] In some cases, a first portion of the second sidelink subchannel is included in a first RB set of an unlicensed spectrum, a second portion of the second sidelink subchannel is included in a second RB set of the unlicensed spectrum, and a guard band in one or more guard bands is arranged between the first RB set and the second RB set. In some cases, a bandwidth of the first sidelink subchannel is equal to a sum of a bandwidth of the first portion of the second sidelink subchannel and a bandwidth of the second portion of the second sidelink subchannel. In some cases, a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) in the second sidelink subchannel is rate matched around the guard band, and based on at least one of the capabilities of the first UE or the capabilities of the second UE, a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) in the second sidelink subchannel is one of: rate matched into the guard band, or rate matched around the guard band.

[0114] In some cases, at 1404, communicating with the second UE via the connection using the one or more sidelink subchannels may include performing a listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure across the first set of RBs and the second set of RBs to determine whether resources in the first set of RBs and resources in the second set of RBs are available for use. Thus, at 1404, when resources in the first set of RBs are available for use and resources in the second set of RBs are available for use based on the LBT procedure, the first UE may communicate with the second UE using at least one sidelink subchannel of the one or more sidelink subchannels that spans the first set of RBs and the second set of RBs.

[0115] In some cases, at 1404, using at least one of the one or more sidelink subchannels to communicate with the second UE further includes: communicating with the second UE using a guard band arranged between the first set of RBs and the second set of RBs based on capabilities of at least one of the first UE or the second UE. In some cases, at 1404, using at least one of the sidelink subchannels to communicate with the second UE includes: avoiding communicating with the second UE using a guard band arranged between the first set of RBs and the second set of RBs based on capabilities of at least one of the first UE or the second UE.

[0116] In some cases, the mapping between the sidelink subchannels and the RB sets of the unlicensed spectrum includes each of the sidelink subchannels being completely confined within a corresponding RB set in the multiple RB sets, such that no sidelink subchannel spans a guard band arranged between two RB sets in the multiple RB sets. For example, in this case, one or more sidelink subchannels may include a first sidelink subchannel confined within a first RB set of the unlicensed spectrum and a second sidelink subchannel confined within a second RB set of the unlicensed spectrum. In addition, in some cases, the first RB set may be arranged to be adjacent to the second RB set, and the first sidelink subchannel is arranged to be adjacent to the second sidelink subchannel, but separated from the second sidelink subchannel by at least one guard band.

[0117] In addition, in some cases, operation 1400 may also include: receiving a resource assignment for communicating with the second UE (e.g., from a third UE that performs an LBT process and assigns resources to the first UE), wherein the resource assignment includes resources arranged between the first sidelink subchannel and the second sidelink subchannel, including resources in a protection band, and resources in the first sidelink subchannel and the second sidelink subchannel. In some cases, operation 1400 includes: the first UE (e.g., in a PSSCH) sends a resource assignment for communicating with the second UE (e.g., obtained by the first UE by performing an LBT process), wherein the resource assignment includes resources arranged between the first sidelink subchannel and the second sidelink subchannel, including resources in a protection band, and resources in the first sidelink subchannel and the second sidelink subchannel. Therefore, in this case, at 1404, communicating with the second UE via the connection includes: communicating via resources arranged between the first sidelink subchannel and the second sidelink subchannel based on at least one of the capabilities of the first UE or the second UE.

[0118] In some cases, operation 1400 may also include: receiving a resource assignment for communicating with a second UE (e.g., from a third UE that performs an LBT process and assigns resources to the first UE), wherein the resource assignment includes a set of resources within the first sidelink subchannel and the second sidelink subchannel, and excludes resources arranged between the first sidelink subchannel and the second sidelink subchannel. In some cases, operation 1400 includes: the first UE (e.g., in a PSSCH) sends a resource assignment for communicating with a second UE (e.g., obtained by the first UE by performing an LBT process), wherein the resource assignment includes a set of resources within the first sidelink subchannel and the second sidelink subchannel, and excludes resources arranged between the first sidelink subchannel and the second sidelink subchannel.

[0119] In some cases, operation 1400 may also include: receiving a resource assignment for communicating with a second UE (e.g., from a third UE that performs an LBT process and assigns resources to the first UE), wherein the resource assignment includes a set of resources arranged between the first sidelink subchannel and the second sidelink subchannel that do not include resources in a guard band, and resources in the first sidelink subchannel and the second sidelink subchannel. In some cases, operation 1400 includes: the first UE sends (e.g., in a PSSCH) a resource assignment for communicating with the second UE (e.g., obtained by the first UE by performing an LBT process), wherein the resource assignment includes a set of resources arranged between the first sidelink subchannel and the second sidelink subchannel that do not include resources in a guard band, and resources in the first sidelink subchannel and the second sidelink subchannel.

[0120] In some cases, one or more sidelink subchannels include at least a first sidelink subchannel set confined within a first RB set of unlicensed spectrum and a second sidelink subchannel set confined within a second RB set of unlicensed spectrum. In some cases, the first sidelink subchannel set includes at least the first sidelink subchannel, and the second sidelink subchannel set includes at least the second sidelink subchannel. In some cases, the first RB in frequency of the first sidelink subchannel is defined relative to the lowest indexed RB of the sidelink bandwidth portion. In some cases, the first RB in frequency of the first sidelink subchannel starts from a first offset in frequency from the start of the first RB set of unlicensed spectrum. In some cases, the first RB in frequency of the second sidelink subchannel starts from a first offset from the start of the second RB set. In some cases, the first RB in frequency of the second sidelink subchannel is aligned with the start of the second RB set of unlicensed spectrum.

[0121] In some cases, a first RB in a frequency of a first sidelink subchannel is defined relative to a lowest indexed RB of a first set of RBs for unlicensed spectrum. In this case, operation 1400 may also include: receiving or sending an indication of a starting RB index of the first RB in a frequency of the first sidelink subchannel; and receiving or sending an indication of a number of sidelink subchannels included in at least a first set of sidelink subchannels within the first set of RBs confined to the unlicensed spectrum. Thus, in this case, at 1404, communicating with a second UE may be based at least in part on the starting RB index and a number of sidelink subchannels included in at least a first set of sidelink subchannels within the first set of RBs confined to the unlicensed spectrum.

[0122] Fig.15 A communication device 1500 is shown, which may include devices configured to perform operations of the techniques disclosed herein (such as in Fig.14 1500 includes various components (e.g., corresponding to means plus functional components) of the communication device 1500. The communication device 1500 includes a processing system 1502 coupled to a transceiver 1508 (e.g., a transmitter and / or a receiver). The transceiver 1508 is configured to send and receive signals for the communication device 1500, such as the various signals described herein, via an antenna 1510. The processing system 1502 can be configured to perform processing functions for the communication device 1500, including processing signals received and / or to be transmitted by the communication device 1500.

[0123] The processing system 1502 includes a processor 1504 coupled to a computer-readable medium / memory 1512 via a bus 1506. In certain aspects, the computer-readable medium / memory 1512 is configured to store instructions (e.g., computer-executable code) that, when executed by the processor 1504, cause the processor 1504 to perform operations in the computer-readable medium / memory. Fig.14 The computer readable medium / memory 1512 may be used to perform the operations shown in the or other operations for performing the various techniques discussed herein for communicating using sidelink resources allocated in an unlicensed spectrum. In some aspects, the computer readable medium / memory 1512 stores code 1514 for establishing, code 1516 for communicating, and code 1518 for executing.

[0124] In some cases, the code for establishing 1514 may include code for establishing a connection with a second UE for sidelink communication in an unlicensed spectrum.

[0125] In some cases, the code 1516 for communicating may include code for communicating with a second UE via a connection using one or more sidelink subchannels in an unlicensed spectrum based on a mapping between the sidelink subchannels and resource block (RB) sets of the unlicensed spectrum, wherein the unlicensed spectrum includes multiple RB sets and one or more guard bands arranged between the RB sets in the multiple RB sets.

[0126] In some cases, the code for executing 1518 may include code for performing a listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure across the first set of RBs and the second set of RBs to determine whether resources in the first set of RBs and resources in the second set of RBs are available for use.

[0127] In some cases, the code 1516 for communicating may include code for communicating with a second UE using a first sidelink subchannel spanning a first RB set and a second RB set when resources in the first RB set are available and resources in the second RB set are available based on the LBT process.

[0128] In some cases, the code for communicating 1516 may include code for communicating with the second UE using a guard band arranged between the first set of RBs and the second set of RBs based on a capability of at least one of the first UE or the second UE.

[0129] In some cases, the code for communicating 1516 may include code for communicating with the second UE using a guard band arranged between the first set of RBs and the second set of RBs based on a capability of at least one of the first UE or the second UE.

[0130] In some cases, the code for executing 1518 may include code for performing a listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure across the first set of RBs and the second set of RBs to determine whether resources in the first set of RBs and resources in the second set of RBs are available for use.

[0131] In some cases, the code 1516 for communicating may include code for communicating with a second UE using at least one sidelink subchannel of one or more sidelink subchannels spanning the first RB set and the second RB set when resources in the first RB set are available and resources in the second RB set are available based on the LBT process.

[0132] In some cases, the code for communicating 1516 may include code for communicating with the second UE using a guard band arranged between the first set of RBs and the second set of RBs based on a capability of at least one of the first UE or the second UE.

[0133] In some cases, the code for communicating 1516 may include code for avoiding using a guard band disposed between the first set of RBs and the second set of RBs to communicate with the second UE based on a capability of at least one of the first UE or the second UE.

[0134] In some cases, the code 1516 for communicating may include code for transmitting a resource assignment for communicating with a second UE, wherein the resource assignment includes resources arranged between the first sidelink subchannel and the second sidelink subchannel, including resources in a guard band, and resources in the first sidelink subchannel and the second sidelink subchannel.

[0135] In some cases, the code for communicating 1516 may include code for communicating via resources arranged between the first sidelink subchannel and the second sidelink subchannel based on at least one of the capabilities of the first UE or the second UE.

[0136] In some cases, the code 1516 for communicating may include code for transmitting a resource assignment for communicating with a second UE, wherein the resource assignment includes a set of resources within the first sidelink subchannel and the second sidelink subchannel and excludes resources arranged between the first sidelink subchannel and the second sidelink subchannel.

[0137] In some cases, the code 1516 for communicating may include code for transmitting a resource assignment for communicating with a second UE, wherein the resource assignment includes a set of resources arranged between the first sidelink subchannel and the second sidelink subchannel, not including resources in a guard band, and resources in the first sidelink subchannel and the second sidelink subchannel.

[0138] In some cases, the code for communicating 1516 may include code for transmitting an indication of a starting RB index of a first RB in a frequency indicating a first sidelink subchannel. Additionally, in some cases, the code for communicating 1516 may include code for transmitting an indication of a number of sidelink subchannels included in at least a first set of sidelink subchannels within a first set of RBs confined to an unlicensed spectrum.

[0139] In some aspects, processor 1504 may include circuitry configured to implement code stored in computer-readable medium / memory 1512, such as for executing Fig.14 , or other operations for performing the various techniques discussed herein for communicating using sidelink resources allocated in an unlicensed spectrum. For example, processor 1504 includes circuitry 1524 for establishing, circuitry 1526 for communicating, and circuitry 1528 for executing.

[0140] In some cases, the circuitry for establishing 1524 may include circuitry for establishing a connection with the second UE for sidelink communications in an unlicensed spectrum.

[0141] In some cases, the circuit 1526 for communicating may include a circuit for communicating with a second UE via a connection using one or more sidelink subchannels in an unlicensed spectrum based on a mapping between the sidelink subchannels and resource block (RB) sets of the unlicensed spectrum, wherein the unlicensed spectrum includes multiple RB sets and one or more guard bands arranged between the RB sets in the multiple RB sets.

[0142] In some cases, circuitry for performing 1528 may include circuitry for performing a listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure across the first set of RBs and the second set of RBs to determine whether resources in the first set of RBs and resources in the second set of RBs are available for use.

[0143] In some cases, circuitry 1526 for communicating may include circuitry for communicating with a second UE using a first sidelink subchannel spanning a first RB set and a second RB set when resources in the first RB set are available and resources in the second RB set are available based on an LBT process.

[0144] In some cases, the circuitry for communicating 1526 may include circuitry for communicating with the second UE using a guard band arranged between the first set of RBs and the second set of RBs based on capabilities of at least one of the first UE or the second UE.

[0145] In some cases, the circuitry for communicating 1526 may include circuitry for communicating with the second UE using a guard band arranged between the first set of RBs and the second set of RBs based on capabilities of at least one of the first UE or the second UE.

[0146] In some cases, circuitry for performing 1528 may include circuitry for performing a listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure across the first set of RBs and the second set of RBs to determine whether resources in the first set of RBs and resources in the second set of RBs are available for use.

[0147] In some cases, the circuit 1526 for communicating may include a circuit for communicating with a second UE using at least one sidelink subchannel of the one or more sidelink subchannels spanning the first RB set and the second RB set when resources in the first RB set are available and resources in the second RB set are available based on the LBT process.

[0148] In some cases, the circuitry for communicating 1526 may include circuitry for communicating with the second UE using a guard band arranged between the first set of RBs and the second set of RBs based on capabilities of at least one of the first UE or the second UE.

[0149] In some cases, the circuitry for communicating 1526 may include circuitry for avoiding using a guard band arranged between the first set of RBs and the second set of RBs to communicate with the second UE based on capabilities of at least one of the first UE or the second UE.

[0150] In some cases, the circuit 1526 for communicating may include a circuit for transmitting a resource assignment for communicating with a second UE, wherein the resource assignment includes resources arranged between the first sidelink subchannel and the second sidelink subchannel, including resources in a guard band, and resources in the first sidelink subchannel and the second sidelink subchannel.

[0151] In some cases, the circuitry for communicating 1526 may include circuitry for communicating via resources arranged between the first sidelink subchannel and the second sidelink subchannel based on at least one of the capabilities of the first UE or the second UE.

[0152] In some cases, the circuit 1526 for communicating may include a circuit for transmitting a resource assignment for communicating with a second UE, wherein the resource assignment includes a set of resources within the first sidelink subchannel and the second sidelink subchannel and excludes resources arranged between the first sidelink subchannel and the second sidelink subchannel.

[0153] In some cases, the circuit 1526 for communicating may include a circuit for transmitting a resource assignment for communicating with a second UE, wherein the resource assignment includes a set of resources arranged between the first sidelink subchannel and the second sidelink subchannel that does not include resources in a guard band, and resources in the first sidelink subchannel and the second sidelink subchannel.

[0154] In some cases, the circuitry 1526 for communicating may include circuitry for transmitting an indication of a starting RB index of a first RB in the frequency that indicates a first sidelink subchannel. In addition, in some cases, the circuitry 1526 for communicating may include circuitry for transmitting an indication of a number of sidelink subchannels included in at least a first set of sidelink subchannels within a first set of RBs confined to an unlicensed spectrum.

[0155] Example aspects

[0156] Aspect 1: A method for wireless communication by a first user equipment (UE), comprising: establishing a connection with a second UE for sidelink communication in an unlicensed spectrum; and communicating with the second UE via the connection using one or more sidelink subchannels in the unlicensed spectrum based on a mapping between the sidelink subchannel and a resource block (RB) set of the unlicensed spectrum, wherein the unlicensed spectrum includes multiple RB sets and one or more guard bands arranged between RB sets in the multiple RB sets.

[0157] Aspect 2: The method according to Aspect 1, wherein the mapping between the sidelink subchannel and the RB set of the unlicensed spectrum includes mapping a plurality of sidelink subchannels to at least one RB set among the plurality of RB sets.

[0158] Aspect 3: A method according to one or more of Aspect 1 or Aspect 2, wherein the mapping between the sidelink subchannel and the RB set of the unlicensed spectrum includes continuously mapping the sidelink subchannel across the multiple RB sets and the one or more guard bands in the unlicensed spectrum.

[0159] Aspect 4: The method according to aspect 3, wherein the first sidelink subchannel spans at least a first RB set of the unlicensed spectrum and a first guard band arranged between the first RB set and a second RB set.

[0160] Aspect 5: A method according to Aspect 4, wherein using the one or more sidelink subchannels to communicate with the second UE via the connection includes: performing a listen-before-talk (LBT) process across the first RB set and the second RB set to determine whether resources in the first RB set and resources in the second RB set are available for use; and when, based on the LBT process, resources in the first RB set are available for use and resources in the second RB set are available for use, using the first sidelink subchannel across the first RB set and the second RB set to communicate with the second UE.

[0161] Aspect 6: A method according to Aspect 5, wherein using the first sidelink subchannel to communicate with the second UE further includes: based on the capabilities of at least one of the first UE or the second UE, using the protection band arranged between the first RB set and the second RB set to communicate with the second UE.

[0162] Aspect 7: A method according to Aspect 5, wherein using the first sidelink subchannel to communicate with the second UE includes: based on the capabilities of at least one of the first UE or the second UE, avoiding using the protection band arranged between the first RB set and the second RB set to communicate with the second UE.

[0163] Aspect 8: A method according to Aspect 1 or 2, wherein the mapping between the sidelink subchannel and the RB set of the unlicensed spectrum includes continuously mapping the sidelink subchannel across the multiple RB sets in the unlicensed spectrum without crossing the one or more guard bands in the unlicensed spectrum.

[0164] Aspect 9: A method according to Aspect 8, wherein a first sidelink subchannel among the one or more sidelink subchannels and a second sidelink subchannel among the one or more sidelink subchannels are mapped to a first RB set of the unlicensed spectrum.

[0165] Aspect 10: The method according to Aspect 9, wherein the second sidelink sub-channel occupies less bandwidth than the first sidelink sub-channel.

[0166] Aspect 11: A method according to Aspect 9 or 10, wherein, based on the amount of resources available in the second sidelink subchannel being lower than a threshold, the second sidelink subchannel does not include a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH).

[0167] Aspect 12: A method according to any one of Aspects 9-11, wherein the amount of bandwidth occupied by each of the sidelink subchannels is based on the relative frequency position of the corresponding sidelink subchannel relative to the one or more guard bands.

[0168] Aspect 13: A method according to Aspect 9, wherein: a first part of the second sidelink subchannel is included in the first RB set of the unlicensed spectrum; a second part of the second sidelink subchannel is included in the second RB set of the unlicensed spectrum; and a guard band among the one or more guard bands is arranged between the first RB set and the second RB set.

[0169] Aspect 14: A method according to Aspect 13, wherein the bandwidth of the first sidelink subchannel is equal to the sum of the bandwidth of the first part of the second sidelink subchannel and the bandwidth of the second part of the second sidelink subchannel.

[0170] Aspect 15: A method according to Aspect 13, wherein: a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) in the second sidelink subchannel is rate matched around the protection band; and based on at least one of the capabilities of the first UE or the capabilities of the second UE, a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) in the second sidelink subchannel is one of the following: rate matched into the protection band, or rate matched around the protection band.

[0171] Aspect 16: A method according to any one of Aspects 8-15, wherein using the one or more sidelink subchannels to communicate with the second UE via the connection includes: performing a listen-before-talk (LBT) process across a first RB set and a second RB set to determine whether resources in the first RB set and resources in the second RB set are available for use; and when, based on the LBT process, resources in the first RB set are available for use and resources in the second RB set are available for use, using at least one sidelink subchannel of the one or more sidelink subchannels spanning the first RB set and the second RB set to communicate with the second UE.

[0172] Aspect 17: A method according to Aspect 16, wherein using the at least one sidelink subchannel of the one or more sidelink subchannels to communicate with the second UE also includes: based on the capabilities of at least one of the first UE or the second UE, using a protection band arranged between the first RB set and the second RB set to communicate with the second UE.

[0173] Aspect 18: A method according to Aspect 16, wherein using the at least one of the sidelink subchannels to communicate with the second UE includes: based on the capabilities of at least one of the first UE or the second UE, avoiding using a protection band arranged between the first RB set and the second RB set to communicate with the second UE.

[0174] Aspect 19: A method according to Aspect 1, wherein the mapping between the sidelink subchannel and the RB set of the unlicensed spectrum includes each of the sidelink subchannels being completely confined within a corresponding RB set among the multiple RB sets, such that no sidelink subchannel spans a guard band arranged between two RB sets among the multiple RB sets.

[0175] Aspect 20: A method according to Aspect 19, wherein: the one or more sidelink subchannels include a first sidelink subchannel confined to a first RB set of the unlicensed spectrum and a second sidelink subchannel confined to a second RB set of the unlicensed spectrum; the first RB set is arranged to be adjacent to the second RB set; and the first sidelink subchannel is arranged to be adjacent to the second sidelink subchannel, but separated from the second sidelink subchannel by at least a protection band.

[0176] Aspect 21: The method according to Aspect 20 also includes: transmitting a resource assignment for communicating with the second UE, wherein the resource assignment includes resources arranged between the first sidelink subchannel and the second sidelink subchannel, including resources in the protection band, and resources in the first sidelink subchannel and the second sidelink subchannel.

[0177] Aspect 22: A method according to Aspect 21, wherein communicating with the second UE via the connection includes: communicating via the resources arranged between the first sidelink subchannel and the second sidelink subchannel based on at least one of the capabilities of the first UE or the second UE.

[0178] Aspect 23: The method according to Aspect 20 further includes: transmitting a resource assignment for communicating with the second UE, wherein the resource assignment includes a set of resources within the first sidelink subchannel and the second sidelink subchannel, and excludes resources arranged between the first sidelink subchannel and the second sidelink subchannel.

[0179] Aspect 24: The method according to Aspect 20 also includes: transmitting a resource assignment for communicating with the second UE, wherein the resource assignment includes a set of resources arranged between the first sidelink subchannel and the second sidelink subchannel, excluding resources in the protection band, and resources in the first sidelink subchannel and the second sidelink subchannel.

[0180] Aspect 25: A method according to Aspect 19, wherein the one or more sidelink subchannels include at least a first sidelink subchannel set confined to a first RB set of the unlicensed spectrum and a second sidelink subchannel set confined to a second RB set of the unlicensed spectrum.

[0181] Aspect 26: A method according to Aspect 25, wherein: the first sidelink subchannel set includes at least a first sidelink subchannel; and the second sidelink subchannel set includes at least a second sidelink subchannel.

[0182] Aspect 27: The method according to aspect 26, wherein the first RB in frequency of the first sidelink subchannel is defined relative to the lowest index RB of the sidelink bandwidth part.

[0183] Aspect 28: The method according to aspect 27, wherein the first RB in frequency of the first sidelink subchannel starts from a first offset in frequency from the start of the first set of RBs of the unlicensed spectrum.

[0184] Aspect 29: The method according to aspect 28, wherein the first RB in frequency of the second sidelink subchannel starts from the first offset from the start of the second RB set.

[0185] Aspect 30: A method according to any one of aspects 28-29, wherein a first RB in frequency of the second sidelink subchannel is aligned with the start of the second set of RBs of the unlicensed spectrum.

[0186] Aspect 31: The method according to aspect 26, wherein the first RB in frequency of the first sidelink subchannel is defined relative to the lowest index RB of the first RB set of the unlicensed spectrum.

[0187] Aspect 32: The method according to Aspect 31 also includes: transmitting an indication of a starting RB index of the first RB in the frequency indicating the first sidelink subchannel; and transmitting an indication of the number of sidelink subchannels included in at least the first sidelink subchannel set within the first RB set confined to the unlicensed spectrum.

[0188] Aspect 33: A method according to Aspect 32, wherein communicating with the second UE is based at least in part on the starting RB index and the number of sidelink subchannels included in at least the first sidelink subchannel set within the first RB set confined to the unlicensed spectrum.

[0189] Additional Considerations

[0190] The techniques described herein can be used for various wireless communication technologies, such as NR (e.g., 5G NR), 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE), Advanced LTE (LTE-A), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA), Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA), and other networks. The terms "network" and "system" are often used interchangeably. A CDMA network can implement radio technologies such as Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), cdma2000, and the like. UTRA includes Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) and other variants of CDMA. cdma2000 covers IS-2000, IS-95, and IS-856 standards. A TDMA network can implement radio technologies such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). An OFDMA network may implement radio technologies such as NR (e.g., 5G RA), Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash OFDMA, etc. UTRA and E-UTRA are part of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). LTE and LTE-A are versions of UMTS that use E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, LTE-A, and GSM are described in documents from an organization named "3rd Generation Partnership Project" (3GPP). cdma2000 and UMB are described in documents from an organization named "3rd Generation Partnership Project 2" (3GPP2). NR is an emerging wireless communication technology under development.

[0191] In 3GPP, the term "cell" may refer to the coverage area of ​​a Node B (NB) and / or a NB subsystem serving the coverage area, depending on the context in which the term is used. In NR systems, the terms "cell" and BS, next generation Node B (gNB or gNodeB), access point (AP), distributed unit (DU), carrier or transmit receive point (TRP) may be used interchangeably. The BS may provide communication coverage for macro cells, pico cells, femto cells and / or other types of cells. A macro cell may cover a relatively large geographic area (e.g., a radius of several kilometers) and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscriptions. A pico cell may cover a relatively small geographic area and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscriptions. A femto cell may cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a residence) and may allow restricted access by UEs associated with the femto cell (e.g., UEs in a closed subscriber group (CSG), UEs for users in a residence, etc.). A BS for a macro cell may be referred to as a macro BS. A BS for a pico cell may be referred to as a pico BS. A BS for a femto cell may be referred to as a femto BS or a home BS.

[0192] UE may also be referred to as a mobile station, terminal, access terminal, subscriber unit, station, customer premises equipment (CPE), cellular phone, smart phone, personal digital assistant (PDA), wireless modem, wireless communication device, handheld device, laptop, cordless phone, wireless local loop (WLL) station, tablet computer, camera, gaming device, netbook, smartbook, ultrabook, home appliance, medical device or medical equipment, biometric sensor / device, wearable device (such as smart watch, smart clothing, smart glasses, smart wristband, smart jewelry (e.g., smart ring, smart bracelet, etc.)), entertainment device (e.g., music device, video device, satellite radio unit, etc.), vehicle assembly or sensor, smart meter / sensor, industrial manufacturing equipment, global positioning system device, or any other suitable device configured to communicate via wireless medium or wired medium. Some UEs may be considered as machine type communication (MTC) devices or evolved MTC (eMTC) devices. MTC and eMTC UEs include, for example, robots, drones, remote devices, sensors, meters, monitors, location tags, etc., which can communicate with a BS, another device (e.g., a remote device), or some other entity. For example, a wireless node can provide a connection for or to a network (e.g., a wide area network such as the Internet or a cellular network) via a wired communication link or a wireless communication link. Some UEs can be considered Internet of Things (IoT) devices, which can be narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) devices.

[0193] In some examples, access to the air interface can be scheduled. A scheduling entity (e.g., BS) allocates resources for communication between some or all devices and equipment within its service area or cell. A scheduling entity may be responsible for scheduling, assigning, reconfiguring, and releasing resources for one or more subordinate entities. That is, for scheduled communications, subordinate entities utilize resources allocated by the scheduling entity. The base station is not the only entity that can serve as an entity for scheduling. In some examples, a UE may serve as a scheduling entity and may schedule resources for one or more subordinate entities (e.g., one or more other UEs), while other UEs may utilize resources scheduled by the UE for wireless communication. In some examples, a UE may serve as a scheduling entity in a peer-to-peer (P2P) network and / or a mesh network. In a mesh network example, in addition to communicating with a scheduling entity, UEs may also communicate directly with each other.

[0194] The method disclosed herein includes one or more steps or actions for implementing the method. Without departing from the scope of the claims, the method steps and / or actions can be interchangeable with each other. In other words, unless a specific order of steps or actions is specified, the order of specific steps and / or actions and / or the use of specific steps and / or actions can be modified without departing from the scope of the claims.

[0195] As used herein, a phrase referring to "at least one of" a list of items refers to any combination of those items, including single members. For example, "at least one of a, b, or c" is intended to cover: a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, and abc, as well as any combination with multiples of the same element (e.g., aa, aaa, aab, aac, abb, acc, bb, bbb, bbc, cc, and ccc or any other arrangement of a, b, and c).

[0196] As used herein, the term "determine" encompasses a wide variety of actions. For example, "determine" may include calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, searching (e.g., searching in a table, a database, or another data structure), ascertaining, etc. In addition, "determine" may include receiving (e.g., receiving information), accessing (e.g., accessing data in a memory), etc. In addition, "determine" may include resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing, etc.

[0197] The foregoing description is provided to enable any technician in the field to implement the various aspects described herein. Various modifications to these aspects will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein can be applied to other aspects. Therefore, the claims are not intended to be limited to the various aspects shown herein, but are given the full scope consistent with the language of the claims, wherein unless explicitly stated, the reference to the singular element is not intended to mean "one and only one", but "one or more". Unless otherwise explicitly stated, the term "some" refers to one or more. Observe that the elements of the various aspects described in this disclosure, all structural and functional equivalents known to or later known to those of ordinary skill in the art are explicitly incorporated herein by reference, and are intended to be included by the claims. In addition, there is no content in the disclosure herein that is intended to be dedicated to the public, regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recorded in the claims. No claim element is to be interpreted according to 35 U.S.C. § 112 (f), unless the element is explicitly recorded using the phrase "unit for...", or in the case of a method claim, the element is recorded using the phrase "step for...".

[0198] The various operations of the above method can be performed by any suitable unit capable of performing the corresponding functions. The unit may include various hardware components and / or software components and / or hardware modules and / or software modules, including but not limited to circuits, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) or processors. Typically, where there are operations shown in the figure, these operations may have corresponding paired units plus functional components with similar numbers.

[0199] The various illustrative logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the present disclosure may be implemented or executed using a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device (PLD), discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in an alternative, the processor may be any commercially available processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, a combination of one or more microprocessors and a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0200] If implemented in hardware, an example hardware configuration may include a processing system in a wireless node. The processing system may be implemented using a bus architecture. The bus may include any number of interconnecting buses and bridges, depending on the specific application and overall design constraints of the processing system. The bus may link together various circuits including a processor, a machine-readable medium, and a bus interface. The bus interface may be used to connect a network adapter, etc., to the processing system via the bus. The network adapter may be used to implement the signal processing functions of the PHY layer. In a user terminal (see Figure 1 ), a user interface (e.g., keyboard, display, mouse, joystick, etc.) may also be connected to the bus. The bus may also link various other circuits such as timing sources, peripherals, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art and will not be described any further. The processor may be implemented using one or more general purpose processors and / or special purpose processors. Examples include microprocessors, microcontrollers, DSP processors, and other circuits that can execute software. Those skilled in the art will recognize how to best implement the functionality described for the processing system depending on the specific application and the overall design constraints imposed on the entire system.

[0201] If implemented in software, the function can be stored on a computer-readable medium or sent through a computer-readable medium as one or more instructions or codes. Regardless of whether it is called software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language or other names, software should be broadly interpreted as meaning instructions, data or any combination thereof. Computer-readable media include both computer storage media and communication media, and the communication media include any medium that facilitates the transmission of computer programs from one place to another. The processor can be responsible for managing the bus and general processing, including the execution of software modules stored on the machine-readable storage medium. The computer-readable storage medium can be coupled to the processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. In an alternative manner, the storage medium can be a component of the processor. For example, the machine-readable medium may include a transmission line, a carrier modulated by data, and / or a computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon separated from the wireless node, all of which can be accessed by the processor through a bus interface. Alternatively or in addition, the machine-readable medium or any part thereof can be integrated into the processor, such as the case can be accompanied by a cache and / or a general register file. For example, examples of machine-readable storage media may include RAM (random access memory), flash memory, ROM (read-only memory), PROM (programmable read-only memory), EPROM (erasable programmable read-only memory), EEPROM (electrically erasable programmable read-only memory), registers, magnetic disks, optical disks, hard drives, or any other suitable storage media, or any combination thereof. Machine-readable media may be embodied in a computer program product.

[0202] A software module may include a single instruction or many instructions, and may be distributed on several different code segments, among different programs, and across multiple storage media. A computer-readable medium may include multiple software modules. A software module includes instructions that, when executed by a device (such as a processor), cause a processing system to perform various functions. A software module may include a sending module and a receiving module. Each software module may be located in a single storage device, or distributed across multiple storage devices. For example, when a triggering event occurs, a software module may be loaded from a hard drive into a RAM. During the execution of the software module, the processor may load some of the instructions into a cache to increase access speed. Then, one or more cache lines may be loaded into a general register file for execution by the processor. When referring to the functions of the software modules below, it will be understood that such functions are implemented by the processor when executing instructions from the software module.

[0203] Moreover, any connection may properly be termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies (such as infrared (IR), radio and microwave), then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies (such as infrared, radio and microwave) are included in the definition of medium. As used herein, disk and disc include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Optical disks, where magnetic disks typically reproduce data magnetically, and optical disks utilize lasers to reproduce data optically. Thus, in some aspects, computer-readable media may include non-transitory computer-readable media (e.g., tangible media). Additionally, for other aspects, computer-readable media may include transitory computer-readable media (e.g., signals). Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0204] Thus, certain aspects may include a computer program product for performing the operations presented herein. For example, such a computer program product may include a computer-readable medium having instructions stored (and / or encoded) thereon, the instructions being executable by one or more processors to perform the operations described herein. For example, a computer program product for performing the operations described herein and in Fig.14 Instructions for the operations shown in and / or other operations described herein for communicating using sidelink resources allocated in an unlicensed spectrum.

[0205] Further, it should be appreciated that the modules and / or other appropriate units for performing the methods and techniques described herein can be downloaded and / or otherwise obtained by a user terminal and / or base station where applicable. For example, such a device can be coupled to a server to facilitate the transmission of the units for performing the methods described herein. Alternatively, the various methods described herein can be provided via a storage unit (e.g., RAM, ROM, a physical storage medium such as a compact disc (CD) or a floppy disk, etc.), so that the user terminal and / or base station can obtain the various methods when the storage unit is coupled to the device or provided to the device. In addition, any other appropriate technology for providing the methods and techniques described herein to the device can be utilized.

[0206] It will 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 methods and apparatus described above without departing from the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication by a first user equipment (UE), comprising: establishing a connection with a second UE for sidelink communication in an unlicensed spectrum; as well as communicating with the second UE via the connection using one or more sidelink subchannels in the unlicensed spectrum according to a mapping between the sidelink subchannels and resource block (RB) sets of the unlicensed spectrum, wherein the unlicensed spectrum includes a plurality of RB sets and one or more guard bands arranged between RB sets in the plurality of RB sets, and Wherein, the mapping between the sidelink subchannel and the RB set of the unlicensed spectrum includes continuously mapping the sidelink subchannel across the multiple RB sets in the unlicensed spectrum without crossing the one or more guard bands in the unlicensed spectrum.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: A first sidelink subchannel of the one or more sidelink subchannels and a second sidelink subchannel of the one or more sidelink subchannels are mapped to a first RB set of the unlicensed spectrum.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein: The second sidelink sub-channel occupies less bandwidth than the first sidelink sub-channel.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein: Based on an amount of available resources in the second sidelink subchannel being lower than a threshold, the second sidelink subchannel does not include a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH).

5. The method according to claim 2, wherein: The amount of bandwidth occupied by each of the sidelink subchannels is based on a relative frequency position of the corresponding sidelink subchannel with respect to the one or more guard bands.

6. The method according to claim 2, wherein: A first portion of the second sidelink subchannel is included in the first set of RBs of the unlicensed spectrum; A second portion of the second sidelink subchannel is included in a second set of RBs of the unlicensed spectrum; and A guard band of the one or more guard bands is arranged between the first RB set and the second RB set.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein: The bandwidth of the first sidelink subchannel is equal to the sum of the bandwidth of the first portion of the second sidelink subchannel and the bandwidth of the second portion of the second sidelink subchannel.

8. The method according to claim 6, wherein: A physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) in the second sidelink subchannel is rate matched around the guard band; and Based on at least one of the capabilities of the first UE or the capabilities of the second UE, a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) in the second sidelink subchannel is one of the following: rate matched into the guard band, or rate matched around the guard band.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein: Communicating with the second UE via the connection using the one or more sidelink sub-channels includes: performing a listen-before-talk (LBT) process across a first RB set and a second RB set to determine whether resources in the first RB set and resources in the second RB set are available for use; and When resources in the first RB set are available and resources in the second RB set are available based on the LBT process, at least one sidelink subchannel of the one or more sidelink subchannels spanning the first RB set and the second RB set is used to communicate with the second UE.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein: Using at least one of the one or more sidelink subchannels to communicate with the second UE also includes: based on the capabilities of at least one of the first UE or the second UE, using a protection band arranged between the first RB set and the second RB set to communicate with the second UE.

11. The method according to claim 9, wherein: Using the at least one of the sidelink subchannels to communicate with the second UE includes: avoiding using a guard band arranged between the first RB set and the second RB set to communicate with the second UE based on a capability of at least one of the first UE or the second UE.

12. A first user equipment (UE) for wireless communication, comprising: Unit for performing at least one of the methods according to claims 1 - 11.

13. A first user equipment (UE) for wireless communication, comprising: Memory; as well as A processor coupled to the memory, the processor being configured to perform at least one of the methods according to claims 1-11.

14. A computer-readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed by at least one processor of a first user equipment (UE), cause the at least one processor to perform at least one of the methods according to claims 1-11.

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