Communication apparatus and communication method for coexistence of the same channel in LTE and NR side links

Abstract

The communication device includes, during operation, a circuit that selects a category from a plurality of categories, and a transmitter that transmits sidelink data and / or SCI based on the selected category during operation. The plurality of categories include a first category regarding a plurality of resources only for LTE sidelink, including LTE sidelink data and / or LTE sidelink control information (SCI), a second category regarding a plurality of resources only for NR sidelink, including NR sidelink data and / or NR SCI, and a third category regarding a plurality of shared resources shared by LTE sidelink and NR sidelink. The sidelink data is either LTE sidelink data or NR sidelink data, and the SCI is either LTE SCI or NR SCI. The communication device is included.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a communication device and a communication method for coexistence of the same channel in the sidelink (SL) of LTE (Long-Term Evolution) and NR (New Radio).

Background Art

[0002] As described in WID RP-213634, for the upcoming study on the sidelink evolution in 3GPP Release 18, the goals regarding coexistence of the same channel in the LTE (Long-Term Evolution) sidelink (SL) and the NR (New Radio) sidelink have been specified, that is, "examine and define (if necessary) the mechanisms including performance, requirements, feasibility, and impact on potential specifications for coexistence of the same channel in the LTE sidelink and the NR sidelink [RAN1, RAN2, RAN4]", and it has been specified that "reuse the in-device coexistence framework defined in Rel-16 as much as possible".

[0003] In Release 16, in-device coexistence (e.g., for different spectrums) is specified in TS38.213. When involved in SL transmission, high-priority packets are prioritized, and for other cases, it is left to the implementation (summarized in Table 1 below).

Table 1

[0004] As described above, communication devices and methods regarding coexistence of the same channel in the SL of LTE and NR have not yet been discussed.

[0005] Therefore, there is a need for a communication device and method that provide a feasible technical solution for coexistence of the same SL channel in LTE and NR. Further, other desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the following detailed description and the appended claims, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the background of the present disclosure.

Prior Art Documents

Non-Patent Documents

[0006]

Non-Patent Document 1

Non-Patent Document 2

Non-Patent Document 3

Non-Patent Document 4

Non-Patent Document 5

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0007] Non-limiting and exemplary embodiments facilitate providing a communication device and method for coexistence of the same SL channel in LTE and NR.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0008] According to a first embodiment of the present disclosure, a communication device is provided. This communication device includes, during operation, a circuit that selects a category from a plurality of categories, and a transmission unit that transmits sidelink data and / or SCI based on the selected category during operation. The plurality of categories include a first category regarding a plurality of resources only for LTE sidelink, including LTE (Long Term Evolution) sidelink data and / or LTE sidelink control information (SCI), a second category regarding a plurality of resources only for NR sidelink, including NR (New Radio) sidelink data and / or NR SCI, and a third category regarding a plurality of shared resources shared by the LTE sidelink and the NR sidelink. The sidelink data is the LTE sidelink data or the NR sidelink data, and the SCI is the LTE SCI or the NR SCI.

[0009] According to a second embodiment of the present disclosure, a communication method is provided. This communication method includes selecting a category from a plurality of categories, and transmitting sidelink data and / or SCI based on the selected category. The plurality of categories include a first category regarding a plurality of resources only for LTE sidelink, including LTE (Long Term Evolution) sidelink data and / or LTE sidelink control information (SCI), a second category regarding a plurality of resources only for NR sidelink, including NR (New Radio) sidelink data and / or NR SCI, and a third category regarding a plurality of shared resources shared by the LTE sidelink and the NR sidelink. The sidelink data is the LTE sidelink data or the NR sidelink data, and the SCI is the LTE SCI or the NR SCI.

[0010] Note that general or specific embodiments can be implemented as a system, method, integrated circuit, computer program, storage medium, or any optional combination thereof.

[0011] Further benefits and advantages of the disclosed embodiments will become apparent from the specification and the drawings. These benefits and / or advantages can be obtained individually by various embodiments and features of the specification and the drawings, and it is not necessary to provide all embodiments and features for the purpose of obtaining one or more of such benefits and / or advantages.

[0012] The embodiments of the present disclosure are merely examples and will be better understood and readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description and in connection with the drawings.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0013]

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Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0014] Those skilled in the art can understand that the elements in the figures are explained simply and clearly and are not necessarily drawn to a certain scale. For example, in order to better understand the present embodiment, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures, block diagrams, or flowcharts may be exaggerated with respect to other elements.

[0015] Some embodiments of the present disclosure will be described by way of example with reference to the drawings. Like reference numerals and characters in the drawings refer to like or equivalent elements.

[0016] In particular, the system architecture generally assumes an NG-RAN (Next Generation - Radio Access Network) with gNBs. The gNBs provide the UE-side termination of the protocols for the user plane (SDAP / PDCP / RLC / MAC / PHY) and the control plane (RRC) of NG radio access. The gNBs are interconnected by the Xn interface. Also, the gNBs are connected to the NGC (Next Generation Core) via the Next Generation (NG) interface, more specifically, to the AMF (Access and Mobility Management Function) (e.g., a specific core entity performing the AMF) via the NG-C interface, and to the UPF (User Plane Function) (e.g., a specific core entity performing the UPF) via the NG-U interface. The NG-RAN architecture is shown in FIG. 1 (see, for example, Section 4 of Non-Patent Document 1).

[0017] The protocol stack of the user plane of NR (see, for example, Section 4.4.1 of Non-Patent Document 1) includes the PDCP (Packet Data Convergence Protocol (see Section 6.4 of Non-Patent Document 1)) sublayer, the RLC (Radio Link Control (see Section 6.3 of Non-Patent Document 1)) sublayer, and the MAC (Medium Access Control (see Section 6.2 of Non-Patent Document 1)) sublayer, which are terminated on the network side in the gNB. Also, a new sublayer of the access stratum (AS: Service Data Adaptation Protocol) (SDAP) is introduced on top of PDCP (see, for example, Section 6.5 of Non-Patent Document 1). Also, a protocol stack for the control plane is defined for NR (see, for example, Section 4.4.2 of Non-Patent Document 1). An overview of the layer 2 functions is described in Section 6 of Non-Patent Document 1. The functions of the PDCP sublayer, the RLC sublayer, and the MAC sublayer are listed in Sections 6.4, 6.3, and 6.2 of Non-Patent Document 1, respectively. The functions of the RRC layer are listed in Section 7 of Non-Patent Document 1. Furthermore, sidelink communication is introduced in Non-Patent Document 1. The sidelink supports direct communication between UEs using the sidelink resource allocation mode, physical layer signals / physical layer channels, and physical layer procedures (see, for example, Section 5.7 of Non-Patent Document 1).

[0018] For example, the Medium-Access-Control layer handles multiplexing of logical channels and scheduling and scheduling-related functions including handling various numerologies.

[0019] For example, the physical layer (PHY) is responsible for functions such as encoding, PHY HARQ processing, modulation, multi-antenna processing, and mapping of signals to appropriate physical time-frequency resources. Also, the physical layer handles the mapping of transport channels to physical channels. The physical layer provides services to the MAC layer in the form of transport channels. A physical channel corresponds to a set of time-frequency resources used for the transmission of a specific transport channel, and each transport channel is mapped to a corresponding physical channel. For example, physical channels include the Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) for the uplink, the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), and the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), and for the downlink, the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), and the Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH). Furthermore, physical sidelink channels include the Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH), the Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH), the Physical Sidelink Feedback Channel (PSFCH), and the Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH).

[0020] The use cases / deployment scenarios of NR may include enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC), and massive machine type communication (mMTC), which have diverse requirements in terms of data rate, latency, and coverage. For example, eMBB is expected to support peak data rates (20 Gbps in the downlink and 10 Gbps in the uplink) and effective (user-experienced) data rates about three times that provided by IMT-Advanced. On the other hand, in the case of URLLC, more stringent requirements are imposed for ultra-low latency (0.5 ms each for UL and DL for user plane latency) and high reliability (1 - 10 -5 ) within 1 ms. Finally, for mMTC, a high connection density (1,000,000 devices / km in urban environments 2 ), wide coverage in harsh environments, and extremely long-lived batteries (15 years) for low-cost devices may be required.

[0021] Therefore, the new numerology of OFDM (e.g., subcarrier spacing, OFDM symbol length, cyclic prefix (CP) length, number of symbols per scheduling interval) suitable for one use case may not be effective for other use cases. For example, in a low-latency service, preferably, the symbol length is shorter (and thus the subcarrier spacing is larger) and / or the number of symbols per scheduling interval (also referred to as TTI) is smaller than that of mMTC services. Further, in a deployment scenario with a large channel delay spread, preferably, the CP length is longer than that in a scenario with a short delay spread. The subcarrier spacing should be optimized according to the situation so that a similar CP overhead is maintained. The value of the subcarrier spacing supported by NR can be one or more. Therefore, currently, subcarrier spacings of 15 kHz, 30 kHz, 60 kHz... are considered. The symbol length Tu and the subcarrier spacing Δf are directly related by the formula Δf = 1 / Tu. Similar to the LTE system, the term "resource element" can be used to mean the smallest resource unit defined from one subcarrier for the length of one OFDM / SC-FDMA symbol.

[0022] In the new radio system 5G-NR, for each numerology and each carrier, a resource grid of subcarriers and OFDM symbols is defined for each of the uplink and downlink. Each element of the resource grid is called a resource element and is identified based on the frequency index in the frequency domain and the symbol position in the time domain (see Non-Patent Document 1).

[0023] The schematic diagram 200 in FIG. 2 shows the functional separation between the NG-RAN and the 5GC. The logical nodes of the NG-RAN are the gNB or the ng-eNB. The 5GC has the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), the User Plane Function (UPF), and the Session Management Function (SMF), which are logical nodes.

[0024] In particular, the gNB and the ng-eNB host the following main functions: - Functions of radio resource management such as radio bearer control, radio admission control, connection mobility control, and dynamic allocation (scheduling) of resources to the UE in both the uplink and the downlink; - IP header compression, encryption, and integrity protection of data; - Selection of the AMF at the time of UE attachment when it is not possible to determine the routing to the AMF from the information provided by the UE; - Routing of user plane data towards the UPF; - Routing of control plane information towards the AMF; - Setup and release of connections; - Scheduling and transmission of paging messages; - Scheduling and transmission of system information messages (with the AMF or the Operation, Admission, Maintenance (OAM) function as the source); - Configuration of measurements and reporting of measurements for mobility and scheduling; - Transport level packet marking in the uplink; - Session management; - Support for network slicing; - QoS flow management and mapping to data radio bearers; - Support for UEs in RRC_INACTIVE state; - Delivery function for Non-Access Stratum (NAS) messages; - Sharing of radio access networks; - Dual connectivity; - Tight cooperation between NR and E-UTRA.

[0025] The Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) hosts the following main functions: - Function to terminate Non-Access Stratum (NAS) signaling; - Security of NAS signaling; - Access Stratum (AS) security control; - Core Network (CN) node-to-node signaling for mobility between 3GPP access networks; - Reachability to idle mode UEs (including control and execution of paging retransmission); - Management of registration areas; - Support for in-system mobility and inter-system mobility; - Access authentication; - Access authorization including roaming rights check; - Mobility management control (subscription and policy); - Support for network slicing; - Selection of Session Management Function (SMF).

[0026] Furthermore, the User Plane Function (UPF) hosts the following main functions: - Anchor point for intra-RAT mobility / inter-RAT mobility (if applicable); - External PDU (Protocol Data Unit) session points for interconnection with data networks; - Packet routing and forwarding; - Packet inspection and enforcement of policy rules in the user plane part; - Reporting of traffic usage; - Uplink classifier to support routing of traffic flows to the data network; - Branching Point to support multi-homed PDU sessions; - QoS processing for the user plane (e.g., packet filtering, gating, UL / DL rate enforcement); - Verification of uplink traffic (mapping to QoS flows of SDFs); - Buffering of downlink packets and triggering function for downlink data notification.

[0027] Finally, the Session Management Function (SMF) hosts the following main functions: - Session management; - Allocation and management of IP addresses for UEs; - Selection and control of UPFs; - Configuration function of traffic steering in the User Plane Function (UPF) to route traffic to appropriate destinations; - Policy enforcement and QoS in the control part; - Notification of downlink data.

[0028] The sequence diagram 300 of FIG. 3 shows some of the interactions between the UE, gNB, and AMF (5GC entity) in the NAS part when the UE transitions from RRC_IDLE to RRC_CONNECTED (see Non-Patent Document 1). The transition steps are as follows. 1. The UE requests to set up a new connection from the RRC_IDLE state. 2 / 2a. The gNB completes the RRC setup procedure. (Note: The scenario where the gNB rejects the request will be described below.)

[0029] 3. The first NAS message from the UE sent in piggyback mode in RRCSetupComplete is sent to the AMF. 4 / 4a / 5 / 5a. Additional NAS messages can be exchanged between the UE and the AMF. See Reference

[22] of Non-Patent Document 2 (3GPP TS 23.122: "Non-Access Stratum (NAS) functions related to mobile stations in idle mode"). 6. The AMF prepares UE context data (including PDU session context, security keys, UE radio capabilities, and UE security capabilities, etc.) and sends it to the gNB. 7 / 7a. The gNB activates the AS security with the UE. 8 / 8a. The gNB performs a reconfiguration to set up SRB2 and DRB. 9. The gNB notifies the AMF that the setup procedure has been completed.

[0030] RRC is the upper layer signaling (protocol) used for the configuration of the UE and gNB. In particular, with this transition, the AMF prepares UE context data (which includes, for example, PDU session context, security keys, UE Radio Capability, UE Security Capabilities, etc.) and sends it to the gNB together with the INITIAL CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST. Then, the gNB activates the AS security together with the UE. This is done by the gNB sending a SecurityModeCommand message to the UE and the UE responding to the gNB with a SecurityModeComplete message. After that, the gNB sends an RRCReconfiguration message to the UE, and upon receiving the RRCReconfigurationComplete from the UE, performs a reconfiguration to set up the Signaling Radio Bearer 2 (SRB2) and Data Radio Bearer (DRB). For signaling-only connections, since the SRB2 and DRB are not set up, the steps related to RRCReconfiguration are skipped. Finally, the gNB notifies the AMF in the INITIAL CONTEXT SETUP RESPONSE that the setup procedure is complete.

[0031] The sequence diagram 400 of FIG. 4 shows some of the use cases for 5G NR. In the 3rd generation partnership project new radio (3GPP NR), three use cases that were envisioned by IMT-2020 to support a wide variety of services and applications are being considered. The formulation of the first-phase specifications for enhanced mobile-broadband (eMBB) has been completed. Current and future work includes, in addition to expanding the support for eMBB, standardization for ultra-reliable and low-latency communications (URLLC) and massive machine-type communications (mMTC). FIG. 4 shows some examples of the assumed usage scenarios of IMT after 2020 (see, for example, FIG. 2 of Non-Patent Document 3).

[0032] The use cases of URLLC have strict requirements for performance such as throughput, latency (delay), and availability. The use cases of URLLC are envisioned as one of the things like this to realize these future applications such as wireless control of industrial production processes or manufacturing processes, remote medical surgery, automation of power transmission and distribution in smart grids, and traffic safety. The ultra-high reliability of URLLC is supported by identifying technologies that meet the requirements set by Non-Patent Document 4. In NR URLLC in Release 15, as an important requirement, the target user plane latency is 0.5 ms for UL (uplink) and 0.5 ms for DL (downlink). The general URLLC requirement for a single packet transmission is that when the user plane latency is 1 ms, the block error rate (BLER) is 1E-5 for a packet size of 32 bytes.

[0033] From a physical layer perspective, reliability can be improved in many ways. Current opportunities for reliability improvement include defining a separate CQI table for URLLC, a more compact DCI format, PDCCH repetition, etc. However, this opportunity can expand for realizing ultra-high reliability as NR becomes more stable and more developed (with respect to the important requirements of NR URLLC). Specific use cases of NR URLLC in Release 15 include extended reality / virtual reality (AR / VR), e-health, e-safety, and mission-critical applications.

[0034] Also, the technical extensions targeted by NR URLLC aim to improve latency and reliability. Technical extensions for latency improvement include configurable numerology, mini-slot-based scheduling with flexible mapping, grant-free uplink (of set grants), repetition at the mini-slot level in the data channel, and pre-emption in the downlink. Pre-emption means that a transmission for which resources have already been allocated is stopped and the already allocated resources are used for other transmissions with lower latency / higher priority requirements requested later. Thus, an already permitted transmission is replaced by a later transmission. Pre-emption is applicable regardless of the specific service type. For example, a transmission of service type A (URLLC) can be replaced by a transmission of service type B (such as eMBB). Technical extensions for reliability improvement include a dedicated CQI / MCS table for a target BLER of 1E-5.

[0035] The characteristics of use cases for mMTC (massive machine type communication) typically lie in the extremely large number of connected devices that transmit relatively small amounts of data, which are typically not affected much by latency. The devices are required to be low-cost and have a very long battery life. From the perspective of NR, utilizing a very narrow bandwidth portion is one solution that can save power as seen from the UE and enable a longer battery life.

[0036] As described above, it is predicted that the scope of reliability improvement in NR will become broader. High reliability or ultra-high reliability is one of the important requirements for all cases, especially those necessary for URLLC and mMTC. Several mechanisms can improve reliability from both the wireless and network perspectives. Generally, there are two to three important areas that may help improve reliability. These areas include compact control channel information, repetition of data channels / control channels, and diversity regarding the frequency domain, time domain, and / or spatial domain. These areas are generally applicable to reliability improvement regardless of the specific communication scenario.

[0037] Regarding NR URLLC, further use cases with more stringent requirements are envisioned, such as factory automation, transportation, and power distribution. The stringent requirements include high reliability (reliability up to the 10 -6 level), high availability, a packet size up to 256 bytes, time synchronization up to about several μs (depending on the use case, the value can be set to 1 μs or several μs according to the frequency range and a short latency of about 0.5 ms to 1 ms, especially a latency of 0.5 ms in the targeted user plane).

[0038] Furthermore, for NR URLLC, there may be several technical extensions from the perspective of the physical layer. These technical extensions include the extension of the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) related to compact DCI, the repetition of PDCCH, and the increase in PDCCH monitoring. Also, the extension of UCI (Uplink Control Information) is related to the extension of enhanced HARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request) and CSI feedback. Additionally, there may be enhancements to PUSCH related to mini-slot level hopping, and enhancements to retransmission / repetition. The term "mini-slot" refers to a Transmission Time Interval (TTI) that contains fewer symbols than a slot (a slot has 14 symbols).

[0039] The 5G Quality of Service (QoS) model is based on QoS flows and supports both QoS flows that require a guaranteed flow bit rate (Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR) QoS flows) and QoS flows that do not require a guaranteed flow bit rate (non-GBR QoS flows). Therefore, at the NAS level, a QoS flow is the finest-grained QoS differentiation in a PDU session. A QoS flow is identified within a PDU session by a QoS Flow ID (QFI) that is carried in an encapsulation header via the NG-U interface.

[0040] For each UE, the 5GC establishes one or more PDU sessions. For each UE, the NG-RAN establishes at least one Data Radio Bearer (DRB) according to the PDU session, as shown above with reference to, for example, Figure 3. Also, additional DRBs for the QoS flows of that PDU session can be set later (it depends on the NG-RAN when to set). The NG-RAN maps the packets belonging to various PDU sessions to various DRBs. While the NAS-level packet filters in the UE and 5GC associate UL packets and DL packets with QoS flows, the AS-level mapping rules in the UE and NG-RAN associate UL QoS flows and DL QoS flows with DRBs.

[0041] Block diagram 500 of Figure 5 shows the non-roaming reference architecture of 5G NR (see Section 4.2.1.1 of Non-Patent Document 5). The Application Function (AF) (for example, the external application server that hosts 5G services illustrated in Figure 4) supports providing services, for example, influencing the routing of traffic by the application, accessing the Network Exposure Function (NEF), or interacting with the policy framework for policy control (for example, QoS control) (see Policy Control Function (PCF)) by interacting with the 3GPP core network. Based on the operator's deployment, the Application Function considered to be trusted by the operator can interact directly with the relevant Network Function. The Application Function not permitted by the operator to directly access the Network Function interacts with the relevant Network Function using the external exposure framework via the NEF.

[0042] Figure 5 further shows additional functional units of the 5G architecture for V2X communication, namely, Unified Data Management (UDM), Policy Control Function (PCF), Network Exposure Function (NEF), Application Function (AF), Unified Data Repository (UDR), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), and User Plane Function (UPF) in 5GC, as well as V2X Application Server (V2AS) and Data Network (DN; e.g., operator services, Internet access, or third-party services). All or part of the core network functions and application services may be deployed and operate in a cloud computing environment.

[0043] For coexistence of the same channel in LTE side link and NR side link, since both RATs (Radio Access Technologies) share the same radio spectrum, the same time / frequency resources may be allocated. This is different from the in-device coexistence in R16 where LTE and NR side links are separated. Therefore, it is desirable to provide a mechanism to handle the coexistence of the same channel in LTE side link and NR side link.

[0044] One solution to this problem is to entrust the gNB with scheduling for SL using the base station. Another solution is to simply reuse all the rules defined for in-device coexistence in R16 for SL without using the base station. However, when transmission is involved, there is a problem of how to prioritize high-priority packets, and UE implementation is required for all other cases.

[0045] For the coexistence of the same channel in LTE side link and NR side link, radio resources may be categorized for different purposes. For example, there may be resources for LTE side link only, resources for NR side link only, and resources shared by both LTE side link and NR side link. The visibility of the classification may be different for different UEs. For UEs that support resources shared by LTE side link and NR side link, all categories can be identified. On the other hand, for UEs that do not support resources shared by LTE side link and NR side link, only some categories can be identified (for example, only the first one or two categories can be identified).

[0046] Resources can be realized as a configurable set (e.g., resource pool), or separated in time or frequency (by regulators, vendors, etc.). Resources for different purposes may be exclusive to each other or may overlap with each other. Resources can be further separated for transmission (TX) or reception (RX).

[0047] In an embodiment, for an RF band (e.g., Intelligent Transport System (ITS) band) accessible by both LTE side link and NR side link, different types of resource pools can be used to configure the band, such as a resource pool dedicated to LTE side link, a resource pool dedicated to NR side link, and a resource pool shared by both LTE side link and NR side link (e.g., shared resource). For the first and second types of resource pools, only LTE UEs and only NR UEs can access them respectively. For the resource pool shared by LTE side link and NR side link, both LTE UEs and NR UEs can access it. In the case of a UE supporting only LTE, it can be configured to process the shared pool in a similar manner as for the LTE-only pool. In the case of a UE supporting only NR, it can be configured to handle the shared pool in the same way as the NR-only pool. In the case of a UE supporting both LTE and NR without the function of shared resources, the shared pool may be treated as an LTE-dedicated resource pool or an NR-dedicated resource pool by configuration, pre-configuration, or specified operations. Each of these resource pools may also be referred to as a plurality of resources. A plurality of resources for LTE side link only, a plurality of resources for NR side link only, and a plurality of shared resources shared by both LTE side link and NR side link may be indicated by physical layer signaling or upper layer signaling, or defined in the technical specifications.

[0048] For a UE that has the function of shared resources and supports both LTE and NR, when NR SL TX is executed, reservation and / or notification (e.g., control information for reserving, notifying, or associating one or more NR resources) may be signaled by LTE signaling defined in the LTE / LTE-Advanced system, or by scheduled LTE signaling defined in the LTE / LTE-Advanced system (e.g., sidelink control information (SCI)), whereby the LTE UE can skip the resources used by NR. The LTE reservation and / or notification can be performed before the NR transmission, as shown in illustration 600 of FIG. 6A. For example, an LTE or NR transmission such as the physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) 602 is transmitted together with the transmission of the LTE physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) 604 before the transmission of the NR physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) 606. The LTE reservation and / or notification may be performed together with the NR transmission. For example, in illustration 608 of FIG. 6B, the LTE physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) 610 is transmitted together with the transmission of the NR PSSCH 612. In this configuration, it is necessary to perform LTE and NR TX simultaneously.

[0049] Alternatively, the SCI information may be via different radio access technology (RAT) signaling according to the receiving UE (e.g., LTE, NR, etc.). For information to be received by a UE that supports only LTE, a UE that can utilize shared resources may also receive the information via LTE sidelink resources instead of NR. For information to be received by a UE that supports NR, a UE that can utilize shared resources may also receive the information via NR sidelink resources.

[0050] According to embodiments of the present disclosure, in order to separate LTE / NR sidelinks and reserve / indicate transmissions to handle conflicts between LTE sidelinks and NR sidelinks, several conflict handling rules can also be utilized. Such conflicts occur when there are simultaneously LTE SL (transmission (Tx) or reception (Rx)) and NR SL (Tx or Rx) for a UE or the system. Conflict cases can be classified into [LTE TX, NR TX], [LTE TX, NR RX], [LTE RX, NR TX], [LTE RX, NR RX]. For the conflict cases of [LTE TX, NR TX], [LTE TX, NR RX], [LTE TX, NR TX], the same R16 priority rules for higher priority Tx / Rx packets can be reused. For the conflict case of [LTE RX, NR RX], it can be defined that SL UEs capable of simultaneous Rx can receive LTE PSCCH and NR PSCCH simultaneously. For such UEs capable of simultaneous Rx, which RAT PSSCH should be received can be determined by the priority value of the PSCCH, or other sidelink control information and / or signals (e.g., sidelink channel state information (SL-CSI)) and / or reports (e.g., SL measurement reports) on the PSCCH or PSSCH. As shown in illustration 700 of FIG. 7A, LTE / NR may be frequency division multiplexed (FDM: Frequency Division Multiplexed) in the same slot (e.g., LTE RX702 and NR RX704 may occur simultaneously in the same slot 706), or may be superimposed by code / space separation as shown in illustration 708 of FIG. 7B (e.g., LTE RX710 and NR RX712 overlap with each other in the time domain and / or frequency domain.).

[0051] For any conflict cases where the same priority is set for LTE and NR, or the priority is unknown, the SL UE may (1) prioritize one of LTE TX, LTE RX, NR TX, and NR RX, (2) prioritize packets of a specific UE type (e.g., Tx only, Rx only, roadside unit (RSU), etc.), and (3) select one or more of the above combinations (e.g., RSU with LTE-Tx, Tx-only UE with LTE-Tx, etc.).

[0052] Since LTE and NR have different frequency spectra, in the discussion of in-device coexistence, the Tx / Rx of NR PSFCH was treated the same as normal NR Tx / Rx. For in-channel coexistence, since PSFCH occupies only the last 2 / 3 symbols (excluding guard symbols) within a slot, some optimizations can be applied. For more efficient resource utilization, when NR PSFCH competes with LTE, the UE may be configured to transmit LTE PSCCH / PSSCH with a shortened length together with NR PSFCH in the same slot, as shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B. For example, in illustration 800 of FIG. 8A, LTE PSCCH 802 and LTE PSSCH 804 are time-division multiplexed (TDM) with NR PSFCH 806 in the same slot 808, and in illustration 810 of FIG. 8B, LTE PSSCH 814 is TDM with NR PSFCH 816 in the same slot 818, and this combination is frequency-division multiplexed (FDM) with LTE PSCCH 812. In either figure, the LTE part uses the first 10 symbols and NR PSFCH uses the next 3 symbols. In these examples, different or modified MCS, and / or different or modified resource element mapping rules for LTE PSSCH and / or LTE PSCCH are required to correctly map data to the radio resources accessible by both NR and LTE UEs. Alternatively, the UE may be configured to prioritize packets with PSFCH Tx / Rx or compare the priority of NR PSCCH with that of LTE PSCCH or LTE PSSCH and prioritize higher-priority packets.

[0053] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, for cases where [LTE TX, NR TX] compete, in addition to the dropping rules for R16 in-device coexistence, some optimizations regarding dynamic power sharing for simultaneous transmission can be considered. The sum of the default powers of LTE and NR is the maximum allowable Tx power of the UE, e.g., P cmaxIf it is lower than the upper limit, the UE may perform simultaneous transmission.

[0054] If the sum of the default powers of LTE and NR is greater than the upper limit of Pcmax and the priorities from both RATs are found to be different values, the UE may: (1) transmit only the RAT with the higher-priority packet and drop the other RAT packets; (2) transmit the packets of the RAT with the higher (pre-set) priority and drop the other RAT packets; (3) transmit the RAT with the higher-priority packet at the default power (e.g., P PSSCH,LTE ) and transmit the RAT with the lower-priority packet at the remaining power (e.g., P PSSCH,NR = P cmax - P PSSCH,LTE ); (4) transmit the RAT with the higher-priority packet with a higher weighting (e.g., P PSSCH,LTE = a * P cmax ) and transmit the RAT with the lower-priority packet with a lower weighting (e.g., P PSSCH,NR = b * P cmax ). Here, a > b and a + b ≤ 1. On the other hand, if the priorities from both RATs are known to be the same value, the UE may: (1) transmit different RATs with the same power, i.e., P PSSCH,NR = P PSSCH,LTE ≤ 0.5 * P cmax ; (2) transmit the packets of the RAT with the higher (pre-set) priority and drop the packets of the other RAT. In one implementation, if the priorities from both RATs are unknown, the UE may: (1) transmit different RATs with the same power, i.e., P PSSCH,NR = P PSSCH,LTE ≤ 0.5 * P cmax ; (2) transmit the packets of the RAT with the higher (pre-set) priority and drop the packets of the other RAT; (3) the gNB (in mode 1) may transmit packets that semi-statically set LTE or NR as the higher-priority for the UE; (4) transmit the packets of the RAT with the higher (pre-set) priority at its default power (e.g., P PSSCH,LTE) and transmit the packets with lower priority of other RATs using the remaining power (e.g., P PSSCH,NR =P cmax -P PSSCH,LTE ). Also, (5) packets of the RAT with higher priority may be transmitted with a higher weighting P cmax (P PSSCH,LTE =a*P cmax ), and packets of other RATs may be transmitted with a lower weighting P cmax (P PSSCH,NR =b*P cmax ) (where a > b and a + b ≤ 1). In such transmissions, the demodulation reference signals (DMRS) in different symbols are affected, and specific patterns may be invalidated for the simultaneous transmission of LTE SL and NR SL.

[0055] The UE may be initially configured to use the LTE dedicated resource pool or the NR dedicated resource pool first. When conditions (e.g., the channel busy rate / channel occupancy rate (CBR / CR) exceeds a certain threshold) are met, the UE may attempt to switch to the shared LTE / NR resource pool.

[0056] The resource pool shared by LTE SL and NR SL can be freely used by either LTE SL or NR SL. The resource pool may be separated, for example, into a part for LTE SL and another part for NR SL.

[0057] When LTE schedules resources for NR at the PHY layer in the resource pool shared by LTE SL and NR SL, the LTE scheduling resources for NR may have no meaning. The NR scheduling resources for LTE may be achieved by some reserved bits in the first-stage SCI transmission, or a new second-stage SCI format may be used to indicate the LTE scheduling or scheduled LTE resources. LTE reports to NR, and NR reports to LTE about the resource allocation of the RAT. However, it may also be a report (not a physical layer report) to another RAT or another UE by the payload.

[0058] Regarding the resource pool shared by LTE SL and NR SL, it may be specified that the periodic reservation of LTE V2X is used for LTE V2X and the remaining resources are used for NR V2X. Dynamically scheduled NR may be prioritized over LTE even with a lower priority.

[0059] Since the subcarrier spacing (SCS) of LTE is only 15 kHz while NR has multiple options of 15 / 30 / 60 / 120 kHz, the resource pool shared by LTE SL and NR SL may be limited to 15 kHz SCS.

[0060] In the case of long-term time-scale coordination, the resource pool utilized may be simply treated as an LTE-only or NR-only resource pool. The R16 rules are still reusable. In the case of short-term time-scale coordination, dynamic scheduling and processing may be required. When long-term and short-term time-scale coordinations are mixed, it may be treated the same as short-term time-scale coordination, or as an LTE / NR shared resource pool (long-term) together with dynamically scheduled NR / LTE SL (short-term).

[0061] For a UE supporting both LTE SL and NR SL, all UEs supporting both LTE SL and NR SL may be able to access the resources or resource pool shared by LTE side link and NR side link, only some of the UEs supporting both LTE SL and NR SL may be able to access the resources or resource pool shared by LTE side link and NR side link, and some of the other UEs supporting both LTE SL and NR SL may not be able to access.

[0062] Resources may be allocated / indicated to other UEs based on the category of resources. Further, the above-described embodiments and examples may be applied to SL UEs without base station scheduling (LTE mode 4, NR mode 2), and may also be applied to SL UEs with base station scheduling (LTE mode 3, NR mode 1).

[0063] FIG. 9 shows a flowchart 900 illustrating a communication method according to various embodiments. In step 902, a category is selected from a plurality of categories. The plurality of categories includes a first category regarding a plurality of resources for LTE side link only, including LTE (Long Term Evolution) side link data and / or LTE side link control information (SCI), a second category regarding a plurality of resources for NR (New Radio) side link only, including NR side link data and / or NR SCI, and a third category regarding a plurality of shared resources shared by LTE side link and NR side link. In step 904, side link data and / or SCI is transmitted based on the selected category. The side link data is LTE side link data or NR side link data, and the SCI is LTE SCI or NR SCI.

[0064] FIG. 10 shows a partial schematic diagram of a communication device 1000 that can be implemented according to various embodiments and examples shown in FIGS. 1-9. The communication device 1000 can be implemented as a UE according to various embodiments.

[0065] The various functions and operations of the communication device 1000 are arranged in each layer according to a hierarchical model. In this model, the lower layer reports to the upper layer according to 3GPP specifications and receives commands from the upper layer. For simplicity, the details of the hierarchical model are not described in the present disclosure.

[0066] As shown in FIG. 10, the communication device 1000 may include a circuit 1014, at least one wireless transmission unit 1002, at least one wireless reception unit 1004, and at least one antenna 1012 (for simplicity, only one antenna is shown in FIG. 10 for illustrative purposes). The circuit 1014 may include at least one control unit 1006. The control unit 1006 is used to execute tasks designed to be executed by at least one control unit 1006 with the assistance of software and hardware. The tasks include controlling communication with one or more other communication devices within a wireless network. The circuit 1014 may further include at least one transmission signal generation unit 1008 and at least one reception signal processing unit 1010. The at least one control unit 1006 controls at least one transmission signal generation unit 1008 for generating signals (e.g., signals indicating a geographical area) to be transmitted to one or more other communication devices via at least one wireless transmission unit 1002, and at least one reception signal processing unit 1010 for processing signals (e.g., signals indicating a geographical area) received from one or more other communication devices via at least one wireless reception unit 1004 under the control of the at least one control unit 1006. As shown in FIG. 10, the at least one transmission signal generation unit 1008 and the at least one reception signal processing unit 1010 may be stand-alone modules of the communication device 1000 that communicate with at least one control unit 1006 for the above-described functions. Alternatively, the at least one transmission signal generation unit 1008 and the at least one reception signal processing unit 1010 may be included in the at least one control unit 1006. It is apparent to those skilled in the art that the arrangement of these functional modules is flexible and may vary according to actual needs and / or requirements. Data processing, virtual memory, and other related control devices can be provided on a suitable circuit board and / or within a chipset. In various embodiments, during operation, the at least one wireless transmission unit 1002, the at least one wireless reception unit 1004, and the at least one antenna 1012 may be controlled by at least one control unit 1006.

[0067] The communication device 1000 provides functions necessary for LTE and NR SL co-channel coexistence during operation. For example, the communication device 1000 may be a UE, and the circuit 1014 may select a category from a plurality of categories during operation. The plurality of categories include a first category regarding a plurality of resources only for LTE side link, including LTE (Long Term Evolution) side link data and / or LTE side link control information (SCI), a second category regarding a plurality of resources only for NR side link, including NR (New Radio) side link data and / or NR SCI, and a third category regarding a plurality of shared resources shared by LTE side link and NR side link. The wireless transmission unit 1002 may transmit side link data and / or SCI based on the selected category during operation, the side link data is LTE side link data or NR side link data, and the side link SCI is LTE SCI or NR SCI.

[0068] Multiple resources for LTE sidelink only, multiple resources for NR sidelink only, and multiple shared resources shared by both LTE sidelink and NR sidelink may be indicated by physical layer or upper layer signaling or defined in the technical specification. The communication device may be a UE supporting only LTE, and circuit 1014 may be further configured to select the first category or the third category. The communication device 1000 may be a UE supporting only NR, and circuit 1014 may be further configured to select the second category or the third category. The communication device 1000 may support both LTE and NR sidelinks without having the capabilities of the third category, and circuit 1014 may be further configured to select the first category or the second category based on settings, pre-settings, or specified operations. The communication device 1000 may have the functions of the third category and support both LTE and NR sidelinks, and circuit 1014 may be further configured to select the first category, the second category, or the third category based on settings, pre-settings, or specified operations. The wireless transmission unit 1002 may be further configured to transmit the NR sidelink, and the LTE SCI includes a notification to notify the LTE UE to skip the resources used by the NR sidelink in the multiple shared resources, and is transmitted before or during the transmission of the NR sidelink.

[0069] Different radio resources are allocated to multiple resources for LTE sidelink only, multiple resources for NR sidelink only, and multiple shared resources shared by LTE sidelink and NR sidelink, and the wireless transmission unit 1002 is further configured to use the radio resources allocated to the selected category to transmit sidelink data and / or sidelink SCI. The wireless transmission unit 1002 is further configured to skip the transmission opportunity of sidelink data and / or sidelink SCI based on a reservation or an instruction.

[0070] The communication device 1000 is a UE capable of simultaneous Rx (reception). During operation, based on the priority values of the LTE Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH) and the NR PSCCH, or based on other sidelink control information, sidelink channel state information (SL-CSI), or SL measurement reports on the PSCCH or the Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH), it further includes a receiving unit that simultaneously receives the LTE PSCCH and the NR PSCCH. The LTE PSCCH and the NR PSCCH may be multiplexed in the frequency domain (FDM) in the same slot, or may overlap with each other by code or spatial separation.

[0071] The circuit 1014 may be further configured to prioritize one of LTE sidelink transmission (Tx), LTE sidelink reception (Rx), NR sidelink Tx, and NR sidelink Rx, or a UE type with only Tx, a UE type with only Rx, and packets of a roadside unit (RSU), or a combination thereof. When the NR Physical Sidelink Feedback Channel (PSFCH) is also transmitted in the same slot, the wireless transmission unit 1002 is further configured to transmit an LTE sidelink including the LTE PSCCH and / or the LTE Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH) within the slot with a shortened symbol length. The NR PSFCH may be transmitted in the last two or three symbols of the slot, and the LTE PSSCH may be transmitted in a part of the symbols other than the last two or three symbols in the slot.

[0072] The wireless transmission unit 1002 may be further configured to simultaneously transmit the LTE sidelink and the NR sidelink when the sum of the default powers of the LTE sidelink and the NR sidelink is lower than the maximum possible output power (Pcmax) set for the communication device 1000. When the sum of the default powers of the LTE sidelink and the NR sidelink is higher than the Pcmax of the communication device 1000, the wireless transmission unit 1002 may transmit the data and / or SCI of the LTE sidelink and the NR sidelink based on the value of the priority associated with the LTE sidelink and the value of the other priority associated with the NR sidelink. The wireless transmission unit 1002 may be further configured to transmit the LTE sidelink or the NR sidelink including high-priority packets at the default power, and transmit each of the NR sidelink or the LTE sidelink including low-priority packets at the remaining power. The wireless transmission unit 1002 may be further configured to transmit the LTE sidelink or the NR sidelink including high-priority packets at a higher weighted power, and transmit each of the NR sidelink or the LTE sidelink including low-priority packets at a lower weighted power.

[0073] (Control signal) In the present disclosure, the downlink control signal (information) according to the present disclosure may be a signal (information) transmitted via the PDCCH of the physical layer, or may be a signal (information) transmitted via the MAC Control Element (CE) of the upper layer or the RRC. The downlink control signal may be a predefined signal (information).

[0074] The uplink control signal (information) according to the present disclosure may be a signal (information) transmitted via the PUCCH of the physical layer, or may be a signal (information) transmitted via the MAC CE of the upper layer or RRC. Also, the uplink control signal may be a pre-defined signal (information). The uplink control signal may be uplink control information (UCI), first-stage sidelink control information (SCI), or second-stage SCI.

[0075] (Base station) In the present disclosure, the base station may be, for example, a transmission reception point (TRP), a cluster head, an access point, a remote radio head (RRH), an eNodeB (eNB), a gNodeB (gNB), a base station (BS), a base transceiver station (BTS), a base unit, or a gateway. Also, in sidelink communication, a terminal may be used instead of the base station. The base station may be a relay device that relays communication between the upper node and the terminal. The base station may be a roadside unit.

[0076] (Uplink / Downlink / Sidelink) The present disclosure may be applied to any of uplink, downlink, and sidelink.

[0077] The present disclosure can be applied to uplink channels such as PUSCH, PUCCH, and PRACH, downlink channels such as PDSCH, PDCCH, and PBCH, and sidelink channels such as Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH), Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH), and Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH).

[0078] PDCCH, PDSCH, PUSCH, and PUCCH are examples of a downlink control channel, a downlink data channel, an uplink data channel, and an uplink control channel, respectively. PSCCH and PSSCH are examples of a sidelink control channel and a sidelink data channel, respectively. PBCH and PSBCH are examples of a broadcast channel, respectively, and PRACH is an example of a random access channel.

[0079] (Data Channel / Control Channel) The present disclosure may be applied to either a data channel or a control channel. The channel in the present disclosure may be replaced with a data channel including PDSCH, PUSCH, and PSSCH, and / or a control channel including PDCCH, PUCCH, PBCH, PSCCH, and PSBCH.

[0080] (Reference Signal) In the present disclosure, a reference signal is a signal known to both a base station and a mobile station, and each reference signal may be referred to as a reference signal (RS) or a pilot signal. The reference signal may be any one of a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS), a tracking reference signal (TRS), a phase tracking reference signal (PTRS), a cell-specific reference signal (CRS), and a sounding reference signal (SRS).

[0081] (Time interval) In the present disclosure, the time resource unit is not limited to one or a combination of a slot and a symbol, and may be a time resource unit such as a frame, a superframe, a subframe, a slot, a sub-slot of a time slot, a mini-slot, or a symbol, an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol, a single carrier-frequency division multiplexing access (SC-FDMA) symbol, or other time resource units. The number of symbols included in one slot is not limited to the number of symbols exemplified in the above-described embodiments, and may be other numbers of symbols.

[0082] (Frequency band) The present disclosure may be applied to either a licensed band or an unlicensed band.

[0083] (Communication) The present disclosure may be applied to any of communication between a base station and a terminal (Uu link communication), communication between terminals (side link communication), and V2X (Vehicle to Everything) communication. The channels in the present disclosure may also be referred to as PSCCH, PSSCH, physical side link feedback channel (PSFCH), PSBCH, PDCCH, PUCCH, PDSCH, PUSCH, and PBCH.

[0084] In addition, the present disclosure can be applied to either a terrestrial network or a network other than a terrestrial network (NTN: Non-Terrestrial Network) using a satellite or a high altitude pseudo satellite (HAPS: High Altitude Pseudo Satellite). Further, the present disclosure can also be applied to a network with a large cell size or a terrestrial network with a large delay compared to the symbol length or slot length, such as an ultra-wideband transmission network.

[0085] (Antenna port) An antenna port refers to a logical antenna (antenna group) formed from one or more physical antennas. That is, an antenna port does not necessarily refer to a single physical antenna, and may refer to an array antenna composed of a plurality of antennas or the like. For example, the number of physical antennas constituting an antenna port is not defined. Instead, an antenna port is defined as the minimum unit that permits a terminal to transmit a reference signal. An antenna port can also be defined as the minimum unit for multiplication of precoding vector weighting.

[0086] As described above, embodiments of the present disclosure provide an advanced communication system, communication method, and communication device that advantageously realize coexistence of LTE and NR SL same channels.

[0087] The present disclosure can be implemented by software, hardware, or software in cooperation with hardware. Each functional block used in the description of the above embodiments is realized, partially or wholly, as an LSI which is an integrated circuit, and each process described in the above embodiments can be controlled, partially or wholly, by one LSI or a combination of LSIs. The LSI can be configured from individual chips, and can be configured from one chip so as to include part or all of the functional blocks. The LSI may be provided with input and output of data. Depending on the degree of integration, the LSI may also be referred to as an IC, a system LSI, a super LSI, or an ultra LSI. The technique of integrating into an integrated circuit is not limited to LSI, and may be realized by a dedicated circuit, a general-purpose processor, or a dedicated processor. Further, after manufacturing the LSI, an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) which can be programmed, or a reconfigurable processor which can reconfigure the connection and setting of circuit cells inside the LSI may be used. The present disclosure can be realized as digital processing or analog processing. Furthermore, if an integrated circuit technology that replaces the LSI appears due to the progress of semiconductor technology or another derived technology, naturally, the integration of functional blocks may be performed using that technology. The application of biotechnology or the like may be possible.

[0088] The present disclosure can be implemented in any type of apparatus, device, system having a communication function (collectively referred to as a communication apparatus).

[0089] Non-limiting examples of communication devices include telephones (such as mobile phones, smartphones, etc.), tablets, personal computers (PCs) (such as laptops, desktops, notebooks, etc.), cameras (such as digital still / video cameras, etc.), digital players (such as digital audio / video players, etc.), wearable devices (such as wearable cameras, smartwatches, tracking devices, etc.), game consoles, digital book readers, telehealth / telemedicine (remote healthcare / medical prescription) devices, vehicles or mobile transportation means with communication functions (such as automobiles, airplanes, ships, etc.), and combinations of the various devices described above.

[0090] The communication device is not limited to portable or mobile ones, and includes all kinds of devices, devices, systems that are not portable or fixed, for example, smart home devices (such as household appliances, lighting devices, smart meters or measuring devices, control panels, etc.), vending machines, and all other "Things" that may exist on the IoT (Internet of Things) network.

[0091] Communication includes data communication by cellular systems, wireless LAN systems, communication satellite systems, etc., as well as data communication by combinations of these.

[0092] In addition, the communication device also includes devices such as control units and sensors that are connected or linked to a communication device that executes the communication function described in the present disclosure. For example, it includes control units and sensors that generate control signals and data signals used by the communication device that executes the communication function of the communication device.

[0093] In addition, the communication device also includes infrastructure facilities, such as base stations, access points, and all other devices, devices, systems that communicate with the various non-limiting devices described above or control these various devices.

[0094] Although some features of various embodiments have been described with reference to the device, it will be understood that the corresponding features apply also to the methods of the various embodiments, and vice versa.

[0095] Those skilled in the art will understand that numerous variations and / or modifications may be made to the present disclosure without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosure as broadly described, as shown in the particular embodiments. Accordingly, the embodiments are to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.

Claims

1. a circuit for determining New Radio (NR) sidelink resources to be shared by Long Term Evolution (LTE) sidelink resources; a transmitter configured to transmit using the shared sidelink resources; A communication device comprising:

2. The plurality of shared resources are indicated by physical layer or higher layer signaling or defined in a technical specification. The communication device according to claim 1 .

3. Each of the NR sidelink resources and the LTE sidelink resources is indicated by higher layer signaling. The communication device according to claim 1 .

4. the circuitry determines the shared sidelink resources based on a configuration, a preconfiguration, or a specified operation. The communication device according to claim 1 .

5. the transmitter unit is further configured to skip transmission opportunities for the shared sidelink resources based on a reservation or an instruction. The communication device according to claim 1 .

6. The circuitry is further configured to determine the NR sidelink resource based on a priority value associated with the LTE sidelink resource. The communication device according to claim 1 .

7. The circuit prioritizes a priority value associated with the NR side link resource over a priority value associated with the LTE side link resource. The communication device according to claim 1 .

8. the transmitter transmits the LTE side link based on a priority associated with the LTE side link resource. The communication device according to claim 1 .

9. determining New Radio (NR) sidelink resources to be shared by Long Term Evolution (LTE) sidelink resources; transmitting using the shared sidelink resources; Communication method.

10. determining a plurality of shared resources shared by a Long Term Evolution (LTE) sidelink and a New Radio (NR) sidelink; transmitting at least one of sidelink data and sidelink control information (SCI) using the plurality of shared resources. An integrated circuit comprising a circuit.

11. a control circuit for determining a plurality of shared resources to be shared by a Long Term Evolution (LTE) sidelink and a New Radio (NR) sidelink; a transmitting circuit configured to transmit at least one of sidelink data and sidelink control information (SCI) using the plurality of shared resources; and 1. An integrated circuit comprising:

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