Communication control device, communication device, communication control method, and communication method

Abstract

A communication control device (30) according to the present disclosure comprises a control unit (34). The control unit (34) notifies a first communication device (401) and / or a second communication device (402)of information relating to carrier sensing in side link communication using an unlicensed band, between the first communication device(401) and the second communication device(402).

Description

Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a communicationcontrol device, a communication device, a communicationcontrol method, and a communication method.Background

[0002] In recent years, communication using acommunication link between terminals, called sidelink, hasemerged in addition to communication between a base stationand a terminal device. One example of the communicationusing sidelink is device-to-device (D2D) communication, andthere has been a lot of discussion about the communicationusing sidelink for use in use cases such as IoT and MTC,which are expected to increase in the future.

[0003] In a long term evolution (LTE) platform, deviceto-device (D2D) communication in which terminal devicescommunicate directly with each other without a base stationhas been standardized in Release (Rel)-12 of thirdgeneration partnership project (3GPP) (See Non PatentLiterature 1).Citation ListNon Patent Literature

[0004] Non Patent Literature 1: 3GPP Technical Report"TR 22.803 V12.1.0" March 2013SummaryTechnical Problem

[0005] As described above, increase in the sidelinkcommunication in the future probably leads to shortage ofradio resources available for the sidelink communication.Therefore, there is a need for efficient use of radioresources.

[0006] In view of this, the present disclosure proposesa technology that enables efficient use of radio resourcesin device-to-device communication between terminal devices.Solution to Problem

[0007] According to the present disclosure, acommunication control device is provided. The communicationcontrol device includes a control unit. The control unitnotifies at least one of a first communication device and asecond communication device of information on carrier sensein sidelink communication in an unlicensed band between thefirst communication device and the second communicationdevice.Brief Description of Drawings

[0008] FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating acase where UE is within a coverage range of eNB, and a casewhere UE is outside the coverage range thereof.FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a casewhere UE belonging to operators A and B respectively, whichare different MNOs, perform D2D communication with eachother.FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining theposition of a PSS / SSS.FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating theconfiguration of an LTE resource.FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram illustrating aresource pool.FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining an example ofcommunication in LAA.FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining an outline ofsidelink communication using an unlicensed band accordingto a first embodiment of the present disclosure.FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of theconfiguration of an information processing system accordingto the first embodiment of the present disclosure.FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of thespecific configuration of an information processing system.FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of theconfiguration of a management device according to the firstembodiment of the present disclosure.FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of theconfiguration of a base station device according to thefirst embodiment of the present disclosure.FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of theconfiguration of a terminal device according to the firstembodiment of the present disclosure.FIG. 13 is a sequence diagram for explaining the flowof sidelink communication processing according to the firstembodiment of the present disclosure.FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of theconfiguration of a base station device according to amodification example 1 to the first embodiment of thepresent disclosure.FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of theconfiguration of a terminal device according to themodification example 1 to the first embodiment of thepresent disclosure.FIG. 16 is a sequence diagram for explaining the flowof sidelink communication processing according to themodification example 1 to the first embodiment of thepresent disclosure.FIG. 17 is a diagram for explaining an outline ofsidelink communication according to a second embodiment ofthe present disclosure.FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating an example of theconfiguration of a base station device according to thesecond embodiment of the present disclosure.FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating an example of theconfiguration of a master terminal according to the secondembodiment of the disclosure.FIG. 20 is a sequence diagram for explaining the flowof sidelink communication processing according to thesecond embodiment of the present disclosure.Description of Embodiments

[0009] Hereinafter, embodiments of the presentdisclosure are described in detail with reference to thedrawings. In the following embodiments, the same parts aredenoted with the same reference numerals and repeatedexplanation of these parts is omitted.

[0010] Further, in the specification and the drawings, aplurality of constituent elements having substantially thesame functional configuration is sometimes distinguishedfrom one another by adding different numbers after the samereference numeral. For example, a plurality ofconfigurations having substantially the same functionalconfiguration is distinguished from one another asnecessary, such as base station devices 201 and 202.However, if it is not necessary to distinguish theplurality of constituent elements having substantially thesame functional configuration from one another, only thesame reference numeral is given. For example, if it is notnecessary to distinguish the base station devices 201 and202 from one another, they are simply referred to as thebase station device 20.

[0011] Further, the present disclosure is described inthe following order of items.1. Introduction1-1. Outline of D2D communication1-2. Outline of LAA2. First Embodiment2-1. Outline of First Embodiment2-2. Configuration of Information Processing System2-3. Flow of Sidelink Communication Processing3. Modification Examples to First Embodiment3-1. Modification Example 13-2. Modification Example 24. Second Embodiment4-1. Outline of Second Embodiment4-2. Configuration of Information Processing System4-3. Flow of Sidelink Communication Processing5. Modification Examples to Second Embodiment5-1. Modification Example 15-2. Modification Example 26. Other Modification Examples7. Conclusion

[0012] <1. Introduction>Before the embodiments of the present disclosure aredetailed, a background of the embodiments of the presentdisclosure is described. As the background of theembodiments, first, an outline of the D2D communication isdescribed, and licensed assisted access (LAA) is brieflydescribed.

[0013] <1-1. Outline of D2D Communication>In the LTE platform, device-to-device communication(D2D communication) in which terminal devices communicatedirectly with each other without a base station has beenstandardized in Release (Rel)-12 of 3GPP. In the Rel-12,particularly, public use cases and commercial use cases aredefined as D2D use cases, and in the Rel-12, first, astandard focusing on public use cases are examined. Due totime constraints on standardization, standardization forall use cases has not been completed at the time of Rel-12,and the D2D communication has been standardized in alimited scenario such as an environment of one cell in onepublic land mobile network (PLMN).

[0014] Use cases for the D2D communication using the LTEplatform have been discussed in 3GPP SA1 and the like anddescribed as TR 22.803. The description in the TR 22.803is only for use cases and no specific method forimplementation is described therein. Typical use casesthat should be implemented in the LTE from TR 22.803 to3GPP are provided below.

[0015] (Use case: about coverage)As for a location where a plurality of pieces of userequipment (UE) as terminal devices of the LTE communicateswith each other, it is necessary to consider a case wherethe location is within a coverage range of an evolved nodeB (eNodeB, also referred to as eNB below) that functions asa base station of the LTE and a case where the location isoutside the coverage range thereof. This is because thecase where the location is outside the coverage range ofthe eNB is important for public safety applications. FIG.1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the case where theUE is within the coverage range of the eNB and the casewhere the UE is outside the coverage range thereof. It isalso desirable to consider partial coverage, which iscommunication between the UE within the coverage range ofthe eNB and the UE outside the coverage range of the eNB.

[0016] (Use case: D2D between different mobile networkoperators (MNOs))It is also desirable to consider D2D communicationbetween UE belonging to different MNOs. This is because,in the case of public safety applications, the useful usageis impossible if which MNO UE belongs to is distinguished.FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a case whereUE belonging to operators A and B respectively, which aredifferent MNOs, perform D2D communication with each other.

[0017] It is desirable to implement D2D communication onthe LTE system in consideration of the two use casesdescribed above.

[0018] Subsequently, the flow for starting D2Dcommunication on the LTE system is described.(Flow until the start of D2D communication)Step 1: SynchronizationStep 2: Discovery (discovery of other terminals)Step 3: Connection establishment (not required forconnection less type communication)Step 4: D2D communication

[0019] In addition, in the D2D communication on the LTEsystem, the following types of discovery and communicationare mainly defined.

[0020] [Discovery]Type 1: A discovery procedure where resources fordiscovery signal transmission are allocated on a non UEspecific basisType 2: A discovery procedure where resources fordiscovery signal transmission are allocated on a per UEspecific basisType 2a: Resources are allocated for each specifictransmission instance of discovery signalType 2b: Resources are semi-persistently allocated fordiscovery signal transmission

[0021] [Communication]Mode 1: eNodeB or Rel-10 Relay node schedules theexact resources by a UE to transmit direct data and directcontrol informationMode 2: A UE on its own selects resources fromresource pool to transmit

[0022] In the discovery, resources are classified aseither non-UE specific base or UE specific base, and in theUE specific base, resources are further classified as amethod of being allocated for every transmission or amethod of being semi-statically allocated. Thecommunication is classified into Mode 1 communication inwhich a manager such as the eNodeB allocates resources, andMode 2 communication in which resources are selected from aresource pool by itself. In the Mode 2 communication whereresources are selected from the resource pool by itself,collisions may occur, so it is contention-based.

[0023] (About synchronization)In the case of D2D communication between UE within thecoverage range of one eNodeB, if both pieces of the UE usea downlink signal of the eNodeB for synchronization, thenboth pieces of the UE are also synchronized to some extent.On the other hand, in the case of D2D communication betweenUE outside the coverage range of the eNodeB, one of the UEneeds to provide a signal for synchronization.

[0024] (About PSS / SSS)Primary synchronization signal (PSS) / secondarysynchronization signal (SSS) is a synchronization signalused in a radio access network between a base station and aUE. The synchronization signal itself for D2Dcommunication on the LTE system is created on the basis ofthe PSS / SSS.

[0025] FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explainingthe position of the PSS / SSS. As illustrated in FIG. 3, thePSS / SSS is inserted in a subframe #0 and a subframe #5 outof ten subframes #0 to #9 of the LTE. The UE uses the PSSto acquire the timing for each subframe. The UE can alsouse the SSS to determine the location of the subframe #0.

[0026] It is also possible to determine which cell groupthe PSS is in out of the three cell groups in three typesof sequences. The SSS can differentiate 168 types of cellsfrom one another, and 168 x 2 = 336 sequences are requiredto determine the subframe #0. With the PSS and SSS, 168 x3 = 504 different cells can be differentiated from oneanother.

[0027] In the case of D2D communication on the LTEsystem, in a case where the UE sends a synchronizationsignal, the PSS / SSS as described above is not always used.However, the UE sends one having a plurality of sequences,although the number is not always 504 in the same manner.

[0028] (About synchronization signal in D2D)The synchronization signal may originate from the basestation or may originate from the UE if it is outside therange of the base station. Further, the synchronizationsignal is sometimes relayed wirelessly. Therefore, thesynchronization signal has various attributes.

[0029] It is necessary that the UE achievessynchronization using any of the synchronization signals.Examples of possible attributes of the synchronizationsignal are described below. Specifically, the attributesare whether the synchronization is originated from theeNodeB or the UE, and whether the synchronization is onerelayed wirelessly or is a synchronization signal generatedoriginally. In the case of the synchronization relayedwirelessly, the accuracy of the center frequency probablydeteriorates. It is thus desirable that the number ofrelays (the number of hops) is small. Further, thepriority of the synchronization signal originated from theeNodeB over the synchronization signal originated from theUE is due to the low accuracy of an oscillator mounted inthe UE.

[0030] (About resources for D2D)FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating theconfiguration of an LTE resource. In the LTE resource, tensubframes constitute one radio frame, and each radio frameis given a super frame number from 0 to 1023, and the superframe numbers are repeated.

[0031] In the D2D communication, some resources in anuplink band are used. In order to designate a resource forD2D communication, an area called a resource pool isprepared. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram illustrating aresource pool. In the resource pool illustrated in FIG. 5,a reference numeral 2100 denotes a D2D synchronizationsignal (D2DSS), a reference numeral 2200 denotes a physicalD2D synchronization channel (PD2DSCH), a reference numeral2300 denotes a scheduling assignment (SA), a referencenumeral 2400 denotes D2D data, a reference numeral 2500denotes a sounding reference signal (SRS) symbol, and areference numeral 2600 denotes a discovery message.

[0032] As the resource pool, the following three typesare specified: a scheduling assignment (SA) resource pool;a data resource pool; and a discovery resource pool. Inthese resource pools, up to four resource pools may beallocated at the same time. Instructions in the resourcepool are notified via a system information block (SIB) inthe case of being "in coverage", and, in the case of being"out of coverage", are notified by specifying informationon the resource pool in advance.

[0033] There are the following two methods to determinea resource to be used by the UE terminal that actuallyperforms D2D communication from the resource pool: onemethod in which a managing node (eNB or a relay UE in thefuture) allocates a resource to each UE and notifies, inthe form of schedule allocation, the UE of the resourcethat the UE may use; and the other method in which the UEselects a resource from the given resource pool to use theresource thus selected. The former is a non-contentionbasedmethod because no collisions occur, and the latter isa contention-based method because collisions occur when thesame resource is used at the same time.

[0034] The communication described above iscommunication using a so-called licensed band that requiresa license. In cellular communication using such a licensedband, there is a concern about depletion of radio resourcesdue to increase in content amount and diversification ofthe content via radio. To address this, in the cellularcommunication also, the operation of radio access methodsin an unlicensed band and a license shared band is underconsideration. In such an unlicensed band, coexistencewith other nodes and radio systems is considered important,and radio access methods such as the LTE and an NR arerequired to have functions of listen before talk (LBT) inwhich a channel is sensed before transmission anddiscontinuous transmission. Note that the unlicensed bandis, for example, a 2.4 GHz band, a 5 GHz band, and a 6 GHzband. The licensed shared band is, for example, a 3.5 GHzband or a 37 GHz band.

[0035] <1-2. Outline of LAA>Examples of the radio access methods utilizing anunlicensed band or a licensed shared band include licensedassisted access (LAA). Conventionally, in the licensedassisted access (LAA), a base station (for example, eNB)has acquired an access right to a radio resource(hereinafter, also referred to as a channel). The accessright acquired is then shared (in other words, simultaneoususage by multiple users) by the base station and a terminaldevice (for example, UE) communicating with the basestation. This point is described with reference to FIG. 6.

[0036] FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining an example ofcommunication in the LAA. The upper part of FIG. 6illustrates carrier sense by the base station and a signalsent by the base station. The lower part of FIG. 2illustrates carrier sense by the terminal device and asignal sent by the terminal device. A square labeled DL isa time resource in which a downlink signal is sent. Thetime resource is, for example, a slot or a subframe. Asquare labeled UL is a time resource in which an uplinksignal is sent. As illustrated in FIG. 6, the base stationfirst performs carrier sense using random backoff toacquire an access right. Next, the base station sends adownlink signal within a period (channel occupancy time(COT)) in which the channel may be occupied on the basis ofthe access right acquired. The COT is a period duringwhich the access right acquired is valid. On the otherhand, the base station uses an uplink grant to instruct theterminal device to perform an uplink transmission duringthe COT. The terminal device then performs carrier sensewithout random backoff, and sends an uplink signalaccording to the uplink grant.

[0037] The method of channel access changes depending onwhether or not it is within the COT. Specifically, outsidethe COT, the communication device performs carrier senseusing random backoff to access the channel (LBT category 4,for example). On the other hand, the communication deviceperforms carrier sense without random backoff to access thechannel within the COT, that is, during a period when theaccess right is held (LBT category 2, for example). In theexample illustrated in FIG. 6, since the base station doesnot initially acquire an access right (i.e., outside theCOT), the base station uses random backoff to access thechannel. On the other hand, the terminal device shares(that is, simultaneous usage by multiple users) the accessright acquired by the base station on the basis of theuplink grant, so that the terminal device accesses thechannel without random backoff during a period when theaccess right acquired by the base station is valid (i.e.,within the COT). As described above, in the uplinktransmission in the LAA, the terminal device does not haveto access the channel using random backoff from thebeginning because the access right is shared.

[0038] However, the LAA is communication between thebase station and the terminal device, and the D2Dcommunication using an unlicensed band is still underconsideration, and no specific method has been established.

[0039] In the conventional sidelink communication,Uulink communication (communication between a base stationand a terminal device) is basically performed in thelicensed band, and PC5 link (sidelink communication betweenterminal devices) is also performed in the license band.Further, an ITS band is used in V2X communication(communication for cars such as vehicle-to-vehiclecommunication), which is a special form of the D2Dcommunication. On the other hand, due to the depletion ofradio resources in the licensed band, using an unlicensedband is desirable. It is therefore necessary to define aspecific communication method such as control required toimplement sidelink communication in an unlicensed band.

[0040] Further, the use of an unlicensed band for D2Dcommunication (sidelink communication) has an advantagethat D2D communication between different operators iseasier to put into practical use, and the establishment ofD2D communication technologies using an unlicensed band isdesired.

[0041] Therefore, in the embodiments of the presentdisclosure, in view of the technical problems describedabove, a technology is proposed for realizing efficient useof radio resources by using an unlicensed band in sidelinkcommunication between terminal devices.

[0042] <2. First Embodiment><2-1. Outline of First Embodiment>As described above, in the first embodiment of thepresent disclosure, a technology is proposed which makes itpossible to realize efficient use of radio resources byusing an unlicensed band in sidelink communication betweenterminal devices. Such a technology is described withreference to FIG. 7. FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining anoutline of sidelink communication using an unlicensed bandaccording to the first embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

[0043] In the technology of the present disclosure,sidelink communication in the NR, particularly, sidelinkcommunication in an unlicensed band, is described. Asillustrated in FIG. 7, an information processing systemincludes a base station 30 and terminal devices 401 and 402that perform sidelink communication.

[0044] Basically, a device performing communication(also referred to as a communication device below) such asa base station or a terminal device is required to performcarrier sense before communication in the case ofcommunication using an unlicensed band. In other words,the communication device needs to ascertain the usage of acommunication channel before communication so as not toaffect communication of other communication devices. Forexample, in a case where the communication device performscarrier sense and the channel is in a state of not beingused (vacant), the communication device can use the channelto send a signal. On the other hand, in a case where thechannel is in a state of being used (busy), thecommunication device waits for the channel to enter thevacant state, and sends a signal.

[0045] Generally, a communication device that sends asignal performs carrier sense; however, if the terminaldevice 40 that sends a signal in sidelink communicationperforms carrier sense, the processing load on the terminaldevice 40 increases. Further, if the terminal device 40performs carrier sense, it may affect communication byanother terminal device 40. For example, if a plurality ofterminal devices 40 determines that the channel is in thevacant state and sends a signal at the same time, thesignals sent may interfere with one another.

[0046] In light of the above, in the first embodiment ofthe present disclosure, a mechanism of sidelinkcommunication is proposed in which the base station 30performs carrier sense in the sidelink communication of theterminal device 40 to reduce the processing load on theterminal device 40 and reduce the interference of thesignals sent.

[0047] Specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 7, the basestation 30 executes carrier sense in an unlicensed band forthe sidelink communication (Step S1), and, on the basis ofthe result of the carrier sense, notifies the terminaldevices 401 and 402 of control information necessary forthe sidelink communication (Steps S2 and S3). The controlinformation includes, for example, information regardingtime and frequency resources for signal transmission. Theterminal devices 401 and 402 perform the sidelinkcommunication on the basis of the control informationacquired (Step S4).

[0048] As a result, in the information processing systemaccording to the first embodiment of the presentdisclosure, the terminal device 40 can use the unlicensedband to perform the sidelink communication. This enableseffective use of radio resources. Further, the basestation 30 performs carrier sense, leading to reduction inprocessing load on the terminal device 40. Further, thebase station 30 performs carrier sense, which enablescentralized control on the sidelink communication of theterminal device 40, and reduction in interference withother communication due to the sidelink communication.

[0049] <2-2. Configuration of Information ProcessingSystem>First, an information processing system 1 according tothe first embodiment of the present disclosure is describedwith reference to FIG. 8. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustratingan example of the configuration of the informationprocessing system 1 according to the first embodiment ofthe present disclosure. The information processing system1 illustrated in FIG. 8 is a wireless communication systemincluding a plurality of communication devices (mobiledevices, terminal devices) capable of sidelinkcommunication.

[0050] The information processing system 1 is, forexample, a wireless communication system using a radioaccess technology (RAT) in new radio (NR). The wirelesscommunication system is also called a 5th generation system(5GS). The information processing system 1 is not limitedto a mobile phone communication system, and may be, forexample, intelligent transport systems (ITS). Further, theinformation processing system 1 is not limited to acellular communication system, and may be, for example,another wireless communication system such as a wirelesslocal area network (LAN) system, an aviation wirelesssystem, or a space wireless communication system.

[0051] The information processing system 1 may provide afunction to execute application processing (for example,edge function) to a mobile device via a wireless networkusing a radio access technology in the NR. The NR is atype of cellular communication technology, and enablesmobile communication of the mobile device by arranging aplurality of areas covered by a base station device in acell shape.

[0052] In the following description, it is assumed thatthe NR includes a new radio access technology (NRAT) and afurther EUTRA (FEUTRA). A single base station may manage aplurality of cells. A cell corresponding to the NR issometimes referred to as an NR cell.

[0053] The NR is the next generation (5th generation)radio access technology (RAT) after the LTE (4th generationcommunication including LTE-advanced and LTE-advanced pro).The NR is a radio access technology that can supportvarious use cases including an enhanced mobile broadband(eMBB), massive machine type communications (mMTC), andultra-reliable and low latency communications (URLLC). TheNR is under consideration for a technical frameworkcompatible with usage scenarios, requirements, andarrangement scenarios in the use cases.

[0054] The NR base station may be called a nextgeneration RAN (NGRAN) node. The NGRAN refers to a RAN(RAN having a reference point with 5GC) in a case where thecore network is a 5G core (5GC). That is, the NGRAN mayinclude a gNodeB (gNB) and an ng-eNodeB (ng-eNB). Further,in the NR, the mobile device is sometimes called userequipment (UE).

[0055] [Overall Configuration of Information ProcessingSystem]As illustrated in FIG. 8, the information processingsystem 1 includes a management device 10, the base stationdevice 20, a base station device 30, the terminal device40, and a mobile device 50. Further, FIG. 9 is a diagramillustrating an example of the specific configuration ofthe information processing system 1. The informationprocessing system 1 may have a cloud server device CS inaddition to the above configuration, but the cloud serverdevice CS does not have to be an essential constituentelement.

[0056] The plurality of devices of the informationprocessing system 1 constitute a network N1. The networkN1 is, for example, a wireless network. The network N1 is,for example, a mobile communication network configured byusing a radio access technology such as the NR. Thenetwork N1 includes a radio access network RAN and a corenetwork CN.

[0057] Note that the devices in the drawing may beconsidered as devices in a logical sense (logical nodes).Specifically, some of the devices in the drawing may beimplemented by a virtual machine (VM), a container, adocker, and the like, and they may be implementedphysically on the same hardware.

[0058] [Cloud Server Device]The cloud server device CS (see FIG. 9) is aprocessing device (server device, for example) connected toa network N2. For example, the cloud server device CS is ahost computer for server that processes a request from aclient computer (mobile device 50, for example). The cloudserver device CS may be a PC server, a midrange server, ora mainframe server.

[0059] Here, the network N2 is a communication networkconnected to the network N1 via a gateway device (UPF, SGW,or P-GW, for example). In other words, the network N2is a data network (DN). Alternatively, for example, thenetwork N2 is a communication network such as the Internet,a regional Internet protocol (IP) network, or a telephonenetwork (fixed telephone network or mobile telephonenetwork, for example). Note that the cloud server devicecan be rephrased as a server device, a processing device,or an information processing device.

[0060] [Management Device]The management device 10 (See FIGS. 8 and 9) is adevice that manages a wireless network. For example, themanagement device 10 is a device functioning as an accessand mobility management function (AMF). The managementdevice 10 and the gateway device constitute a part of thecore network CN. The core network CN is a network of apredetermined entity such as a mobile communicationcarrier. For example, the core network CN is a 5G corenetwork (5GC). Note that the predetermined entity may bethe same as or different from an entity that uses,operates, and / or manages the base station devices 20 and30.

[0061] Note that the management device 10 may have agateway function. For example, in a case where the corenetwork is the 5GC, the management device 10 has a functionas a user plane function (UPF). Further, the managementdevice 10 may be an SMF, a PCF, a UDM, or the like.Alternatively, the core network CN may include an SMF, aPCF, a UDM, or the like.

[0062] The management device 10 is connected to each ofthe plurality of base station devices 20 and the pluralityof base station devices 30. For example, in the case ofthe 5GS, there is an N2 reference point between the AMF(10) and the NG-RAN (20, 30), and the AMF (10) and the NGRAN(20, 30) are logically connected to each other via theNG interface.

[0063] The management device 10 may manage communicationbetween the base station device 20 and the base stationdevice 30. For example, the management device 10 managesthe position of the mobile device 50 in the network N1 foreach mobile device 50 in units of areas (e.g., trackingarea, RAN notification area) including a plurality ofcells. Note that the management device 10 may ascertainand manage, on a cell-by-cell basis for each mobile device50, which base station device (or which cell) the mobiledevice 50 is connected to, of which base station device (orwhich cell) the mobile device 50 is in the communicationarea, and so on.

[0064] A cell provided by the base station is called aserving cell. The serving cell includes a primary cell(PCell) and a secondary cell (SCell). In a case where dualconnectivity (e.g., EUTRA-EUTRA dual connectivity, EUTRA-NRdual connectivity (ENDC), EUTRA-NR dual connectivity with5GC, NR-EUTRA dual connectivity (NEDC), NR-NR dualconnectivity) is provided to the UE (e.g., terminal device40 and mobile device 50), the PCell and the SCell(s)provided by a master node (MN) are called a master cellgroup. Further, the serving cell may include a primarysecondary cell or a primary SCG cell (PSCell). In otherwords, in a case where the dual connectivity is provided tothe UE, the PSCell and the SCell(s) provided by a secondarynode (SN) are called a secondary cell group (SCG).

[0065] One downlink component carrier and one uplinkcomponent carrier may be correlated with one cell.Further, a system bandwidth corresponding to one cell maybe divided into a plurality of bandwidth parts. In such acase, one or more bandwidth parts may be set in the UE, andone bandwidth part may be used for the UE as an active BWP.Further, radio resources that can be used by the mobiledevice 50 (e.g., a frequency band, a numerology (subcarrierspacing), and a slot format (slot configuration)) may bedifferent for each cell, each component carrier, or eachBWP.

[0066] [Base Station Device]The base station device 30 (see FIGS. 8 and 9) is awireless communication device that performs wirelesscommunication with the terminal device 40 and the mobiledevice 50. The base station device 30 is a deviceconstituting an infrastructure in D2I (V2I) communication.The base station device 30 is a kind of the communicationdevice.

[0067] As described above, the base station device 30may be a device equivalent to a wireless base station (basestation, node B, eNB, gNB, and the like) or a radio accesspoint (access point). Further or alternatively, in a casewhere the base station device is an eNB, a gNB, or thelike, it may be referred to as 3GPP access. Further oralternatively, in a case where the base station device is aradio access point (access point), it may be referred to asNon-3GPP access. Further or alternatively, the basestation device 30 may be a radio relay station (relaynode). Further or alternatively, the base station device30 may be an on-road base station device such as a roadside unit (RSU). Further or alternatively, the basestation device 30 may be an optical extension device calleda remote radio head (RRH). Further or alternatively, in acase where the base station device is a gNB, the basestation device may be referred to as a combination of a gNBcentral unit (CU) and a gNB distributed unit (DU) or anyone of them.

[0068] The gNB central unit (CU) hosts a plurality ofupper layers (e.g. RRC, SDAP, PDCP) of the access stratumfor communication with the UE. On the other hand, the gNBDUhosts a plurality of lower layers (e.g., RLC, MAC, andPHY) of the access stratum. In other words, among messageand information described later, RRC signalling may begenerated by the gNB CU, while DCI may be generated by thegNB-DU.

[0069] In this embodiment, a base station of a wirelesscommunication system is sometimes referred to as a basestation device. The base station device 30 may beconfigured to be able to perform wireless communicationwith another base station device 20 and the base stationdevice 30. For example, in a case where the plurality ofbase station devices 20 and 30 are eNBs or a combination ofan eNB and a gNB, the devices may be connected by an X2interface.

[0070] Further or alternatively, in a case where theplurality of base station devices 20 and 30 are gNBs or acombination of an eNB and a gNB, the devices may beconnected by an Xn interface. Further or alternatively, ina case where the plurality of base station devices 20 and30 is a combination of a gNB central unit (CU) and a gNBdistributed unit (DU), the devices may be connected by anF1 interface. Message and information (information on RRCsignalling or DCI) described later may be communicated(e.g., via X2, Xn, F1 interface) between the plurality ofbase station devices 20 and 30.

[0071] Note that the radio access technology used by thebase station device 30 may be a cellular communicationtechnology or a wireless LAN technology. Of course, theradio access technology used by the base station device 30is not limited thereto, and may be another radio accesstechnology. Further, the wireless communication used bythe base station device 30 may be radio communication usingradio waves or wireless communication (optical wireless)using infrared rays or visible light.

[0072] The base station device 20 (see FIGS. 8 and 9) isa wireless communication device that performs wirelesscommunication with the terminal device 40 and the mobiledevice 50. The base station device 20 is a deviceconstituting a network in D2N (V2N) communication.

[0073] The base station device 20 is a kind of thecommunication device as with the base station device 30.The base station device 20 is a device equivalent to awireless base station (base station, node B, eNB, gNB, andthe like) or a radio access point (access point).

[0074] The base station device 20 may be a radio relaystation. Further, the base station device 20 may be anoptical extension device called a remote radio head (RRH).The base station device 30 may be configured to be able toperform wireless communication with another base stationdevice 30 and the base station device 20.

[0075] Note that the radio access technology used by thebase station device 20 may be a cellular communicationtechnology or a wireless LAN technology. Of course, theradio access technology used by the base station device 20is not limited thereto, and may be another radio accesstechnology. Further, the wireless communication used bythe base station device 20 may be radio communication usingradio waves or wireless communication (optical wireless)using infrared rays or visible light.

[0076] Note that the base station devices 20 and 30 maybe able to communicate with each other via a base stationdevice-core network interface (NG Interface, S1 Interface,or the like, for example). The interface may be either awired interface or a wireless interface. Further, the basestation devices may be able to communicate with each othervia an inter-base station device interface (Xn Interface,X2 Interface, or the like, for example). The interface maybe either a wired interface or a wireless interface.

[0077] The base station devices 20 and 30 can be used,operated, and / or managed by various entities. For example,the entities are supposed to be a mobile network operator(MNO), a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), a mobilevirtual network enabler (MVNE), a neutral host network(NHN) operator, an enterprise, an educational institution(incorporated educational institution, boards of educationof local governments, etc.), a real estate (building,apartment, etc.) administrator, an individual, and thelike.

[0078] Of course, the entities of use, operation, and / ormanagement of the base station devices 20 and 30 are notlimited thereto. The base station devices 20 and 30 may beinstalled and / or operated by one operator or may beinstalled and / or operated by an individual.

[0079] Of course, the entities of installation andoperation of the base station device 20 are not limitedthereto. For example, the base station devices 20 and 30may be installed and operated collaboratively by aplurality of operators or a plurality of individuals.Further, the base station devices 20 and 30 may be sharedfacilities used by a plurality of operators or a pluralityof individuals. In such a case, a third party differentfrom a user may install and / or operate the equipment.

[0080] Note that the concept of the base station deviceincludes not only a donor base station but also a relaybase station (also referred to as a relay station or arelay station device). Further, the concept of the basestation includes not only a structure having a function ofthe base station but also a device installed in thestructure. The structure is, for example, a building suchas a tall building, a house, a steel tower, a stationfacility, an airport facility, a harbor facility, or astadium. Note that the concept of the structure includesnot only a building but also a non-building structure suchas a tunnel, a bridge, a dam, a wall, or an iron pole, andequipment such as a crane, a gate, or a windmill. Further,the concept of the structure includes not only a structureon land (on the ground in a narrow sense) or underground,but also a structure on water such as a pier or a megafloat,and an underwater structure such as an oceanographicobservation facility. The base station device can berephrased as a processing device or an informationprocessing device.

[0081] The base station devices 20 and 30 may be fixedstations or base station devices configured to be movable(mobile stations). For example, the base station devices20 and 30 may be devices installed in a mobile object ormay be mobile objects themselves. For example, a relaystation device having mobility can be regarded as the basestation devices 20 and 30 as mobile stations. Further, amobility device with a function of the base station device(at least a part of the function of the base stationdevice), for example, a vehicle, a drone (aerial vehicle),or a smartphone, also corresponds to the base stationdevices 20 and 30 as mobile stations.

[0082] Here, the mobile object may be a mobile terminalsuch as a smartphone or a mobile phone. Alternatively, themobile object may be a mobile object that moves on land (onthe ground in a narrow sense) (e.g., vehicle such as anautomobile, a bicycle, a bus, a truck, a motorcycle, atrain, or a linear motor car) or a mobile object that movesunderground (e.g., in the tunnel) (e.g., subway).Alternatively, the mobile object may be a mobile objectthat moves on the water (e.g., a ship such as a passengership, a cargo ship, or a hovercraft) or a mobile objectthat moves underwater (e.g., a submersible vessel such as asubmersible, a submarine, and an unmanned submersible).Alternatively, the mobile object may be a mobile objectthat moves through the atmosphere (e.g., an aircraft(aerial vehicle) such as an airplane, an airship, and adrone) or a mobile object that moves outside the atmosphere(e.g., an artificial celestial body such as an artificialsatellite, a spacecraft, a space station, and a probe).

[0083] Further, the base station devices 20 and 30 maybe ground base station devices (ground station devices)installed on the ground. For example, the base stationdevices 20 and 30 may be base station devices placed in astructure on the ground, or may be base station devicesinstalled in a mobile object moving on the ground. Morespecifically, the base station devices 20 and 30 may be anantenna installed in a structure such as a building and asignal processing device connected to the antenna. Ofcourse, the base station devices 20 and 30 may bestructures or mobile objects themselves. The term "ground"is a ground in a broad sense including not only land(ground in a narrow sense) but also underground, on water,and underwater. Note that the base station devices 20 and30 are not limited to ground base station devices. Thebase station devices 20 and 30 may be non-ground basestation devices (non-ground station devices) capable offloating in the air or space. For example, the basestation devices 20 and 30 may be aircraft station devicesor satellite station devices.

[0084] The aircraft station device is a wirelesscommunication device capable of floating in the atmosphere(including the stratosphere), such as an aircraft. Theaircraft station device may be a device mounted on anaircraft or the like, or may be an aircraft itself. Notethat the concept of the aircraft includes not only a heavyaircraft such as an airplane and a glider but also a lightaircraft such as an air balloon and an airship. Further,the concept of the aircraft includes not only the heavyaircraft and the light aircraft but also a rotorcraft suchas a helicopter and an autogyro. Note that the aircraftstation device (or, aircraft on which the aircraft stationdevice is mounted) may be an unmanned aircraft such as adrone. Note that the concept of the unmanned aircraft alsoincludes unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and a tetheredUAS. The concept of the unmanned aircraft also includes alighter than air (LTA) UAS and a heavier than air (HTA)UAS. Other concepts of the unmanned aircraft also includehigh altitude UAS platforms (HAPs).

[0085] The satellite station device is a wirelesscommunication device capable of floating outside theatmosphere. The satellite station device may be a devicemounted on a space mobile object such as an artificialsatellite, or may be a space mobile object itself. Thesatellite serving as the satellite station device may beany of a low earth orbiting (LEO) satellite, a medium earthorbiting (MEO) satellite, a geostationary earth orbiting(GEO) satellite, and a highly elliptical orbiting (HEO)satellite. Of course, the satellite station device may bea device mounted on a low earth orbiting satellite, amedium earth orbiting satellite, a geostationary earthorbiting satellite, or a highly elliptical orbitingsatellite.

[0086] The size of the coverage of the base stationdevices 20 and 30 may range from a large size such as amacro cell to a small size such as a picocell. Of course,the size of the coverage of the base station devices 20 and30 may be extremely small such as a femtocell. Further,the base station devices 20 and 30 may have a beamformingcapability. In such a case, the base station devices 20and 30 may form a cell or a service area for each beam.

[0087] [Terminal Device and Mobile Device]The terminal device 40 is a wireless communicationdevice that performs wireless communication with the basestation device 20 or the base station device 30. Theterminal device 40 is, for example, a mobile phone, a smartdevice (smartphone or tablet terminal), a personal digitalassistant (PDA), or a personal computer. The mobile device50 may be a machine-to-machine (M2M) device or an Internetof things (IoT) device (may also called MTC UE, NB-IoT UE,or Cat.M UE).

[0088] The terminal device 40 can perform sidelinkcommunication with the mobile device 50 and anotherterminal device 40. Note that the wireless communication(including sidelink communication) used by the terminaldevice 40 may be radio communication using radio waves orwireless communication (optical wireless) using infraredrays or visible light.

[0089] The mobile device 50 is a mobile wirelesscommunication device that performs wireless communicationwith the base station device 20 or the base station device20. The mobile device 50 may be a wireless communicationdevice installed in a mobile object or may be a mobileobject itself. For example, the mobile device 50 may be avehicle that moves on a road, such as an automobile, a bus,a truck, or a motorcycle, or a wireless communicationdevice mounted on the vehicle.

[0090] The mobile device 50 can perform sidelinkcommunication with the terminal device 40 and anothermobile device 50. For performing sidelink communication,the mobile device 50 can use an automatic retransmissiontechnology such as HARQ. Note that the wirelesscommunication (including sidelink communication) used bythe mobile device 50 may be radio communication using radiowaves or wireless communication (optical wireless) usinginfrared rays or visible light.

[0091] Note that the "mobile device" is a kind of thecommunication device, and is also referred to as a mobilestation, a mobile station device, a terminal device, or aterminal. The concept of the "mobile device" includes notonly a communication device configured to be movable butalso a mobile object in which the communication device isinstalled. In such a case, the mobile object may be amobile terminal, or may be a mobile object that moves onland (on the ground in a narrow sense), underground, onwater, or underwater. Further, the mobile object may be amobile object that moves through the atmosphere, such as adrone (aerial UE) or a helicopter, or may be a mobileobject that moves outside the atmosphere, such as anartificial satellite.

[0092] In this embodiment, the concept of thecommunication device includes not only a portable mobiledevice (terminal device) such as a mobile terminal but alsoa device installed in a structure or a mobile object. Astructure or a mobile object itself may be regarded as thecommunication device. Further, the concept of thecommunication device includes not only a mobile device(terminal device, automobile, etc.) but also a base stationdevice (donor base station, relay base station, etc.). Thecommunication device is a kind of the processing device andthe information processing device.

[0093] The mobile device 50, the terminal device 40, andthe base station devices 20 and 30 are connected to oneanother through wireless communication (for example, radiowaves or optical wireless). In a case where the mobiledevice 50 moves from a communication area (or cell) of acertain base station device to a communication area (orcell) of another base station device, handover (or handoff)or cell selection (reselection) is performed.

[0094] The mobile device 50 and the terminal device 40may simultaneously connect to a plurality of base stationdevices or a plurality of cells to perform communication.For example, in a case where one base station device canprovide a plurality of cells, the mobile device 50 or theterminal device 40 can perform carrier aggregation by usingone cell as the PCell and using another cell as the SCell.

[0095] Further, or alternatively, in a case where eachbase station device can provide one or more cells, themobile device 50 or the terminal device 40 can execute DCby using one or more cells managed by one base stationdevice (MN (e.g., MeNB or MgNB)) as the PCell or the PCelland the SCell (s) and using one or more cells managed bythe other base station device (SN (e.g., SeNB or SgNB)) asthe PSCell or the PSCell and the SCell (s). The DC may bereferred to as multi connectivity (MC). Alternatively, themobile device 50, the terminal device 40, and the pluralityof base station devices can communicate with one another bya coordinated transmission and reception (coordinatedmulti-point transmission and reception (CoMP)) technologyvia cells of different base station devices (a plurality ofcells having different cell identifiers or the same cellidentifier).

[0096] Note that the mobile device 50 and the terminaldevice 40 are not necessarily devices directly used by aperson. The mobile device 50 and the terminal device 40may be sensors installed in a machine or the like in afactory, such as so-called machine type communication(MTC). Further, the mobile device 50 may be a machine tomachine (M2M) device or an Internet of things (IoT) device.Further, the mobile device 50 and the terminal device 40may be devices having a relay communication function, asrepresented by a device to device (D2D) or a vehicle toeverything (V2X). Further, the mobile device 50 and theterminal device 40 may be devices called client premisesequipment (CPE) used in a wireless backhaul or the like.

[0097] Hereinafter, the configuration of the devicesconstituting the information processing system 1 accordingto the first embodiment of the present disclosure isspecifically described.

[0098] [Configuration of Management Device]The management device 10 is a device that manages awireless network. For example, the management device 10 isa device that manages communication of the base stationdevices 20 and 30. In a case where the core network CN is5GC, the management device 10 may be, for example, a devicehaving a function as the AMF, the SMF, or the UPF.

[0099] The management device 10 has a function toexecute application processing (edge function, forexample), and may function as a server device such as anapplication server. More specifically, in a case where theUPF is disposed in a local area network (that is, in a casewhere the UPF is a local UPF), a device for edge computingmay be disposed in a DN having an N6 reference pointbetween the DN and the UPF. The device for edge computingmay be then included in the management device 10. Thedevice for edge computing may operate as, for example, amulti access edge computing (MEC) platform, an MEC host,and an MEC application.

[0100] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example ofthe configuration of the management device 10 according tothe first embodiment of the present disclosure. Themanagement device 10 includes a network communication unit11, a storage unit 12, and a control unit 13. Note thatthe configuration illustrated in FIG. 10 is the functionalconfiguration, and the hardware configuration may bedifferent from the functional configuration. Further, thefunctions of the management device 10 may be distributedand implemented in a plurality of configurations physicallyseparated. For example, the management device 10 may beconstituted by a plurality of server devices.

[0101] (Network Communication Unit)The network communication unit 11 is a communicationinterface for communicating with other devices. Thenetwork communication unit 11 may be a network interface ora device connection interface. The network communicationunit 11 has a function to connect to the network N1directly or indirectly.

[0102] For example, the network communication unit 11may include a local area network (LAN) interface such as anetwork interface card (NIC), or may include a universalserial bus (USB) interface including a USB host controllerand a USB port. Further, the network communication unit 11may be a wired interface or a wireless interface. Thenetwork communication unit 11 functions as a communicationmeans of the management device 10. The networkcommunication unit 11 communicates with the base stationdevices 20 and 30 under the control of the control unit 13.

[0103] (Storage Unit)The storage unit 12 is a data readable / writablestorage device such as a dynamic random access memory(DRAM), a static random access memory (SRAM), a flashmemory, or a hard disk. The storage unit 12 functions as astorage means of the management device 10. The storageunit 12 stores, for example, a connection state of themobile device 50. For example, the storage unit 12 storesthe state of a radio resource control (RRC) and the stateof an EPS connection management (ECM) of the mobile device50. The storage unit 12 may function as a home memory thatstores positional information of the mobile device 50.

[0104] (Control Unit)The control unit 13 is a controller that controls theindividual units of the management device 10. The controlunit 13 is implemented by, for example, a processor such asa central processing unit (CPU) or a micro processing unit(MPU). For example, the control unit 13 is implemented inresponse to various programs, stored in the storage deviceof the management device 10, executed by the processorusing a random access memory (RAM) or the like as a workarea. Alternatively, the control unit 13 may beimplemented, for example, by an integrated circuit such asan application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or afield programmable gate array (FPGA). Each of the CPU, theMPU, the ASIC, and the FPGA can be regarded as thecontroller.

[0105] [Configuration of Base Station Device]Next, the configuration of the base station device 30is described. The base station device 30 is a wirelesscommunication device that performs wireless communicationwith the mobile device 50 (or the terminal device 40), andis a communication control device that controls sidelinkcommunication between the mobile devices 50 (or theterminal devices 40). The base station device 30 is, forexample, a device that functions as a wireless basestation, a radio relay station, a radio access point, orthe like. In such a case, the base station device 30 maybe an optical extension device such as an RRH. Further,the base station device 30 may be an on-road base stationdevice such as a road side unit (RSU). As described above,the base station device 30 is a device constituting aninfrastructure in the D2I (V2I) communication.

[0106] FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example ofthe configuration of the base station device 30 accordingto the first embodiment of the present disclosure. Asillustrated in FIG. 11, the base station device 30 includesa wireless communication unit 31, a storage unit 32, anetwork communication unit 33, and a control unit 34. Notethat the configuration illustrated in FIG. 11 is thefunctional configuration, and the hardware configurationmay be different from the functional configuration.Further, the functions of the base station device 30 may bedistributed and implemented in a plurality ofconfigurations physically separated.

[0107] (Wireless Communication Unit)The wireless communication unit 31 is a wirelesscommunication interface that performs wirelesscommunication with another wireless communication device(e.g., the mobile device 50, the terminal device 40, thebase station device 20, and another base station device30). The wireless communication unit 31 operates under thecontrol of the control unit 34. Note that the wirelesscommunication unit 31 may support a plurality of radioaccess methods. For example, the wireless communicationunit 31 may support both the NR and the LTE. The wirelesscommunication unit 31 may support W-CDMA or cdma 2000 inaddition to the LTE. Of course, the wireless communicationunit 31 may support a radio access method other than theNR, the LTE, the W-CDMA, and the cdma 2000.

[0108] The wireless communication unit 31 includes areception processing unit 311, a transmission processingunit 312, and an antenna 313. The wireless communicationunit 31 may include a plurality of the reception processingunits 311, a plurality of the transmission processing units312, and a plurality of the antennas 313. In a case wherethe wireless communication unit 31 supports a plurality ofradio access methods, the individual units of the wirelesscommunication unit 31 can be configured separately for eachradio access method. For example, the reception processingunit 311 and the transmission processing unit 312 may beconfigured separately for the LTE and the NR.

[0109] The reception processing unit 311 processes anuplink signal received via the antenna 313. For example,the reception processing unit 311 performs signalprocessing such as orthogonal demodulation, AD conversion,and composite processing on the uplink signal to generateuplink data and uplink control information. The receptionprocessing unit 311 outputs the uplink data and the uplinkcontrol information thus generated to the control unit 34.

[0110] The transmission processing unit 312 performstransmission processing of downlink control information anddownlink data. For example, the transmission processingunit 312 performs signal processing such as encodingprocessing, DA conversion, and orthogonal modulation on thedownlink control information and the downlink data inputtedfrom the control unit 34 to generate a downlink signal.The transmission processing unit 312 sends the generateddownlink signal from the antenna 313.

[0111] (Storage Unit)The storage unit 32 is a data readable / writablestorage device such as a DRAM, an SRAM, a flash memory, ora hard disk. The storage unit 32 functions as a storagemeans of the base station device 30.

[0112] (Network Communication Unit)The network communication unit 33 is a communicationinterface for communicating with other devices (e.g., themanagement device 10, another base station device 30, thebase station device 20, and the cloud server device CS).The network communication unit 33 has a function to connectto the network N1 directly or indirectly. For example, thenetwork communication unit 33 includes a LAN interface suchas an NIC. Further, the network communication unit 33 maybe a wired interface or a wireless interface. The networkcommunication unit 33 functions as a network communicationmeans of the base station device 30. The networkcommunication unit 33 communicates with other devices(e.g., the management device 10, the cloud server deviceCS, and the like) under the control of the control unit 34.The configuration of the network communication unit 33 maybe similar to that of the network communication unit 11 ofthe management device 10.

[0113] (Control Unit)The control unit 34 is a controller that controls theindividual units of the base station device 30. Thecontrol unit 34 is implemented by, for example, a processor(hardware processor) such as a central processing unit(CPU) or a micro processing unit (MPU). For example, thecontrol unit 34 is implemented in response to variousprograms, stored in the storage device of the base stationdevice 30, executed by the processor using a random accessmemory (RAM) or the like as a work area. Alternatively,the control unit 34 may be implemented, for example, by anintegrated circuit such as an application specificintegrated circuit (ASIC) or a field programmable gatearray (FPGA). Each of the CPU, the MPU, the ASIC, and theFPGA can be regarded as the controller.

[0114] As described above, the control unit 34 controlsthe individual units of the base station device 30, andhere, a case where the control unit 34 controls sidelinkcommunication between the terminal devices 40 is mainlydescribed.

[0115] The control unit 34 of the base station device 30executes carrier sense in an unlicensed band used for thesidelink communication between the terminal devices 40 andgenerates control information necessary for the sidelinkcommunication. The control unit 34 notifies the terminaldevice 40 of the control information thus generated tocontrol the sidelink communication of the terminal device40.

[0116] In order to implement the functions describedabove, as illustrated in FIG. 11, the control unit 34includes a carrier sense execution unit 341, a controlinformation generation unit 342, and a notification unit343. The blocks (the carrier sense execution unit 341 tothe notification unit 343) of the control unit 34 arefunctional blocks indicating the functions of the controlunit 34. The functional blocks may be software blocks orhardware blocks. For example, each of the functionalblocks may be one software module implemented by software(including a microprogram) or one circuit block on asemiconductor chip (die). Of course, each functional blockmay be a single processor or a single integrated circuit.A method for configuring the functional blocks isarbitrary. Note that the control unit 34 may be configuredby functional units different from the functional blocksdescribed above.

[0117] The carrier sense execution unit 341 executescarrier sense in an unlicensed band used for the sidelinkcommunication of the terminal device 40. The carrier senseexecution unit 341 sets, for example, reception power in apredetermined time / frequency unit as the target forsensing.

[0118] Examples of the time unit include a subframe, aslot, and a symbol. That is, the carrier sense executionunit 341 performs carrier sense in units of subframes,slots, or symbols, for example.

[0119] Examples of the frequency unit include a resourceblock (RB), a subchannel, a bandwidth part (BWP), and acomponent carrier. That is, the carrier sense executionunit 341 performs carrier sense on a resource block orsubchannel basis, for example.

[0120] Alternatively, the carrier sense execution unit341 may perform carrier sense in a combination of units oftime and units of frequency described above. That is, thecarrier sense execution unit 341 performs carrier sense inunits of slots of resource blocks, for example.

[0121] The carrier sense execution unit 341 measures thereception power in units of time and / or in units offrequency described above. In a case where the measuredreception power is smaller than a predetermined threshold,the carrier sense execution unit 341 determines that thetime or frequency at which the sensing has been executed isin a vacant state. On the other hand, in a case where themeasured reception power is equal to or greater than thepredetermined threshold, the carrier sense execution unit341 determines that the time or frequency at which thesensing has been executed is in a busy state.

[0122] The carrier sense execution unit 341 measures,for example, reference signal received power (RSRP) as thereception power. Alternatively, the carrier senseexecution unit 341 may measure a reference signal strengthindicator (RSSI) or a reference signal received quality(RSRQ) as the reception power.

[0123] Further or alternatively, the carrier senseexecution unit 341 may measure a channel busy ratio (CBR)or an occupancy time of a resource.

[0124] The control information generation unit 342generates control information on the basis of a result ofthe carrier sense by the carrier sense execution unit 341.The control information includes at least one piece ofinformation related to (1) through (4) below. Note thatthe control information may include information other than(1) through (4) below.

[0125] (1) Time and frequency resources for transmissionof sidelink communication in unlicensed band(2) Time and frequency resources for report / feedbackof sidelink communication(3) Time and frequency resources for retransmission ofsidelink communication in unlicensed band(4) Transmission power

[0126] For example, the information regarding (1)includes information on time and frequency resources forsending a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) and aphysical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH).

[0127] Further, the information regarding (2) includes,for example, at least one of time and frequency resourcesfor hybrid ACK (HARQ) feedback of sidelink communication,time and frequency resources for CSI reporting, and timeand frequency resources for measurement report.

[0128] Further, the information regarding (3) includes,for example, information on time and frequency resourcesfor blind retransmission and time and frequency resourcesfor HARQ-based retransmission.

[0129] As described above, the information processingsystem 1 of the present disclosure is a wirelesscommunication system using the NR radio access technology.In the NR, for example, in communication in an unlicensedband, it is assumed that communication is periodicallyperformed using the same frequency resource (for example, achannel or a subcarrier). Further, for example, it isassumed that the terminal device 40 performs communicationusing a specific symbol (n symbol from the top, forexample) among a plurality of symbols of a subframe.Alternatively, the terminal device 40 may performcommunication using a specific symbol of the resourceblock. Note that the communication by the terminal device40 includes communication with the base station devices 20and 30 and sidelink communication with another terminaldevice 40.

[0130] As described above, the technology of the presentdisclosure focuses on the fact that the terminal device 40performs communication in a predetermined cycle on the timeaxis, and allocates a resource in the time axis directionto the sidelink communication of the terminal device 40.Specifically, the control information generation unit 342estimates a resource that can be used for communication inthe time axis direction on the basis of a result of thesensing by the carrier sense execution unit 341. Forexample, in a case where the carrier sense execution unit341 determines that n symbol from the top among a pluralityof symbols of the subframe is in a busy state, the controlinformation generation unit 342 determines that symbolsother than the n symbol from the top, among the pluralityof symbols of the subframe, are in a vacant state. Thecontrol information generation unit 342 allocates thesymbol that has been determined to be in the vacant stateto the sidelink communication of the terminal device 40.

[0131] Note that, instead of the control informationgeneration unit 342, the carrier sense execution unit 341may determine the vacant state using the symbol that is inthe busy state.

[0132] Further, the control information generation unit342 may determine the vacant state of the radio resource onthe basis of, for example, information regarding a resourceincluded in a control signal used for communication of theterminal device 40. For example, in a case where thecontrol signal includes reservation information of aresource used for communication of the terminal device 40,the control information generation unit 342 may determinethe busy state or the vacant state of the radio resource onthe basis of the reservation information. Alternatively,the carrier sense execution unit 341 may perform thedetermination.

[0133] In addition, the control information generationunit 342 generates control information for each of aplurality of kinds of sidelink communication.Specifically, the control information generation unit 342generates control information for each set of the terminaldevices 40 that perform sidelink communication. Asdescribed above, the control information generation unit342 generates control information for every sidelinkcommunication, which makes it possible to avoid signalcollision in each of a plurality of kinds of sidelinkcommunication.

[0134] The notification unit 343 notifies the terminaldevice 40 of the control information generated by thecontrol information generation unit 342. The notificationunit 343 may notify the control information dynamically orin a semi-persistent manner. In a case where notifying thecontrol information in a semi-persistent manner, thenotification unit 343 notifies the terminal device 40 of,for example, control information including an availablestart time and end time. Note that the available starttime and end time are set by the control informationgeneration unit 342 on the basis of a result of the sensingby the carrier sense execution unit 341, for example.

[0135] Alternatively, the notification unit 343 maynotify the control information including the time ofvalidity of the control information instead of the endtime. Further, the notification unit 343 may notify thecontrol information in a semi-persistent manner bynotifying the terminal device 40 of activation / release ofthe use of the control information as one bit ofinformation, for example.

[0136] The notification unit 343 notifies the terminaldevice 40 of the control information using, for example,(1) through (6) below.

[0137] (1) Radio resource control (RRC)(2) System information block (SIB)(3) Downlink control information (DCI)(4) Physical broadcast channel (PBCH)(5) Physical downlink control channel (PDCCH)(6) Physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH)

[0138] [Configuration of Terminal Device]Next, the configuration of the terminal device 40 isdescribed. The terminal device 40 is a wirelesscommunication device. For example, the terminal device 40may be user equipment (UE) such as a mobile phone or asmart device. The terminal device 40 can perform wirelesscommunication with the base station device 20 and the basestation device 30. Further, the terminal device 40 canperform sidelink communication with the mobile device 50and another terminal device 40.

[0139] FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example ofthe configuration of the terminal device 40 according tothe first embodiment of the present disclosure. Theterminal device 40 includes a wireless communication unit41, a storage unit 42, a network communication unit 43, aninput / output unit 44, and a control unit 45. Note that theconfiguration illustrated in FIG. 12 is the functionalconfiguration, and the hardware configuration may bedifferent from the functional configuration. Further, thefunctions of the terminal device 40 may be distributed andimplemented in a plurality of configurations physicallyseparated. Further, in the configuration of the terminaldevice 40, the network communication unit 43 and theinput / output unit 44 do not have to be essentialconstituent elements.

[0140] (Wireless Communication Unit)The wireless communication unit 41 is a wirelesscommunication interface that performs wirelesscommunication with other wireless communication devices(e.g., the base station devices 20 and 30, another terminaldevice 40, and the mobile device 50). The wirelesscommunication unit 41 operates under the control of thecontrol unit 45. The wireless communication unit 41supports one or more radio access methods. For example,the wireless communication unit 41 supports both the NR andthe LTE. The wireless communication unit 41 may supportthe W-CDMA or the cdma 2000 in addition to the NR or theLTE. Further, the wireless communication unit 41 maysupport communication using NOMA.

[0141] The wireless communication unit 41 includes areception processing unit 411, a transmission processingunit 412, and an antenna 413. The wireless communicationunit 41 may include a plurality of the reception processingunits 411, a plurality of the transmission processing units412, and a plurality of the antennas 413. In a case wherethe wireless communication unit 41 supports a plurality ofradio access methods, the individual units of the wirelesscommunication unit 41 can be configured separately for eachradio access method. For example, the reception processingunit 411 and the transmission processing unit 412 may beconfigured separately for the LTE and the NR.

[0142] The reception processing unit 411 processes adownlink signal received via the antenna 413. For example,the reception processing unit 411 performs signalprocessing such as orthogonal demodulation, AD conversion,and composite processing on the downlink signal to generatedownlink data and downlink control information. Thereception processing unit 411 outputs the downlink data andthe downlink control information thus generated to thecontrol unit 45.

[0143] The transmission processing unit 412 performstransmission processing of uplink control information anduplink data. For example, the transmission processing unit412 performs signal processing such as encoding processing,DA conversion, and orthogonal modulation on the uplinkcontrol information and the uplink data inputted from thecontrol unit 45 to generate an uplink signal. Thetransmission processing unit 412 sends the generated uplinksignal from the antenna 413.

[0144] (Storage Unit)The storage unit 42 is a data readable / writablestorage device such as a DRAM, an SRAM, a flash memory, ora hard disk. The storage unit 42 functions as a storagemeans of the terminal device 40.

[0145] (Network Communication Unit)The network communication unit 43 is a communicationinterface for communicating with other devices. Forexample, the network communication unit 43 is a LANinterface such as an NIC. The network communication unit43 has a function to connect to the network N1 directly orindirectly. The network communication unit 43 may be awired interface or a wireless interface. The networkcommunication unit 43 functions as a network communicationmeans of the terminal device 40. The network communicationunit 43 communicates with other devices under the controlof the control unit 45.

[0146] (Input / output Unit)The input / output unit 44 is a user interface forsending / receiving information to / from a user. For example,the input / output unit 44 is an operation device for theuser to perform various operations, such as a keyboard, amouse, an operation key, and a touch panel. Alternatively,the input / output unit 44 is a display device such as aliquid crystal display or an organic electroluminescencedisplay. The input / output unit 44 may be an acousticdevice such as a speaker or a buzzer. The input / outputunit 44 may be a lighting device such as a light emittingdiode (LED) lamp. The input / output unit 44 functions as aninput / output means (input means, output means, operationmeans, or notification means) of the terminal device 40.

[0147] (Control Unit)The control unit 45 is a controller that controls theindividual units of the terminal device 40. The controlunit 45 is implemented by, for example, a processor(hardware processor) such as a central processing unit(CPU) or a micro processing unit (MPU). For example, thecontrol unit 45 is implemented in response to variousprograms, stored in the storage device of the terminaldevice 40, executed by the processor using a random accessmemory (RAM) or the like as a work area. Alternatively,the control unit 45 may be implemented, for example, by anintegrated circuit such as an application specificintegrated circuit (ASIC) or a field programmable gatearray (FPGA). Each of the CPU, the MPU, the ASIC, and theFPGA can be regarded as the controller.

[0148] As described above, the control unit 45 controlsthe individual units of the terminal device 40, and here, acase where the control unit 45 performs sidelinkcommunication using an unlicensed band is mainly described.

[0149] As illustrated in FIG. 12, the control unit 45includes an acquisition unit 451 and a communicationcontrol unit 452. The blocks (the acquisition unit 451 andthe communication control unit 452) of the control unit 45are functional blocks indicating the functions of thecontrol unit 45. The functional blocks may be softwareblocks or hardware blocks. For example, each of thefunctional blocks may be one software module implemented bysoftware (including a microprogram) or one circuit block ona semiconductor chip (die). Of course, each functionalblock may be a single processor or a single integratedcircuit. A method for configuring the functional blocks isarbitrary. Note that the control unit 45 may be configuredby functional units different from the functional blocksdescribed above.

[0150] The acquisition unit 451 acquires controlinformation from the base station device 30. In a casewhere performing sidelink communication in an unlicensedband, the acquisition unit 451 acquires, for example,control information periodically notified by the basestation device 30. Alternatively, in a case whereperforming sidelink communication in an unlicensed band,the acquisition unit 451 may send a carrier sense requestto cause the base station device 30 to execute carriersense for example, and acquire the control information.

[0151] The communication control unit 452 executessidelink communication in an unlicensed band on the basisof the control information acquired by the acquisition unit451. For example, in a case where data is sent to theterminal device 40 which is the other end of thecommunication, the communication control unit 452 sends thedata by using time and frequency resources included in thecontrol information. On the other hand, in a case wheredata is received from the other end of the communication,the communication control unit 452 may wait for the data inthe time and frequency resources included in the controlinformation. This allows the terminal device 40 to waitfor data at a necessary time and frequency, leading toreduction in unnecessary power consumption.

[0152] <2-3. Flow of Sidelink Communication Processing>Next, the flow of sidelink communication processingusing a beam by the information processing system 1 isdescribed with reference to FIG. 13. FIG. 13 is a sequencediagram for explaining the flow of sidelink communicationprocessing according to the first embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

[0153] As illustrated in FIG. 13, the base stationdevice 30 performs carrier sensing of an unlicensed band(Step S101). The base station device 30 generates controlinformation on the basis of the result of carrier sensing(Step S102) and notifies the terminal devices 401 and 402 ofthe control information generated (Steps S103 and S104).

[0154] The terminal devices 401 and 402 set, on thebasis of the control information acquired, parametersnecessary for sidelink communication using time andfrequency resources included in the control information,for example (Steps S105 and S106). The terminal devices401 and 402 perform the sidelink communication using theparameters set (Step S107).

[0155] <3. Modification Examples to First Embodiment><3-1. Modification Example 1>Next, the modification example 1 to the informationprocessing system 1 according to the first embodiment ofthe present disclosure is described with reference to FIGS.14 to 16. In this modification example, the base stationdevice 30 does not designate time and frequency resourcesfor sidelink communication, but designates a range of timeand frequency resources therefor (or constraints on theterminal device 40 to execute carrier sense). Then, theterminal device 40 executes carrier sense in the designatedrange and performs sidelink communication.

[0156] For example, as the number of terminal devices 40that perform sidelink communication in an unlicensed bandincreases, a load on the base station device 30 thatcontrols such sidelink communication increases. To addressthis, in the present modification example, the base stationdevice 30 sets constraints on time and frequency resourcesto be used for sidelink communication, and the terminaldevice 40 determines time and frequency resources to beactually used for sidelink communication, which reduces theprocessing load on the base station device 30.

[0157] FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example ofthe configuration of the base station device 30 accordingto the modification example 1 to the first embodiment ofthe present disclosure. The base station device 30illustrated in FIG. 14 has a functional configurationsimilar to that of the base station device 30 illustratedin FIG. 11 except that a sensing information generationunit 244 is included instead of the control informationgeneration unit 342.

[0158] The sensing information generation unit 244generates sensing information including constraints onsensing instead of the control information. The sensinginformation includes information on a range (constraints)for sensing, for example, information on time and frequencyat which the terminal device 40 executes carrier sense, andinformation on maximum transmission power.

[0159] Specifically, the information on time at whichcarrier sense is executed includes, for example, a starttime, an end time, and an execution period on a time axisof the carrier sensing by the terminal device 40. Further,the information on such time includes sensible units oftime axis (for example, seconds, milliseconds, subframes,slots, or symbols).

[0160] As described above, it is possible thatcommunication of the terminal device 40 is periodicallyperformed using the same symbol of a subframe or a resourceblock. Therefore, the sensing information generation unit244 designates, for example, a range within which sensingis performed except for a symbol that has been detected tobe in a busy state by the carrier sense execution unit 341.For example, in a case where n symbol from the top of asubframe including N symbol is in a busy state, the sensinginformation generation unit 244 generates sensinginformation with the sensing range from n + 1 symbol to Nsymbol excluding the n symbol from the top.

[0161] Further, the information on frequency at whichcarrier sense is executed includes, for example, a startfrequency, an end frequency, and the number of frequencyunits of a frequency axis of carrier sensing by theterminal device 40. Further, the information on suchfrequency includes sensible units of the frequency axis(physical resource block (PRB), subchannel, BPW, componentcarrier).

[0162] For example, in a case where the unlicensed bandis a frequency band of a wireless LAN system, the frequencyband of the unlicensed band is, for example, a 2.4 GHz bandor a 5 GHz band. In such a case, the sensing informationgeneration unit 244 generates sensing information with aband having a low channel congestion level as the sensingrange, for example, among the 2.4 GHz band and the 5 GHzband. Alternatively, the sensing information may begenerated with at least one channel included in apredetermined band as a sensing range.

[0163] As described above, the sensing informationgeneration unit 244 determines the range in which theterminal device 40 performs sensing, which eliminates theneed to allocate a resource to the terminal device 40 forevery sidelink communication, leading to reduction inprocessing load on the base station device 30.

[0164] FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example ofthe configuration of the terminal device 40 according tothe modification example 1 to the first embodiment of thepresent disclosure. The terminal device 40 illustrated inFIG. 15 has a functional configuration similar to that ofthe terminal device 40 illustrated in FIG. 12 except that acarrier sense execution unit 453 is further included.

[0165] The acquisition unit 451 illustrated in FIG. 15acquires sensing information instead of controlinformation. The carrier sense execution unit 453 executescarrier sense on the basis of the sensing information.Specifically, the carrier sense execution unit 453 measuresthe reception power in a range of time and frequencyincluded in the sensing information, and executes carriersense.

[0166] The communication control unit 452 setsparameters necessary for sidelink communication accordingto the result of the carrier sense by the carrier senseexecution unit 453, and performs sidelink communicationwith the terminal device 40 which is the other end of thecommunication. The communication control unit 452 sets,for example, parameters related to time and frequencyresources for transmission and / or retransmission. Further,the communication control unit 452 sets parameters relatedto time and frequency resources for HARQ feedbacktransmission. The communication control unit 452 sets thetransmission power within a range not exceeding the maximumtransmission power included in the sensing information.

[0167] As described above, the carrier sense executionunit 453 of the terminal device 40 performs carrier sensebefore the sidelink communication, which enables theterminal device 40 to perform the sidelink communicationwhile avoiding collisions with other communication.Further, since the carrier sense execution unit 453executes carrier sense within a predetermined range on thebasis of the sensing information, a processing load oncarrier sense by the terminal device 40 can be reduced.

[0168] FIG. 16 is a sequence diagram for explaining theflow of sidelink communication processing according to themodification example 1 to the first embodiment of thepresent disclosure. Note that the same processing as thatof the sidelink communication processing illustrated inFIG. 13 is denoted by the same reference numeral, and thedescription thereof is omitted.

[0169] The base station device 30 generates sensinginformation on the basis of the result of carrier sensing(Step S201). The base station device 30 notifies theterminal devices 401 and 402 of the sensing informationgenerated (Steps S202 and S203).

[0170] The terminal devices 401 and 402 perform carriersensing within a range included in the sensing information(Steps S204 and S205). The terminal devices 401 and 402 setparameters necessary for sidelink communication on thebasis of the results of sensing in Steps S204 and S205(Steps S206 and S207). The terminal devices 401 and 402perform the sidelink communication using the parameters set(Step S107).

[0171] <3-2. Modification Example 2>In the first embodiment and the modification example 1to the first embodiment described above, it is assumed thatthe terminal devices 401 and 402 performing sidelinkcommunication are within the coverage (in coverage) of thecell of the base station device 30. Therefore, in a casewhere one of the terminal devices 401 and 402 is outsidethe coverage of the cell of the base station device 30(partial coverage), the terminal device outside thecoverage cannot receive the control information and thelike from the base station device 30.

[0172] In such a case, in this modification example, aterminal device within the coverage (here, the terminaldevice 401 for example) relays control information or thelike notified by the base station device 30 to a terminaldevice outside the coverage (here, the terminal device 402for example). This allows the terminal device 402 outsidethe coverage of the base station device 30 to acquireinformation necessary for setting a beam, and allows theterminal devices 401 and 402 to perform sidelinkcommunication using the beam. Note that, similarly, datato be notified to the base station device 30 by theterminal device 402 may also be relayed through theterminal device 401 and notified to the base station device30.

[0173] Note that, here, the device that relays databetween the terminal device 402 and the base station device30 is the terminal device 401; however, the presentdisclosure is not limited thereto, and for example, aterminal device 40 other than the terminal device 401, themobile device 50, or a base station device other than thebase station device 30 may relay data.

[0174] In addition, in a case where both of the terminaldevices 401 and 402 are outside the coverage, neither theterminal devices 401 nor 402 can acquire the controlinformation from the base station device 30. In such acase, for example, the base station device 30 designates aterminal device 40 capable of communicating with at leastone of the terminal devices 401 and 402 as the masterterminal, which allows the terminal devices 401 and 402 toperform sidelink communication on the basis of the controlinformation. Control of sidelink communication by themaster terminal is described in the second embodiment.

[0175] Alternatively, in a case where the base stationdevice 30 determines that both of the terminal devices 401and 402 are about to be outside the coverage, the basestation device 30 may notify, in advance, the terminaldevices 401 and 402 of control information to be used if theterminal devices 401 and 402 are outside the coverage.Alternatively, in a case where the terminal devices 401 and402 are outside the coverage, the sidelink communicationmay continue on the basis of the control information thathas been used right before. In such a case, thepossibility of collision due to the sidelink communicationincreases; however, the terminal devices 401 and 402 cancontinue the sidelink communication even if the terminaldevices 401 and 402 are outside the coverage of the basestation device 30.

[0176] <4. Second Embodiment><4-1. Outline of Second Embodiment>FIG. 17 is a diagram for explaining the outline ofsidelink communication according to the second embodimentof the present disclosure. In an information processingsystem according to the second embodiment of the presentdisclosure, the base station device 30 does not control thesidelink communication, and a terminal device (hereinafter,also referred to as a master terminal) 400 to which thebase station device 30 gives the authorization related tocontrol of the sidelink communication controls the sidelinkcommunication.

[0177] As illustrated in FIG. 17, the informationprocessing system includes the base station device 30, themaster terminal 400, and the terminal devices 401 and 402that perform sidelink communication. In the secondembodiment of the present disclosure, the master terminal400 controls the sidelink communication of the terminaldevice 40.

[0178] As illustrated in FIG. 17, the base stationdevice 30 designates the terminal device 400 as a masterterminal that controls the sidelink communication betweenthe terminal devices 401 and 402 (Step S10). Note that themethod for controlling the sidelink communication by themaster terminal 400 is the same as the control method bythe base station 30 illustrated in FIG. 7, and thus thedescription thereof is omitted.

[0179] <4-2. Configuration of Information ProcessingSystem>[Configuration of Base Station Device]Next, FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating an example ofthe configuration of the base station device 30 accordingto the second embodiment of the present disclosure. In thebase station device 30 illustrated in FIG. 18, the controlunit 34 includes an information acquisition unit 347, aterminal determination unit 348, and a cancellationdetermination unit 349 instead of the carrier senseexecution unit 341 through the notification unit 343.

[0180] The information acquisition unit 347 acquiresinformation necessary to determine the master terminal 400from the terminal device 40. The information acquisitionunit 347 acquires, for example, information regardingcapability from the terminal device 40. Alternatively, theinformation acquisition unit 347 may acquire positionalinformation of the terminal device 40.

[0181] The terminal determination unit 348 determinesthe master terminal 400 on the basis of the informationacquired by the information acquisition unit 347. Forexample, the terminal determination unit 348 determinesthat the terminal device 40 near the terminal devices 401and 402 performing sidelink communication is the masterterminal 400 on the basis of the positional information ofthe terminal device 40 acquired by the informationacquisition unit 347. The terminal determination unit 348sends an authorization notification that givesauthorization to the master terminal 400 determined via thewireless communication unit 31.

[0182] For example, the terminal determination unit 348gives authorization by indicating the procedure orparameters of the master terminal 400 determined. Theterminal determination unit 348 performs such an indicationusing, for example, the RRC, the SIB, downlink controlinformation (DCI), the PDCCH, the PDSCH, or the like.

[0183] The cancellation determination unit 349determines cancellation of the authorization that has beengiven to the master terminal 400. The cancellationdetermination unit 349 determines cancellation of theauthorization on the basis of, for example, the capabilityand the positional information of the master terminal 400.Alternatively, the cancellation determination unit 349 maydetermine cancellation of the authorization according to arequest for cancellation from the master terminal 400 orthe communication status of the terminal device 40.

[0184] For example, the cancellation determination unit349 cancels the authorization of the master terminal 400 ina case where it is determined that the quality ofcommunication by the terminal device 40 other than theterminal devices 401 and 402 deteriorates due to control ofthe sidelink communication by the master terminal 400.Note that the cancellation determination unit 349determines whether or not the quality of the communicationby the terminal device 40 other than the terminal devices401 and 402 deteriorates according to a report from thatterminal device 40.

[0185] Alternatively, the cancellation determinationunit 349 may cancel the authorization of the masterterminal 400 in a case where it is determined that at leastone of the terminal devices 401 and 402 is outside thecoverage of the master terminal 400. The cancellationdetermination unit 349 makes such a determination, forexample, on the basis of the positional information of theterminal devices 401 and 402 and the master terminal 400.Alternatively, the cancellation determination unit 349 maymake such a determination on the basis of a notificationfrom the master terminal 400 or the terminal devices 401and 402.

[0186] The cancellation determination unit 349 sends,via the wireless communication unit 31, a cancellationnotification to the master terminal 400 determined to becanceled. The terminal determination unit 348 sends thecancellation notification using, for example, the RRC, theSIB, downlink control information (DCI), the PDCCH, thePDSCH, or the like.

[0187] Note that, for example, in a case where theterminal determination unit 348 sets a validity periodduring which authorization is given to the master terminal400, an expiry date is added to the authorizationnotification, which may omit the determination ofcancellation and transmission of the cancellationnotification by the cancellation determination unit 349.

[0188] [Configuration of Master Terminal]Next, the configuration of the master terminal 400 isdescribed with reference to FIG. 19. FIG. 19 is a diagramillustrating an example of the configuration of the masterterminal 400 according to the second embodiment of thepresent disclosure. The master terminal 400 is a mobilewireless communication device. For example, the masterterminal 400 may be user equipment (UE) such as a mobilephone or a smart device. Alternatively, the masterterminal 400 may be a UE-type RSU. The master terminal 400can perform wireless communication with the base stationdevice 20 and the base station device 30. Further, themaster terminal 400 can perform sidelink communication withthe mobile device 50 and another terminal device 40.

[0189] As illustrated in FIG. 19, the master terminal400 includes the wireless communication unit 41, thestorage unit 42, the network communication unit 43, theinput / output unit 44, and a control unit 46. Note that theconfiguration illustrated in FIG. 19 is the functionalconfiguration, and the hardware configuration may bedifferent from the functional configuration. Further, thefunctions of the master terminal 400 may be distributed andimplemented in a plurality of configurations physicallyseparated. Further, in the configuration of the masterterminal 400, the network communication unit 43 and theinput / output unit 44 do not have to be essentialconstituent elements.

[0190] Note that the functional configurations of thewireless communication unit 41, the storage unit 42, thenetwork communication unit 43, and the input / output unit 44are the same as those of the wireless communication unit41, the storage unit 42, the network communication unit 43,and the input / output unit 44 of the terminal device 40illustrated in FIG. 12, and thus, the description thereofis omitted.

[0191] The control unit 46 is a controller that controlsthe individual units of the master terminal 400. Thecontrol unit 46 is implemented by, for example, a processor(hardware processor) such as a central processing unit(CPU) or a micro processing unit (MPU). For example, thecontrol unit 46 is implemented in response to variousprograms, stored in the storage device of the masterterminal 400, executed by the processor using a randomaccess memory (RAM) or the like as a work area.Alternatively, the control unit 46 may be implemented, forexample, by an integrated circuit such as an applicationspecific integrated circuit (ASIC) or a field programmablegate array (FPGA). Each of the CPU, the MPU, the ASIC, andthe FPGA can be regarded as the controller.

[0192] As described above, the control unit 46 controlsthe individual units of the master terminal 400, and here,a case is mainly described where the control unit 46 isgiven authorization from the base station device 30 andperforms beam control of sidelink communication between theterminal devices 40 (or the mobile devices 50).

[0193] The control unit 46 of the master terminal 400determines a beam to be used for the sidelink communicationbetween the terminal devices 40 on the basis of the resultof a beam measurement by the terminal device 40. Further,the control unit 46 acquires a beam report in the sidelinkcommunication between the terminal devices 40 and executesbeam recovery according to the report result.

[0194] In order to implement the functions describedabove, as illustrated in FIG. 19, the control unit 46includes a carrier sense execution unit 461, a controlinformation generation unit 462, and a notification unit463. The blocks (the carrier sense execution unit 461 tothe notification unit 463) of the control unit 46 arefunctional blocks indicating the functions of the controlunit 46. The functional blocks may be software blocks orhardware blocks. For example, each of the functionalblocks may be one software module implemented by software(including a microprogram) or one circuit block on asemiconductor chip (die). Of course, each functional blockmay be a single processor or a single integrated circuit.A method for configuring the functional blocks isarbitrary. Note that the control unit 46 may be configuredby functional units different from the functional blocksdescribed above.

[0195] Note that specific functional configurations ofthe blocks (the carrier sense execution unit 461 to thenotification unit 463) of the control unit 46 are the sameas those of the blocks (the carrier sense execution unit341 to the notification unit 343) of the control unit 34 ofthe base station device 30 illustrated in FIG. 11, andthus, the description thereof is omitted.

[0196] <4-3. Flow of Sidelink Communication Processing>Next, FIG. 20 is a sequence diagram for explaining theflow of sidelink communication processing according to thesecond embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0197] As illustrated in FIG. 20, the base stationdevice 20 determines the master terminal 400 (Step S301).The base station device 20 sends an authorizationnotification to the master terminal determined (Step S302).Note that, hereinafter, the processing of Steps S101 toS107 is the same as the processing of FIG. 13 except thatthe base station device 30 is replaced with the masterterminal 400, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

[0198] Subsequently, when the base station device 30determines to cancel the authorization of the masterterminal 400 (Step S303), the base station device 30 sendsa cancellation notification to the master terminal 400(Step S304). Accordingly, when cancelling theauthorization of the master terminal 400, the base stationdevice 30 controls, instead of the master terminal 400, thesidelink communication of the terminal devices 401 and 402.Since the subsequent processing is the same as theprocessing of FIG. 13, the description thereof is omitted.

[0199] <5. Modification Examples to Second Embodiment><5-1. Modification Example 1>In the second embodiment described above, the masterterminal 400 determines control information for thesidelink communication of the terminal devices 401 and 402;however, for example, the master terminal 400 may determineconstraints for executing carrier sense.

[0200] In such a case, the master terminal 400 includesa sensing information generation unit instead of thecontrol information generation unit 462, as with the basestation device 30 according to the modification example 1to the first embodiment. The sensing informationgeneration unit generates sensing information includingconstraints on sensing instead of the control information.The sensing information includes, for example, informationon a time and frequency at which the terminal device 40executes carrier sense and information on maximumtransmission power.

[0201] As described above, even in a case where themaster terminal 400 controls the sidelink communication,the master terminal 400 determines constraints for thecarrier sense execution, so that the terminal device 40 canexecute the carrier sense.

[0202] <5-2. Modification Example 2>In the second embodiment, after cancellation of theauthorization of the master terminal 400, the base stationdevice 30 controls the sidelink communication of theterminal devices 401 and 402; however, the presentdisclosure is not limited thereto. For example, aftercancellation of the authorization of the master terminal400, the base station device 30 may determine that anotherterminal device 40 is a new master terminal and giveauthorization thereto. This allows a master terminaldifferent from the master terminal 400 to control thesidelink communication of the terminal devices 401 and 402.

[0203] <6. Other Modification Examples>In the first and second embodiments of the presentdisclosure and the modification examples thereto, thecontrol information generation units 342 and 462 allocateresources on the basis of the result of carrier sensing;however, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.For example, the base station device 20 or the masterterminal 400 may allocate resources on the basis of machinelearning.

[0204] Specifically, the base station device 30 or themaster terminal 400 learns in advance a model that takesthe result of carrier sensing (for example, time orfrequency resources in a busy state or a vacant state) asan input and the resources to be allocated as an output.Such model learning is performed by, for example, deeplearning (DNN). Alternatively, in addition to the DNN,various neural networks such as recurrent neural networks(RNN) and convolutional neural network (CNN) can be used.Further, not only a learning model using the DNN or thelike, but also a learning model trained by various othermachine learning such as a decision tree or a supportvector machine can also be used. Note that such a model isstored in the storage units 32 and 42, for example.

[0205] The base station device 30 or the master terminal400 uses the result of sensing by the carrier senseexecution units 241 and 461 as an input, and determines aresource to be allocated to the terminal device 40 on thebasis of the machine learning model. Note that the basestation device 30 or the master terminal 400 may allocateresources by machine learning on the basis of, for example,positional information of the terminal device 40, and soon. As described above, the use of machine learning allowsthe base station device 30 or the master terminal 400 toallocate the resource used for the sidelink communicationof the terminal device 40 by using information other thanthe result of the carrier sensing. This can omit carriersense by the base station device 30 and reduce theprocessing load.

[0206] In the modification examples to the first andsecond embodiments of the present disclosure, the terminaldevice 40 executes carrier sensing, determines a resourcefor sidelink communication, and performs sidelinkcommunication; however, the present disclosure is notlimited thereto. For example, the terminal device 40 maydetermine a resource and perform sidelink communication onthe basis of machine learning.

[0207] Specifically, the terminal device 40 learns inadvance, for example, a model that takes the result ofcarrier sensing (for example, time or frequency resourcesin a busy state or a vacant state) as an input and theresources to be allocated as an output. Such modellearning is performed by, for example, deep learning (DNN).Alternatively, in addition to the DNN, various neuralnetworks such as recurrent neural networks (RNN) andconvolutional neural network (CNN) can be used. Further,not only a learning model using the DNN or the like, butalso a learning model trained by various other machinelearning such as a decision tree or a support vectormachine can also be used. Note that such a model is storedin the storage unit 42, for example.

[0208] The terminal device 40 uses the result of sensingby the carrier sense execution unit 453 as an input, anddetermines a resource for sidelink communication on thebasis of the machine learning model. Note that theterminal device 40 may determine resources by machinelearning on the basis of, for example, the sensinginformation or positional information of the terminaldevice 40. As described above, the use of machine learningallows the terminal device 40 to determine the resourceused for the sidelink communication by using informationother than the result of the carrier sensing. This canomit carrier sense by the terminal device 40 and reduce theprocessing load.

[0209] In the first and second embodiments of thepresent disclosure and the modification examples thereto,the base station device 30 or the master terminal 400allocates radio resources for an unlicensed band to thesidelink communication; however, the present disclosure isnot limited thereto. For example, in a case where thecommunication requirements cannot be satisfied in thesidelink communication using the unlicensed band, the basestation device 30 or the master terminal 400 may determineto use the licensed band for the sidelink communication andnotify the terminal device 40 that performs the sidelinkcommunication of the use of the licensed band.

[0210] For example, the base station device 30 or themaster terminal 400 determines whether or not therequirements of the sidelink communication can be satisfiedon the basis of a result of the carrier sense.Specifically, the base station device 30 or the masterterminal 400 determines that the requirements cannot besatisfied, for example, in a case where the reception powerexceeds a predetermined threshold as a result of thecarrier sense. Alternatively, the base station device 30or the master terminal 400 may determine that therequirements cannot be satisfied, for example, in a casewhere the CBR exceeds a predetermined threshold as a resultof the carrier sense.

[0211] Alternatively, for example, the base stationdevice 30 or the master terminal 400 may determine whetheror not the requirements of the sidelink communication canbe satisfied on the basis of a service type of the sidelinkcommunication. As the service type, for example, there isa case where the sidelink communication is used to exchangea safety message including information on public safety.Such a safety-related service corresponds to a highpriorityservice. In such a case, the base station device30 or the master terminal 400 may determine that therequirements of the sidelink communication cannot besatisfied in the unlicensed band.

[0212] In addition, other examples of the service typeinclude a service that needs high reliability, low latency,high-speed communication, and high capacity. Also in sucha case, the base station device 30 or the master terminal400 may determine that the requirements of the sidelinkcommunication cannot be satisfied in the unlicensed band.

[0213] In the first and second embodiments of thepresent disclosure and the modification examples thereto,the base station device 30 or the terminal device 40 forperforming sidelink communication executes carrier sense;however, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.For example, a terminal device other than the base stationdevice 30 or the terminal device 40 for performing sidelinkcommunication (also referred to as a proxy terminal below)may execute carrier sense instead of the base stationdevice 30 and the terminal device 40.

[0214] In such a case, the base station device 30 maydesignate a proxy terminal that executes carrier sense, orthe terminal device 40 for performing sidelinkcommunication may designate a proxy terminal that executescarrier sense. For example, the base station device 30 orthe terminal device 40 for performing sidelinkcommunication sends a request for carrier sense by proxy,which allows the proxy terminal to execute carrier sense inplace thereof.

[0215] The proxy terminal notifies the base stationdevice 30 or the terminal device 40 for performing sidelinkcommunication of the result of the carrier sense. In acase where the base station device 30 receives the resultof the carrier sense, the base station device 30 uses theresult to allocate a radio resource to be used for sidelinkcommunication between the terminal devices 40. In a casewhere the terminal device 40 receives the result of thecarrier sense, the terminal device 40 performs sidelinkcommunication using a resource that is in a vacant state.

[0216] In the second embodiment and the modificationexamples thereto, the case where there is one masterterminal 400 has been described as an example; however, thebase station device 30 may give authorization to aplurality of the master terminals 400. For example, in acase where a plurality of kinds of sidelink communicationis performed, the base station device 30 may set the masterterminal 400 for every sidelink communication.Alternatively, one master terminal 400 may be set for aplurality of kinds of sidelink communication. A pluralityof master terminals 400 each of which performs beammanagement of one or more kinds of sidelink communicationmay be set. Note that, in a case where a plurality ofmaster terminals 400 is set, it is assumed that the masterterminals 400 share information with one another using thePSCCH.

[0217] In the first and second embodiments of thepresent disclosure and the modification examples thereto,the case where the NR sidelink communication is adopted asthe radio access technology is described as an example;however, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.The technology according to the present disclosure isapplicable to a radio access technology other than the NR.For example, the information processing system 1 may usethe LTE as a radio access technology, or may use both theLTE and the NR. Alternatively, the information processingsystem 1 may use a radio access technology other than theNR and the LTE.

[0218] In addition, the base station devices 20 and 30,the terminal device 40, the mobile device 50, and themaster terminal 400 of the embodiments may be implementedby a dedicated computer system or by a general-purposecomputer system.

[0219] For example, a program for executing theoperation described above is stored in a computer-readablerecording medium such as an optical disk, a semiconductormemory, a magnetic tape, a flexible disk, or a hard disk,and distributed. Then, for example, the program isinstalled into a computer and the processing describedabove is executed, so that the control device isconfigured. At this time, the control device may be adevice (personal computer, for example) external to thebase station devices 20 and 30, the terminal device 40, themobile device 50, or the master terminal 400. Further, thecontrol device may be a device (the control unit 13 or acontrol unit 140, for example) inside the base stationdevices 20 and 30, the terminal device 40, the mobiledevice 50, or the master terminal 400.

[0220] In addition, the communication program may bestored in a disk device included in a server device over anetwork such as the Internet so that the communicationprogram can be downloaded to a computer. In addition, thefunctions described above may be implemented by cooperationwith an operating system (OS) and application software. Insuch a case, a portion other than the OS may be stored in amedium and distributed, or a portion other than the OS maybe stored in a server device and downloaded to a computer.

[0221] Among the processing described in theembodiments, all or a part of the processing, described asautomatic processing, can be performed manually, or all ora part of the processing, described as manual processing,can be performed automatically by a known method. Inaddition, the processing procedures, specific names, andinformation including various data and parameters indicatedin the document and the drawings can be arbitrarily changedunless otherwise specified. For example, various types ofinformation illustrated in the drawings are not limited tothe illustrated information.

[0222] Further, the constituent elements of theindividual devices illustrated in the drawings arefunctionally conceptual and are not necessarily configuredphysically as illustrated in the drawings. To be specific,the specific form of distribution and integration of thedevices is not limited to the one illustrated in thedrawings, and all or a part thereof can be configured byfunctionally or physically distributing and integrating inarbitrary units according to various loads, usageconditions, and the like.

[0223] Further, the embodiments described above can beappropriately combined to the extent that the processingcontents do not contradict each other.

[0224] <7. Conclusion>As described above, according to the embodiments ofthe present disclosure, the communication control device(e.g., the base station device 30 and the master terminal400) includes the control unit (e.g., the control units 34and 46). The control unit notifies information on carriersense in the sidelink communication in the unlicensed band(e.g., control information and sensing information) betweenthe first communication device (e.g., the terminal device401) and the second communication device (e.g., theterminal device 402) to at least one of the firstcommunication device and the second communication device.

[0225] This enables the first and second communicationdevices to perform the sidelink communication in theunlicensed band, which realizes efficient use of radioresources.

[0226] Although the embodiments of the presentdisclosure have been described above, the technical scopeof the present disclosure is not limited to the embodimentsdescribed above as it is, and various modifications can bemade without departing from the gist of the presentdisclosure. In addition, constituent elements of differentembodiments and modification examples may be appropriatelycombined.

[0227] Further, the effects of the embodiments describedin the present specification are merely examples and arenot limited, and other effects may be provided.

[0228] Further, the present technology may also beconfigured as below.(1)A communication control device comprising:a control unit configured to notify at least one of afirst communication device and a second communicationdevice of information on carrier sense in sidelinkcommunication in an unlicensed band between the firstcommunication device and the second communication device.(2)The communication control device according to (1),whereinthe control unitexecutes carrier sense in the unlicensed band, andnotifies the information on the carrier sense on thebasis of a result of the carrier sense.(3)The communication control device according to (1) or(2), whereinthe information on the carrier sense is informationfor at least one of the first communication device and thesecond communication device to execute carrier sense in theunlicensed band.(4)The communication control device according to any oneof (1) to (3), whereinthe communication control device is given, by a basestation device, authorization to notify the information onthe carrier sense and notifies the information.(5)The communication control device according to (4),whereinthe authorization of the communication control deviceis cancelled in response to a cancellation notificationfrom the base station device.(6)The communication control device according to any oneof (1) to (5), whereinthe control unitnotifies, in a case where the first communicationdevice is outside a coverage range of the communicationcontrol device, the second communication device of theinformation on the carrier sense addressed to the firstcommunication device.(7)The communication control device according to any oneof (1) to (5), whereinthe control unitgives, in a case where at least one of the firstcommunication device and the second communication device isoutside a coverage range of the communication controldevice, authorization to notify the information on thecarrier sense to another communication control devicehaving at least one of the first communication device andthe second communication device within a coverage range ofthat another communication control device.(8)A communication device for performing sidelinkcommunication in an unlicensed band with anothercommunication device, the communication device comprising:a control unit configured to execute, on the basis ofinformation on carrier sense acquired from a communicationcontrol device, the carrier sense in the unlicensed bandand perform the sidelink communication on the basis of aresult of the carrier sense.(9)A communication control method comprising:notifying at least one of a first communication deviceand a second communication device of information on carriersense in sidelink communication in an unlicensed bandbetween the first communication device and the secondcommunication device.(10)A communication method for performing sidelinkcommunication in an unlicensed band with anothercommunication device, the communication method comprising:executing, on the basis of information on carriersense acquired from a communication control device, thecarrier sense in the unlicensed band to perform thesidelink communication on the basis of a result of thecarrier sense.Reference Signs List

[0229] 1 INFORMATION PROCESSING SYSTEM10 MANAGEMENT DEVICE20, 30 BASE STATION DEVICE40 TERMINAL DEVICE50 MOBILE DEVICE11, 33, 43 NETWORK COMMUNICATION UNIT12, 32, 42 STORAGE UNIT13, 34, 45 CONTROL UNIT31, 41 WIRELESS COMMUNICATION UNIT44 INPUT / OUTPUT UNIT311, 411 RECEPTION PROCESSING UNIT312, 412 TRANSMISSION PROCESSING UNIT313, 413 ANTENNA

Claims

1. A communication control device comprising: a control unit configured to notify at least one of a first communication device and a second communication device of information on carrier sense in sidelink communication in an unlicensed band between the first communication device and the second communication device.

2. The communication control device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit executes carrier sense in the unlicensed band, and notifies the information on the carrier sense on the basis of a result of the carrier sense.

3. The communication control device according to claim 2, wherein the information on the carrier sense is information for at least one of the first communication device and the second communication device to execute carrier sense in the unlicensed band.

4. The communication control device according to claim 3, wherein the communication control device is given, by a base station device, authorization to notify the information on the carrier sense and notifies the information.

5. The communication control device according to claim 4, wherein the authorization of the communication control device is cancelled in response to a cancellation notification from the base station device.

6. The communication control device according to claim 5, wherein the control unit notifies, in a case where the first communication device is outside a coverage range of the communication control device, the second communication device of the information on the carrier sense addressed to the first communication device.

7. The communication control device according to claim 5, wherein the control unit gives, in a case where at least one of the first communication device and the second communication device is outside a coverage range of the communication control device, authorization to notify the information on the carrier sense to another communication control device having at least one of the first communication device and the second communication device within a coverage range of that another communication control device.

8. A communication device for performing sidelink communication in an unlicensed band with another communication device, the communication device comprising: a control unit configured to execute, on the basis of information on carrier sense acquired from a communication control device, the carrier sense in the unlicensed band and perform the sidelink communication on the basis of a result of the carrier sense.

9. A communication control method comprising: notifying at least one of a first communication device and a second communication device of information on carrier sense in sidelink communication in an unlicensed band between the first communication device and the second communication device.

10. A communication method for performing sidelink communication in an unlicensed band with another communication device, the communication method comprising: executing, on the basis of information on carrier sense acquired from a communication control device, the carrier sense in the unlicensed band to perform the sidelink communication on the basis of a result of the carrier sense.