COMMUNICATIONS METHOD, APPARATUS AND COMPUTER READABLE MEDIUM

Abstract

The embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a method, apparatus, and computer-readable medium for communication. The method includes, at a first terminal device, determining at least one subchannel based on a size of data to be transmitted, each of the at least one subchannel including at least one frequency interlace. The method further includes transmitting, to a second terminal device, the data and control information associated with the data on the at least one subchannel via a sidelink between the first terminal device and the second terminal device.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] FIELD Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to the field of telecommunications, and more particularly to a method, apparatus, and computer-readable medium for sidelink communications. [Background technology]

[0002] Sidelink in unlicensed spectrum or band (SL-U) is a major topic of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Release 18. SL-U may be based on New Radio (NR) sidelink and NR-U. In NR sidelink, a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) structure with contiguous physical resource blocks (PRBs) is adopted. However, considering the occupied channel bandwidth (OCB) requirements in SL-U, the structure for NR sidelink cannot work in SL-U. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0003] Generally, the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure provide a communication method, apparatus, and computer-readable medium. [Means for solving the problem]

[0004] In a first aspect, a method of communication is provided, the method including: determining, in a first terminal device, at least one subchannel, each subchannel including at least one frequency interlace, based on a size of data to be transmitted; and transmitting, to a second terminal device, the data and control information associated with the data on the at least one subchannel via a sidelink between the first terminal device and the second terminal device.

[0005] In a second aspect, a method of communication is provided, the method including: receiving, at a second terminal device, from a first terminal device, control information associated with data on at least one subchannel via a sidelink between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, and receiving the data from the first terminal device on the at least one subchannel in response to successful decoding of the control information on one of the at least one subchannel.

[0006] In a third aspect, there is provided a method performed by a network device, the method including: determining a configuration for resources in a shared radio frequency band for sidelink communication between a first terminal device and a second terminal device, the resources including at least one subchannel, each subchannel including at least one frequency interlace, and transmitting the configuration to the first terminal device.

[0007] In a fourth aspect, a method is provided that is performed by a first terminal device, the method including: receiving from a network device a configuration for resources in a shared radio frequency band for sidelink communication between a first terminal device and a second terminal device, the resources including at least one subchannel, each subchannel including at least one frequency interlace, and performing, with the second terminal device, the sidelink communication utilizing the resources.

[0008] In a fifth aspect there is provided a terminal device comprising a processor and a memory storing instructions, the memory and the instructions configured to cause the terminal device, using the processor, to perform a method according to the first aspect.

[0009] In a sixth aspect there is provided a terminal device comprising a processor and a memory storing instructions, the memory and the instructions being configured to cause the terminal device, using the processor, to perform a method according to the second aspect.

[0010] In a seventh aspect there is provided a network device comprising a processor and a memory storing instructions, the memory and the instructions configured to, using the processor, cause the network device to perform a method according to the third aspect.

[0011] In an eighth aspect there is provided a terminal device comprising a processor and a memory storing instructions, the memory and the instructions being configured to cause the terminal device, using the processor, to perform a method according to the fourth aspect.

[0012] In a ninth aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions which, when executed on at least one processor of an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform a method according to the first aspect.

[0013] In a tenth aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions which, when executed on at least one processor of an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform a method according to the second aspect.

[0014] In an eleventh aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions which, when executed on at least one processor of an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform a method according to the third aspect.

[0015] In a twelfth aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions which, when executed on at least one processor of an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform a method according to the fourth aspect.

[0016] It should be understood that this summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of the embodiments of the present disclosure, nor to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will be readily apparent from the following description. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0017] The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent from the following detailed description of several embodiments of the present disclosure in the accompanying drawings.

[0018] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary communications network in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 is an example signaling diagram illustrating an example process for sidelink transmission in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 3A] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of interlacing in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 3B] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a sub-channel in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 3C] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a sub-channel in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 4A] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a sub-channel in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 4B] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a sub-channel in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 4C] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a sub-channel in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 5A] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a sub-channel in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 5B]FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a sub-channel in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 5C] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a sub-channel in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 5D] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a sub-channel in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 5E] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a sub-channel in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 5F] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a sub-channel in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 5G] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a sub-channel in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 6A] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a sub-channel in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 6B] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a sub-channel in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 6C] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a sub-channel in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 6D] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a sub-channel in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 6E] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a sub-channel in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 6F] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a sub-channel in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 6G] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a sub-channel in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 7] 1 is a flowchart of an exemplary method according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 8] 11 is a flowchart of an exemplary method according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 9] 1 is a flowchart of an exemplary method according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 10] 4 is a flowchart of an exemplary method according to some alternative embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 11] 1 is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure, in which the same or similar reference numbers represent the same or similar elements. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0019] The principles of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some exemplary embodiments. It should be understood that these embodiments are provided for illustrative purposes only, to assist those skilled in the art in understanding and implementing the present disclosure, and do not imply any limitations on the scope of the present disclosure. The disclosure described herein can be implemented in various ways different from those described below.

[0020] In the following description and claims, unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure pertains.

[0021] As used herein, the term "terminal device" refers to any device having wireless or wired communication capabilities. Examples of terminal devices include, but are not limited to, user equipment (UE), personal computers, desktop computers, mobile phones, cellular phones, smartphones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), portable computers, tablets, wearable devices, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, any Internet of Things (IoE) devices, machine type communication (MTC) devices, in-vehicle devices for V2X communication, etc., where the "X" in V2X represents a pedestrian, vehicle, or infrastructure / network, or an image capture device such as a digital camera, a gaming device, a music storage and playback device, or an Internet appliance that allows wireless or wired Internet access and browsing, etc.

[0022] As used herein, the term "network equipment" or "base station" (BS) refers to equipment capable of providing or hosting a cell or coverage over which terminal equipment can communicate. Examples of network equipment include, but are not limited to, a Node B (NodeB or NB), an evolved Node B (eNodeB or eNB), a next generation Node B (gNB), a transmit / receive point (TRP), a remote radio unit (RRU), a radio head (RH), a remote radio head (RRH), a femto node, a pico node, or other low power node.

[0023] As used herein, the term "subchannel" refers to a frequency resource unit for resource selection, scheduling, and sensing. A subchannel includes at least one frequency interlace. It should be understood that the frequency resource unit including the at least one frequency interlace may be referred to by other names. The scope of the present disclosure is not so limited.

[0024] As used herein, the singular forms "a," "an," and "said" include the plural forms unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The term "comprises" and variations thereof should be understood as open-ended terms meaning "including, but not limited to." The term "based on" should be understood as "based at least in part on." The terms "some embodiments" and "embodiments" should be understood as "at least some embodiments." The term "another embodiment" should be understood as "at least one other embodiment." Terms such as "first," "second," and the like may refer to different or the same object. The following may include other explicit and implicit definitions.

[0025] In some instances, values, procedures, or devices are referred to as "best," "lowest," "highest," "minimum," "maximum," etc. It should be understood that such descriptions are intended to illustrate that selections can be made from among many functional alternatives used, and that such selections are not necessarily better, smaller, higher, or otherwise more preferred than other selections.

[0026] As mentioned above, SL-U may be based on NR sidelink and NR-U. In NR-U, for interlaced transmission of at least the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) and the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), the following PRB-based interlace designs are supported for a carrier bandwidth of 20 MHz: For a sub-carrier space (SCS) of 15 kHz, there may be 10 interlaces with 10 or 11 PRBs in each interlace; For a SCS of 30 kHz, there may be 5 interlaces with 10 or 11 PRBs in each interlace.

[0027] The following is agreed regarding interlace indication for PUSCH for 15 kHz SCS: X=6 bits are supported to indicate the starting interlace index and the number of consecutive interlace indices using the Resource Indication Value (RIV), and to indicate specific predefined interlace combinations using up to 9 remaining RIV values.

[0028] Specifically, RIV values ​​from 0 to 54 indicate the starting interlace index and the number of consecutive interlace indices, and RIV values ​​from 55 to 63 indicate interlace combinations as shown in Table 1. TIFF0007652333000001.tif57162

[0029] For interlaced PUSCH transmission in the bandwidth part (BWP), the Y bits of the frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) field indicate which set of RBs (corresponding to the Listen Before Talk (LBT) bandwidth) is allocated to the terminal device.

[0030] The terminal device is ○ The assigned interlace (indicated by X bits in the FDRA field), and ○ available PRBs derived from at least the assigned RB set (indicated by the Y bits of the FDRA field) and intra-carrier guard bands between the RB sets corresponding to consecutive LBT bandwidths; may be used to determine the overall PUSCH frequency domain resource allocation.

[0031] It should be noted that the RB set includes the PRBs within the LBT bandwidth and does not include the inter-carrier or intra-carrier guards.

[0032] Y is determined by the number of RB sets included in the BWP. The Y bits indicate the first RB set and the number of RB sets corresponding to the continuous LBT bandwidth.

[0033] Therefore, the maximum possible value of Y is Note that the size of the BWP is 1443, where N is the number of RB sets contained in the BWP.

[0034] In the NR sidelink, the terminal device may perform the following procedure to transmit the PSCCH: For a PSCCH transmission with SCI format 1-A, the sl-TimeResourcePSCCH provides the terminal device with a number of symbols in the resource pool starting from the second symbol available for SL transmission in a slot, and the sl-FreqResourcePSCCH provides the terminal device with a number of PRBs in the resource pool starting from the lowest PRB of the lowest subchannel of the associated PSSCH.

[0035] In view of the above, and taking into account the OCB requirements in SL-U, a PSCCH structure with contiguous PRBs for the NR sidelink cannot work in SL-U.

[0036] To solve the above problem and one or more other potential problems, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a solution for sidelink transmission. According to this solution, a first terminal device determines at least one subchannel based on a size of data to be transmitted. Each of the at least one subchannel includes at least one frequency interlace. Then, the first terminal device transmits the data and control information associated with the data on the at least one subchannel to a second terminal device via a sidelink between the first terminal device and the second terminal device. This solution can facilitate blind decoding of sidelink signals in unlicensed bands. Furthermore, this solution can solve the problem of resource shortage for PSCCH or PSSCH.

[0037] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary communication network 100 in which embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented. As shown in FIG. 1, the communication network 100 may include a first terminal device 110 and a second terminal device 120. It should be understood that the communication network 100 may further include a network device (not shown). The network device is capable of communicating with the first terminal device 110 and the second terminal device 120 via respective wireless communication channels. It should be understood that the number of devices in FIG. 1 is given for illustrative purposes and does not imply any limitation to the present disclosure. The communication network 100 may include any suitable number of network devices and / or terminal devices suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0038] 1, a first terminal device 110 and a second terminal device 120 are illustrated as vehicles enabling V2X communication. It should be understood that the embodiments of the present disclosure are also applicable to terminal devices other than vehicles, such as mobile phones, sensors, head-mounted devices, XR devices, VR devices, and the like.

[0039] The first terminal device 110 determines at least one subchannel based on a size of data to be transmitted, each of the at least one subchannel including at least one frequency interlace. The first terminal device 110 then transmits the data and control information associated with the data to the second terminal device 120 on the at least one subchannel via a sidelink between the first terminal device 110 and the second terminal device 120.

[0040] Communications in communication network 100 may conform to any suitable standard, including, but not limited to, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Evolution, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), GSM EDGE Radio Access Network (GERAN), Machine Type Communication (MTC), etc. Additionally, communications may be performed according to any generation of communication protocols now known or developed in the future. Examples of communication protocols include, but are not limited to, first generation (1G), second generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G), 4.5G, fifth generation (5G), the fifth generation advanced (5G-A), and sixth generation (6G) communication protocols.

[0041] 2 is an example signaling diagram illustrating an example process 200 for resource selection, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 2, process 200 may involve a first terminal device 110 and a second terminal device 120, as shown in FIG. 1. It should be understood that process 200 may include additional operations not shown and / or omit some operations shown, and the scope of the disclosure is not limited in this respect. Furthermore, although presented herein as being primarily performed sequentially, it should be understood that at least some of the operations of process 200 may be performed simultaneously or in a different order than presented in FIG. 2.

[0042] 2, the first terminal device 110 determines at least one subchannel based on the size of the data to be transmitted (210). Each of the at least one subchannel includes at least one frequency interlace. Hereinafter, for the sake of explanation, a "frequency interlace" may be referred to as an "interlace."

[0043] Next, the first terminal device 110 transmits the data and control information associated with the data to the second terminal device 120 on the at least one subchannel via a sidelink between the first terminal device 110 and the second terminal device 120 (220).

[0044] In some embodiments, first terminal 110 may transmit data to second terminal 120 on the PSSCH.

[0045] In some embodiments, first terminal device 110 may transmit control information associated with the data on the PSCCH to second terminal device 120.

[0046] Thus, the second terminal device 120 receives control information associated with the data from the first terminal device 110 via a sidelink between the first terminal device 110 and the second terminal device 120 on at least one subchannel.

[0047] Second terminal device 120 then decodes the control information on one of the at least one subchannel (230). If second terminal device 120 successfully decodes the control information on one of the at least one subchannel, second terminal device 120 may determine that the data on the at least one subchannel is intended for second terminal device 120. Second terminal device 120 receives the data based on the control information on the at least one subchannel.

[0048] In some embodiments, the number of the at least one interleaving within each of the at least one subchannel may be set or preset. For example, in the first terminal device 110 and the second terminal device 120, the number of the at least one interleaving (represented by N) may be set by a radio resource control (RRC) parameter sl-u-SubchannelSize.

[0049] In other embodiments, the number of the at least one interleaving within each of the at least one subchannel may be determined based on the size of the resource in the frequency domain for transmitting control information. For example, in the first terminal device 110 and the second terminal device 120, the resource size in the frequency domain for transmitting control information may be set by an RRC parameter sl-u-Pscch. N may be the minimum number of interleavings including a total number of PRBs more than sl-u-Pscch. For example, if sl-u-Pscch ≦ 10, then N = 1; if 10 < sl-u-Pscch ≦ 20, then N = 2; if 20 < sl-u-Pscch ≦ 30, then N = 3, and so on.

[0050] In some embodiments, each of the at least one subchannel may include a plurality of consecutive interleavings. The plurality of consecutive interleavings may start from a start interleaving.

[0051] In other embodiments, each of the at least one subchannel may include a plurality of non - consecutive interleavings, and the gap between the at least one interleaving may be set or preset. For example, in the first terminal device 110 and the second terminal device 120, the gap may be set by an RRC parameter sl-u-SubchannelsGap.

[0052] In some embodiments, each of the at least one subchannel includes the at least one frequency interlace within a single Resource Block (RB) set, as described with reference to Figures 3A, 3B and 3C.

[0053] 3A is a diagram illustrating an example of an interlace according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 3A, an RB set 310 includes multiple RB clusters. Each of the clusters includes multiple equally spaced RBs. An interlace includes RBs from the clusters. The number of clusters or interlaces may depend on the amount of frequency distribution required to maintain a constant BW occupancy.

[0054] In an example, the RB set 310 may have a bandwidth of about 20 MHz, and each subcarrier may span a frequency of about 15 kHz. In such an example, the bandwidth of the LBT is also 20 MHz.

[0055] In such an example, the RB set 310 may include 10 RB clusters, namely 312-0, 312-1, ..., 312-9. Each of the clusters may include 10 or 11 RBs. Each of the interlaces may include 10 or 11 RBs.

[0056] It should be appreciated that the starting interlace index within an interlace may be defined in any suitable manner. For example, the starting interlace index may be 0 as used in Figures 3A-3C and 4A-4C. Alternatively, the starting interlace index may be 1 as used in Figures 5A-5G and 6A-6G.

[0057] 3A, interlace 314 with index 0 (also referred to as interlace #0 314) includes RBs 318-0, 318-1, ..., 318-9 from clusters 312-0, 312-1, ..., 312-9, respectively. Interlace 316 with index 1 (also referred to as interlace #1 316) includes RBs 320-0, 320-1, ..., 320-9 from clusters 312-0, 312-1, ..., 312-9, respectively.

[0058] In another example, the RB set 310 may have a bandwidth of about 20 MHz, and each subcarrier may span a frequency of about 30 kHz. In such an example, the RB set 310 may include about five RB clusters (not shown). Each of the clusters may include 10 or 11 RBs.

[0059] 3B is a diagram illustrating an example of a sub-channel according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. In the example of FIG. 3B, each of the at least one sub-channel may include multiple consecutive interlaces. The multiple consecutive interlaces may start from a starting interlace.

[0060] As shown in FIG. 3B, the RB set 310 may have a bandwidth of about 20 MHz, and each subcarrier may span a frequency of about 15 kHz. In such an example, the bandwidth of the LBT is also 20 MHz. The RB set 310 includes 10 RB clusters, namely 312-0, 312-1, 312-2, 312-3, ..., 312-9. Each of the clusters may include 10 or 11 RBs. Each of the interlaces may include 10 or 11 RBs. Each of the subchannels includes three consecutive interlaces (also referred to as interlaces #0, #1, #2) with indexes 0, 1, 2.

[0061] 3C is a diagram illustrating an example of a sub-channel according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure, in which each of the at least one sub-channel may include a plurality of non-contiguous interlaces.

[0062] As shown in FIG. 3C, the RB set 310 may have a bandwidth of about 20 MHz, and each subcarrier may span a frequency of about 15 kHz. In such an example, the bandwidth of the LBT is also 20 MHz. The RB set 310 includes 10 RB clusters, namely 312-0, 312-1, 312-2, 312-3, ..., 312-9. Each of the clusters may include 10 or 11 RBs. Each of the interlaces may include 10 or 11 RBs. Each of the subchannels includes three non-contiguous interlaces (also referred to as interlaces #1, #4, #7) with indexes 1, 4, 7. The gap between the three non-contiguous interlaces is 3.

[0063] In some embodiments, each of the at least one subchannel may include at least one interlace in an RB set bundle. The RB set bundle includes multiple RB sets. The number of multiple RB sets in the RB set bundle may be configured or preconfigured, as described with reference to Figures 4A, 4B, and 4C.

[0064] 4A, 4B, and 4C are diagrams illustrating examples of subchannels according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. In the examples of FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 4C, the RB set bundle includes RB sets 410 and 420. Each of the RB sets 410 and 420 may have a bandwidth of about 20 MHz, and each subcarrier may span a frequency of about 15 kHz. In such an example, the bandwidth of the LBT is also 20 MHz. The RB set 410 includes 10 RB clusters, namely 412-0, 412-1, ..., 412-9. The RB set 420 includes 10 RB clusters, namely 422-0, 422-1, ..., 422-9. Each of the clusters may include 10 or 11 RBs. Each of the interlaces may include 10 or 11 RBs.

[0065] In the example of Figure 4A, a subchannel includes three consecutive interlaces (also referred to as interlaces #0, #1, #2) with indexes 0, 1, 2. Another subchannel with index 1 includes three consecutive interlaces (also referred to as interlaces #3, #4, #5) with indexes 3, 4, 5.

[0066] 4B, the subchannel includes three non-contiguous interlaces with indexes 1, 4, and 7 (also referred to as interlaces #1, #4, and #7) within each of RB sets 410 and 420. The gap between the three non-contiguous interlaces is 3.

[0067] In the example of FIG. 4B, the first terminal device 110 or the second terminal device 120 may determine a subchannel that includes a first set of interlaces in RB set 410 and a second set of interlaces in an RB set 420 bundle that duplicates the first set of interlaces in the second RB set.

[0068] In the example of FIG. 4C, the subchannels include discontinuous interlaces with indices 1, 4, 7 in RB set 410 (also referred to as interlaces #1, #4, #7) and discontinuous interlaces with indices 0, 3, 6, 9 in RB set 420 (also referred to as interlaces #0, #3, #6, #9).

[0069] In the example of FIG. 4C, first terminal device 110 or second terminal device 120 may determine a subchannel including interlaces #1, #4, #7, #0, #3, #6, and #9 consecutively across RB sets 410 and 420.

[0070] In an embodiment in which each of the at least one subchannel includes the at least one frequency interlace within a single RB set, after a successful LBT process, the first terminal device 110 may determine that one or more contiguous or non-contiguous RB sets are available for sidelink transmission. The first terminal device 110 may determine the at least one subchannel and RB set for transmitting data and associated control information as follows:

[0071] First terminal device 110 may determine the number of the at least one subchannel based on a size of data to be transmitted. The number of the at least one subchannel may be represented by L. First terminal device 110 may determine a first number of contiguous RB sets available for transmitting data and control information. The first number may be represented by R.

[0072] The first terminal device 110 may select L / R subchannels in each of the R consecutive RB sets to reduce signaling overhead. The R RB sets may start from the lowest available RB set, and the indices of the selected subchannels in each RB set may be the same.

[0073] The first terminal device 110 may ensure that the ratio of the number of the at least one subchannel (L) to the first number R (also referred to as the second number) is a positive integer. Otherwise, the first terminal device 110 may select L subchannels in a single RB set. In other words, if L / R is not equal to a positive integer, then R=1.

[0074] In some embodiments, first terminal device 110 may indicate the first number and the second number to second terminal device 120 via control information.

[0075] In some embodiments, the first terminal device 110 may transmit the control information in at least one RB including at least a starting RB in a starting subchannel in a starting RB set in the first number of consecutive RB sets. In other words, the first terminal device 110 may transmit the control information in the lowest M PRBs of the lowest subchannel in the lowest RB set of the associated data and C symbols from the start of the SL-U slot, where M and C are positive integers. In some embodiments, M must be smaller than the size of one subchannel.

[0076] To receive the control information, second terminal device 120 may blindly decode the control information in the lowest M RBs in each of the subchannels of each RB set.

[0077] For reception of data on the L subchannels, second terminal device 120 may determine, from the decoded control information, R RB sets and L / R subchannels in each RB set.

[0078] 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D, 5E, 5F, and 5G are diagrams illustrating example sub-channels according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0079] 5A, based on the size of the data to be transmitted, first terminal device 110 determines that the number (L) of the at least one subchannel is equal to 4. First terminal device 110 may determine two contiguous RB sets 510 and 520 available for transmitting data and control information. Each of RB sets 510 and 520 may have a bandwidth of about 20 MHz.

[0080] The first terminal device 110 may select two subchannels within each of the two consecutive RB sets 510 and 520. As shown in FIG. 5A, the first terminal device 110 may select subchannel #1 within each of the RB sets 510 and 520 and subchannel #2 within each of the RB sets 510 and 520. Subchannel #1 includes interlaces #1 and #2 within each of the RB sets 510 and 520. Subchannel #2 includes interlaces #3 and #4 within each of the RB sets 510 and 520. The first terminal device 110 transmits control information within 10 RBs in subchannel #1 in the RB set 510.

[0081] 5B, based on the size of the data to be transmitted, first terminal device 110 determines that the number (L) of the at least one subchannel is equal to 2. First terminal device 110 may determine an available RB set 510 for transmitting data and control information.

[0082] The first terminal device 110 may select two subchannels within the RB set 510. As shown in FIG. 5B, the first terminal device 110 may select subchannels #1 and #2 within the RB set 510. Subchannel #1 includes interlace #1 within the RB set 510. Subchannel #2 includes interlace #2 within the RB set 510. The first terminal device 110 transmits control information in five RBs in subchannel #1 within the RB set 510.

[0083] 5C, based on the size of the data to be transmitted, first terminal device 110 determines that the number (L) of the at least one subchannel is equal to 1. First terminal device 110 may determine an available RB set 510 for transmitting data and control information.

[0084] The first terminal device 110 may select one subchannel within the RB set 510. As shown in FIG. 5C, the first terminal device 110 may select subchannel #1 within the RB set 510. Subchannel #1 includes interlaces #1 and #2 within the RB set 510. The first terminal device 110 transmits control information in five RBs within subchannel #1 in the RB set 510.

[0085] 5D, based on the size of the data to be transmitted, first terminal device 110 determines that the number (L) of the at least one subchannel is equal to 2. First terminal device 110 may determine an available RB set 510 for transmitting data and control information.

[0086] The first terminal device 110 may select two subchannels within the RB set 510. As shown in FIG. 5D, the first terminal device 110 may select subchannels #1 and #2 within the RB set 510. Subchannel #1 includes interlaces #1 and #2 within the RB set 510. Subchannel #2 includes interlaces #3 and #4 within the RB set 510. The first terminal device 110 transmits control information in 20 RBs in subchannel #1 within the RB set 510.

[0087] 5E, based on the size of the data to be transmitted, first terminal device 110 determines that the number (L) of the at least one subchannel is equal to 2. First terminal device 110 may determine two contiguous RB sets 510 and 520 available for transmitting data and control information.

[0088] The first terminal device 110 may select one subchannel in each of the two consecutive RB sets 510 and 520. As shown in FIG. 5E, the first terminal device 110 may select subchannel #1 in each of the RB sets 510 and 520. Subchannel #1 in the RB set 510 includes interlaces #1 and #2 in the RB set 510. Subchannel #1 in the RB set 520 includes interlaces #1 and #2 in the RB set 520. The first terminal device 110 transmits control information in 20 RBs in subchannel #1 in the RB set 510.

[0089] 5F, based on the size of the data to be transmitted, first terminal device 110 determines that the number (L) of the at least one subchannel is equal to 2. First terminal device 110 may determine an available RB set 510 for transmitting data and control information.

[0090] The first terminal device 110 may select two non-contiguous subchannels within the RB set 510. As shown in FIG. 5F, the first terminal device 110 may select subchannels #1 and #2 within the RB set 510. Subchannel #1 includes interlace #1 within the RB set 510. Subchannel #2 includes interlace #3 within the RB set 510. The first terminal device 110 transmits control information in 10 RBs in subchannel #1 within the RB set 510.

[0091] 5G, based on the size of the data to be transmitted, first terminal device 110 determines that the number (L) of the at least one subchannel is equal to 2. First terminal device 110 may determine two contiguous RB sets 510 and 520 available for transmitting data and control information.

[0092] The first terminal device 110 may select one subchannel in each of the two consecutive RB sets 510 and 520. As shown in FIG. 5G, the first terminal device 110 may select subchannel #1 in each of the RB sets 510 and 520. Subchannel #1 in the RB set 510 includes interlaces #1 and #3 in the RB set 510. Subchannel #1 in the RB set 520 includes interlaces #1 and #3 in the RB set 520. The first terminal device 110 transmits control information in 20 RBs in subchannel #1 in the RB set 510.

[0093] In an embodiment in which each of the at least one subchannel includes the at least one frequency interlace within an RB set bundle, after a successful LBT process, the first terminal device 110 may determine that one or more contiguous or non-contiguous RB set bundles are available for sidelink transmission. The first terminal device 110 may determine the at least one subchannel and RB set for transmitting data and associated control information as follows:

[0094] First terminal device 110 may determine the number of the at least one subchannel based on a size of data to be transmitted. The number of the at least one subchannel may be represented by L. First terminal device 110 may determine a third number of contiguous RB sets available for transmitting data and control information. The third number may be represented by R.

[0095] The first terminal device 110 may select L / R subchannels in each of the R consecutive RB set bundles to reduce signaling overhead. The R RB set bundles may start from the lowest available RB set bundle, and the index of the selected subchannels in each RB set bundle may be the same.

[0096] The first terminal device 110 may ensure that the ratio of the number of the at least one subchannel (L) to the third number R (also referred to as a fourth number) is a positive integer. Otherwise, the first terminal device 110 may select L subchannels in a single RB set bundle. In other words, if L / R is not equal to a positive integer, then R=1.

[0097] In some embodiments, first terminal device 110 may indicate the third number and the fourth number to second terminal device 120 via control information.

[0098] In some embodiments, the first terminal device 110 may transmit the control information in at least one RB in a starting subchannel in a starting RB set bundle in the third number of consecutive RB set bundles, including at least a starting RB in the starting subchannel. In other words, the first terminal device 110 may transmit the control information in the lowest M RBs of the lowest subchannel in the lowest RB set bundle of the associated data and C symbols from the start of the SL-U slot, where M and C are positive integers. In some embodiments, M may be less than the size of one subchannel.

[0099] To receive the control information, second terminal device 120 may blindly decode the control information in the lowest M RBs in each of the subchannels of each RB set bundle.

[0100] For reception of data on L subchannels, second terminal device 120 may determine, from the decoded control information, R RB set bundles and L / R subchannels in each RB set bundle.

[0101] 6A, 6B, 6C, 6D, 6E, 6F, and 6G are diagrams illustrating example sub-channels according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0102] 6A, based on the size of the data to be transmitted, first terminal device 110 determines that the number (L) of the at least one subchannel is equal to 2. First terminal device 110 may determine one RB set bundle 600 available for transmitting data and control information. RB set bundle 600 includes contiguous RB sets 610 and 620. Each of RB sets 610 and 620 may have a bandwidth of approximately 20 MHz.

[0103] The first terminal device 110 may select two subchannels within each of the two consecutive RB sets 610 and 620. As shown in FIG. 6A, the first terminal device 110 may select subchannel #1 within each of the RB sets 610 and 620 and subchannel #2 within each of the RB sets 610 and 620. Subchannel #1 includes interlaces #1 and #2 within each of the RB sets 610 and 620. Subchannel #2 includes interlaces #3 and #4 within each of the RB sets 610 and 620. The first terminal device 110 transmits control information within the 30 RBs in subchannel #1.

[0104] 6B, based on the size of the data to be transmitted, first terminal device 110 determines that the number (L) of the at least one subchannel is equal to 2. First terminal device 110 may determine one RB set bundle 600 available for transmitting data and control information. RB set bundle 600 includes contiguous RB sets 610 and 620. Each of RB sets 610 and 620 may have a bandwidth of approximately 20 MHz.

[0105] The first terminal device 110 may select two subchannels within each of the two consecutive RB sets 610 and 620. As shown in FIG. 6B, the first terminal device 110 may select subchannel #1 within each of the RB sets 610 and 620 and subchannel #2 within each of the RB sets 610 and 620. Subchannel #1 includes interlace #1 within each of the RB sets 610 and 620. Subchannel #2 includes interlace #2 within each of the RB sets 610 and 620. The first terminal device 110 transmits control information in the 15 RBs in subchannel #1.

[0106] 6C, based on the size of the data to be transmitted, first terminal device 110 determines that the number (L) of the at least one subchannel is equal to 1. First terminal device 110 may determine one RB set bundle 600 available for transmitting data and control information. RB set bundle 600 includes contiguous RB sets 610 and 620. Each of RB sets 610 and 620 may have a bandwidth of approximately 20 MHz.

[0107] The first terminal device 110 may select one subchannel within each of the two consecutive RB sets 610 and 620. As shown in FIG 6C, the first terminal device 110 may select subchannel #1 within each of the RB sets 610 and 620. Subchannel #1 includes interlaces #1 and #2 within each of the RB sets 610 and 620. The first terminal device 110 transmits control information within the 15 RBs in subchannel #1.

[0108] The example of Fig. 6D is similar to the example of Fig. 6A, however, the example of Fig. 6D differs from the example of Fig. 6A in that the first terminal device 110 transmits control information in 40 RBs in subchannel #1.

[0109] In the example of FIG. 6E, based on the size of the data to be transmitted, first terminal device 110 determines that the number (L) of the at least one subchannel is equal to two. First terminal device 110 may determine two contiguous RB set bundles 600 and 605 available for transmitting data and control information. RB set bundle 600 includes contiguous RB sets 610 and 620. RB set bundle 605 includes contiguous RB sets 615 and 625. Each of RB sets 610, 620, 615, and 625 may have a bandwidth of approximately 20 MHz.

[0110] The first terminal device 110 may select two subchannels in each of the two consecutive RB set bundles 600 and 605. As shown in FIG. 6E, the first terminal device 110 may select subchannel #1 in the RB set bundles 600 and 605. Subchannel #1 includes interlaces #1 and #2 in the RB set bundle 600 and interlaces #1 and #2 in the RB set bundle 605. The first terminal device 110 transmits control information in 40 RBs in subchannel #1 in the RB set bundle 600.

[0111] 6F, based on the size of the data to be transmitted, first terminal device 110 determines that the number (L) of the at least one subchannel is equal to 2. First terminal device 110 may determine one RB set bundle 600 available for transmitting data and control information. RB set bundle 600 includes contiguous RB sets 610 and 620. Each of RB sets 610 and 620 may have a bandwidth of approximately 20 MHz.

[0112] The first terminal device 110 may select two subchannels within each of the two consecutive RB sets 610 and 620. As shown in FIG. 6F, the first terminal device 110 may select subchannel #1 within each of the RB sets 610 and 620 and subchannel #2 within each of the RB sets 610 and 620. Subchannel #1 includes interlace #1 within each of the RB sets 610 and 620. Subchannel #2 includes interlace #3 within each of the RB sets 610 and 620. The first terminal device 110 transmits control information in the 20 RBs in subchannel #1.

[0113] In the example of FIG. 6G, based on the size of the data to be transmitted, first terminal device 110 determines that the number (L) of the at least one subchannel is equal to two. First terminal device 110 may determine two contiguous RB set bundles 600 and 605 available for transmitting data and control information. RB set bundle 600 includes contiguous RB sets 610 and 620. RB set bundle 605 includes contiguous RB sets 615 and 625. Each of RB sets 610, 620, 615, and 625 may have a bandwidth of approximately 20 MHz.

[0114] The first terminal device 110 may select two subchannels in each of the two consecutive RB set bundles 600 and 605. As shown in FIG. 6G, the first terminal device 110 may select subchannel #1 in the RB set bundles 600 and 605. Subchannel #1 includes interlaces #1 and #3 in the RB set bundle 600 and interlaces #1 and #3 in the RB set bundle 605. The first terminal device 110 transmits control information in 30 RBs in subchannel #1 in the RB set bundle 600.

[0115] In some embodiments, the first terminal device 110 may receive configuration information for the at least one subchannel from a network device or from an upper layer of the first terminal device 110. The first terminal device 110 may then determine the at least one frequency interlace within a single RB set or within an RB set bundle based on the configuration information. For example, the first terminal device 110 may receive the configuration information via an RRC parameter sl-u-subchannel.

[0116] In some embodiments, first terminal device 110 may determine the at least one frequency interlace within a single RB set or within an RB set bundle based on preconfigured information.

[0117] In some embodiments, the first terminal device 110 may further determine the at least one frequency interlace within a single RB set by default.

[0118] Alternatively, the first terminal device 110 may receive an indication of a channel occupation time (COT) from the fourth terminal device, and then the first terminal device 110 may determine the at least one frequency interlace within the RB set bundle based on the indication.

[0119] In some embodiments, if the first type LBT process (i.e., Type 1 LBT) is successful, the first terminal device 110 may determine the at least one frequency interlace within a single RB set. If the second type LBT process (i.e., Type 2-a LBT, Type 2-b LBT, or Type 2-c LBT) is successful, the first terminal device 110 may determine the at least one frequency interlace within an RB set bundle.

[0120] In some embodiments, a resource pool for sidelink transmission may include only one RB set, and the first terminal device 110 or the second terminal device 120 may select resources across multiple resource pools.

[0121] Alternatively, a resource pool for sidelink transmission may include multiple RB sets, and the first terminal device 110 or the second terminal device 120 may select resources across the multiple RB sets in only one resource pool.

[0122] 7 is a flowchart of an example method 700 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the method 700 may be implemented in a terminal device, such as the first terminal device 110 shown in FIG. 1. For illustrative purposes, and without loss of generality, the method 700 performed by the first terminal device 110 will be described with reference to FIG.

[0123] At block 710, first terminal 110 determines at least one subchannel based on a size of data to be transmitted, each of the at least one subchannel including at least one frequency interlace.

[0124] In block 720, the first terminal device 110 transmits the data and control information associated with the data to a second terminal device over the at least one subchannel via a sidelink between the first terminal device and the second terminal device.

[0125] In some embodiments, the number of the at least one frequency interlace is set or preset.

[0126] In some embodiments, the first terminal device 110 may further determine the number of the at least one frequency interlace based on a size of a resource in the frequency domain for transmitting control information.

[0127] In some embodiments, each of the at least one sub-channel may include multiple contiguous frequency interlaces.

[0128] In some embodiments, each of the at least one subchannel may include a plurality of non-contiguous frequency interlaces, and a gap between the at least one frequency interlace is configured or preset.

[0129] In some embodiments, each of the at least one subchannel includes the at least one frequency interlace within a single RB set.

[0130] In some embodiments, the first terminal device 110 may determine a first number of contiguous RB sets available for transmitting data and control information. If the second number is a positive integer, the first terminal device 110 may select a second number of subchannels within each of the first number of RB sets. The second number is equal to a ratio of the number of the at least one subchannel to the first number.

[0131] In some embodiments, the control information indicates a first number and a second number.

[0132] In some embodiments, the first terminal device 110 may transmit the control information in at least one RB including at least a starting RB in a starting subchannel in a starting RB set in the first number of consecutive RB sets.

[0133] In some embodiments, the first terminal device 110 may further receive configuration information for the at least one subchannel from a network device or from an upper layer of the first terminal device 110. The first terminal device 110 may determine the at least one frequency interlace within a single RB set based on the configuration information.

[0134] In some embodiments, the first terminal device 110 may further determine the at least one frequency interlace within a single RB set based on preconfigured information.

[0135] In some embodiments, the first terminal device 110 may further determine the at least one frequency interlace within a single RB set by default.

[0136] In some embodiments, further depending on the success of the first type of listen-before-talk process, the first terminal device 110 may determine the at least one frequency interlace within a single RB set.

[0137] In some embodiments, each of the at least one subchannel includes the at least one frequency interlace within a resource block (RB) set bundle that includes a plurality of RB sets.

[0138] In some embodiments, the number of RB sets in an RB set bundle is configured or pre-configured.

[0139] In some embodiments, the first terminal device 110 may further determine a first set of frequency interlaces within a first RB set in an RB set bundle, and determine a second set of frequency interlaces within a second RB set in the RB set bundle that replicate the frequency interlaces of the first set within the second RB set.

[0140] In some embodiments, first terminal device 110 may further determine the at least one frequency interlace consecutively across multiple RB sets in an RB set bundle.

[0141] In some embodiments, first terminal device 110 may determine a third number of contiguous RB sets available for transmitting data and control information, and may select a fourth number of subchannels within each of the third number of RB set bundles if a fourth number equal to a ratio of the number of the at least one subchannel to the third number is a positive integer.

[0142] In some embodiments, the control information indicates a third number and a fourth number.

[0143] In some embodiments, the first terminal device 110 may transmit the control information in at least one RB that includes at least a starting RB in a starting subchannel in an starting RB set bundle in the third number of consecutive RB set bundles.

[0144] In some embodiments, the first terminal device 110 may further receive configuration information regarding the at least one subchannel from a network device or from an upper layer of the first terminal device 110, and determine the at least one frequency interlace within the RB set bundle based on the configuration information.

[0145] In some embodiments, the first terminal device 110 may further determine the at least one frequency interlace within the RB set bundle based on preconfigured information.

[0146] In some embodiments, first terminal device 110 may further receive an indication of channel occupancy time from the fourth device and determine the at least one frequency interlace within the RB set bundle based on the indication.

[0147] In some embodiments, the first terminal device 110 may further determine the at least one frequency interlace within the RB set bundle in response to a success of the second type of listen-before-talk process.

[0148] 8 is a flowchart of an example method 800 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the method 800 may be implemented in a terminal device, such as the second terminal device 120 shown in FIG. 1. For illustrative purposes, the method 800 performed by the second terminal device 120 will be described with reference to FIG. 1 without loss of generality.

[0149] In block 810, the second terminal device 120 receives control information associated with data from the first terminal device over at least one subchannel via a sidelink between the first terminal device and the second terminal device.

[0150] In block 820, if the second terminal device 120 successfully decodes the control information on one of the at least one subchannel, the second terminal device 120 receives data from the first terminal device on the at least one subchannel.

[0151] In some embodiments, the number of the at least one frequency interlace is set or preset.

[0152] In some embodiments, the second terminal device 120 may further determine the number of the at least one frequency interlace based on a size of a resource in the frequency domain for transmitting control information.

[0153] In some embodiments, each of the at least one sub-channel may include multiple contiguous frequency interlaces.

[0154] In some embodiments, each of the at least one subchannel may include a plurality of non-contiguous frequency interlaces, and a gap between the at least one frequency interlace is configured or preset.

[0155] In some embodiments, each of the at least one subchannel includes the at least one frequency interlace within a single RB set.

[0156] In some embodiments, the second terminal device 120 may determine a first number of contiguous RB sets available for transmitting data and control information. If the second number is a positive integer, the second terminal device 120 may select a second number of subchannels within each of the first number of RB sets. The second number is equal to a ratio of the number of the at least one subchannel to the first number.

[0157] In some embodiments, the control information indicates a first number and a second number.

[0158] In some embodiments, the second terminal device 120 may transmit the control information in at least one RB in a starting subchannel in a starting RB set in the first number of consecutive RB sets, the starting RB including at least the starting RB in the starting subchannel.

[0159] In some embodiments, the second terminal device 120 may further receive configuration information for the at least one subchannel from a network device or from an upper layer of the second terminal device, and may determine the at least one frequency interlace within a single RB set based on the configuration information.

[0160] In some embodiments, second terminal device 120 may further determine the at least one frequency interlace within a single RB set based on preconfigured information.

[0161] In some embodiments, second terminal device 120 may further determine the at least one frequency interlace within a single RB set by default.

[0162] In some embodiments, further depending on the success of the first type of listen-before-talk process, the second terminal device 120 may determine the at least one frequency interlace within a single RB set.

[0163] In some embodiments, each of the at least one subchannel includes the at least one frequency interlace within a resource block (RB) set bundle that includes a plurality of RB sets.

[0164] In some embodiments, the number of RB sets in an RB set bundle is configured or pre-configured.

[0165] In some embodiments, the second terminal device 120 may further determine a first set of frequency interlaces within a first RB set in the RB set bundle, and determine a second set of frequency interlaces within a second RB set in the RB set bundle that replicate the first set of frequency interlaces within the second RB set.

[0166] In some embodiments, second terminal device 120 may further determine the at least one frequency interlace consecutively across multiple RB sets in the RB set bundle.

[0167] In some embodiments, second terminal device 120 may determine a third number of contiguous RB sets available for transmitting data and control information, and may select a fourth number of subchannels within each of the third number of RB set bundles if a fourth number equal to a ratio of the number of the at least one subchannel to the third number is a positive integer.

[0168] In some embodiments, the control information indicates a third number and a fourth number.

[0169] In some embodiments, the second terminal device 120 may transmit the control information in at least one RB that includes at least a starting RB in a starting subchannel in a starting RB set bundle in the third number of consecutive RB set bundles.

[0170] In some embodiments, the second terminal device 120 may further receive configuration information regarding the at least one subchannel from a network device or from an upper layer of the second terminal device, and determine the at least one frequency interlace within the RB set bundle based on the configuration information.

[0171] In some embodiments, second terminal device 120 may further determine the at least one frequency interlace within the RB set bundle based on preconfigured information.

[0172] In some embodiments, second terminal device 120 may further receive an indication of channel occupancy time from the fourth device and determine the at least one frequency interlace within the RB set bundle based on the indication.

[0173] In some embodiments, the second terminal device 120 may further determine the at least one frequency interlace within the RB set bundle in response to a success of the second type of listen-before-talk process.

[0174] 9 is a flow chart of an example method 900 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the method 900 may be implemented in a network device.

[0175] At block 910, the network device determines a configuration for resources in the shared radio frequency band for sidelink communication between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, the resources including at least one subchannel, each subchannel including at least one frequency interlace.

[0176] In block 920, the network device transmits the configuration to the first end device.

[0177] 10 is a flowchart of an example method 1000 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the method 1000 may be implemented in a terminal device, such as the first terminal device 110 shown in FIG. 1. For illustrative purposes, the method 1000 performed by the first terminal device 110 will be described with reference to FIG. 1 without loss of generality.

[0178] In block 1010, the first terminal device 110 receives from a network node a configuration for resources in a shared radio frequency band for sidelink communication between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, the resources including at least one subchannel, each subchannel including at least one frequency interlace.

[0179] In block 1020, the first terminal device 110 performs the sidelink communication with the second terminal device 120 using the resources.

[0180] 11 is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus 1100 suitable for implementing some embodiments of the present disclosure. The apparatus 1100 may be considered as another exemplary embodiment of the terminal device 110 or the terminal device 120, or a network device, shown in FIG. 1. Thus, the apparatus 1100 may be implemented in the terminal device 110 or the terminal device 120, or as at least a part thereof.

[0181] As shown, the apparatus 1100 comprises a processor 1110, a memory 1120 coupled to the processor 1110, a suitable transmitter (TX) and receiver (RX) 1140 coupled to the processor 1110, and a communication interface coupled to the TX / RX 1140. The memory 1120 stores at least a portion of a program 1130. The TX / RX 1140 is used for bidirectional communication. The TX / RX 1140 has at least one antenna to facilitate communication, although the access nodes referred to herein may in practice have multiple antennas. The communication interface may represent any interface required for communication with other network elements, such as an X2 interface for bidirectional communication between gNBs or eNBs, an S1 interface for communication between a Mobility Management Entity (MME) / Serving Gateway (S-GW) and an eNB, an Un interface for communication between a gNB or eNB and a Relay Node (RN), or an Uu interface for communication between a gNB or eNB and a terminal device.

[0182] The program 1130 is assumed to include program instructions that, when executed by the associated processor 1110, enable the device 1100 to operate according to embodiments of the present disclosure, as described herein with reference to Figures 2-10. The embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by computer software executable by the processor 1110 of the device 1100, or by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware. The processor 1110 may be configured to implement various embodiments of the present disclosure. Furthermore, the combination of the processor 1110 and the memory 1120 may form a processing means 1150 suitable for implementing various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0183] The memory 1120 may be of any type suitable for a local technology network and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as, by way of non-limiting example, non-transitory computer-readable storage media, semiconductor-based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory and removable memory. Although only one memory 1120 is shown in the device 1100, there may be several physically different memory modules in the device 1100. The processor 1110 may be of any type suitable for a local technology network and may include, by way of non-limiting example, one or more of a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP) and a processor based on a multi-core processor architecture. The device 1100 may have multiple processors, for example application specific integrated circuit chips time-slaved to a clock that synchronizes the main processor.

[0184] The components included in the device and / or apparatus of the present disclosure may be implemented in various ways, including software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. In one embodiment, one or more units may be implemented using software and / or firmware, such as machine-executable instructions stored on a storage medium. In addition to or in lieu of machine-executable instructions, some or all of the units in the device and / or apparatus may be implemented, at least in part, by one or more hardware logic components. By way of example and not limitation, exemplary types of hardware logic components that may be used include field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), application specific general purpose products (ASSPs), systems on chips (SOCs), complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs), and the like.

[0185] Overall, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic, or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software that may be executed by a controller, microprocessor, or other computing device. Although various aspects of the embodiments of the present disclosure have been illustrated and described using block diagrams, flow charts, or some other pictorial representations, it should be understood that the blocks, devices, systems, techniques, or methods described herein may be implemented, by way of non-limiting examples, in hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing device, or any combination thereof.

[0186] The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as instructions included in a program module, that execute in a device on a target real or virtual processor to perform a process or method as described above with reference to any one of Figures 2 to 10. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. In various embodiments, the functionality of the program modules may be combined or split between program modules as appropriate. The machine-executable instructions of the program modules may be executed in local or distributed devices. In a distributed device, the program modules may be located in both local and remote storage media.

[0187] Program codes for carrying out the methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. These program codes may be provided to a processor or controller of a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing device, and when executed by the processor or controller, the program code causes the functions / operations specified in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams to be implemented. The program code may run entirely on the machine, partially on the machine, as a separate software package, partially on the machine and partially on a remote machine, or entirely on a remote machine or server.

[0188] The above program code may be implemented on a machine-readable medium, which may be any tangible medium that can contain or store a program used by or associated with an instruction execution system, device, or apparatus. The machine-readable medium may be a machine-readable signal medium or a machine-readable storage medium. The machine-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, device, or apparatus, or any suitable combination of the aforementioned media. More specific examples of the machine-readable storage medium may include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer disk, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the aforementioned.

[0189] It should be understood that although operations have been described in a particular order, it is not required that such operations be performed in the particular order shown, or in any sequential order, or that all of the operations described be performed, in order to achieve desired results. In some cases, multitasking or parallel processing may be advantageous. Similarly, although details of several specific embodiments are included in the above discussion, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be unique to certain embodiments. Some features described in the context of individual embodiments may be realized in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features described in the context of a single embodiment may be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination.

[0190] Although the present disclosure has been described in language specific to structural features and / or methodological acts, it should be understood that the present disclosure, as defined in the appended claims, is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

1. 1. A method performed by a first user equipment (UE) communicating with a second UE via a sidelink channel, the method comprising: receiving a radio resource control (RRC) message from a network, the RRC message including first information indicating a number of at least one frequency interlace per subchannel in a first frequency resource unit; transmitting first data and control information associated with the first data on at least one subchannel in the first frequency resource unit, each of the at least one subchannel including a number of the at least one frequency interlace indicated in the first information; The method includes:

2. The first frequency resource unit includes a resource pool. The method of claim 1.

3. The first frequency resource unit includes a radio resource (RB) set. The method of claim 1.

4. The resource pool includes at least one radio resource (RB) set; Each of the at least one RB set includes the at least one subchannel; each of said at least one subchannel includes said at least one frequency interlace; Each of the at least one frequency interlace includes at least one physical resource block (PRB). The method of claim 2.

5. the first data is transmitted on a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH); The control information associated with the first data is transmitted on a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH). The method of claim 1.

6. Each of the at least one subchannel includes at least one contiguous frequency interlace. The method of claim 1.

7. Transmitting the control information associated with the first data includes: transmitting the control information in at least one lowest physical resource block (PRB) of the subchannel having a lowest index of a lowest resource block (RB) set of associated first data; 2. The method of claim 1, comprising:

8. the first index of each of the at least one subchannel is indexed periodically across a set of resource blocks (RBs) in a resource pool; Each of the at least one subchannel having the same first index is mapped to a number of the at least one frequency interlace indicated in the first information having the same first index in a different RB set. The method of claim 1.

9. The first index of each of the at least one subchannel is indexed by RB set. The method according to claim 8.

10. the control information includes second information and third information; The second information indicates a first number of at least one radio resource (RB) set in a resource pool; The third information indicates a second number of the at least one subchannel within each of the first number of the at least one RB set in the resource pool. The method of claim 1.

11. A first user equipment (UE) communicating with a second UE via a sidelink channel, one or more memories storing instructions; Processing the instructions, receiving a radio resource control (RRC) message from a network including first information indicating a number of at least one frequency interlace per subchannel in a first frequency resource unit; transmitting first data and control information associated with the first data on at least one subchannel within the first frequency resource unit; one or more processors configured to control the first UE; Equipped with Each of the at least one subchannel includes a number of the at least one frequency interlace indicated in the first information. A first UE.

12. The first frequency resource unit includes a resource pool. The first UE of claim 11.

13. The first frequency resource unit includes a radio resource (RB) set. The first UE of claim 11.

14. The resource pool includes at least one radio resource (RB) set; Each of the at least one RB set includes the at least one subchannel; each of said at least one subchannel includes said at least one frequency interlace; Each of the at least one frequency interlace includes at least one physical resource block (PRB). The first UE of claim 12.

15. the first data is transmitted on a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH); The control information associated with the first data is transmitted on a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH). The first UE of claim 11.

16. Each of the at least one subchannel includes at least one contiguous frequency interlace. The first UE of claim 11.

17. The one or more processors process the instructions to: and controlling the first UE to transmit the control information in at least one lowest physical resource block (PRB) of the subchannel having a lowest index of a lowest resource block (RB) set of an associated first data. The first UE of claim 11.

18. the first index of each of the at least one subchannel is indexed periodically across a set of resource blocks (RBs) in a resource pool; Each of the at least one subchannel having the same first index is mapped to a number of the at least one frequency interlace indicated in the first information having the same first index in different RB sets. The first UE of claim 11.

19. The first index of each of the at least one subchannel is indexed by RB set. The first UE of claim 18.

20. the control information includes second information and third information; The second information indicates a first number of at least one radio resource (RB) set in a resource pool; The third information indicates a second number of the at least one subchannel within each of the first number of the at least one RB set in the resource pool. The first UE of claim 11.

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