Sidelink beam management

Abstract

Disclosed are methods, apparatuses, and systems for beam management in a sidelink communication. The method includes: establishing, by a node in the sidelink communication, a plurality of unicast links with a plurality of other nodes in the sidelink communication; performing a channel sensing; selecting one or more resources and determining one or more Tx beams for at least one of: one or more PSCCH transmissions, or one or more PSSCH transmissions; and performing, using the selected one or more resources and the determined one or more Tx beams, the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions.

Description

SIDELINK BEAM MANAGEMENTCROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 518,240, filed on August 8, 2023, entitled “Mitigating Beam Conflict in Sidelink Beam Management,” the entirety of which is incorporated by reference herein.

[0002] Apparatuses and methods consistent with the present disclosure relate generally to communications, more specifically, methods, systems, and devices for beam management in a sidelink communication.

[0003] Sidelink communication technology enables direct communication of a user equipment (UE) with one or more other UEs. There may be a desire for a UE in a sidelink communication to simultaneously transmit multiple signals to multiple other UEs and to simultaneously receive corresponding feedback signals from the other UEs. In a low-frequency band (e.g., 5.9 GHz or lower) sidelink communication, the UE may be able to simultaneously receive the multiple feedback signals using an omni-directional beam. However, in a high-frequency band (e.g., mmWave bands) sidelink communication, simultaneous signal receptions are more complicated. For example, while the UE may be able to train multiple receiver (Rx) beams for multiple receptions over multiple sidelink unicast links, these multiple Rx beams are usually different, and the UE is usually incapable of receiving multiple different Rx beams simultaneously. This may cause Rx beam conflict at the UE.

[0004] Similarly, there may be a desire for a UE in a high-frequency band sidelink communication to simultaneously receive signals transmitted from multiple other UEs and to transmit corresponding feedback signals to the other UEs simultaneously. While the UE may be able to train multiple transmitter (Tx) beams for the multiple transmissions over multiple sidelink unicast links, these multiple Tx beams are usually different, and the UE is usually incapable of transmitting multiple different Tx beams simultaneously. This may cause Tx beam conflict at the UE.

[0005] The resource selection or reselection methods used in low-frequency band sidelink communications may not be sufficient to mitigate the Rx beam conflict and the Tx beam conflict. This is especially the case when the UEs are moving. Systems and methods that can mitigate the Rx beam conflict and / or the Tx beam conflict in simultaneous receptions and / or transmissions are desired.

[0006] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a node for beam management in a sidelink communication. The node includes a memory storing an instruction; and a processor configured to execute the instruction stored in the memory to: establish a plurality of unicast links with a plurality of other nodes in the sidelink communication; perform a channel sensing; select one or more resources and determine one or more Tx beams for at least one of: one or more physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) transmissions, or one or more physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) transmissions, wherein the processor is configured to execute the instruction stored in the memory to perform at least one of: (1) performing resource selection or resource reselection for the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions for the plurality of unicast links jointly, (2) selecting, from a candidate resource set, at least one resource for at least one of: one or more of the PSCCH transmissions or one or more of the PSSCH transmissions associated with a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) reception scheduled to use a PSFCH Rx beam and a slot that are the same as that of one or more PSFCH receptions already scheduled, (3) prioritizing, within the candidate resource set, at least one resource associated with the PSFCH reception scheduled to use the PSFCH Rx beam and the slot that are the same as that of the one or more PSFCH receptions already scheduled, or deprioritizing one or more resources for the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions based on a delivery deadline or a latency requirement of the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions, (4) performing resource reselection on preselected one or more resources for the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions, in response to a determination of a predicted beam conflict between a plurality of Rx beams for a plurality of PSFCH receptions at the node, (5) dynamically selecting and indicating, in each of the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions, at least one of: one or more PSFCH Tx slots for the plurality of the other nodes, or one or more PSFCH Rx slots for the node, or (6) selecting one or more Rx beams wider than one or more current Rx beams for the plurality of the PSFCH receptions, in response to a determination that the beam conflict is unavoidable; and perform, using the selected one or more resources and the determined one or more Tx beams, the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions.

[0007] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a node for beam management in a sidelink communication. The node includes a memory storing an instruction; and a processor configured to execute the instruction stored in the memory to: establish one or more unicast links with one or more other nodes in the sidelink communication; receive at least one of: one or more PSCCH signals or one or more PSSCH signals transmitted from the one or more other nodes; determine whether to perform one or more PSFCH transmissions as feedback of the reception of the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH signals or the one or more PSSCH signals, and determine one or more PSFCH slots in response to a determination that the one or more PSFCH transmissions are to be performed, wherein the processor is configured to execute the instruction stored in the memory to perform at least one of: (1) determining the one or more PSFCH slots for the one or more PSFCH transmissions based on at least one of: one or more priorities of the one or more PSFCH transmissions, one or more priorities of one or more PSFCH transmissions that are already scheduled, one or more priorities for one or more PSFCH receptions that are already scheduled, a predicted Tx beam conflict for the one or more PSFCH transmissions, or an existence of a common beam for the one or more PSFCH transmissions and the one or more PSFCH transmissions that are already scheduled in a same slot, (2) selecting, from a plurality of PSFCH slot occasions, the one or more PSFCH slots that do not cause a conflict between the one or more PSFCH Tx beams with the one or more PSFCH Tx beams that are already scheduled in a same slot, or (3) in response to a determination of the predicted Tx beam conflict for the one or more PSFCH transmissions, using one or more Tx beams wider than the one or more current Tx beams for the one or more PSFCH transmissions, or using a same PSFCH Tx beam for the one or more PSFCH transmissions; and in response to a determination of the one or more PSFCH slots, perform the one or more PSFCH transmissions using the determined one or more PSFCH slots.

[0008] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a method for beam management in a sidelink communication. The method includes establishing, by a node in the sidelink communication, a plurality of unicast links with a plurality of other nodes in the sidelink communication; performing a channel sensing; selecting one or more resources and determining one or more Tx beams for at least one of: one or more PSCCH transmissions, or one or more PSSCH transmissions, wherein selecting the one or more resources and determining the one or more Tx beams comprise performing at least one of: (1) performing resource selection or resource reselection for the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions for the plurality of unicast links jointly, (2) selecting, from a candidate resource set, at least one resource for at least one of: one or more of the PSCCH transmissions or one or more of the PSSCH transmissions associated with a PSFCH reception scheduled to use a PSFCH Rx beam and a slot that are the same as that of one or more PSFCH receptions already scheduled, (3) prioritizing, within the candidate resource set, at least one resource for the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions associated with the PSFCH reception scheduled to use the PSFCH Rx beam and the slot that are the same as that of the one or more PSFCH receptions already scheduled, or deprioritizing one or more resources for the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions based on a delivery deadline or a latency requirement of the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions, (4) performing resource reselection on preselected one or more resources for the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions, in response to a determination of a predicted beam conflict between a plurality of Rx beams for a plurality of PSFCH receptions at the node, (5) dynamically selecting and indicating, in each of the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions, at least one of: one or more PSFCH Tx slots for the plurality of the other nodes, or one or more PSFCH Rx slots for the node, or (6) selecting one or more Rx beams wider than one or more current Rx beams for the plurality of the PSFCH receptions, in response to a determination that the beam conflict is unavoidable; and performing, using the selected one or more resources and the determined one or more Tx beams, the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions.

[0009] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a method for beam management in a sidelink communication. The method includes establishing, by a node in the sidelink communication, one or more unicast links with one or more other nodes in the sidelink communication; receiving at least one of: one or more PSCCH signals or one or more PSSCH signals transmitted from the one or more other nodes; determining whether to perform one or more PSFCH transmissions as feedback of the reception of the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH signals or the one or more PSSCH signals, and determining one or more PSFCH slots in response to a determination that the one or more PSFCH transmissions are to be performed, wherein determining whether to perform the one or more PSFCH transmissions comprises at least one of: (1) determining the one or more PSFCH slots for the one or more PSFCH transmissions based on at least one of: one or more priorities of the one or more PSFCH transmissions, one or more priorities of one or more PSFCH transmissions that are already scheduled, one or more priorities for one or more PSFCH receptions that are already scheduled, a predicted Tx beam conflict for the one or more PSFCH transmissions, or an existence of a common beam for the one or more PSFCH transmissions and the one or more PSFCH transmissions that are already scheduled in a same slot, (2) selecting, from a plurality of PSFCH slot occasions, the one or more PSFCH slots that do not cause a conflict between the one or more PSFCH Tx beams with the one or more PSFCH Tx beams that are already scheduled in a same slot, or (3) in response to a determination of the predicted Tx beam conflict for the one or more PSFCH transmissions, using one or more Tx beams wider than the one or more current Tx beams for the one or more PSFCH transmissions, or using a same PSFCH Tx beam for the one or more PSFCH transmissions; and in response to a determination of the one or more PSFCH slots, performing the one or more PSFCH transmissions using the determined one or more PSFCH slots.

[0010] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that are executable by one or more processors of a node in a sidelink communication to perform a method. The method includes establishing, by a node in the sidelink communication, a plurality of unicast links with a plurality of other nodes in the sidelink communication; performing a channel sensing; selecting one or more resources and determining one or more Tx beams for at least one of: one or more PSCCH transmissions, or one or more PSSCH transmissions, wherein selecting the one or more resources and determining the one or more Tx beams comprise performing at least one of: (1) performing resource selection or resource reselection for the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions for the plurality of unicast links jointly, (2) selecting, from a candidate resource set, at least one resource for at least one of: one or more of the PSCCH transmissions or one or more of the PSSCH transmissions associated with a PSFCH reception scheduled to use a PSFCH receiver (Rx) beam and a slot that are the same as that of one or more PSFCH receptions already scheduled, (3) prioritizing, within the candidate resource set, at least one resource for the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions associated with the PSFCH reception scheduled to use the PSFCH Rx beam and the slot that are the same as that of the one or more PSFCH receptions already scheduled, or deprioritizing one or more resources for the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions based on a delivery deadline or a latency requirement of the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions, (4) performing resource reselection on preselected one or more resources for the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions, in response to a determination of a predicted beam conflict between a plurality of Rx beams for a plurality of PSFCH receptions at the node, (5) dynamically selecting and indicating, in each of the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions, at least one of: one or more PSFCH Tx slots for the plurality of the other nodes, or one or more PSFCH Rx slots for the node, or (6) selecting one or more Rx beams wider than one or more current Rx beams for the plurality of the PSFCH receptions, in response to a determination that the beam conflict is unavoidable; and performing, using the selected one or more resources and the determined one or more Tx beams, the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions.

[0011] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that are executable by one or more processors of a node in a sidelink communication. The method includes establishing, by a node in the sidelink communication, one or more unicast links with one or more other nodes in the sidelink communication; receiving at least one of: one or more PSCCH signals or one or more PSSCH signals transmitted from the one or more other nodes; determining whether to perform one or more PSFCH transmissions as feedback of the reception of the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH signals or the one or more PSSCH signals, and determining one or more PSFCH slots in response to a determination that the one or more PSFCH transmissions are to be performed, wherein determining whether to perform the one or more PSFCH transmissions comprises at least one of: (1) determining the one or more PSFCH slots for the one or more PSFCH transmissions based on at least one of: one or more priorities of the one or more PSFCH transmissions, one or more priorities of one or more PSFCH transmissions that are already scheduled, one or more priorities for one or more PSFCH receptions that are already scheduled, a predicted Tx beam conflict for the one or more PSFCH transmissions, or an existence of a common beam for the one or more PSFCH transmissions and the one or more PSFCH transmissions that are already scheduled in a same slot, (2) selecting, from a plurality of PSFCH slot occasions, the one or more PSFCH slots that do not cause a conflict between the one or more PSFCH Tx beams with the one or more PSFCH Tx beams that are already scheduled in a same slot, or (3) in response to a determination of the predicted Tx beam conflict for the one or more PSFCH transmissions, using one or more Tx beams wider than the one or more current Tx beams for the one or more PSFCH transmissions, or using a same PSFCH Tx beam for the one or more PSFCH transmissions; and in response to a determination of the one or more PSFCH slots, performing the one or more PSFCH transmissions using the determined one or more PSFCH slots.

[0012] FIG. 1 is a flow chart illustrating a method for resource selection in a sidelink communication, consistent with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0013] FIG. 2A is a schematic diagram illustrating a resource candidate determination procedure according to the method of FIG. 1, consistent with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0014] FIG. 2B is a table showing a correspondence between sub-carrier spacing (SCS) and a subset of resources according to the method of FIG. 1, consistent with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0015] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a PSSCH-to-PSFCH time resource mapping, consistent with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0016] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a PSFCH Rx beam conflict at a UE in a sidelink communication, consistent with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0017] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a PSFCH Tx beam conflict at a UE in a sidelink communication, consistent with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0018] FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating a method for beam management (e.g., mitigating PSFCH Rx beam conflict at a node) in a sidelink communication, consistent with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0019] FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating a method for beam management (e.g., mitigating PSFCH Tx beam conflict at a node) in a sidelink communication, consistent with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0020] FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a node, consistent with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0021] Reference will now be made in detail to exemplary embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The following description refers to the accompanying drawings in which the same numbers in different drawings represent the same or similar elements unless otherwise represented. The implementations set forth in the following description of exemplary embodiments do not represent all implementations consistent with the present disclosure. Instead, they are merely examples of systems, apparatuses, and methods consistent with aspects related to the present disclosure as recited in the appended claims.

[0022] FIG. 1 is a flow chart illustrating a method 100 for resource selection or reselection in a sidelink communication; FIG. 2A is a schematic diagram illustrating a resource candidate determination procedure according to the method of FIG. 1; and FIG. 2B is a table showing a correspondence between SCS and a subset of resources according to the method of FIG. 1, consistent with some embodiments of the present disclosure. The method 100 may be performed by several different types of nodes, although the following provides explanations of the method 100 being performed by a UE in a sidelink communication. For example, the method 100 may be performed by a vehicle in a V2X communication. The method 100 may be performed under a mode that employs orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) at the physical (PHY) layer for a sidelink communication. An example of the mode is the 3GPP Release 16 / 17 5G NR-V2X PC5 mode 2.

[0023] As shown in FIG. 2A, in the mode, the time-frequency radio resources are divided into slots in the time domain and sub-channels in the frequency domain. In an embodiment, the mode may support SCSs of 15・2μkHz, where μ is the OFDM numerology μ ∈ {0, 1, 2, 3, 4}. For sub-6 GHz frequency, SCSs of 15, 30, and 60 kHz (i.e., μ ∈ {0, 1, 2}) may be supported, whereas for above 6 GHz frequency, SCSs of 60, 120, and 240 kHz (i.e., μ ∈ {2, 3, 4}) may be supported. Each slot is 1 / 2μms length and consists of 14 OFDM symbols. Each sub-channel may consist of multiple contiguous physical resource blocks (PRBs), where each PRB occupies 180・2μkHz and consists of 12 subcarriers with 15・2μkHz SCS. The size of sub-channel (i.e., the number of PRBs per sub-channel) is configurable or preconfigurable.

[0024] To support multiple SCSs and different Doppler spreads, multiple demodulation reference signal (DMRS) density options (2~4 DMRS symbols per slot) are supported. Each UE may transmit a first stage sidelink control information (SCI) in the PSCCH and data (e.g., transport block (TB)), and a second stage SCI in the PSSCH. Hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback (e.g., acknowledgement (ACK) / negative acknowledgement (NACK) or NACK only) may be transmitted in the PSFCH.

[0025] FIG. 2B shows the correspondence among SCS and parameters for the sensing window and selection window (TSLproc,0and TSLproc,1), consistent with some embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, when the SCS is 15 kHz, as shown in the second and third columns of FIG. 2B, TSLproc,0corresponds to 1 ms, and TSLproc,1correspond to 3 ms. As another example, when the SCS is 30 kHz, TSLproc,0corresponds to 0.5 ms, and TSLproc,1correspond 2.5 ms.

[0026] Referring back to FIG. 1, the method 100 includes a step 102 of performing a channel sensing. The channel sensing can be a background sensing or any other type of full sensing or partial sensing. For example, as shown in FIG. 2A, a UE may perform a channel sensing in a sensing window Tsensing(e.g., Tsensing= [n - T0, n - TSLproc,0], where T0= 100 or 1100 ms and TSLproc,0is given in FIG. 2B) to collect another UE’s resource reservation information. The channel sensing with a sensing window of 100 ms may be for an aperiodic traffic, while the channel sensing with a sensing window of 1100 ms may be for a periodic traffic.

[0027] The method 100 includes a step 104 of collecting another UE’s resource reservation information and measuring corresponding sidelink-reference signal received power (SL-RSRP). For example, as shown in FIG. 2A, the UE may perform a channel sensing in the sensing window and collect another UE’s resource reservation information based on SCI decoding to identify candidate resources. In an embodiment, in order to perform the channel sensing and obtain information to receive other UEs’ packets, the UE decodes SCI first.

[0028] The SCI decoding may include two stages: a first stage SCI (SCI format 1-A) and a second stage SCI (SCI format 2-A or 2-B) as defined in 3GPP specifications. The first stage SCI may carry resource reservation information for future transmissions, information about resource allocation, modulation and coding scheme (MCS) for PSSCH, DMRS pattern, and the second stage SCI format, etc. The second stage SCI may carry control information for HARQ procedures, source / destination IDs, information for distance-based groupcast (e.g., UE’s zone ID and communication range requirement), etc. Based on the resource reservation information contained in the first stage SCI, the UE may avoid using time and / or frequency resources reserved by another UE when the UE performs resource selection or reselection.

[0029] The method 100 includes a step 106 of determining candidate resources by excluding reserved and / or unmonitored resources. For example, the UE may exclude unmonitored slots from the selection window T (e.g., T = [n + T1, n + T2], where 0 ≦ T1≦ TSLproc,1ms, TSLproc,1is given in FIG. 2B, and T2may be set based on the remaining packet delay budget). The UE may fail to sense the unmonitored slots in the sensing window due to, for example, its own transmission (e.g., half-duplex constraint). The UE may further exclude resources reserved by one or more other UEs from the selection window if the corresponding SL-RSRP exceeds a configured or preconfigured SL-RSRP exclusion threshold. After resource exclusion, the number of candidate resources may be at least X% of the total number of resources in the selection window. Otherwise, the UE may increase the SL-RSRP exclusion threshold by, for example, 3 dB until at least X% resources are obtained, where X may be configured or preconfigured from {20, 35, 50}%.

[0030] The method 100 includes a step 108 of selecting resources among candidate resources. The selection may be a random selection. For example, as shown in FIG. 2A, the UE may select resources among candidate resources in the selection window. The selected frequency resource can be used multiple times with a fixed time interval for semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) or only once for one-shot transmission (OST).

[0031] In some embodiments, the method 100 may utilize inter-UE coordination scheme in which one or more other UEs send coordination information about resources to the UE, and the UE utilizes that information for its resource selection or reselection. The inter-UE coordination scheme may include a first inter-UE coordination scheme and a second inter-UE coordination scheme.

[0032] According to the first inter-UE coordination scheme, the UE may receive, from one or more other UEs, indications of resources that are preferred to be included in the UE’s selected or reselected resources, or preferred to be excluded. In an embodiment, when an indication of resources indicates inclusion of given resources, the UE may solely rely on those resources, if the indication does not support sensing and / or resource exclusion. In an embodiment, the UE may also combine the indication of resources with resources identified by its own sensing procedure before making a final selection. The UE may receive the indication via medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) and / or 2nd-stage SCI.

[0033] According to the second inter-UE coordination scheme, the UE may receive an indication that resources reserved for the UE’s transmission will be, or could be, subject to conflict with a transmission from another UE. In this case, the UE may re-select new resources. The UE may receive the indication via PSFCH. The UE may use a mapping table that defines a mapping rule between PSSCH allocation (e.g., one or more slots and / or sub-channels) and PSFCH resources. Using the mapping table, the UE (and the transmitter UE) can determine the PSSCH allocation that the information in the PSFCH resource refers to. When more than one sub-channel is reserved in the PSSCH, multiple PSFCH resources may be used. The mapping table may be pre-defined, pre-configured at the UE, or configured by a network node.

[0034] The method 100 includes a step 110 of checking resource availability based on re-evaluation and / or pre-emption of the selected resources. This step may be performed for the late-arriving packets (e.g., aperiodic packets) after resource selection and before the packet transmission.

[0035] The method 100 includes a step 112 of determining whether a resource reselection is needed. If it is determined that a resource reselection is needed, the method may iterate from the step 104. On the other hand, if it is determined that a resource reselection is not needed, the method may proceed with a step 114 of transmitting packets based on SPS or OST. The packets may be initial packets or retransmitted packets. The UE may also retransmit packets multiple times (e.g., HARQ retransmissions) with or without feedback from receiver UEs to improve reliability of the transmission. After the step 114, the method 100 may reiterate from step 102.

[0036] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a PSSCH-to-PSFCH time resource mapping, consistent with some embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, a mapping between a PSSCH resource and a PSFCH resource consistent with that of the 3GPP standard may be used for transmission and / or reception on PSFCH for unicast and groupcast (e.g., ACK / NACK feedback and NACK-only feedback). FIG. 3 shows an example mapping between a PSSCH resource and a PSFCH resource. The mapping may be determined by higher-layer parameters, such as sl-PSFCH-Period, sl-MinTimeGapPSFCH, and sl-PSFCH-RB-Set. The parameter sl-PSFCH-Period indicates the period of PSFCH resource, which can be 0, 1, 2, or 4 slots. FIG. 3 shows an example period of PSFCH resource of 4 slots. The parameter sl-MinTimeGapPSFCH indicates the minimum time gap between PSFCH and the associated PSSCH, which can be, for example, 2 or 3 slots. FIG. 3 shows an example time gap between PSFCH and the associated PSSCH of 3 slots. The parameter sl-PSFCH-RB-Set indicates the set of PRBs that are actually used for PSFCH transmission and reception in the form of a bitmap.

[0037] The PSSCH-to-PSFCH resource mapping may allow a Tx UE and an Rx UE to determine which PSSCH resource the information in the PSFCH resource refers to, without explicit signaling between the Tx UE and the Rx UE. The time resources for PSFCH may be configured or preconfigured to occur once in every 1, 2, or 4 slots, provided by sl-PSFCH-Period. In the example PSSCH-to-PSFCH resource mapping as shown in FIG. 3, the time resource for PSFCH is configured or preconfigured to occur once in every 4 slots. When the UE receives a PSSCH signal in a slot (e.g., slot n in FIG.3), the UE may perform a PSFCH transmission in a first slot (e.g., slot n+5 in FIG. 3) that includes PSFCH resources and is at least 2 or 3 slots, provided by sl-MinTimeGapPSFCH, of the resource pool after a last slot of the PSSCH reception. In some embodiments, frequency and / or code resources for PSFCH may be derived from those used by the associated PSSCH transmission, together with the PHY-layer source ID of the UE transmitting PSSCH and, when groupcast with ACK / NACK feedback is used, the identity of the UE receiving PSSCH as indicated by higher layers.

[0038] The resource reservation and resource selection mechanisms described above may be helpful for sidelink communications based on low frequency bands, for example, omnidirectional FR1 signals. In the present disclosure, FR1 is defined as a frequency range of from 410 to 7125 MHz (including the sub-6 GHz spectrum). But resource reservation and resource selection for sidelink communications based on high frequency bands (e.g., FR2) are more complicated. In the present disclosure, FR2 is defined as two frequency sub-ranges: FR2-1 from 24250 to 52600 MHz and FR2-2 from 52600 to 71000 MHz (including the millimeter wave spectrum). While the use of high frequency bands (e.g., FR2) for sidelink communications provides useful complements to the existing sidelink communication in FR1 bands, especially for the high data rate applications, it also suffers from several technical challenges.

[0039] For example, high frequency radio signals suffer from high path loss. Due to higher frequencies, the path loss in FR2 is significantly higher than the path loss in FR1 bands. For example, in the free-space path loss model, the path loss of 30 GHz carrier frequency is 14 dB higher than one in 6 GHz, respectively.

[0040] To compensate for the higher path loss, beamforming with narrow beams or directional antennas may be used to provide enough array gain through larger antenna aperture. However, the use of narrow beamforming or directional antennas requires beam alignment between a Tx UE and an Rx UE. Also, due to potential high mobility of the UEs, the relative position between the Tx UE and the Rx UE may dynamically change. Particularly, in vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) scenarios, both the Tx UE and the Rx UE move (i.e., dual mobility), whereas in vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) / infrastructure-to-vehicle (I2V) scenarios, either of the Tx UE and Rx UE moves.

[0041] Further, in FR2 bands, radio signals may not penetrate solid materials well, which causes high penetration loss when the link path is blocked by surrounding objects (e.g., vehicles, buildings, or other objects). Blockage and high mobility in vehicle-to-everything (V2X) scenarios incur intermittent link connectivity. Particularly, blockage due to surrounding large vehicles (e.g., trucks and buses) may be more severe in V2V scenarios because of relatively low antenna heights at both the Tx UE and the Rx UE.

[0042] In an effort to mitigate these technical challenges, new radio (NR) sidelink beam management (e.g., initial beam pairing, beam maintenance, beam failure recovery) may be used in high frequency based sidelink communication. For example, for initial beam pairing, the Tx UE and the Rx UE may perform an initial beam pairing procedure to determine an initial beam pair between the Tx UE and the Rx UE. Initial beam pairing may be performed before, during, and / or after unicast link establishment. After initial beam pairing, the Tx UE and the Rx UE may perform a beam maintenance procedure to refine the Tx beam and / or the Rx beam. Beam maintenance may be done in periodic and / or aperiodic manners.

[0043] In legacy NR sidelink, simultaneous transmission or reception of multiple PSFCHs is possible using omni-directional beam. However, in high-frequency bands (e.g., FR2) sidelink communication, the PSFCH Tx beam or Rx beam is separately trained for each sidelink unicast session. If a UE supports multiple sidelink unicast sessions, the trained PSFCH beams for a pair of a Tx UE and a Rx UE in different sidelink unicast sessions may be different. Similarly, a UE may have simultaneous PSCCH and / or PSSCH receptions. If a UE supports multiple sidelink unicast sessions, the trained PSCCH and / or PSSCH reception beams for a pair of a Tx UE and a Rx UE in different sidelink unicast sessions may be different.

[0044] On the other hand, a UE’s capability is usually limited such that a UE can only support simultaneous transmissions and / or receptions based on a single beam. A UE is usually incapable of making simultaneous transmissions or simultaneous receptions using different beams. This may cause the issue of PSFCH Tx beam conflict and / or PSFCH Rx beam conflict, as described below with respect to FIG. 4 and FIG. 5.

[0045] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a PSFCH Rx beam conflict for a UE involving with multiple unicast links, consistent with some embodiments of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 4, a UE 402 may be a transmitter UE that transmits signals (e.g., PSCCH and / or PSSCH) to multiple other UEs (UE 404, UE 406, UE 408). In response, the UE 402 should expect to receive multiple PSFCH transmissions from the multiple other UEs (UE 404, UE 406, UE 408) in the same slot. The UE 402 may train different PSFCH Rx beams (e.g., three different beams) for the different unicast links, as shown in FIG. 4. However, since the UE 402 cannot use different Rx beams for simultaneous receptions of the PSFCH signals transmitted from the other UEs (UE 404, UE 406, UE 408), PSFCH Rx beam conflict may occur at the UE 402.

[0046] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a PSFCH Tx beam conflict for a UE involving with multiple unicast links, consistent with some embodiments of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 5, a UE 502 may be a receiver UE that receives signals (e.g., PSCCH and / or PSSCH) transmitted from multiple other UEs (UE 504, UE 506, UE 508). In response, the UE 502 should expect to transmit corresponding PSFCH signals to the multiple other UEs (UE 504, UE 506, UE 508) in the same slot. The UE 502 may train different PSFCH Tx beams (e.g., three different beams) for the different unicast links, as shown in FIG. 5. However, since the UE 502 cannot use different Tx beams for PSFCH transmissions simultaneously, PSFCH Tx beam conflict may occur at the UE 502.

[0047] There are some proposed methods to address the PSFCH Rx beam conflict and / or the PSFCH Tx beam conflict, but these proposed methods suffer from severe shortcomings, as described below.

[0048] For example, in FIG. 4, the UE 402 may drop some PSFCH Rx beams based on the priorities of the multiple PSFCH receptions. Similarly, in FIG. 5, the UE 502 may drop some PSFCH Tx beams based on the priorities of the multiple PSFCH transmissions. But since such an action is a reactive approach, the PSFCH beam conflicts may not be avoided. Also, in FIG. 4, due to the dropping of some PSFCH receptions at the UE 402, some of the UEs transmitting PSSCH and / or PSCCH need to retransmit the PSSCH and / or PSCCH even if retransmission is not needed. Similarly, in FIG. 5, due to the dropping of some of the PSFCH transmissions, the UE 502 needs to retransmit one or more PSSCHs even if retransmission is not needed. This would cause a waste of radio resources.

[0049] For another example, the UE 402 in FIG. 4 may switch to a single common beam (e.g., quasi-omnidirectional beam) to receive the multiple PSFCHs with one beam. Similarly, the UE 502 in FIG. 5 may switch to a single common beam (e.g., quasi-omnidirectional beam) to transmit the multiple PSFCHs with one beam. But, in FIG. 4, if a wider beam is used for the multiple PSFCH receptions, it may reduce the communication range of the PSFCH receptions due to a lower beamforming gain at the UE 402, compared with a beamforming gain using a narrow beam. Similarly, in FIG. 5, if a wider beam is used for the multiple PSFCH transmissions, it may reduce the communication range of the PSFCH transmissions due to a lower beamforming gain at the UE 502, compared with a beamforming gain using a narrow beam. In addition, there are situations in which the UE 402 in FIG. 4 or the UE 502 in FIG. 5 cannot use a common beam for the multiple PSFCH receptions or the multiple PSFCH transmissions in the same slot, depending on locations and / or antenna configurations of the UEs.

[0050] For another example, the UEs in FIG. 4 or the UEs in FIG. 5 may use inter-UE coordination to indicate beam conflict and / or indicate preferred / non-preferred resources to avoid beam conflict. But this method is not suitable for mitigating PSFCH reception beam conflicts, such as the case in FIG. 4.

[0051] At least some embodiments of the present disclosure provide solutions to the above-noted issues by providing methods that can avoid or mitigate the PSFCH Rx beam conflict and / or the PSFCH Tx beam conflict.

[0052] In some embodiments, in order to mitigate the PSFCH Rx beam conflict at a UE transmitting multiple PSCCHs and / or PSSCHs, and receiving corresponding multiple PSFCHs simultaneously (e.g., the UE 402 in FIG. 4), the UE may perform one or more of the following operations:

[0053] In some embodiments, the UE may perform resource selection or resource reselection for the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions for the plurality of unicast links jointly, so that the PSFCH Rx beam conflict is avoided.

[0054] In some embodiments, the UE may select, from a candidate resource set, at least one resource for the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions associated with a PSFCH reception scheduled to use a PSFCH Rx beam and a slot that are the same as that of one or more PSFCH receptions already scheduled.

[0055] In some embodiments, the UE may prioritize, within the candidate resource set, at least one resource associated with the PSFCH reception scheduled to use the PSFCH Rx beam and the slot that are the same as that of the one or more PSFCH receptions already scheduled, or deprioritize one or more resources for the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions based on a delivery deadline or a latency requirement of the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions.

[0056] In some embodiments, the UE may perform resource reselection on preselected one or more resources for the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions, in response to a determination of a predicted beam conflict between a plurality of Rx beams for a plurality of PSFCH receptions at the node.

[0057] In some embodiments, the UE may dynamically select and indicate, in each of the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions, at least one of: one or more PSFCH Tx slots for the plurality of the other nodes, or one or more PSFCH Rx slots for the node.

[0058] In some embodiments, the UE may select one or more Rx beams wider than one or more current Rx beams for the plurality of the PSFCH receptions, in response to a determination that the beam conflict is unavoidable.

[0059] In some embodiments, the UE may selectively apply one or more operations described above for one or more PSFCH receptions, depending on one or multiple conditions. In this way, the UE transmitting multiple PSCCHs and / or PSSCHs, and simultaneously receiving corresponding PSFCHs (e.g., the UE 402 in FIG. 4) may mitigate the PSFCH Rx beam conflict without causing over-exclusion of resources and / or increased latency for PSFCH transmission and / or reception.

[0060] In some embodiments, in order to mitigate the PSFCH Tx beam conflict at a UE receiving multiple PSCCHs and / or PSSCHs, and simultaneously transmitting multiple PSFCHs (e.g., the UE 502 in FIG. 5), the UE may perform one or more of the following operations:

[0061] In some embodiments, the UE may determine the one or more PSFCH slots for the one or more PSFCH transmissions based on at least one of: one or more priorities of the one or more PSFCH transmissions, one or more priorities of one or more PSFCH transmissions that are already scheduled, one or more priorities for one or more PSFCH receptions that are already scheduled, a predicted Tx beam conflict for the one or more PSFCH transmissions, or an existence of a common beam for the one or more PSFCH transmissions and the one or more PSFCH transmissions that are already scheduled in a same slot.

[0062] In some embodiments, the UE may select, from a plurality of PSFCH slot occasions, the one or more PSFCH slots that do not cause a conflict between the one or more PSFCH Tx beams with the one or more PSFCH Tx beams that are already scheduled in a same slot.

[0063] In some embodiments, in response to a determination of the predicted Tx beam conflict for the one or more PSFCH transmissions, the UE may use one or more Tx beams wider than the one or more current Tx beams for the one or more PSFCH transmissions, or using a same PSFCH Tx beam for the one or more PSFCH transmissions.

[0064] In some embodiments, a UE may selectively perform one or more above-noted operations for one or more PSFCH transmissions, based on multiple conditions. In this way, the UE receiving PSCCH and / or PSSCH, and transmitting the corresponding PSFCHs (e.g., the UE 502 in FIG. 5) simultaneously may mitigate the Tx beam conflict without causing over-exclusion of resources and / or increased latency for PSFCH transmission and / or reception.

[0065] Since the methods provided in the present disclosure are proactive approaches, the PSFCH Rx beam conflict and the PSFCH Tx beam conflict can be avoided proactively. By applying these methods, narrow beams can be used for PSFCH transmission and / or reception, thereby extending the communication range of PSFCH transmission and / or reception without causing the PSFCH Rx beam conflict and / or the PSFCH Tx beam conflict.

[0066] The present disclosure discloses methods and apparatuses for determining resources and / or beams for beam-based sidelink communications. The methods can be applied to any wireless communication system that makes use of beamforming, but, in the rest of the disclosure, the method is exemplified with, without limiting to, terrestrial mobile radio communication systems, such as 3GPP LTE or 5G NR radio access technology (RAT) or a future generation (6thgeneration (6G), 7thgeneration (7G), or any future generation) RAT, where sidelink communication is supported. The methods described in this disclosure can also be applied to other systems, for example, the systems that comply with other standards (e.g., IEEE standards).

[0067] FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating a method 600 for beam management (e.g., mitigating PSFCH Rx beam conflict at a node simultaneously receiving multiple PSFCHs) in a sidelink communication, consistent with some embodiments of the present disclosure. The node transmits multiple PSCCHs and / or PSSCHs to multiple other nodes, and receives corresponding multiple PSFCHs from the multiple other nodes. The node may include at least one of: at least one UE, at least one relay node, at least one vehicle mounted module, at least one road-side unit, at least one repeater, at least one transponder, at least one wireless router, at least one controller, or at least one access point. An example of such a node is the UE 402 of FIG. 4.

[0068] The method 600 includes a step 602 of establishing, by a node in the sidelink communication, a plurality of unicast links with a plurality of other nodes in the sidelink communication. Using the UE 402 as an example, as shown in FIG. 4, the UE 402 establishes three unicast links with other UEs (UE 404, UE 406, UE 408). In some embodiments, the step of establishing the plurality of unicast links also includes determining at least one Tx beam and / or at least one Rx beam for each unicast link.

[0069] The method 600 includes a step 604 of performing a channel sensing. The channel sensing may be a background sensing or any other type of full sensing or partial sensing. For example, the UE 402 (FIG. 4) may perform a channel sensing in a sensing window Tsensing(e.g., Tsensing= [n - T0, n - TSLproc,0], where T0= 100 or 1100 ms and TSLproc,0is given in FIG. 2B) to collect the resource reservation information of other UEs (UE 404, UE 406, UE 408). The channel sensing with a sensing window of 100 ms may be for an aperiodic traffic, while the channel sensing with a sensing window of 1100 ms may be for a periodic traffic. In some embodiments, performing the channel sensing may include obtaining, from the other UEs, the resource reservation information of other UEs.

[0070] The method 600 includes a step 606 of selecting one or more resources and determining one or more Tx beams for at least one of: one or more PSCCH transmissions, or one or more PSSCH transmissions. The UE 402 (FIG. 4) may select one or more resources and / or determine one or more Tx beams by performing resource exclusion, resource selection, resource reselection, resource reevaluation, or resource preemption for the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions, or the one or more PSSCH transmissions by performing one or more operations discussed below.

[0071] In some embodiments, the UE 402 may perform resource selection or resource reselection for the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions for the plurality of unicast links jointly, so that PSFCH Rx beam conflict is avoided and / or the same PSFCH Rx beam can be used for the multiple PSCCH and / or PSSCH transmissions of multiple unicast links. For example, the UE 402 may perform the resource selection or the resource reselection for the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions for the plurality of unicast links jointly, in response to a determination of an overlap of the selection windows for multiple PSCCHs and / or PSSCHs of the multiple unicast links. For another example, the UE 402 may perform the resource selection or the resource reselection for the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions for the plurality of unicast links jointly, in response to a determination that there is a common PSFCH Rx beam for the multiple unicast links. In this case, the UE 402 may use the same PSFCH Rx beam for the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions, or the one or more PSSCH transmissions.

[0072] In some embodiments, UE 402 (FIG. 4) may select, from a candidate resource set, at least one resource for at least one of: one or more of the PSCCH transmissions or one or more of the PSSCH transmissions associated with a PSFCH reception scheduled to use a PSFCH Rx beam and a slot that are the same as that of one or more PSFCH receptions already scheduled. In this case, the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions may be one or more current transmissions, and the one or more PSFCH receptions already scheduled may be the one or more PSFCH receptions in response to previous transmission of one or more signals from the UE 402.

[0073] In some embodiments, the UE 402 (FIG. 4) may prioritize, within the candidate resource set, at least one resource associated with the PSFCH reception scheduled to use the PSFCH Rx beam and the slot that are the same as that of the one or more PSFCH receptions already scheduled. For example, the UE 402 may prioritize at least one resource associated with the PSFCH reception scheduled to use a PSFCH Rx beam and a slot that are the same as that of one or more PSFCH receptions already scheduled, by applying one or more reference signal received power (RSRP) thresholds in resource exclusion within the candidate resource set based on at least one of: one or more priorities of the one or more PSCCH transmissions, one or more priorities of the one or more PSSCH transmissions, or one or more congestion metrics. The RSRP thresholds may be a function of a priority of the one or more PSCCH signals or the one or more PSSCH signals, or the traffic congestion. Conversely, the UE 402 may deprioritize one or more resources for the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions based on a delivery deadline or a latency requirement of the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions. For example, the UE 402 may deprioritize transmission of data with long delivery deadline (e.g., early frames in a large group of pictures), or transmission of data with low latency requirement (e.g., Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)).

[0074] In some embodiments, the UE 402 may perform resource reselection on preselected one or more resources for the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions, in response to a determination of a predicted beam conflict between a plurality of Rx beams for a plurality of PSFCH receptions at the UE. The preselected one or more resources are the resources that are selected but not yet used for transmission. For example, the predicted beam conflict may be determined based on at least one of a reevaluation check or a preemption check at one or more slots before using the preselected one or more resources for the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions. For another example, the resource reselection on the preselected one or more resources for the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions may be performed in response to a determination of an update in at least one of: one or more Tx beams, or one or more Rx beams associated with the UE. The update in the at least one of: one or more Tx beams, or one or more Rx beams associated with the UE may occur due to beam maintenance or beam failure recovery.

[0075] In some embodiments, the UE 402 may dynamically select and indicate, in each of the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions, at least one of: one or more PSFCH Tx slots for a plurality of the other UEs (e.g., UE 404, UE 406, UE 408), or one or more PSFCH Rx slots for the UE 402. For example, the UE 402 may dynamically select and indicate the at least one of: the one or more PSFCH Tx slots, or the one or more PSFCH Rx slots, in response to a determination of a predicted beam conflict if a current PSFCH Tx slot or a current PSFCH Rx slot is used. Otherwise, the UE 402 may use the current PSFCH slot that corresponds to the selected one or more resources for the at least one of: the one or more PSFCH Tx slots, or the one or more PSFCH Rx slots.

[0076] For example, the UE 402 may dynamically select and indicate the at least one of: the one or more PSFCH Tx slots, or the one or more PSFCH Rx slots via control signaling on at least one of: a physical layer (e.g., SCI), a medium access control (MAC) layer (e.g., MAC CE), or a higher layer. The higher layer may include at least one of: the network layer, the transport layer, or the application layer. In this case, the UE 402 may not use pre-defined one-to-one mapping between PSSCH time resource and PSFCH time resource, for example, the example mapping shown in FIG. 3. Instead, the UE 402 may dynamically determine the higher-layer parameters sl-PSFCH-Period, sl-MinTimeGapPSFCH, and sl-PSFCH-RB-Set. For example, the UE 402 may dynamically determine (change) the period of the PSFCH resource, which is indicated by the parameter sl-PSFCH-Period, from 0, 1, 2, or 4 or any other number of slots. For another example, the UE 402 may dynamically determine (change) the minimum time gap between PSFCH and the associated PSSCH, which is indicated by the paramter sl-MinTimeGapPSFCH indicates, from 2 or 3 or any other number of slots.

[0077] For example, the at least one of: the one or more PSFCH Tx slots for a plurality of the other UEs, or the one or more PSFCH Rx slots for the UE may be indicated in the form of an absolute slot position or a slot offset from a PSCCH slot or a PSSCH slot. The UE 402 may encrypt the indication of the one or more PSFCH Tx slots or the one or more PSFCH Rx slots to prevent malicious UEs to transmit on the same slot to create interference. Since the UE 402 assumes that the PC5 connection is established between the UE and another UE, if the UE 402 decides to encrypt the indication of the selected one or more PSFCH Tx and / or Rx slots, the UE can use the ciphering in the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer and communicate the encrypted indication using one or more PC5 radio resource control (RRC) messages. In this way, both confidentiality and integrity can be protected.

[0078] For example, at least one of an actual number or a maximum number of the selected at least one of: the one or more PSFCH Tx slots, or the one or more PSFCH Rx slots, is configured, preconfigured, specified in a specification, or decided based on node implementation. For another example, one or more allowed PSFCH Tx slots, or one or more allowed PSFCH Rx slots are configured, preconfigured, specified in a specification, or decided based on a node implementation. The one or more allowed PSFCH Tx slots, or one or more allowed PSFCH Rx slots may be indicated in the form of slot offset from a PSCCH slot or a PSSCH slot.

[0079] In some embodiments, if the UE 402 determines that the PSFCH Rx beam conflict cannot be avoided, the UE may select one or more Rx beams wider than one or more current Rx beams for the plurality of the PSFCH receptions, so that the PSFCH Rx beam conflict is avoided and / or the same PSFCH Rx beam can be used for the multiple PSCCH and / or PSSCH transmissions.

[0080] For example, the UE 402 may select and apply the one or more Rx beams wider than the one or more current Rx beams for the plurality of PSFCH receptions, in response to a determination of a common Rx beam wider than the one or more current Rx beams for two or more PSFCH receptions in the same slot. The UE 402 may iterate widening the one or more Rx beams from one or more current Rx beams for the plurality of PSFCH receptions, until a widest attainable Rx beam associated with the node is used or the PSFCH Rx beam conflict is avoided.

[0081] In some embodiments, the UE may selectively apply one or more above-noted operations for one or more PSFCH receptions, based on one or more conditions, to mitigate over-exclusion of resources and / or increased latency for PSFCH transmission and / or reception. The one or more conditions may include, but are not limited to, RSRP of the signals, priority of the transmissions, whether the PSFCH Rx beam conflict is expected, and whether a wide Rx beam cannot be used.

[0082] One example condition is the priority of PSCCH and / or PSSCH transmissions. For example, the UE 402 may select the one or more resources and determine the one or more Tx beams based on a comparison of at least one priority of the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions, or the one or more PSSCH transmissions, with a priority of at least one PSCCH transmission already scheduled or a priority of at least one PSSCH transmission already scheduled.

[0083] Another example condition is the RSRP of a candidate resource for one or more PSCCH and / or PSSCH transmissions. For example, the UE 402 may select the one or more resources and determine the one or more Tx beams based on a comparison of an RSRP of a candidate resource in the candidate resource set with an RSRP threshold. The RSRP thresholds can be a function of priority of the transmissions. For another example, the UE 402 may select the one or more resources and determine the one or more Tx beams based on a comparison of an RSRP of a candidate resource of the candidate resource set with an RSRP of a candidate resource for at least one PSCCH transmission already scheduled or an RSRP of a candidate resource for at least one PSSCH transmission already scheduled.

[0084] Another example condition is a determination of whether PSFCH Rx beam conflict is expected or not. For example, the UE 402 may select the one or more resources and determine the one or more Tx beams based on a predicted beam conflict between one or more Rx beams for the one or more expected PSFCH receptions as feedback of the one or more current transmissions and one or more Rx beams for the one or more PSFCH receptions already scheduled.

[0085] Another example condition is a determination of whether a wide Rx beam for one or more PSFCH receptions can be used or not. For example, the UE 402 may select the one or more resources and determine the one or more Tx beams based on a comparison of one or more Rx beam widths for the one or more expected PSFCH receptions as feedback of the one or more current transmissions, and one or more beam widths for the one or more PSFCH receptions already scheduled.

[0086] The method 600 includes a step 608 of performing, using the selected one or more resources and the determined one or more Tx beams, the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions. For example, the UE 402 (FIG. 4) may transmit one or more PSCCH signals and / or one or more PSSCH signals to the other UEs (e.g., UE 404, UE 406, UE 408) using the selected one or more resources and / or the determined one or more Tx beams. Since the one or more resources are selected and / or the one or more Tx beams are determined using the methods designed to mitigate the PSFCH Rx beam conflict, the UE should expect to receive multiple PSFCH signals simultaneously without suffering from the PSFCH Rx beam conflict.

[0087] FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating a method 700 for beam management (e.g., mitigating the PSFCH Tx beam conflict at a node simultaneously transmitting multiple PSFCHs) in a sidelink communication, consistent with some embodiments of the present disclosure. The node may include at least one of: at least one UE, at least one relay node, at least one vehicle mounted module, at least one road-side unit, at least one repeater, at least one transponder, at least one wireless router, at least one controller, or at least one access point. An example of the node is a UE for a sidelink communication, such as the UE 502 in FIG. 5.

[0088] The method 700 includes a step 702 of establishing, by a node in a sidelink communication, one or more unicast links with one or more other nodes in the sidelink communication. Using the UE 502 as an example, as shown in FIG. 5, the UE 502 establishes a plurality of unicast links with multiple other UEs (e.g., UE 504, UE 506, UE 508). In some embodiments, the step of establishing the plurality of unicast links also includes determining at least one Tx beam and / or at least one Rx beam for each of the plurality of unicast links.

[0089] The method 700 includes a step 704 of receiving at least one of: one or more PSCCH signals or one or more PSSCH signals transmitted from the one or more other nodes. For example, the UE 502 (FIG. 5) may receive at least one of: one or more PSCCH signals or one or more PSSCH signals transmitted from other UEs (e.g., UE 504, UE 506, UE 508).

[0090] The method 700 includes a step 706 of determining whether to perform one or more PSFCH transmissions as feedback of the reception of the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH signals or the one or more PSSCH signals, and determining one or more PSFCH slots in response to a determination that the one or more PSFCH transmissions are to be performed. For example, the UE 502 may determine the one or more PSFCH slots for the one or more PSFCH transmissions by performing one or more operations that are designed to mitigate PSFCH Tx beam conflict at the UE, as described below.

[0091] In some embodiments, the UE 502 may determine the one or more PSFCH slots for the one or more PSFCH transmissions based on at least one of: one or more priorities of the one or more PSFCH transmissions, one or more priorities of one or more PSFCH transmissions that are already scheduled, one or more priorities for one or more PSFCH receptions that are already scheduled, a predicted Tx beam conflict for the one or more PSFCH transmissions, or an existence of a common beam for the one or more PSFCH transmissions and the one or more PSFCH transmissions that are already scheduled in a same slot.

[0092] In some embodiments, the UE 502 may select, from a plurality of PSFCH slot occasions, the one or more PSFCH slots that do not cause a conflict between the one or more PSFCH Tx beams with the one or more PSFCH Tx beams that are already scheduled in a same slot. The plurality of PSFCH slot occasions may be configured, pre-configured, or specified by a specification of a standard. For example, the plurality of PSFCH slot occasions may be indicated by the one or more PSCCH signals or the one or more PSSCH signals received from the one or more other nodes. The indicated plurality of PSFCH slot occasions may be encrypted by the one or more other UEs to prevent potential attackers that intend to either create interference by intentionally transmitting on the same slot(s) or to modify the indicated slots that violate information integrity.

[0093] Additionally, at least one of an actual number of the one or more PSFCH slots or a maximum number of the one or more PSFCH slots may be configured, preconfigured, or specified by a specification of a standard. The UE 502 may determine the actual number of the one or more PSFCH slots based on node implementation, in response to a determination that only the maximum number of the one or more PSFCH slots is provided.

[0094] Additionally, the UE 502 may select at least one PSFCH slot earlier than at least one current PSFCH slot that does not cause the conflict between the one or more PSFCH Tx beams with the one or more PSFCH Tx beams that are already scheduled in a same slot. The UE 502 may also randomly select at least one PSFCH slot that does not cause the conflict between the one or more PSFCH Tx beams with the one or more PSFCH Tx beams that are already scheduled in the same slot, or a common Tx beam for the one or more PSFCH transmissions and the one or more PSFCH transmissions that are already scheduled.

[0095] In some embodiments, in response to a determination of the predicted Tx beam conflict for the one or more PSFCH transmissions, the UE 502 may use one or more Tx beams wider than the one or more current Tx beams for the one or more PSFCH transmissions, or use a same PSFCH Tx beam for the one or more PSFCH transmissions. For example, the UE 502 may use the same PSFCH Tx beam for the one or more PSFCH transmissions, in response to a determination of a common Tx beam wider than a current PSFCH beam for two or more PSFCH transmissions in a same slot. The UE 502 may iterate widening the one or more Tx beams from the one or more current Tx beams for the one or more PSFCH transmissions, until a widest attainable Tx beam associated with the node is used or the PSFCH Tx beam conflict is avoided.

[0096] In some embodiments, the UE 502 may determine whether to perform the one or more PSFCH transmissions and the one or more PSFCH slots based on a comparison of one or more priorities of the one or more PSCCH signals with a first priority threshold, or comparison of one or more priorities of the one or more PSSCH signals with a second priority threshold.

[0097] For example, the UE 502 may determine whether to perform the one or more PSFCH transmissions and the one or more PSFCH slots based on a comparison of one or more priorities of the one or more PSCCH signals with one or more priorities of one or more PSCCH receptions that are already scheduled, or a comparison of one or more priorities of the one or more PSSCH signals with one or more priorities of one or more PSSCH receptions that are already scheduled.

[0098] For example, the UE 502 may determine whether to perform the one or more PSFCH transmissions and the one or more PSFCH slots based on a comparison of an RSRP of the one or more PSCCH signals or the one or more PSSCH signals, with an RSRP threshold. The RSRP threshold may be a function of a priority of the one or more PSCCH signals or the one or more PSSCH signals.

[0099] For example, the UE 502 may determine whether to perform the one or more PSFCH transmissions and the one or more PSFCH slots based on a comparison of an RSRP of the one or more PSCCH signals with an RSRP of one or more PSCCH signal already received, or a comparison of an RSRP of the one or more PSSCH signals with one or more PSSCH signal already received.

[0100] For example, the UE 502 may determine whether to perform the one or more PSFCH transmissions and the one or more PSFCH slots based on a predicted PSFCH Tx beam conflict for the one or more PSFCH transmissions. For example, the UE 502 may determine whether to perform the one or more PSFCH transmissions and the one or more PSFCH slots based on one or more beam widths for one or more Tx beams for the one or more PSFCH transmissions, or one or more beam widths for one or more Tx beams for the one or more PSCCH signals or the one or more PSSCH signals that are already received.

[0101] The method 700 includes a step 708 of performing, in response to a determination of the one or more PSFCH slots, the one or more PSFCH transmissions using the determined one or more PSFCH slots. For example, if the UE 502 determines to transmit the PSFCH signals and determines one or more PSFCH slots, the UE transmits the PSFCH signals using the determined one or more PSFCH slots. Otherwise, the UE does not transmit the PSFCH signals for the received PSCCH and / or PSSCH signals. Since the one or more PSFCH slots are determined using the methods designed to mitigate the PSFCH Tx beam conflict, the UE 502 should expect to transmit multiple PSFCH signals simultaneously without suffering from the Tx beam conflict.

[0102] FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a node 800, consistent with some embodiments of the present disclosure. Node 800 may be mounted in a moving vehicle or in a fixed position. Node 800 may take any form, including but not limited to, a UE, a relay node, a vehicle, a component mounted in a vehicle (e.g., a vehicle mounted module), a road-side unit, a repeater, a transponder, a controller, an access point, a laptop computer, a wireless terminal including a mobile phone, a wireless handheld device, a wireless personal device, a wireless router, and / or any other form. The node 800 may be the UE 402 of FIG. 4 or the UE 502 of FIG. 5. Referring to FIG. 8, the node 800 may include antenna 802 that may be used for transmission or reception of electromagnetic signals to / from a base station or other nodes. The antenna 802 may include one or more antenna elements and may enable different input-output antenna configurations, for example, multiple input multiple output (MIMO) configuration, multiple input single output (MISO) configuration, and single input multiple output (SIMO) configuration. In some embodiments, the antenna 802 may include multiple (e.g., tens or hundreds) antenna elements and may enable multi-antenna functions such as beamforming. In some embodiments, the antenna 802 is a single antenna. The antenna 802 may include one or more FR1 antennas and / or one or more FR2 antennas.

[0103] The node 800 may include a transceiver 804 that is coupled to the antenna 802. The transceiver 804 may be a wireless transceiver at the node 800 and may communicate bi-directionally with a base station or other nodes. For example, the transceiver 804 may receive / transmit wireless signals from / to a base station via downlink / uplink communication. The transceiver 804 may also receive / transmit wireless signals from / to another node (e.g., another UE or road side unit) via sidelink communication. The transceiver 804 may include a modem to modulate the packets and provide the modulated packets to the antenna 802 for transmission, and to demodulate packets received from the antenna 802.

[0104] The node 800 may include a memory 806. The memory 806 may be any type of computer-readable storage medium including volatile or non-volatile memory devices, or a combination thereof. The computer-readable storage medium includes, but is not limited to, non-transitory computer storage media. A non-transitory storage medium may be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer. Examples of non-transitory storage medium include, but are not limited to, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD), flash memory, compact disk (CD) ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, etc. A non-transitory medium may be used to carry or store desired program code means (e.g., instructions and / or data structures) and may be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer, or a general-purpose or special-purpose processor. In some examples, the software / program code may be transmitted from a remote source (e.g., a website, a server, etc.) using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave. In such examples, the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are within the scope of the definition of medium. Combinations of the above examples are also within the scope of computer-readable medium.

[0105] The memory 806 may store information related to identities of node 800 and the signals and / or data received by antenna 802. The memory 806 may also store post-processing signals and / or data. The memory 806 may also store computer-readable program instructions, mathematical models, and algorithms that are used in signal processing in the receiver 804 and computations in the processor 808. The memory 806 may further store computer-readable program instructions for execution by the processor 808 to operate UE 800 to perform various functions described in this disclosure. In some examples, the memory 806 may include a basic input / output system (BIOS) which may control basic hardware or software operation such as the interaction with peripheral components or devices.

[0106] The computer-readable program instructions of the present disclosure may be assembler instructions, instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions, machine-dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions, state-setting data, or source code or object code written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object-oriented programming language, and conventional procedural programming languages. The computer-readable program instructions may execute entirely on a computing device as a stand-alone software package, or partly on a first computing device and partly on a second computing device remote from the first computing device. In the latter scenario, the second, remote computing device may be connected to the first computing device through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN).

[0107] The node 800 may include a processor 808 that may include a hardware device with processing capabilities. The processor 808 may include at least one of a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic component, a discrete hardware component, or other programmable logic device. Examples of the general-purpose processor include, but are not limited to, a microprocessor, any conventional processor, a controller, a microcontroller, or a state machine. In some embodiments, the processor 808 may be implemented using a combination of devices (e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration). The processor 808 may receive, from transceiver 804, downlink signals or sidelink signals and further process the signals. The processor 808 may also receive, from transceiver 804, data packets and further process the packets. In some embodiments, the processor 808 may be configured to operate a memory using a memory controller. In some embodiments, a memory controller may be integrated into the processor 808. The processor 808 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in a memory (e.g., the memory 806) to cause the UE 800 to perform various functions.

[0108] The node 800 may include a global positioning system (GPS) 810. The GPS 810 may be used for enabling location-based services or other services based on a geographical position of the UE 800 and / or synchronization among nodes. The GPS 810 may receive global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) signals from a single satellite or a plurality of satellite signals via the antenna 802 and provide a geographical position of the node 800 (e.g., coordinates of the node 800). In some embodiments, the GPS 810 is omitted. In some embodiments, a timer is included.

[0109] The node 800 may include an input / output (I / O) device 812 that may be used to communicate a result of signal processing and computation to a user or another device. The I / O device 812 may include a user interface including a display and an input device to transmit a user command to processor 808. The display may be configured to display a status of signal reception at the node 800, the data stored at memory 806, a status of signal processing, and a result of computation, etc. The display may include, but is not limited to, a cathode ray tube (CRT), a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light-emitting diode (LED), a gas plasma display, a touch screen, or other image projection devices for displaying information to a user. The input device may be any type of computer hardware equipment used to receive data and control signals from a user. The input device may include, but is not limited to, a keyboard, a mouse, a scanner, a digital camera, a joystick, a trackball, cursor direction keys, a touchscreen monitor, or audio / video commanders, etc.

[0110] The node 800 may further include a machine interface 814, such as an electrical bus that connects the transceiver 804, the memory 806, the processor 808, the GPS 810, and the I / O device 812.

[0111] In some embodiments, the node 800 may be a node configured or programmed to transmit signals (e.g., PSCCH, PSSCH) to one or more other nodes and simultaneously receive feedback signals (e.g., PSFCH) from the one or more other nodes. The processor 808 may be configured to execute the instructions stored in the memory 806 to establish a plurality of unicast links with a plurality of other nodes in a sidelink communication; perform a channel sensing; select one or more resources and determine one or more Tx beams for at least one of: one or more PSCCH transmissions, or one or more PSSCH transmissions, wherein the processor is configured to execute the instruction stored in the memory to perform at least one of: (1) performing resource selection or resource reselection for the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions for the plurality of unicast links jointly, (2) selecting, from a candidate resource set, at least one resource for at least one of: one or more of the PSCCH transmissions or one or more of the PSSCH transmissions associated with a PSFCH reception scheduled to use a PSFCH Rx beam and a slot that are the same as that of one or more PSFCH receptions already scheduled, (3) prioritizing, within the candidate resource set, at least one resource associated with the PSFCH reception scheduled to use the PSFCH Rx beam and the slot that are the same as that of the one or more PSFCH receptions already scheduled, or deprioritizing one or more resources for the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions based on a delivery deadline or a latency requirement of the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions, (4) performing resource reselection on preselected one or more resources for the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions, in response to a determination of a predicted beam conflict between a plurality of Rx beams for a plurality of PSFCH receptions at the node, (5) dynamically selecting and indicating, in each of the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions, at least one of: one or more PSFCH Tx slots for the plurality of the other nodes, or one or more PSFCH Rx slots for the node, or (6) selecting one or more Rx beams wider than one or more current Rx beams for the plurality of the PSFCH receptions, in response to a determination that the beam conflict is unavoidable; and perform, using the selected one or more resources and the determined one or more Tx beams, the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions.

[0112] In some embodiments, the node 800 may be a node configured or programmed to receive signals (e.g., PSCCH, PSSCH) from one or more other UEs and transmit feedback signals (e.g., PSFCH) to the one or more other nodess. The processor 808 may be configured to execute the instructions stored in the memory 806 to establish one or more unicast links with one or more other nodes in a sidelink communication; receive at least one of: one or more PSCCH signals or one or more PSSCH signals transmitted from the one or more other nodes; determine whether to perform one or more PSFCH transmissions as feedback of the reception of the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH signals or the one or more PSSCH signals, and determine one or more PSFCH slots in response to a determination that the one or more PSFCH transmissions are to be performed, wherein the processor is configured to execute the instruction stored in the memory to perform at least one of: (1) determining the one or more PSFCH slots for the one or more PSFCH transmissions based on at least one of: one or more priorities of the one or more PSFCH transmissions, one or more priorities of one or more PSFCH transmissions that are already scheduled, one or more priorities for one or more PSFCH receptions that are already scheduled, a predicted Tx beam conflict for the one or more PSFCH transmissions, or an existence of a common beam for the one or more PSFCH transmissions and the one or more PSFCH transmissions that are already scheduled in a same slot, (2) selecting, from a plurality of PSFCH slot occasions, the one or more PSFCH slots that do not cause a conflict between the one or more PSFCH Tx beams with the one or more PSFCH Tx beams that are already scheduled in a same slot, or (3) in response to a determination of the predicted Tx beam conflict for the one or more PSFCH transmissions, using one or more Tx beams wider than the one or more current Tx beams for the one or more PSFCH transmissions, or using a same PSFCH Tx beam for the one or more PSFCH transmissions; and in response to a determination of the one or more PSFCH slots, perform the one or more PSFCH transmissions using the determined one or more PSFCH slots.

[0113] As used in this disclosure, use of the term “or” in a list of items indicates an inclusive list. The list of items may be prefaced by a phrase such as “at least one of” or “one or more of.” For example, a list of at least one of A, B, or C includes A or B or C or AB (i.e., A and B) or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C). Also, as used in this disclosure, prefacing a list of conditions with the phrase “based on” shall not be construed as “based only on” the set of conditions and rather shall be construed as “based at least in part on” the set of conditions. For example, an outcome described as “based on condition A” may be based on both a condition A and a condition B without departing from the scope of this disclosure.

[0114] In this specification, the terms “comprise,” “include,” or “contain” may be used interchangeably and have the same meaning and are to be construed as inclusive and open-ended. The terms “comprise,” “include,” or “contain” may be used before a list of elements and indicate that at least all of the listed elements within the list exist but other elements that are not in the list may also be present. For example, if A comprises B and C, both {B, C} and {B, C, D} are within the scope of A.

[0115] The present disclosure, in connection with the accompanied drawings, describes example configurations that are not representative of all the examples that may be implemented or all configurations that are within the scope of this disclosure. The term “exemplary” should not be construed as “preferred” or “advantageous compared to other examples” but rather “an illustration, an instance or an example.” By reading this disclosure, including the description of the embodiments and the drawings, it will be appreciated by a person of ordinary skills in the art that the technology disclosed herein may be implemented using alternative embodiments. The person of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that the embodiments, or certain features of the embodiments described herein, may be combined to arrive at yet other embodiments for practicing the technology described in the present disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not limited to the examples and designs described herein but is to be accorded the broadest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

[0116] The flowcharts and block diagrams in the figures illustrate examples of the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods, and devices according to various embodiments. It should be noted that, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in blocks may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. Likewise, additional steps may be included in such methods, and certain steps may be omitted or combined, in methods consistent with various embodiments.

[0117] It is understood that the described embodiments are not mutually exclusive, and elements, components, materials, or steps described in connection with one example embodiment may be combined with, or eliminated from, other embodiments in suitable ways to accomplish desired design objectives.

[0118] Reference herein to “some embodiments” or “some exemplary embodiments” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment can be included in at least one embodiment. The appearance of the phrases “one embodiment” “some embodiments” or “another embodiment” in various places in the present disclosure do not all necessarily refer to the same embodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodiments necessarily mutually exclusive of other embodiments.

[0119] Additionally, the articles “a” and “an” as used in the present disclosure and the appended claims should generally be construed to mean “one or more” unless specified otherwise or clear from context to be directed to a singular form.

[0120] Unless explicitly stated otherwise, each numerical value and range should be interpreted as being approximate as if the word “about” or “approximately” preceded the value of the value or range.

[0121] Although the elements in the following method claims, if any, are recited in a particular sequence, unless the claim recitations otherwise imply a particular sequence for implementing some or all of those elements, those elements are not necessarily intended to be limited to being implemented in that particular sequence.

[0122] It is appreciated that certain features of the present disclosure, which are, for clarity, described in the context of separate embodiments, may also be provided in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features of the specification, which are, for brevity, described in the context of a single embodiment, may also be provided separately or in any suitable subcombination or as suitable in any other described embodiment of the specification. Certain features described in the context of various embodiments are not essential features of those embodiments, unless noted as such.

[0123] It will be further understood that various modifications, alternatives, and variations in the details, materials, and arrangements of the parts which have been described and illustrated in order to explain the nature of described embodiments may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope. Accordingly, the following claims embrace all such alternatives, modifications, and variations that fall within the terms of the claims.

[0124] Clause 1: A node for beam management in a sidelink communication, the node comprising: a memory storing an instruction; and a processor configured to execute the instruction stored in the memory to: establish a plurality of unicast links with a plurality of other nodes in the sidelink communication; perform a channel sensing; select one or more resources and determine one or more transmitter (Tx) beams for at least one of: one or more physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) transmissions, or one or more physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) transmissions, wherein the processor is configured to execute the instruction stored in the memory to perform at least one of: (1) performing resource selection or resource reselection for the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions for the plurality of unicast links jointly, (2) selecting, from a candidate resource set, at least one resource for at least one of: one or more of the PSCCH transmissions or one or more of the PSSCH transmissions associated with a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) reception scheduled to use a PSFCH receiver (Rx) beam and a slot that are the same as that of one or more PSFCH receptions already scheduled, (3) prioritizing, within the candidate resource set, at least one resource associated with the PSFCH reception scheduled to use the PSFCH Rx beam and the slot that are the same as that of the one or more PSFCH receptions already scheduled, or deprioritizing one or more resources for the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions based on a delivery deadline or a latency requirement of the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions, (4) performing resource reselection on preselected one or more resources for the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions, in response to a determination of a predicted beam conflict between a plurality of Rx beams for a plurality of PSFCH receptions at the node, (5) dynamically selecting and indicating, in each of the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions, at least one of: one or more PSFCH Tx slots for the plurality of the other nodes, or one or more PSFCH Rx slots for the node, or (6) selecting one or more Rx beams wider than one or more current Rx beams for the plurality of the PSFCH receptions, in response to a determination that the beam conflict is unavoidable; and perform, using the selected one or more resources and the determined one or more Tx beams, the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions.

[0125] Clause 2: The node of clause 1, wherein the node comprises at least one of: at least one user equipment (UE), at least one relay node, at least one vehicle mounted module, at least one road-side unit, at least one repeater, at least one transponder, at least one wireless router, at least one controller, or at least one access point.

[0126] Clause 3: The node of clause 1, wherein at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions are one or more current transmissions, and wherein the plurality of PSFCH receptions involved in the beam conflict at the node comprises at least one of: one or more expected PSFCH receptions as feedback of the one or more current transmissions, or the one or more PSFCH receptions already scheduled.

[0127] Clause 4: The node of clause 1, wherein performing the resource selection or the resource reselection for the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions for the plurality of unicast links jointly further comprises: using a same PSFCH Rx beam for the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions, or the one or more PSSCH transmissions.

[0128] Clause 5: The node of clause 1, wherein the resource selection or the resource reselection for the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions for the plurality of unicast links jointly is performed in response to a determination of a common PSFCH Rx beam for the plurality of unicast links.

[0129] Clause 6: The node of clause 1, wherein prioritizing the at least one resource associated with the PSFCH reception scheduled to use a PSFCH Rx beam and a slot that are the same as that of the one or more PSFCH receptions already scheduled, further comprises: applying one or more reference signal received power (RSRP) thresholds in resource exclusion within the candidate resource set based on at least one of: one or more priorities of the one or more PSCCH transmissions, one or more priorities of the one or more PSSCH transmissions, or one or more congestion metrics.

[0130] Clause 7: The node of clause 1, wherein the predicted beam conflict is determined based on at least one of a reevaluation check or a preemption check at one or more slots before using the preselected one or more resources for the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions.

[0131] Clause 8: The node of clause 1, wherein the resource reselection on the preselected one or more resources for the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions is performed in response to a determination of an update in at least one of: one or more Tx beams, or one or more Rx beams associated with the node.

[0132] Clause 9: The node of clause 1, wherein dynamically selecting and indicating the at least one of: the one or more PSFCH Tx slots, or the one or more PSFCH Rx slots is performed, in response to a determination of the predicted beam conflict if a current PSFCH Tx slot or a current PSFCH Rx slot is used.

[0133] Clause 10: The node of clause 1, wherein dynamically selecting and indicating the at least one of: the one or more PSFCH Tx slots, or the one or more PSFCH Rx slots is performed via control signaling on at least one of: a physical layer, a medium access control (MAC) layer, or a network layer.

[0134] Clause 11: The node of clause 1, wherein dynamically selecting and indicating the at least one of: the one or more PSFCH Tx slots, or the one or more PSFCH Rx slots further comprise: encrypting an indication of the one or more PSFCH Tx slots or the one or more PSFCH Rx slots; and communicating the encrypted indication using one or more PC5 radio resource control (RRC) messages.

[0135] Clause 12: The node of clause 1, wherein at least one of an actual number or a maximum number of the selected at least one of: the one or more PSFCH Tx slots, or the one or more PSFCH Rx slots, is configured, preconfigured, specified in a specification, or decided based on node implementation.

[0136] Clause 13: The node of clause 1, wherein one or more allowed PSFCH Tx slots, or one or more allowed PSFCH Rx slots are configured, preconfigured, specified in a specification, or decided based on a node implementation.

[0137] Clause 14: The node of clause 1, wherein the one or more Rx beams wider than the one or more current Rx beams for the plurality of PSFCH receptions are selected in response to a determination of a common Rx beam wider than the one or more current Rx beams for two or more PSFCH receptions in the same slot.

[0138] Clause 15: The node of clause 1, wherein the processor is further configured to iterate widening the one or more Rx beams from one or more current Rx beams for the plurality of PSFCH receptions, until a widest attainable Rx beam associated with the node is used or the PSFCH Rx beam conflict is avoided.

[0139] Clause 16: The node of clause 1, wherein the processor is configured to execute the instruction stored in the memory to: select the one or more resources and determine the one or more Tx beams based on a comparison of at least one priority of the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions, or the one or more PSSCH transmissions, with a priority threshold.

[0140] Clause 17: The node of clause 1, wherein the processor is configured to execute the instruction stored in the memory to: select the one or more resources and determine the one or more Tx beams based on a comparison of at least one priority of the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions, or the one or more PSSCH transmissions, with a priority of at least one PSCCH transmission already scheduled or a priority of at least one PSSCH transmission already scheduled.

[0141] Clause 18: The node of clause 1, wherein the processor is configured to execute the instruction stored in the memory to: select the one or more resources and determine the one or more Tx beams based on a comparison of an RSRP of a candidate resource in the candidate resource set with an RSRP threshold.

[0142] Clause 19: The node of clause 1, wherein the processor is configured to execute the instruction stored in the memory to: select the one or more resources and determine the one or more Tx beams based on a comparison of an RSRP of a candidate resource of the candidate resource set with an RSRP of a candidate resource for at least one PSCCH transmission already scheduled or an RSRP of a candidate resource for at least one PSSCH transmission already scheduled.

[0143] Clause 20: The node of clause 3, wherein the processor is configured to execute the instruction stored in the memory to: select the one or more resources and determine the one or more Tx beams based on a predicted beam conflict between one or more Rx beams for the one or more expected PSFCH receptions as feedback of the one or more current transmissions and one or more Rx beams for the one or more PSFCH receptions already scheduled.

[0144] Clause 21: The node of clause 3, wherein the processor is configured to execute the instruction stored in the memory to: select the one or more resources and determine the one or more Tx beams based on a comparison of one or more Rx beam widths for the one or more expected PSFCH receptions as feedback of the one or more current transmissions, and one or more beam widths for the one or more PSFCH receptions already scheduled.

[0145] Clause 22: A node for beam management in a sidelink communication, the node comprising: a memory storing an instruction; and a processor configured to execute the instruction stored in the memory to: establish one or more unicast links with one or more other nodes in the sidelink communication; receive at least one of: one or more physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) signals or one or more physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) signals transmitted from the one or more other nodes; determine whether to perform one or more physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) transmissions as feedback of the reception of the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH signals or the one or more PSSCH signals, and determine one or more PSFCH slots in response to a determination that the one or more PSFCH transmissions are to be performed, wherein the processor is configured to execute the instruction stored in the memory to perform at least one of: (1) determining the one or more PSFCH slots for the one or more PSFCH transmissions based on at least one of: one or more priorities of the one or more PSFCH transmissions, one or more priorities of one or more PSFCH transmissions that are already scheduled, one or more priorities for one or more PSFCH receptions that are already scheduled, a predicted Tx beam conflict for the one or more PSFCH transmissions, or an existence of a common beam for the one or more PSFCH transmissions and the one or more PSFCH transmissions that are already scheduled in a same slot, (2) selecting, from a plurality of PSFCH slot occasions, the one or more PSFCH slots that do not cause a conflict between the one or more PSFCH Tx beams with the one or more PSFCH Tx beams that are already scheduled in a same slot, or (3) in response to a determination of the predicted Tx beam conflict for the one or more PSFCH transmissions, using one or more Tx beams wider than the one or more current Tx beams for the one or more PSFCH transmissions, or using a same PSFCH Tx beam for the one or more PSFCH transmissions; and in response to a determination of the one or more PSFCH slots, perform the one or more PSFCH transmissions using the determined one or more PSFCH slots.

[0146] Clause 23: The node of clause 22, wherein the one or more PSFCH slots are indicated by the one or more PSCCH signals or the one or more PSSCH signals received from the one or more other nodes.

[0147] Clause 24: The node of clause 23, wherein the indicated one or more PSFCH slots are encrypted by the one or more other nodes.

[0148] Clause 25: The node of clause 22, wherein the one or more PSFCH slots are configured, preconfigured, or specified by a specification of a standard.

[0149] Clause 26: The node of clause 22, wherein at least one of an actual number of the one or more PSFCH slots or a maximum number of the one or more PSFCH slots is configured, preconfigured, or specified by a specification of a standard.

[0150] Clause 27: The node of clause 26, wherein processor is further configured to execute the instruction stored in the memory to: determine the actual number of the one or more PSFCH slots based on node implementation, in response to a determination that only the maximum number of the one or more PSFCH slots is provided.

[0151] Clause 28: The node of clause 22, wherein selecting the one or more PSFCH slots that do not cause a conflict between the one or more PSFCH Tx beams with the one or more PSFCH Tx beams that are already scheduled in a same slot further comprises: selecting at least one PSFCH slot earlier than at least one current PSFCH slot that does not cause the conflict between the one or more PSFCH Tx beams with the one or more PSFCH Tx beams that are already scheduled in a same slot.

[0152] Clause 29: The node of clause 22, wherein selecting the one or more PSFCH slots that do not cause a conflict between the one or more PSFCH Tx beams with the one or more PSFCH Tx beams that are already scheduled in a same slot further comprises: randomly selecting at least one PSFCH slot that does not cause the conflict between the one or more PSFCH Tx beams with the one or more PSFCH Tx beams that are already scheduled in the same slot, or a common Tx beam for the one or more PSFCH transmissions and the one or more PSFCH transmissions that are already scheduled.

[0153] Clause 30: The node of clause 22, wherein using the same PSFCH Tx beam for the one or more PSFCH transmissions further comprises: using the same PSFCH Tx beam for the one or more PSFCH transmissions, in response to a determination of a common Tx beam wider than a current PSFCH beam for two or more PSFCH transmissions in a same slot.

[0154] Clause 31: The node of clause 22, wherein the processor is further configured to iterate widening the one or more Tx beams from the one or more current Tx beams for the one or more PSFCH transmissions, until a widest attainable Tx beam associated with the node is used or the PSFCH Tx beam conflict is avoided.

[0155] Clause 32: The node of clause 22, wherein the processor is further configured to execute the instruction stored in the memory to: determine whether to perform the one or more PSFCH transmissions and the one or more PSFCH slots based on a comparison of one or more priorities of the one or more PSCCH signals with a first priority threshold, or comparison of one or more priorities of the one or more PSSCH signals with a second priority threshold.

[0156] Clause 33: The node of clause 22, wherein the processor is further configured to execute the instruction stored in the memory to: determine whether to perform the one or more PSFCH transmissions and the one or more PSFCH slots based on a comparison of one or more priorities of the one or more PSCCH signals with one or more priorities of one or more PSCCH receptions that are already scheduled, or a comparison of one or more priorities of the one or more PSSCH signals with one or more priorities of one or more PSSCH receptions that are already scheduled.

[0157] Clause 34: The node of clause 22, wherein the processor is further configured to execute the instruction stored in the memory to: determine whether to perform the one or more PSFCH transmissions and the one or more PSFCH slots based on a comparison of an RSRP of the one or more PSCCH signals or the one or more PSSCH signals, with an RSRP threshold.

[0158] Clause 35: The node of clause 34, wherein the RSRP threshold is a function of a priority of the one or more PSCCH signals or the one or more PSSCH signals.

[0159] Clause 36: The node of clause 22, wherein the processor is further configured to execute the instruction stored in the memory to: determine whether to perform the one or more PSFCH transmissions and the one or more PSFCH slots based on a comparison of an RSRP of the one or more PSCCH signals with an RSRP of one or more PSCCH signal already received, or a comparison of an RSRP of the one or more PSSCH signals with one or more PSSCH signal already received.

[0160] Clause 37: The node of clause 22, wherein the processor is further configured to execute the instruction stored in the memory to: determine whether to perform the one or more PSFCH transmissions and the one or more PSFCH slots based on a predicted PSFCH Tx beam conflict for the one or more PSFCH transmissions.

[0161] Clause 38: The node of clause 22, wherein the processor is further configured to execute the instruction stored in the memory to: determine whether to perform the one or more PSFCH transmissions and the one or more PSFCH slots based on one or more beam widths for one or more Tx beams for the one or more PSFCH transmissions, or one or more beam widths for one or more Tx beams for the one or more PSCCH signals or the one or more PSSCH signals that are already received.

[0162] Clause 39: A method for beam management in a sidelink communication, the method comprising: establishing, by a node in the sidelink communication, a plurality of unicast links with a plurality of other nodes in the sidelink communication; performing a channel sensing; selecting one or more resources and determining one or more transmitter (Tx) beams for at least one of: one or more physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) transmissions, or one or more physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) transmissions, wherein selecting the one or more resources and determining the one or more Tx beams comprise performing at least one of: (1) performing resource selection or resource reselection for the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions for the plurality of unicast links jointly, (2) selecting, from a candidate resource set, at least one resource for at least one of: one or more of the PSCCH transmissions or one or more of the PSSCH transmissions associated with a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) reception scheduled to use a PSFCH receiver (Rx) beam and a slot that are the same as that of one or more PSFCH receptions already scheduled, (3) prioritizing, within the candidate resource set, at least one resource for the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions associated with the PSFCH reception scheduled to use the PSFCH Rx beam and the slot that are the same as that of the one or more PSFCH receptions already scheduled, or deprioritizing one or more resources for the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions based on a delivery deadline or a latency requirement of the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions, (4) performing resource reselection on preselected one or more resources for the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions, in response to a determination of a predicted beam conflict between a plurality of Rx beams for a plurality of PSFCH receptions at the node, (5) dynamically selecting and indicating, in each of the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions, at least one of: one or more PSFCH Tx slots for the plurality of the other nodes, or one or more PSFCH Rx slots for the node, or (6) selecting one or more Rx beams wider than one or more current Rx beams for the plurality of the PSFCH receptions, in response to a determination that the beam conflict is unavoidable; and performing, using the selected one or more resources and the determined one or more Tx beams, the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions.

[0163] Clause 40: A method for beam management in a sidelink communication, the method comprising: establishing, by a node in the sidelink communication, one or more unicast links with one or more other nodes in the sidelink communication; receiving at least one of: one or more physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) signals or one or more physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) signals transmitted from the one or more other nodes; determining whether to perform one or more physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) transmissions as feedback of the reception of the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH signals or the one or more PSSCH signals, and determining one or more PSFCH slots in response to a determination that the one or more PSFCH transmissions are to be performed, wherein determining whether to perform the one or more PSFCH transmissions comprises at least one of: (1) determining the one or more PSFCH slots for the one or more PSFCH transmissions based on at least one of: one or more priorities of the one or more PSFCH transmissions, one or more priorities of one or more PSFCH transmissions that are already scheduled, one or more priorities for one or more PSFCH receptions that are already scheduled, a predicted Tx beam conflict for the one or more PSFCH transmissions, or an existence of a common beam for the one or more PSFCH transmissions and the one or more PSFCH transmissions that are already scheduled in a same slot, (2) selecting, from a plurality of PSFCH slot occasions, the one or more PSFCH slots that do not cause a conflict between the one or more PSFCH Tx beams with the one or more PSFCH Tx beams that are already scheduled in a same slot, or (3) in response to a determination of the predicted Tx beam conflict for the one or more PSFCH transmissions, using one or more Tx beams wider than the one or more current Tx beams for the one or more PSFCH transmissions, or using a same PSFCH Tx beam for the one or more PSFCH transmissions; and in response to a determination of the one or more PSFCH slots, performing the one or more PSFCH transmissions using the determined one or more PSFCH slots.

[0164] Clause 41: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that are executable by one or more processors of a node in a sidelink communication, to perform a method for beam management, the method comprising: establishing, by the node in the sidelink communication, a plurality of unicast links with a plurality of other nodes in the sidelink communication; performing a channel sensing; selecting one or more resources and determining one or more transmitter (Tx) beams for at least one of: one or more physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) transmissions, or one or more physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) transmissions, wherein selecting the one or more resources and determining the one or more Tx beams comprise performing at least one of: (1) performing resource selection or resource reselection for the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions for the plurality of unicast links jointly, (2) selecting, from a candidate resource set, at least one resource for at least one of: one or more of the PSCCH transmissions or one or more of the PSSCH transmissions associated with a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) reception scheduled to use a PSFCH receiver (Rx) beam and a slot that are the same as that of one or more PSFCH receptions already scheduled, (3) prioritizing, within the candidate resource set, at least one resource associated with the PSFCH reception scheduled to use the PSFCH Rx beam and the slot that are the same as that of the one or more PSFCH receptions already scheduled, or deprioritizing one or more resources for the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions based on a delivery deadline or a latency requirement of the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions, (4) performing resource reselection on preselected one or more resources for the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions, in response to a determination of a predicted beam conflict between a plurality of Rx beams for a plurality of PSFCH receptions at the node, (5) dynamically selecting and indicating, in each of the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions, at least one of: one or more PSFCH Tx slots for the plurality of the other nodes, or one or more PSFCH Rx slots for the node, or (6) selecting one or more Rx beams wider than one or more current Rx beams for the plurality of the PSFCH receptions, in response to a determination that the beam conflict is unavoidable; and performing, using the selected one or more resources and the determined one or more Tx beams, the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions.

[0165] Clause 42: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that are executable by one or more processors of a node in a sidelink communication, to perform a method for beam management, the method comprising: establishing, by the node in the sidelink communication, one or more unicast links with one or more other nodes in the sidelink communication; receiving at least one of: one or more physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) signals or one or more physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) signals transmitted from the one or more other nodes; determining whether to perform one or more physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) transmissions as feedback of the reception of the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH signals or the one or more PSSCH signals, and determining one or more PSFCH slots in response to a determination that the one or more PSFCH transmissions are to be performed, wherein determining whether to perform one or more PSFCH transmissions comprises at least one of: (1) determining the one or more PSFCH slots for the one or more PSFCH transmissions based on at least one of: one or more priorities of the one or more PSFCH transmissions, one or more priorities of one or more PSFCH transmissions that are already scheduled, one or more priorities for one or more PSFCH receptions that are already scheduled, a predicted Tx beam conflict for the one or more PSFCH transmissions, or an existence of a common beam for the one or more PSFCH transmissions and the one or more PSFCH transmissions that are already scheduled in a same slot, (2) selecting, from a plurality of PSFCH slot occasions, the one or more PSFCH slots that do not cause a conflict between the one or more PSFCH Tx beams with the one or more PSFCH Tx beams that already scheduled in a same slot, or (3) in response to a determination of the predicted Tx beam conflict for the one or more PSFCH transmissions, using one or more Tx beams wider than the one or more current Tx beams for the one or more PSFCH transmissions, or using a same PSFCH Tx beam for the one or more PSFCH transmissions; and in response to a determination of the one or more PSFCH slots, performing the one or more PSFCH transmissions using the determined one or more PSFCH slots.

Claims

1. A node for beam management in a sidelink communication, the node comprising: a memory storing an instruction; and a processor configured to execute the instruction stored in the memory to: establish a plurality of unicast links with a plurality of other nodes in the sidelink communication; perform a channel sensing; select one or more resources and determine one or more transmitter (Tx) beams for at least one of: one or more physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) transmissions, or one or more physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) transmissions, wherein the processor is configured to execute the instruction stored in the memory to perform at least one of: (1) performing resource selection or resource reselection for the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions for the plurality of unicast links jointly, (2) selecting, from a candidate resource set, at least one resource for at least one of: one or more of the PSCCH transmissions or one or more of the PSSCH transmissions associated with a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) reception scheduled to use a PSFCH receiver (Rx) beam and a slot that are the same as that of one or more PSFCH receptions already scheduled, (3) prioritizing, within the candidate resource set, at least one resource associated with the PSFCH reception scheduled to use the PSFCH Rx beam and the slot that are the same as that of the one or more PSFCH receptions already scheduled, or deprioritizing one or more resources for the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions based on a delivery deadline or a latency requirement of the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions, (4) performing resource reselection on preselected one or more resources for the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions, in response to a determination of a predicted beam conflict between a plurality of Rx beams for a plurality of PSFCH receptions at the node, (5) dynamically selecting and indicating, in each of the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions, at least one of: one or more PSFCH Tx slots for the plurality of the other nodes, or one or more PSFCH Rx slots for the node, or (6) selecting one or more Rx beams wider than one or more current Rx beams for the plurality of the PSFCH receptions, in response to a determination that the beam conflict is unavoidable; and perform, using the selected one or more resources and the determined one or more Tx beams, the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions.

2. The node of claim 1, wherein at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions are one or more current transmissions, and wherein the plurality of PSFCH receptions involved in the beam conflict at the node comprises at least one of: one or more expected PSFCH receptions as feedback of the one or more current transmissions, or the one or more PSFCH receptions already scheduled.

3. The node of claim 1, wherein performing the resource selection or the resource reselection for the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions for the plurality of unicast links jointly further comprises: using a same PSFCH Rx beam for the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions, or the one or more PSSCH transmissions.

4. The node of claim 1, wherein the resource selection or the resource reselection for the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions for the plurality of unicast links jointly is performed in response to a determination of a common PSFCH Rx beam for the plurality of unicast links.

5. The node of claim 1, wherein prioritizing the at least one resource associated with the PSFCH reception scheduled to use a PSFCH Rx beam and a slot that are the same as that of the one or more PSFCH receptions already scheduled, further comprises: applying one or more reference signal received power (RSRP) thresholds in resource exclusion within the candidate resource set based on at least one of: one or more priorities of the one or more PSCCH transmissions, one or more priorities of the one or more PSSCH transmissions, or one or more congestion metrics.

6. The node of claim 1, wherein the predicted beam conflict is determined based on at least one of a reevaluation check or a preemption check at one or more slots before using the preselected one or more resources for the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions.

7. The node of claim 1, wherein the resource reselection on the preselected one or more resources for the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions or the one or more PSSCH transmissions is performed in response to a determination of an update in at least one of: one or more Tx beams, or one or more Rx beams associated with the node.

8. The node of claim 1, wherein dynamically selecting and indicating the at least one of: the one or more PSFCH Tx slots, or the one or more PSFCH Rx slots is performed, in response to a determination of the predicted beam conflict if a current PSFCH Tx slot or a current PSFCH Rx slot is used.

9. The node of claim 1, wherein dynamically selecting and indicating the at least one of: the one or more PSFCH Tx slots, or the one or more PSFCH Rx slots further comprise: encrypting an indication of the one or more PSFCH Tx slots or the one or more PSFCH Rx slots; and communicating the encrypted indication using one or more PC5 radio resource control (RRC) messages.

10. The node of claim 1, wherein the one or more Rx beams wider than the one or more current Rx beams for the plurality of PSFCH receptions are selected in response to a determination of a common Rx beam wider than the one or more current Rx beams for two or more PSFCH receptions in the same slot.

11. The node of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to iterate widening the one or more Rx beams from one or more current Rx beams for the plurality of PSFCH receptions, until a widest attainable Rx beam associated with the node is used or the PSFCH Rx beam conflict is avoided.

12. The node of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to execute the instruction stored in the memory to: select the one or more resources and determine the one or more Tx beams based on a comparison of at least one priority of the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions, or the one or more PSSCH transmissions, with a priority threshold.

13. The node of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to execute the instruction stored in the memory to: select the one or more resources and determine the one or more Tx beams based on a comparison of at least one priority of the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH transmissions, or the one or more PSSCH transmissions, with a priority of at least one PSCCH transmission already scheduled or a priority of at least one PSSCH transmission already scheduled.

14. The node of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to execute the instruction stored in the memory to: select the one or more resources and determine the one or more Tx beams based on a comparison of an RSRP of a candidate resource in the candidate resource set with an RSRP threshold.

15. The node of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to execute the instruction stored in the memory to: select the one or more resources and determine the one or more Tx beams based on a comparison of an RSRP of a candidate resource of the candidate resource set with an RSRP of a candidate resource for at least one PSCCH transmission already scheduled or an RSRP of a candidate resource for at least one PSSCH transmission already scheduled.

16. A node for beam management in a sidelink communication, the node comprising: a memory storing an instruction; and a processor configured to execute the instruction stored in the memory to: establish one or more unicast links with one or more other nodes in the sidelink communication; receive at least one of: one or more physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) signals or one or more physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) signals transmitted from the one or more other nodes; determine whether to perform one or more physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) transmissions as feedback of the reception of the at least one of: the one or more PSCCH signals or the one or more PSSCH signals, and determine one or more PSFCH slots in response to a determination that the one or more PSFCH transmissions are to be performed, wherein the processor is configured to execute the instruction stored in the memory to perform at least one of: (1) determining the one or more PSFCH slots for the one or more PSFCH transmissions based on at least one of: one or more priorities of the one or more PSFCH transmissions, one or more priorities of one or more PSFCH transmissions that are already scheduled, one or more priorities for one or more PSFCH receptions that are already scheduled, a predicted Tx beam conflict for the one or more PSFCH transmissions, or an existence of a common beam for the one or more PSFCH transmissions and the one or more PSFCH transmissions that are already scheduled in a same slot, (2) selecting, from a plurality of PSFCH slot occasions, the one or more PSFCH slots that do not cause a conflict between the one or more PSFCH Tx beams with the one or more PSFCH Tx beams that are already scheduled in a same slot, or (3) in response to a determination of the predicted Tx beam conflict for the one or more PSFCH transmissions, using one or more Tx beams wider than the one or more current Tx beams for the one or more PSFCH transmissions, or using a same PSFCH Tx beam for the one or more PSFCH transmissions; and in response to a determination of the one or more PSFCH slots, perform the one or more PSFCH transmissions using the determined one or more PSFCH slots.

17. The node of claim 16, wherein selecting the one or more PSFCH slots that do not cause a conflict between the one or more PSFCH Tx beams with the one or more PSFCH Tx beams that are already scheduled in a same slot further comprises: selecting at least one PSFCH slot earlier than at least one current PSFCH slot that does not cause the conflict between the one or more PSFCH Tx beams with the one or more PSFCH Tx beams that are already scheduled in a same slot.

18. The node of claim 16, wherein selecting the one or more PSFCH slots that do not cause a conflict between the one or more PSFCH Tx beams with the one or more PSFCH Tx beams that are already scheduled in a same slot further comprises: randomly selecting at least one PSFCH slot that does not cause the conflict between the one or more PSFCH Tx beams with the one or more PSFCH Tx beams that are already scheduled in the same slot, or a common Tx beam for the one or more PSFCH transmissions and the one or more PSFCH transmissions that are already scheduled.

19. The node of claim 16, wherein using the same PSFCH Tx beam for the one or more PSFCH transmissions further comprises: using the same PSFCH Tx beam for the one or more PSFCH transmissions, in response to a determination of a common Tx beam wider than a current PSFCH beam for two or more PSFCH transmissions in a same slot.

20. The node of claim 16, wherein the processor is further configured to iterate widening the one or more Tx beams from the one or more current Tx beams for the one or more PSFCH transmissions, until a widest attainable Tx beam associated with the node is used or the PSFCH Tx beam conflict is avoided.

21. The node of claim 16, wherein the processor is further configured to execute the instruction stored in the memory to: determine whether to perform the one or more PSFCH transmissions and the one or more PSFCH slots based on a comparison of one or more priorities of the one or more PSCCH signals with a first priority threshold, or comparison of one or more priorities of the one or more PSSCH signals with a second priority threshold.

22. The node of claim 16, wherein the processor is further configured to execute the instruction stored in the memory to: determine whether to perform the one or more PSFCH transmissions and the one or more PSFCH slots based on a comparison of one or more priorities of the one or more PSCCH signals with one or more priorities of one or more PSCCH receptions that are already scheduled, or a comparison of one or more priorities of the one or more PSSCH signals with one or more priorities of one or more PSSCH receptions that are already scheduled.

23. The node of claim 16, wherein the processor is further configured to execute the instruction stored in the memory to: determine whether to perform the one or more PSFCH transmissions and the one or more PSFCH slots based on a comparison of an RSRP of the one or more PSCCH signals or the one or more PSSCH signals, with an RSRP threshold.

24. The node of claim 16, wherein the processor is further configured to execute the instruction stored in the memory to: determine whether to perform the one or more PSFCH transmissions and the one or more PSFCH slots based on a comparison of an RSRP of the one or more PSCCH signals with an RSRP of one or more PSCCH signal already received, or a comparison of an RSRP of the one or more PSSCH signals with one or more PSSCH signal already received.

25. The node of claim 16, wherein the processor is further configured to execute the instruction stored in the memory to: determine whether to perform the one or more PSFCH transmissions and the one or more PSFCH slots based on a predicted PSFCH Tx beam conflict for the one or more PSFCH transmissions.

26. The node of claim 16, wherein the processor is further configured to execute the instruction stored in the memory to: determine whether to perform the one or more PSFCH transmissions and the one or more PSFCH slots based on one or more beam widths for one or more Tx beams for the one or more PSFCH transmissions, or one or more beam widths for one or more Tx beams for the one or more PSCCH signals or the one or more PSSCH signals that are already received.

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