Application Layer Security Message with Geofence Information

Abstract

Techniques for wireless communication are disclosed. In one aspect, a user equipment (UE) can transmit device-to-device (D2D) communication. The D2D communication can include an application layer message, where the application layer message includes one or more data elements related to a geofence for the UE. In one aspect, a user equipment (UE) can receive device-to-device (D2D) communication. The D2D communication can include an application layer message, where the application layer message can include one or more data elements related to a geofence for the UE.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Claims of Priority This patent application claims priority to U.S. Non-Provisional Application No. 16 / 752,567, filed on January 24, 2020, entitled "APPLICATION LAYER SAFETY MESSAGE WITH GEO-FENCE INFORMATION", which has been assigned to the assignee of this application and is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

[0002] The various aspects described herein generally relate to wireless communication systems, and more particularly, to determining proximity to a geo-fence and, in some cases, invoking actions based on the proximity. In some aspects, the geo-fence may be determined based on received information in device-to-device communication including application layer messages.

Background Art

[0003] Wireless communication systems have evolved through various generations, including first-generation analog wireless telephone service (1G), second-generation (2G) digital wireless telephone service (including interim 2.5G and 2.75G networks), third-generation (3G) high-speed data, Internet-capable wireless service, and fourth-generation (4G) service (e.g., Long-Term Evolution (LTE), or WiMax). Currently, there are many different types of wireless communication systems in use, including cellular and Personal Communication Service (PCS) systems. Examples of known cellular systems include the Cellular Analog Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), and digital cellular systems based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), and GSM variants for mobile access to TDMA.

[0004] The 5th generation (5G) mobile standard, also known as New Radio (NR), among other improvements, requires higher data transfer speeds, a larger number of connections, and better coverage. According to the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance, the 5G standard is designed to provide, for example, data rates of tens of megabits per second to each of tens of thousands of users and one gigabit per second per office floor where dozens of people work. To support large-scale sensor deployments, hundreds of thousands of simultaneous connections should be supported. Therefore, the spectral efficiency of 5G mobile communications should be significantly increased compared to the current 4G standard. Furthermore, signaling efficiency should be increased and latency should be significantly reduced compared to the current standard.

[0005] Existing wireless danger warning systems require always-on broadcast and application layer message processing, resulting in increased power consumption and additional RF congestion. Danger warnings can be related to vehicle and non-vehicle entities. For example, between June 2017 and June 2018, 1.33 million collisions occurred in the United States between vehicles and deer, elk, moose, or caribou. For example, only collisions between deer and vehicles result in approximately 200 deaths per year, $1.1 billion in property damage, and an additional $3 billion in expenditures by state and federal governments, insurance companies, and drivers to reduce and manage animal-vehicle collisions.

[0006] With the increase in 5G data rates, reduction in latency, and utilization of the speed + distance-sensitive Physical Layer (PHY) and Medium Access Control Layer (MAC) (PHY-MAC), Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) communication technology is implemented to support various driving applications such as wireless communication between vehicles, between vehicles and roadside infrastructure, and between vehicles and pedestrians. Therefore, it is beneficial to utilize V2X communication technology to implement a collision avoidance system to reduce property and life losses. Summary of the Invention Means for Solving the Problems

[0007] The summary of the invention identifies the features of some exemplary aspects and is not an exclusive or comprehensive description of the disclosed subject matter. Whether a feature or aspect is included in or omitted from the summary of the invention is not intended to indicate the relative importance of such a feature. Additional features and aspects will be described and will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the following detailed description and viewing the drawings that form a part thereof.

[0008] According to various aspects disclosed herein, at least one aspect is a method for wireless communication in a first user equipment (UE), the method comprising receiving device-to-device (D2D) communication from a second UE that includes an application layer message, the application layer message including one or more data elements related to a geofence for the second UE.

[0009] According to various aspects disclosed herein, at least one aspect is a method for wireless communication in a user equipment (UE), the method comprising transmitting device-to-device (D2D) communication that includes an application layer message, the application layer message including one or more data elements related to a geofence for the UE.

[0010] According to various aspects disclosed herein, at least one aspect is a first user equipment (UE) including a transceiver, a memory, and at least one processor coupled to the transceiver, the at least one processor configured to cooperate with the transceiver to receive device-to-device (D2D) communication from a second UE that includes an application layer message, the application layer message including one or more data elements related to a geofence for the second UE.

[0011] According to various aspects disclosed in this specification, at least one aspect is a user equipment (UE) comprising a transceiver, a memory, and at least one processor coupled to the transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to cooperate with the transceiver to transmit device-to-device (D2D) communication, the D2D communication including transmitting an application layer message, the application layer message including one or more data elements regarding a geofence for the UE, the UE being included.

[0012] Other objectives and advantages associated with the aspects disclosed in this specification will become apparent to those skilled in the art based on the accompanying drawings and detailed description.

[0013] The accompanying drawings are presented to assist in explaining examples of one or more aspects of the disclosed subject matter and are provided only for purposes of illustration of the examples and not as limitations of the examples.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0014]

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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0015] What is disclosed is a technique for establishing a geofence that moves with a UE (e.g., an in-vehicle UE, a UE attached to an animal (e.g., a tag), a pedestrian UE, etc.) using 5G NR D2D communication. For example, C-V2X communication enables one-to-one (device-to-device) and one-to-many infrastructureless communication, as well as infrastructure-mediated communication. The moving geofence can be established by exposing 5G NR embedded control from the physical layer (PHY) and / or the media access control layer (MAC), also referred to herein as PHY-MAC embedded control, to the application layer. Thereby, by diverting the 5G NR PHY-MAC control message mechanism to enable or disable application layer message processing, reduction of device power consumption becomes possible. Specifically, when a geofence violation is not detected, the message is blocked from proceeding to the application layer, thereby preventing unnecessary message processing in the application layer.

[0016] These and other aspects of the subject matter are provided in the following description and associated drawings directed to specific examples of the disclosed subject matter. Alternative forms can be devised without departing from the scope of the disclosed subject matter. Further, well-known elements are not described in detail or are omitted so as not to obscure the relevant details.

[0017] The term "exemplary" is used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any aspect described herein as "exemplary" should not necessarily be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects. Similarly, the term "aspect" does not require that all aspects include the feature, advantage, or mode of operation being discussed.

[0018] The terms used in this specification are for describing particular embodiments only and should not be construed as limiting any embodiment disclosed herein. As used in this specification, the singular forms "a", "an", and "the" are to be construed to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. The terms "comprises", "comprising", "includes", and / or "including", when used in this specification, specify the presence of the stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof, as will be further understood by those skilled in the art.

[0019] Furthermore, for various embodiments, for example, a sequence of actions to be performed by elements of a computing device may be described. It will be recognized by those skilled in the art that the various actions described herein may be performed by a specific circuit (e.g., an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)), by program instructions executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of both. Additionally, these sequences of actions described herein may be considered to be fully embodied within any form of non-transitory computer-readable medium that stores a corresponding set of computer instructions that, when executed, cause the associated processor to perform the functions described herein. Accordingly, the various embodiments described herein may be embodied in several different forms, all of which are intended to fall within the scope of the claimed subject matter. In addition, for each of the embodiments described herein, a corresponding form of any such embodiment may be described herein, for example, as "logic configured to" perform the described actions and / or as other structural components configured to perform.

[0020] As used herein, the terms "UE", "vehicle UE" (V-UE), on-board unit (OBU), and "base station" are not intended to be specific to or otherwise limited to any particular radio access technology (RAT) unless otherwise stated. Generally, a user device will be referred to as a UE herein, and thus a UE can be any wireless communication device (e.g., in-vehicle computer, vehicle navigation device, mobile phone, router, tablet computer, laptop computer, tracking device, Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.) used by a user to communicate over a wireless communication network. A UE can be mobile or (e.g., at some times) stationary and can communicate with a radio access network (RAN). The term "UE" as used herein may alternatively be referred to interchangeably as "access terminal" or "AT", "client device", "wireless device", "subscriber device", "subscriber terminal", "subscriber station", "user terminal" or "UT", "mobile terminal", "mobile station", or variations thereof. A V-UE or OBU can be any in-vehicle wireless communication device, such as a navigation system, warning system, head-up display (HUD), etc. Alternatively, a V-UE can be a portable wireless communication device (e.g., a cell phone, tablet computer, etc.) belonging to a vehicle driver or a passenger in the vehicle. The term "V-UE" may refer to an in-vehicle wireless communication device or the vehicle itself, depending on the context. Generally, a UE can communicate with a core network via a RAN, and through the core network, the UE can be connected to an external network such as the Internet and to other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms for connecting the UE to the core network and / or the Internet, such as via a wired access network, a WiFi network (e.g., based on IEEE802.11, etc.), are also conceivable.

[0021] The base station may operate according to one of several RATs while communicating with the UE, depending on the network in which the base station is deployed. Alternatively, it may be referred to as an access point (AP), network node, Node B, evolved Node B (eNB), general Node B (g Node B, gNB), etc. In addition, in some systems, the base station may simply provide an edge node signaling function, while in other systems, the base station may provide additional control and / or network management functions.

[0022] The UE may be embodied by any of several types of devices, including but not limited to a printed circuit (PC) card, a Compact Flash (registered trademark) device, an external or internal modem, a wireless or wired telephone, a smartphone, a tablet, a tracking device, an asset tag, etc. The communication link by which the UE can send signals to the RAN is called an uplink channel (e.g., reverse traffic channel, reverse control channel, access channel, etc.). The communication link by which the RAN can send signals to the UE is called a downlink channel or forward link channel (e.g., paging channel, control channel, broadcast channel, forward traffic channel, etc.). The term traffic channel (TCH) as used herein can refer to either an uplink / reverse traffic channel or a downlink / forward traffic channel.

[0023] FIG. 1 shows an exemplary wireless communication system 100 according to one or more aspects. The wireless communication system 100, which may also be referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN), may include various base stations 102 and various UEs 104. The base stations 102 may include macrocells (high-power cellular base stations) and / or small cells (low-power cellular base stations). The macrocells may include evolved Node Bs (eNBs) for which the wireless communication system 100 is compliant with an LTE network, g Node Bs (gNBs) for which the wireless communication system 100 is compliant with a 5G network, and / or combinations thereof, and the small cells may include femtocells, picocells, microcells, and the like.

[0024] The base stations 102 collectively form a RAN and may communicate with an evolved packet core (EPC) or a next generation core (NGC) through a backhaul link. In addition to other functions, the base stations 102 may perform functions related to one or more of transferring user data, wireless channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection setup and release, load distribution, distribution for non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and device tracing, radio access network information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and delivery of warning messages. The base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., through the EPC / NGC) on a backhaul link 134 that may be wired or wireless.

[0025] The base stations 102 may communicate wirelessly with the UEs 104. Each of the base stations 102 may provide communication coverage for a respective geographic coverage area 110. In one aspect, although not shown in FIG. 1, the coverage area 110 may be divided into a plurality of cells (e.g., three) or sectors, with each cell corresponding to a single antenna or an array of antennas of a base station 102.

[0026] The term "cell" refers to a logical communication entity used for communication with a base station 102 (e.g., on a carrier frequency), and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., a Physical Cell Identifier (PCID), an Extended Cell Identifier (E-CID), a Virtual Cell Identifier (VCID), etc.) for distinguishing neighboring cells operating via the same or different carrier frequencies. In some examples, a carrier frequency may support multiple cells, and different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., Machine Type Communication (MTC), NarrowBand Internet of Things (NB-IoT), Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), or others) that provide access for different types of devices. In some cases, the term "cell" may refer to a portion (e.g., a sector) of a geographic coverage area 110 on which the logical entity operates. As used herein, the terms "cell" or "sector" may, depending on the context, correspond to one of a plurality of cells of the base station 102 or to the base station 102 itself.

[0027] The neighboring macrocell geographical coverage areas 110 may partially overlap (e.g., within a handover region), but some of the geographical coverage areas 110 may be significantly overlapped by larger geographical coverage areas 110. For example, the small cell base station 102' may have a coverage area 110' that significantly overlaps with the coverage areas 110 of one or more macrocell base stations 102. A network that includes both small cells and macrocells may be known as a heterogeneous network. The heterogeneous network may also include a home eNB (HeNB) and / or a home gNode B that may provide services to a limited group known as a closed subscriber group (CSG). The communication link 120 between the base station 102 and the UE 104 may include an uplink (UL) (also called a reverse link) transmission from the UE 104 to the base station 102 and / or a downlink (DL) (also called a forward link) transmission from the base station 102 to the UE 104. The communication link 120 may use MIMO antenna technology, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication link may be through one or more carriers. The carrier allocation may be asymmetric with respect to the DL and UL (e.g., a larger or smaller number of carriers may be allocated for the DL than for the UL).

[0028] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a WLAN access point (AP) 150 that communicates with a WLAN station (STA) 152 via a communication link 154 in an unlicensed frequency spectrum (e.g., 5 gigahertz (GHz)). When communicating in the unlicensed frequency spectrum, the UE 152 (WLAN STA) and / or the WLAN AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) prior to communicating to determine whether the channel is available.

[0029] The small cell base station 102' can operate in the authorized frequency spectrum and / or the unlicensed frequency spectrum. When operating in the unlicensed frequency spectrum, the small cell base station 102' can adopt LTE or 5G technology and can use the same 5 GHz unlicensed frequency spectrum as that used by the WLAN AP 150. The small cell base station 102' adopting LTE / 5G in the unlicensed frequency spectrum can expand the coverage to the access network and / or increase the capacity of the access network. LTE in the unlicensed spectrum is sometimes called Licensed Assisted Access (LAA) for LTE in the unlicensed band (LTE-U) or MulteFire.

[0030] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a mmW base station 180 that can operate at mmW frequencies and / or near mmW frequencies during communication with the UE 182. Extremely High Frequency (EHF) is a part of RF in the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF has a range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz and a wavelength between 1 millimeter and 10 millimeters. Radio waves in this band are sometimes called millimeter waves. Near mmW may extend downward to a frequency of 3 GHz with a wavelength of 100 millimeters. The Super High Frequency (SHF) band extends between 3 GHz and 30 GHz and is also called centimeter waves. Communication using the mmW / near mmW radio frequency band has high path loss and relatively short distances. The mmW base station 180 can utilize beamforming 184 for the UE 182 to compensate for extremely high path loss and short distances. Further, in an alternative configuration, it will be understood that one or more base stations 102 can also transmit using mmW or near mmW and beamforming. Therefore, it will be understood that the above examples are merely examples and should not be construed as limiting the various aspects disclosed herein.

[0031] The wireless communication system 100 may further include one or more UEs, such as UE 190, that are indirectly connected to one or more communication networks via one or more device - to - device (D2D) peer - to - peer (P2P) links. In the example of FIG. 1, UE 190 has a D2D P2P link 192 with one of UE 104 connected to one of base stations 102 (e.g., through which UE 190 can indirectly obtain cellular connectivity), and a D2D P2P link 194 with UE 152, a WLAN STA, connected to WLAN AP 150 (through which UE 190 can indirectly obtain WLAN - based Internet connectivity). In one example, D2D P2P links 192 - 194 can be supported using any well - known D2D radio access technology (RAT), such as Long - Term Evolution Direct (LTE - D), Wi - Fi Direct (Wi - Fi - D), Bluetooth, etc.

[0032] With the increase in 5G data rate, reduction in latency, and utilization of the speed + distance - sensitive physical layer (PHY) and medium access control layer (MAC) (PHY - MAC), vehicle - to - everything (V2X) communication technology has been implemented to support intelligent transport system (ITS) applications, such as wireless communication between vehicles (vehicle - to - vehicle (V2V)), between vehicles and roadside infrastructure (vehicle - to - infrastructure (V2I)), and between vehicles and pedestrians (vehicle - to - pedestrian (V2P)). The goal is to enable vehicles to detect the environment around the vehicle and communicate that information to other vehicles, infrastructure, and personal mobile devices. Such vehicle communication will enable improvements in safety, mobility, and the environment that current technologies cannot provide. As described above, the aspects disclosed herein may use geofencing to reduce collisions.

[0033] Referring still to FIG. 1, the wireless communication system 100 may include a plurality of V-UEs 160 that can communicate with the base station 102 over a communication link 120 (e.g., using the Uu interface). The V-UEs 160 can also communicate with each other over a wireless sidelink 162, with a roadside access point 164 over a sidelink 166, or directly with the UE 104 over a sidelink 168 using a P2P / D2D protocol (e.g., "PC5", the LTE V2X D2D interface) or ProSe direct communication. Sidelink communication can be used for D2D media sharing, V2V communication, V2X communication (e.g., cellular V2X (C-V2X) communication), emergency rescue applications, etc. One or more of the groups of V-UEs 160 that utilize D2D communication may be within the geographical coverage area 110 of the base station 102. Other V-UEs 160 within such a group may be outside the geographical coverage area 110 of the base station 102 or may otherwise be unable to receive transmissions from the base station 102. In some cases, a group of V-UEs 160 that communicate via D2D communication may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system in which each V-UE 160 transmits to every other V-UE 160 within the group. In some cases, the base station 102 facilitates the scheduling of resources for D2D communication. In other cases, D2D communication is performed between the V-UEs 160 without the involvement of the base station 102.

[0034] In one aspect, the V-UE 160, and any other UE shown in FIG. 1, may have a component 170 that determines proximity to a geopence, also referred to herein as a geopence component 170. The geopence component 170, when executed, may be a hardware, software, or firmware component that causes the V-UE 160 to perform the operations described herein. For example, the geopence component 170 may be a software module stored in the memory of the V-UE 160 and executable by the processor of the V-UE 160. As another example, the geopence component 170 may be a hardware circuit (e.g., an ASIC, a field programmable gate array (FPGA), etc.) within the V-UE 160. For purposes of explanation and illustration, this specification describes it in the context of collision avoidance, but it will be understood that the geopence / proximity-based functionality described herein may be used to perform other functions.

[0035] In one aspect, the wireless sidelinks 162, 166, 168 may operate on a related communication medium, which may be shared with other communications between other vehicles and / or infrastructure access points, and other RATs. A "medium" may be composed of one or more frequencies, times, and / or spatial communication resources associated with communication between one or more transmitter / receiver pairs (including, for example, one or more channels over one or more carriers).

[0036] In one aspect, the wireless sidelinks 162, 166, 168 can be C-V2X links. The first generation of C-V2X is standardized in LTE, and the next generation is expected to be defined in 5G (also referred to as "New Radio" (NR) or "5G NR"). C-V2X is a cellular technology that enables device-to-device communication. In the United States and Europe, C-V2X is expected to operate in the licensed ITS band at sub-6 GHz. Other bands can be allocated in other countries. Thus, as a specific example, the relevant medium utilized by the sidelinks 162, 166, 168 can correspond to at least a portion of the sub-6 GHz licensed ITS frequency band. However, the present disclosure is not limited to this frequency band or cellular technology.

[0037] Other protocols for the wireless sidelinks 162, 166, 168 can include dedicated short-range communication (DSRC) links. DSRC is a one-way or two-way short-to-medium range wireless communication protocol that uses the wireless access for vehicular environments (WAVE) protocol, also known as IEEE 802.11p, for V2V, V2I, and V2P communications. IEEE 802.11p is an approved amendment to the IEEE 802.11 standard and operates in the licensed ITS band at 5.9 GHz (5.85 - 5.925 GHz) in the United States. In Europe, IEEE 802.11p operates in the ITS G5A band (5.875 - 5.905 MHz). Other bands can be allocated in other countries. The V2V communication briefly described above is performed on a safety channel, which is typically a 10 MHz channel dedicated for safety purposes in the United States. The remainder of the DSRC band (the total bandwidth is 75 MHz) is targeted at other services relevant to drivers, such as road regulations, toll collection, and parking automation. Thus, as a specific example, the relevant medium utilized by the sidelinks 162, 166, 168 can correspond to at least a portion of the 5.9 GHz unlicensed ITS frequency band.

[0038] Alternatively, the medium in question may correspond to at least a portion of the unlicensed frequency band shared among various RATs. Different licensed frequency bands are reserved for some communication systems (e.g., by a government agency such as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States), but these systems, especially those employing small cell access points, have recently extended their operation to unlicensed frequency bands such as the Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) used by wireless local area network (WLAN) technologies, most notably the IEEE 802.11x WLAN technologies commonly referred to as "Wi-Fi". Exemplary systems of this type include different variants such as code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) systems, single carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) systems, and the like.

[0039] The communication between V-UEs 160 is referred to as V2V communication, the communication between a V-UE 160 and one or more roadside access points 164 is referred to as V2I communication, and the communication between a V-UE 160 and one or more P-UEs 104 is referred to as V2P communication. The V2V communication between V-UEs 160 may include, for example, information about the position, speed, acceleration, direction of travel, and other vehicle data of the V-UE 160. The V2I information received at a V-UE 160 from one or more roadside access points 164 may include, for example, traffic regulations, parking automation information, etc. The V2P communication between a V-UE 160 and a P-UE 104 may include, for example, information about the position, speed, acceleration, and direction of travel of the V-UE 160, and the position, speed (e.g., if the P-UE 104 is a bicycle), and direction of travel of the P-UE 104. Terms such as V-UE 160 and P-UE 104 are used in this specification for convenience of illustration and it should be understood that they are not limitations to specific applications, device types, etc. It should also be understood that these devices may also be referred to using the general term UE, which applies to any of the user equipment devices referred to in this specification, together with the other devices referred to in this specification.

[0040] FIG. 2A shows an exemplary wireless network structure 200 according to one or more aspects. For example, a Next Generation Core (NGC) 210 can be functionally regarded as a control plane function 214 (e.g., UE registration, authentication, network access, gateway selection, etc.) and a user plane function 212 (e.g., UE gateway function, access to a data network, IP routing, etc.) that operate collaboratively to form a core network. A user plane interface (NG-U) 213 and a control plane interface (NG-C) 215 connect one or more gNBs 222 to the NGC 210, specifically to the control plane function 214 and the user plane function 212. In an additional configuration, one or more eNBs 224 can also be connected to the NGC 210 via the NG-C 215 to the control plane function 214 and the NG-U 213 to the user plane function 212. Further, the eNB 224 can communicate directly with the gNB 222 via a backhaul connection 223. Thus, in some configurations, the New RAN (New RAN) 220 can have only one or more gNBs 222, while other configurations include one or more of both the eNB 224 and the gNB 222. Either the gNB 222 or the eNB 224 can communicate with one or more UEs 240 (e.g., any of the UEs shown in FIG. 1 such as UE 104, UE 152, UE 160, UE 182, UE 190, etc.). In one aspect, two UEs 240 can communicate with each other on a wireless unicast side link 242 that can correspond to the wireless side link 162 in FIG. 1.

[0041] Another optional aspect may include a Location Management Function (LMF) 230 that communicates with the NGC 210 to provide location assistance for the UE 240. The LMF 230 uses information from the UE 240 and / or the new RAN 220 to determine the current location of the UE 240 and provide that location upon request. The LMF 230 may be implemented as a plurality of structurally distinct servers or, alternatively, each may correspond to a single server. FIG. 2A shows the LMF 230 as being separate from the NGC 210 and the new RAN 220, but alternatively, the LMF 230 may be integrated into one or more components of the NGC 210 or the new RAN 220.

[0042] FIG. 2B shows an exemplary wireless network structure 250 according to one or more aspects. For example, an evolved packet core (EPC) 260 may be functionally regarded as a control plane function, i.e., a Mobility Management Entity (MME) 264, and a user plane function, i.e., a Packet Data Network Gateway / Serving Gateway (P / SGW) 262, that operate cooperatively to form a core network. S1 control plane interfaces (S1-MME) 265 and S1 user plane interfaces (S1-U) 263 connect one or more eNBs 224 to the EPC 260, specifically, to the MME 264 and the P / SGW 262, respectively.

[0043] In an additional configuration, one or more gNBs 222 can also be connected to the EPC 260 via S1-MME 265 to the MME 264 and S1-U 263 to the P / SGW 262. Further, the eNB 224 can communicate directly with one or more gNBs 222 via the backhaul connection 223, with or without using the gNB direct connectivity to the EPC 260. Thus, in some configurations, the new RAN 220 can have only the gNB 222, while other configurations include both the eNB 224 and the gNB 222. Either the gNB 222 or the eNB 224 can communicate with one or more UEs 240 (e.g., any of the UEs shown in FIG. 1 such as UE 104, UE 182, UE 190, etc.). In one aspect, two UEs 240 can communicate with each other on a wireless side link 242 that can correspond to the wireless unicast side link 162 in FIG. 1.

[0044] Another optional aspect can include a location server 270 that can be in communication with the EPC 260 to provide location assistance for the UE 240. In one aspect, the location server 270 can be an Evolved Serving Mobile Location Center (E-SMLC), a Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) Location Platform (SLP), a Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC), etc. The location server 270 can be implemented as a plurality of structurally distinct servers or, alternatively, can each correspond to a single server. The location server 270 can be configured to support one or more location services for UEs 240 that can be connected to the location server 270 via the core network, via the EPC 260, and / or via the Internet (not shown).

[0045] FIG. 3 is a block diagram 300 of a first wireless communication device 310 communicating with a second wireless communication device 350 via V2V / C-V2X / V2X / D2D communication, e.g., via a sidelink. Device 350 may comprise a UE communicating with another device 350 via V2V / C-V2X / V2X / D2D communication, e.g., via a sidelink. The first wireless communication device 310 may comprise a UE communicating with another UE, e.g., a UE communicating with device 350, via a sidelink. In addition to the other components shown in FIG. 3, devices 310 and 350 may each comprise a message component 391, 393, and / or a decision component 392, 394 that are within or that function cooperatively within a geoprivacy component 170. The message components 391, 393 may be configured to generate a message having a first indication of a geographic area associated with the message, the geographic area being at least partially based on the geographic location of the device 310, 350 transmitting the message. The decision components 392, 394 may be configured to determine whether the receiving devices 310, 350 are within a threshold range of the transmitting devices 310, 350 and / or to send feedback for the message based on the first indication of the geographic area associated with the message and the geographic location of the receiving devices 310, 350. Packets may be provided to a controller / processor 375 implementing layer 3 and layer 2 functions. Layer 3 includes a radio resource control (RRC) layer, and layer 2 includes a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, and a media access control (MAC) layer.

[0046] The transmitting (TX) processor 316 and the receiving (RX) processor 370 implement layer 1 functions associated with various signal processing functions. Layer 1, including the physical (PHY) layer, may include error detection on the transport channel, forward error correction (FEC) coding / decoding of the transport channel, interleaving, rate matching, mapping onto the physical channel, modulation / demodulation of the physical channel, and MIMO antenna processing. The TX processor 316 handles mapping to signal constellations based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), M-phase shift keying (M-PSK), M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM)). The coded and modulated symbols may then be split into parallel streams. Each stream is then mapped to OFDM subcarriers, multiplexed with a reference signal (e.g., a pilot) in the time domain and / or frequency domain to generate a physical channel carrying a time domain OFDM symbol stream, and then may be combined together using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT). The OFDM stream is spatially precoded to generate a plurality of spatial streams. Channel estimates from the channel estimator 374 may be used to determine the coding and modulation scheme and for spatial processing. The channel estimates may be derived from reference signals transmitted by the device 350 and / or channel state feedback. Each spatial stream may then be provided to a different antenna 320 via a separate transmitter 318TX. Each transmitter 318TX may modulate an RF carrier using its respective spatial stream for transmission.

[0047] In device 350, each receiver 354RX receives signals through its respective antenna 352. Each receiver 354RX recovers the information modulated on the RF carrier and provides that information to the receive (RX) processor 356. The TX processor 368 and the RX processor 356 implement layer 1 functions associated with various signal processing functions. The RX processor 356 may perform spatial processing on the information to recover any spatial streams destined for device 350. Multiple spatial streams, if destined for device 350, may be combined by the RX processor 356 into a single OFDM symbol stream. The RX processor 356 then uses a fast Fourier transform (FFT) to convert the OFDM symbol stream from the time domain to the frequency domain. The frequency domain signal comprises a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbols on each subcarrier, and the reference signals, are recovered and demodulated by determining the most likely signal constellation points transmitted by device 310. These soft decisions may be based on channel estimates calculated by the channel estimator 358. The soft decisions are then decoded and deinterleaved to recover the data and control signals originally transmitted by device 310 on the physical channel. The data and control signals are then provided to the controller / processor 359 that implements layer 3 and layer 2 functions.

[0048] The controller / processor 359 may be associated with a memory 360 that stores program code and data. The memory 360 may be referred to as a computer-readable medium. The controller / processor 359 may provide demultiplexing between transport channels and logical channels, packet reassembly, decoding, header decompression, and control signal processing. The controller / processor 359 is also responsible for error detection using the ACK and / or NACK protocols to support HARQ operations.

[0049] Similar to the functions described for transmission by device 310, the controller / processor 359 provides RRC layer functions related to system information (e.g., MIB, SIB) collection, RRC connection, and measurement reporting, PDCP layer functions related to header compression / decompression and security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification), RLC layer functions related to transfer of upper layer PDUs, error correction via ARQ, concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs, resegmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs, and MAC layer functions related to mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs onto TBs, demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction via HARQ, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0050] Channel estimates derived by the channel estimator 358 from reference signals or feedback transmitted by device 310 can be used by the TX processor 368 to select an appropriate coding and modulation scheme and to facilitate spatial processing. The spatial streams generated by the TX processor 368 can be provided to different antennas 352 via separate transmitters 354TX. Each transmitter 354TX can modulate an RF carrier with its respective spatial stream for transmission.

[0051] Transmission is processed at device 310 in a manner similar to that described for the receiver function at device 350. Each receiver 318RX receives signals through its respective antenna 320. Each receiver 318RX recovers the information modulated on the RF carrier and provides that information to the RX processor 370.

[0052] The controller / processor 375 may be associated with a memory 376 that stores program code and data. The memory 376 may be referred to as a computer-readable medium. The controller / processor 375 provides demultiplexing between transport channels and logical channels, packet reassembly, decoding, header decompression, and control signal processing. The controller / processor 375 is also responsible for error detection using the ACK and / or NACK protocols to support HARQ operations.

[0053] Wireless communication may include direct multicast communication between UEs. As an example, multicast sidelink communication may be performed via the PC5 interface. A UE may communicate using sidelink multicast based on, for example, V2X communication, V2V communication, or D2D communication. Multicast may involve a transmission from one UE that is intended to be decoded by UEs that are part of a service group. The service group may comprise one or more UEs. A group ID that identifies the service group may be included in a message, for example, in the sidelink control information (SCI) of a multicast message and / or as part of the MAC layer destination address.

[0054] In PC5 multicast, the transmitting UE may ensure that all intended receivers within the service group and in proximity to the transmitting UE accurately receive the message. If an intended receiver within the service group and in proximity to the transmitting UE does not accurately receive the message, the transmitting UE may retransmit the message to ensure accurate reception of the message.

[0055] To improve reliability, feedback can be returned from the receiving UEs within a service group. For example, if a particular UE within a service group does not receive a message correctly, the UE may send a NACK, e.g., via sidelink, indicating to the transmitting UE that there was an error when receiving the message. In response to the NACK, the transmitting UE may retransmit the message.

[0056] Figure 4 shows an example of communication 400 between multiple UEs, e.g., based on C-V2X / V2X / V2V / D2D communication. UE 402 may be a transmitting UE that multicasts a message 414 for a service group. UEs 404, 406, and 408 may be associated with the service group. UE 404 may have received the message 414 correctly and does not send a NACK. UE 406 may have received an error when receiving the message. Thus, UE 406 may send a NACK 416 indicating to UE 402 that the message was not received accurately. In response to the NACK 416, the transmitting UE 402 may decide to retransmit the message 414, e.g., at 424. However, a negative feedback, e.g., a NACK, may be received from a receiver that is far outside the desired proximity of the transmitting UE 402. As shown in Figure 4, a UE may intend for UEs within the range / area 401 to receive the message reliably. UE 408, which is outside the intended area 401 and not close to UE 402, may receive at least a portion of the message and may send a NACK 420 to UE 402. However, UE 408 may be at a distance such that even if there is a retransmission from UE 402, UE 408 will probably never receive the message 414 correctly. Additionally, based on service requirements, a UE at that distance, e.g., UE 408, may not need to receive the message, as the message may be irrelevant.

[0057] Thus, a NACK can still be received from a receiving UE associated with a service group at a distance where retransmission of the message by the transmitter would be wasteful. Such wasteful retransmissions tend to degrade the overall system performance through inefficient use of wireless resources and through unnecessary potential interference to other wireless communications. Group IDs, such as a common destination ID, can be used to identify multicast service groups, but in an ad-hoc C-V2X / V2X / V2V / D2D environment, it may be difficult to manage or establish a common group identifier known only to vehicles within a service group that are also in close proximity to the transmitting UE due to the highly mobile nature of the transmitters and / or receivers.

[0058] Aspects are presented that limit feedback from receivers outside the intended geographical area, e.g., receiving UEs, by providing information that enables the receiver to determine whether the receiver is the intended receiver of the message. The receiver can then determine whether to send feedback based on whether the receiver is the intended receiver of the message. A transmitting device, e.g., 402, can indicate geographical area information in each multicast message that the receivers, e.g., 404, 406, within the intended geographical area, e.g., 401, are intended to reliably receive the message and should send feedback to help improve multicast. This can help the receiver, e.g., UE408, outside the intended area determine that it does not need to send feedback. Thus, geographical area information serves to limit feedback from receivers within service groups not in close proximity to the transmitter. These issues have been described using an example of C-V2X / V2X / V2V / D2D communication among UE402, 404, 406, 408, but these concepts are equally applicable to base stations, RSUs, mobile UEs, vehicle UEs, etc. involved in PC5-based communication.

[0059] To reduce the amount of overhead for encoding geographical area information in a message, the geographical area can be indicated using pre-defined zones or areas. For example, the geographical area can be divided into a series of rectangular zones of uniform size. The geographical area can be restricted or expanded to encompass the entire Earth's surface. However, the various aspects disclosed herein are not limited to these examples. A pre-defined zone or area, such as a zone ID or area ID, can be encoded in the message. In one example, the zone / area intended to ensure message reception can be a circular area centered on the location of the transmitting device, such as UE402, or other transmitter involved in PC5 communication, and extending to the radius indicated to the receiving device. In another example, the pre-defined zone can have a non-circular shape, for example, with an area divided into a set of zones of rectangular, hexagonal, or other shapes, each having a corresponding zone ID. In yet another example, the pre-defined zone can have a customized shape. For example, the pre-defined zone can follow the contour of a road, driving direction, shape of geographical features, etc. In another example, hierarchical zones can be organized in different layers. Each layer can correspond to zones of different sizes. For example, the first layer can correspond to zones having a radius of 50m, a width of 50m, etc. The second layer can correspond to zones having a radius of 100m, a width of 100m, etc. The third layer can correspond to zones having a radius of 500m, a width of 500m, etc. Thus, the transmitting device and the receiving device can identify the zone / area intended for reliable message reception based on the combination of the layer ID and the zone ID corresponding to the layer ID. In another example, the zone division can be pre-configured for the receiving device. For example, the zone division can be based on the global coordinates of the geographical location. Then, the transmitting device can select the corresponding zone from among the pre-configured zone divisions. The receiving device and the transmitting device can receive occasional updates for the pre-configured zone division.

[0060] Figure 5 shows an exemplary communication flow 500 between a transmitting device 502 and a receiving device 504. The communication may be based on C-V2X / V2X / V2V / D2D communication, e.g., PC5 multicast, unicast, and / or broadcast communication. In some aspects, the communication may be based on other D2D direct communication such as ProSe. Although Figure 5 shows an example of communication between a transmitting device 502 and a receiving device 504 shown as UEs, these concepts are equally applicable to base stations, RSUs, mobile UEs, vehicle UEs, etc. involved in PC5-based communication, C-V2X / V2X / V2V communication, or other direct D2D communication. For example, as part of generating a service group message for transmission via C-V2X / V2X / V2V / D2D, the transmitting device 502 may determine a zone / area / range intended such that the message is reliably received by receivers within the service group. This may provide a way for the transmitting device 502 to limit feedback to only receivers within the intended zone / area / range. The transmitting device may, at 503, determine its current geographical location and use the current location to determine an area / zone / range for which a message is intended to be received and for which the transmitting device should receive HARQ feedback. For example, the transmitting device may identify a pre-configured zone in which the transmitting device is currently located. In another example, the zone may be centered on the transmitting device with a selected radius. In another example, the transmitting device may define the zone in another way or otherwise select an area / range / zone.

[0061] As an example, the range can be selected based on, for example, quality of service (QoS) parameters associated with multicast. For example, the 5QI for different services can indicate QoS information such as resource type, priority level for communication, packet delay budget (PDB) indicating the amount of time a packet can be delayed, packet error rate (PER) indicating the limit of the rate of packet loss, averaging window, and data burst amount parameter indicating the limit of the amount of data to be served within a certain time period. In addition, this application example can indicate range requirements for traffic. For example, the range can be in the form of an absolute distance, such as 500 meters, or a relative level, such as long, medium, or short.

[0062] The transmitting device can indicate its current location and the surrounding range in the message. These can be indicated as zone IDs based on the geographical location of the transmitting device and the range of the surrounding zone. For example, the transmitting device can indicate the amount or number N of adjacent surrounding zones that the message is intended to be received by. When N = 1, the receiving device needs to be in the same zone as the transmitting device in order to be expected to receive the message reliably. When N = 2, receiving devices within the same zone as the transmitting device and within the zones directly adjacent to the transmitting device's zone are expected to receive the message reliably. For example, if the zone is rectangular in shape, devices expected to receive the message reliably should be in the same zone as the transmitting device and in eight adjacent zones. If the zone is hexagonal in shape, devices expected to receive the message reliably should be in the same zone as the transmitting device and in six adjacent zones. N can be selected to be any number and is not limited to the examples provided herein.

[0063] When a transmitting device determines a zone / area / range in which a receiver is intended to send feedback so as to ensure reliable delivery of a message, the transmitting device may generate a message. The message may comprise a control part and a data part. The control part may comprise an indication of the area / zone / range intended to ensure reliable reception of the message in side link control information (SCI). The SCI may also include group ID information corresponding to a service group for multicast. The group ID information may be associated with the service group and may enable the message to be decoded by a receiver that knows the group ID. The group ID may be the same as or different from the destination ID. The group ID may be provided by the application layer or middleware layer of the UE, or may be mapped by the V2X layer from an ID provided by the application layer. The group ID may correspond to a higher layer ID or an ID mapped from a higher layer ID, whereas the destination ID corresponds to a lower layer ID. The group ID may be mapped to the destination ID.

[0064] To further reduce the overhead of transmitting zone / area / range information in the message, at 507, the transmitting device may hash the group ID and the zone ID to generate a shortened ID, for example, an information element (IE). Then, at 509, the IE may be embedded in the SCI of the message as part of the generation of the message. After generation at 509, the transmitting device 502 may transmit the message 511 together with the IE.

[0065] At 519, the receiving device 504 decodes at least a portion of the message to determine an indication of a range / area / zone, such as a zone ID information, within which the message is intended to be reliably received. The receiving device may receive the control portion of the message, but may not correctly receive the data portion of the message. Since the message is not correctly received, the receiving device 504 may need to determine whether to send a HARQ feedback, such as a NACK, to the transmitting device 502. At 521, the receiving device may determine whether to send a NACK based on the current location of the receiving device and based on the indication included in the message of the range / area / zone within which the message is intended to be reliably received. Thus, at 517, the receiving device may determine its current location and may determine to send a NACK when it is within the range / area / zone indicated for the receiving device 504. For example, the receiving device may send a NACK if it is within the same zone as the transmitting device when, for example, N = 1, or if it is within a list of surrounding zones when N>1. The surrounding zones may be based on the range / number / quantity indicated for the receiving device 504. In another example, the range / number / quantity of the surrounding zones may be a function of the QoS for the multicast service. The QoS may be configured via the RRC or via a higher layer.

[0066] The area / zone / range indicated in the message 511 may refer to at least one preconfigured zone, which is preconfigured and stored in the receiving device. As shown at 513, the receiving device may receive an update of the preconfigured zone / area / range. Although not shown, the transmitting device 502 may receive a similar update of the preconfigured zone / area / range. Sometimes, a device may operate as a transmitting device and at other times the same device may operate as a receiving device.

[0067] When an indication of an area and / or group ID is included in an IE, the receiving device 504 may, at 515, monitor at least one IE in the SCI of any received message. At 515, the IE that the receiving device monitors may be based on a predetermined hash of any group ID associated with the multicast service to which the receiving UE is associated, hashed together with the surrounding zone ID. Since the receiving device may be mobile, the surrounding zone ID may be updated based on the current location of the receiving device.

[0068] If, at 521, the UE determines that it is within the area / zone / range for reliable reception of the message and the UE does not correctly receive message 511, the UE may respond to the transmitting device 502 with a NACK 523. The UE may determine whether to send a NACK based on additional aspects, such as whether the receiver is associated with the service group corresponding to the group ID included in the message. In response to the NACK 523, the transmitting device 502 may retransmit the message 525 to ensure reliable reception of the message by the receiving device 504.

[0069] Figures 6 and 7 show examples of the interaction between different layers in a transmitting device and a receiving device for the use of zone IDs for C-V2X / V2X / V2V communication. Although the aspects are presented for an example of V2X, the aspects can be applied to other direct D2D communications. In example 600 in FIG. 6, an application layer 602, a layer 3 for D2D communication, for example, a V2X layer 604, and an access stratum (AS) layer 606 are for a transmitting device, for example, 502. In one example, layer 3 may comprise a V2X layer. In other examples, the aspects can be applied to other D2D direct communications such as ProSe. An application layer 608, a layer 3 for D2D communication, for example, a V2X layer 610, and an AS layer 612 are for a receiving device, for example, 504. In the transmitting device, the application layer may provide a group ID and a QoS profile for a particular service group to layer 3. The QoS profile may include any of an indication of a 5QI for the service group, a rate for the service group, and / or a range for the service group. Application layer 602 may also provide data to be transmitted in a message to the service group, for example, a multicast message, to layer 3. The data may be provided together with the corresponding group ID. The application layer may provide a provider service identifier (PSID) together with the data. Layer 3 may map the group ID received from the application layer to a destination L2 ID (Dst.L2 ID) for the service group. Layer 3 may also store a QoS profile for the service group. If the application layer does not provide a QoS profile to layer 3, layer 3 may use the PSID to, for example, map the PSID to a QoS profile to determine the corresponding QoS profile. Similarly, if the application layer does not provide a group ID to layer 3, the Dst.L2 ID determined by layer 3 may be based on mapping the PSID to the Dst.L2 ID.Such mapping information can be pre-configured on the UE, stored in the (U)SIM card, or provisioned from the network via a dynamic provisioning mechanism, such as Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) Device Management (OMA-DM) or a UE policy delivery mechanism. The AS layer can receive from layer 3 the Dst.L2 ID, source L2 ID, QoS profile (including, e.g., 5QI and / or range) for the service group, and data. The AS layer can determine whether to use an acknowledgment mode, e.g., NACK mode, for multicast based on the 5QI from the QoS profile or local policy. For example, if the 5QI indicates requirements for high reliability, e.g., a very low PER value, the transmitting UE may choose to use acknowledgments to achieve such high reliability. In NACK mode, the transmitting device can monitor feedback, e.g., NACK, to determine whether to retransmit the message. The AS layer 606 can also determine a zone ID for use in the message. The zone ID can correspond to the zone in which the transmitting device is currently located. The AS layer 606 can also determine a range for use in the message. The range can indicate the vicinity of the transmitting device that the transmitting device intends for the message to be reliably received in, or an additional range of either the zone or list of zones in which the receiving device is located. The range can inform the receiver whether it should provide feedback. The transmitting device can then transmit a message comprising an SCI 614 and data 616. The SCI can include information indicating the group ID or Dst.L2 ID, the zone ID determined by the AS, and / or the range determined by the AS.

[0070] In the receiving device, the application layer 608 provides the layer 610 with the group ID for the service group to which the receiving device is associated. The layer 610 determines the Dst.L2 ID based on the group ID, similar to the mapping performed by the layer 604 of the transmitting device. The AS layer 612 in the receiving device determines its own zone ID, for example, for the zone where the receiving device is currently located. When the receiving device receives a message including the SCI 614 and data 616, the receiving device determines whether to send feedback, such as a NACK, if the data part of the message is not received correctly. The receiving device determines whether to send a NACK based on whether the Dst.L2 ID determined by the layer 610 matches the Dst.L2 ID indicated in the SCI 614 of the message and / or based on whether the zone ID for the receiving device determined by the AS 612 matches or falls within the range of the zone ID indicated in the SCI 614. If the Dst.L2 ID matches and the zone ID of the receiving device falls within the indicated range of the zone ID of the transmitting device, the receiving device may provide a NACK, for example, if the data portion of the message is not received. If the Dst.L2 ID is not provided from the layer 610 to the AS layer 612 in the receiving device, the receiving device may determine not to send a NACK. The SCI may carry information regarding the zone ID, Dst.L2 ID, and range in different forms. For example, the zone ID and Dst.L2 ID of the SCI may be hashed to reduce the overhead required to send the message. In that case, the SCI may be in a format different from that used for other V2X message transmissions, such as broadcast messages. Therefore, additional bits may be included in the SCI to distinguish the format of the message, for example, whether the message is broadcast, multicast, or unicast.

[0071] Example 700 in FIG. 7 is similar to the example in FIG. 6. The application layer 702 in the transmitting device and layer 3 for D2D communication, for example, the V2X layer 704, may function in the same manner as the example in FIG. 6. In one example, layer 3 may include the V2X layer. In other examples, the aspects may be applicable to other D2D multicast communications such as ProSe. However, in FIG. 7, the range may not be determined or indicated by the AS layer 706 in the transmitting device. Instead, the application layer 708 in the receiving device may provide a QoS profile for the service group to layer 710 in the receiving device. The 5QI and range information may be provided from layer 710 of the receiving device to the AS layer 712. Then, the AS layer in the receiving device may determine not only its own zone ID based on the current location of the receiving device but also the range that will be used in determining whether to send feedback. Thus, the SCI 714 sent together with the data 716 from the transmitting device may not include information indicating the range. The receiving device may determine whether to send feedback based on any combination of whether the Dst.L2 ID of the SCI matches what was determined by layer 710 and whether the zone ID determined by AS 712 is within either the zone ID indicated in the SCI 714 plus the range determined by the AS layer 712. Alternatively, the receiving device may determine the range based on its own zone ID and verify whether the zone ID indicated in the SCI 714 is within the range. For example, the receiving device may determine not to send a NACK if the zone ID in the SCI 714 is not within the range of its own zone ID. As described above, the SCI may include other information to support the operation. For example, the SCI may include an indication of whether the message is a retransmitted message and a sequence number for the message. In this case, the receiving device may determine whether to send a NACK based on whether it has already received the original transmission of the same message.

[0072] FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing various components of an exemplary UE 800 according to an aspect of the present disclosure. In one aspect, the UE 800 may correspond to any of the UEs described herein, such as 104, 152, 160, 182, 190 in FIG. 1, UE 240 in FIGS. 2A and 2B, or UE 310, 350 in FIG. 3. For simplicity, the various features and functions shown in the block diagram of FIG. 8 are connected together using a common bus that is intended to represent that these various features and functions are operably coupled together. Those skilled in the art will recognize that other connections, mechanisms, features, functions, etc. may be provided and adapted as necessary to operably couple and configure an actual UE. Further, it is recognized that one or more of the features or functions shown in the example of FIG. 8 may be further subdivided or two or more of the features or functions shown in FIG. 8 may be combined.

[0073] UE800 may include at least one transceiver 804 connected to one or more antennas 802 to communicate with other network nodes, such as other vehicles (e.g., one or more other V-UEs 160), infrastructure access points (e.g., one or more roadside access points 164), P-UEs (e.g., one or more P-UEs 104), base stations (e.g., base station 102), etc., via at least one specified RAT (e.g., C-V2X or IEEE 802.11p) utilized by the unicast sidelink 162 on the relevant medium. The transceiver 804 may be variously configured to transmit and encode signals (e.g., messages, instructions, information, etc.) and, conversely, to receive and decode signals (e.g., messages, instructions, information, pilots, etc.) according to the specified RAT. As used herein, a "transceiver" may include a transmitter circuit, a receiver circuit, or a combination thereof, but it is not necessary to provide both transmitter and receiver functions in all designs. For example, in some designs, when it is not necessary to provide full communication, a low-function receiver circuit (e.g., a receiver chip or similar circuit that simply provides low-level sniffing) may be employed to reduce costs.

[0074] UE800 may also include a satellite positioning service (SPS) receiver 806. The SPS receiver 806 may be connected to one or more antennas 802 to receive satellite signals. The SPS receiver 806 may comprise any suitable hardware and / or software for receiving and processing SPS signals. The SPS receiver 806 requests information and operations from other systems as appropriate and performs the calculations necessary to determine the location of the UE800 using measurements obtained by any suitable SPS algorithm.

[0075] One or more sensors 808 may be coupled to the processor 810 to provide information regarding the state and / or environment of the UE 800, such as speed, direction of travel (e.g., compass heading), headlight status, gas mileage, etc. By way of example, the one or more sensors 808 may include a speedometer, a tachometer, an accelerometer (e.g., a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) device), a gyroscope, a geomagnetic sensor (e.g., a compass), an altimeter (e.g., a barometric altimeter), etc.

[0076] The processor 810 may include one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, ASICs, and / or digital signal processors that provide processing functionality as well as other computing and control functions. The processor 810 may include any form of logic suitable for at least performing the techniques provided herein or for causing to be performed on components of the UE 800. In some aspects, the processor 810 may include a modem processor for at least partially performing functions in the PHY layer and the MAC layer, and an application processor configured to at least partially perform functions in the application layer.

[0077] The processor 810 may also be coupled to the memory 814 to store data and software instructions for performing the functions programmed within the UE 800. The memory 814 may be mounted on the processor 810 (e.g., within the same integrated circuit (IC) package), and / or the memory 814 may be external to the processor 810 and functionally coupled via a data bus.

[0078] The UE800 may include a user interface 850 that provides any suitable interface system, such as a microphone / speaker 852, a keypad 854, and a display 856, that enables user interaction with the UE800. The microphone / speaker 852 provides voice communication services within the UE800. The keypad 854 includes any suitable buttons for user input to the UE800. The display 856 includes any suitable display, such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) with backlight, and may further include a touch screen display for additional user input modes.

[0079] In one aspect, the UE800 may include a geopence component 170 that is functionally coupled or integrated with a processor 810. The geopence component 170, when executed, may be a hardware, software, or firmware component that causes the UE800 to perform the operations described herein. For example, the geopence component 170 may be a software module stored in a memory 814 and executable by the processor 810. As another example, the geopence component 170 may be a hardware circuit (e.g., an ASIC, a field programmable gate array (FPGA), etc.) within the UE800. The functionality of the geopence component 170 will be described in further detail below.

[0080] As described above, for example, a zone ID or an area ID can be encoded in a message to reduce overhead and enable determination of a range / distance (e.g., based on a zone ID, layer ID, etc.) between a transmitting UE and a receiving UE associated with the message. For example, range information for a message can include a circular area centered on the location of the transmitting device or other transmitter involved in PC5 communication and extending to a radius indicated to the receiving UE. Similarly, as described above, various alternative zones can be defined, such as predefined zones including non-circular shapes each having a corresponding zone ID, or can follow the contour of a road, driving direction, shape of geographical features, etc. Also, as described, hierarchical zones can be organized in different layers, where each layer corresponds to zones of different sizes (e.g., 50 m, 100 m, etc.). Thus, the transmitting device and the receiving device can identify the zone / area that is the intended range of the message based on the layer ID and / or zone ID. In a specific example, a first UE can transmit a message along with an intended range (e.g., configured as a zone ID and / or range information) associated with the message. A second UE can receive this message and use the zone ID and / or range information to determine whether the second UE is within a threshold range for acting on the message. In various aspects described herein, this determination can be performed at the PHY-MAC layer to reduce power consumption. If the receiving UE is within the threshold range, the second UE can enable application layer processing of the message. For example, the zone ID / range information can be provided in side link control information (SCI). Additionally, in some aspects, direction-based control (e.g., beamforming / beam steering) can be used to improve situation awareness and reduce RF congestion. It will be appreciated that when the first UE is in motion, a dynamic geofence boundary can be generated around the first UE based on range information (e.g., zone ID, etc.) associated with the message.Therefore, in addition to determining the zone / area / range, as described above, that is intended to ensure message reception, various aspects can be determined to block or permit application layer processing of messages based on range thresholds.

[0081] The various aspects disclosed include techniques for determining proximity to a geopence and invoking actions based on that proximity. Exemplary actions can be collision avoidance related actions. Other actions can include, but are not limited to, visual, audible, tactile, or other warnings or commands indicating a change in motion state. As described above, existing wireless danger warning systems require constant on - broadcast and application layer message processing, resulting in increased power consumption and additional RF congestion. The various aspects of the present disclosure create a "moving geopence" by exposing 5G NR PC5 PHY - MAC embedded control to the application layer. The various aspects of the present disclosure also reduce device power consumption by diverting the 5G NR PC5 PHY - MAC control message mechanism to enable or disable application layer message processing. For example, zone ID and / or range - based controls (e.g., sidelink control information (SCI) range and / or zone ID parameters) can be provided. Additionally, direction - based controls (e.g., beam steering to improve situation awareness and reduce RF congestion) can be provided. Power consumption reduction can be achieved for battery - powered devices by not permitting upper layer processing and message transmission. High message reliability within a configured threshold range can be achieved through the NR NACK - based reliability described above. Additionally, dynamic geopence boundaries can be generated around the PC5 device based on real - time proximity to pedestrians, cyclists, animals, etc. Further, aspects of the present disclosure using PC5 provide a larger range than other infrastructure - less vehicle communications such as DSRC or IEEE802.11p, which are also limited to broadcast operations.

[0082] According to various aspects disclosed herein, the proximity component can determine the UE-to-UE range using two control message parameters, the zone ID and / or range information. According to various aspects, the zone ID can be the current UE location based on a defined zone (as described herein), and the range can be defined either as a discrete number of zones or as an absolute distance measurement. However, the various aspects disclosed herein are not limited to these examples. These two control message parameters can also be used in the PHY-MAC to control retransmissions for high reliability. As described above, the zone ID and range information can be used at the PHY-MAC level to determine the range between UEs. This enables virtual mobile defense / dynamic defense that moves with the UE. In contrast, conventional architectures have a range / position determined at the application layer and provide a power-intensive defense. In some UE configurations, a separate application processor may need to be activated to perform application layer processing, whereas PHY-MAC layer operations can still be performed at the modem level for further power savings.

[0083] Conventionally, PHY-MAC control message parameters are not visible to the application layer. To provide various aspects of the present disclosure, as described above, an additional functional module is provided to enable or disable application layer message processing based on range and optionally direction determination (based on zone ID and range information) embedded during D2D / C-V2X communication (e.g., 5G NR PC5 communication). The terms D2D, C-V2X, and / or PC5 information as used herein may include one or more application layer messages, control messages, and / or information related to UE-to-UE range determination (e.g., zone ID, range, etc.). According to various aspects disclosed, D2D, C-V2X, and / or PC5 information may be transmitted within a message container using the unicast sidelink mechanism defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP®). Other aspects may transmit D2D, C-V2X, and / or PC5 information using other 3GPP® cast types such as broadcast or groupcast. Similarly, the term D2D, C-V2X, and / or PC5 communication may include one or more application layer messages, control messages / information related to UE-to-UE range determination (e.g., zone ID, range, etc.) transmitted over the air interface (e.g., PC5 interface). For ease of explanation, the term PC5 communication will be used in the following examples, but it should be understood that the various aspects disclosed may be generally applicable to D2D communication and devices.

[0084] In FIG. 9, an approach component 900 (which may be similar to the geopence component 170 in function) is shown. It will be appreciated that the various modules shown can communicate bidirectionally with each other and can perform different functions in the transmit mode as opposed to the receive mode. For example, in the application layer 910, an application layer-based specification of a range threshold (e.g., corresponding to a geopence dimension in terms of the number of zones, an absolute distance, etc.) can be determined in the range specification module 916. In some cases, an orientation (including two or more dimensions) can be provided to concentrate the geopence in a specific vector / direction. The range threshold can then be provided to the PHY-MAC layer 920. In the transmit mode, the range threshold can be provided to the range module 922, and then the range module 922 can use this information, which will be included during PC5 communication, to identify the range (e.g., the number of zones, along with the device's current zone ID) for which a message is intended to be received for the purpose of (e.g., defining the geopence for the device). In some cases, the orientation information from the range specification module 916 can be provided to the direction module 926, and then the direction module 926 can steer the RF signal of the PC5 communication (including the range information) in a specific direction (e.g., towards a known road). In the receive mode, in some cases, an RX range threshold can be used in the threshold detection module 924 to determine whether the received message is within the RX threshold range, which can be different from the range received in the PC5 communication. This receiver-based range setting enables an alternative range control separate from the Tx-based range control. Alternatively, the range threshold can be determined in the PHY-MAC layer 920 based on signal processing (e.g., a determined reliability threshold) in the received communication and / or based on the range included during PC5 communication from the transmitting device. In some aspects, the range (e.g., zone ID and range) in the PC5 communication that defines the geographical area intended for the message can be used to define the range threshold.However, in other aspects, the range may not be provided in PC5 communication, or the range may be replaced by a RX range threshold determined at the receiving UE. For example, the receiving UE may define a RX range threshold to specify, in some cases, the minimum range of two adjacent zones. Thus, if the range received in the PC5 communication message is less than 2, the RX range threshold may be used by the threshold detection module 924 to determine whether the range threshold is met.

[0085] Regardless of where the range threshold is specified (e.g., determined from the received message, specified in the application layer, determined in the PHY-MAC layer, etc.), the threshold detection module 924 may be configured to determine whether the UE-to-UE range / range to the transmitting UE is within the threshold range (e.g., violates the geoprivacy, proximity limit). For example, the range module 922 may determine information such as the zone ID of the transmitting UE from the received PC5 communication from the transmitting UE (e.g., in the SCI as described therein), and / or range information (e.g., the number of adjacent zones). This information may be used by the range module 922 for the receiving UE to determine whether it is within the threshold range. For example, being within the threshold range may be determined from the range threshold (e.g., the range received in the PC5 communication), the zone ID of the transmitting UE, and the zone ID of the receiving UE (e.g., the zone ID of the receiving UE is within two adjacent zones of the transmitting UE). Additionally, it will be appreciated that the threshold range value may be determined in some aspects such that if the determined range is greater than the threshold, the proximity limit is violated. Thus, the threshold range may be violated in some configurations when the UE-to-UE range is less than the threshold range value, and in other configurations, the threshold range may be violated when the UE-to-UE range is greater than the threshold range value.

[0086] In contrast to conventional systems that use GPS location in the application layer, it will be appreciated that in the various aspects disclosed herein, the UE - to - UE range can be determined at the PHY - MAC layer 920. For example, if the threshold detection module 924 determines that the UE - to - UE range is greater than the range threshold based on the geographical location (e.g., zone ID) of the receiving UE (which includes the threshold detection module 924), subsequent application layer messages may not be passed to the application layer 910. Thus, the application layer 910 module is not activated, and as described herein, power savings can be achieved. By blocking messages from the application layer 910, UE power consumption is reduced by reducing both UE upper layer processing (e.g., modules 912, 914, etc.) and unnecessary message transmissions (e.g., attempts to respond to messages). If the UE - to - UE range is not greater than the range threshold (e.g., within two adjacent zones), application layer messages can be passed to the application layer 910. For example, the application layer message can be passed to the application layer message processing module 912, and in some aspects, based on the content of the application layer message, the UE action module 914 can initiate specific actions based on these messages. Application layer message elements can be provided to specify UE actions when the receiving UE is determined to be within a threshold range (e.g., geopence, proximity limit, number of adjacent zones, and / or within an absolute distance from the transmitting UE). For example, when the UE - to - UE range is not greater than the range threshold (e.g., the receiving UE is within the geopence for the transmitting UE), the receiving UE can perform one or more actions such as starting a warning (acoustic, tactile, and / or visual), starting braking, performing other actions for steering, decelerating, and / or avoiding a collision. Examples of the various messages described herein are provided in the following paragraphs with respect to FIGS. 10 and 11.

[0087] As described above, the range threshold can be derived from the PC5 communication received from the transmitting / sending UE based on the zone ID and range information of the transmitting UE. For example, the transmitting UE can provide its zone ID and range information (e.g., one adjacent zone) to define the geographical area where a message in the PC5 communication is received and, in some cases, intended to act. Then, the receiving UE can determine the transmitting UE zone ID and range information (e.g., one adjacent zone) from the PC5 communication in the range module 922. The threshold detection module 924 can use the geographical area (e.g., the transmitting source zone ID and range information) to determine whether the current geographical location (e.g., the zone ID of the receiving UE) is below the range threshold (e.g., one adjacent zone). For example, if the receiving UE has the same zone ID or is located within one adjacent zone ID of the transmitting UE zone ID, the receiving UE is within the range threshold and, as described above, the application layer processing is enabled.

[0088] In an alternative example, as described above, the optional RX range threshold can be established at the receiving UE (e.g., from application layer 910). The transmitting UE may only provide the zone ID in PC5 communication (e.g., for some low power / constrained devices), or the provided range may be overridden by the receiving UE based on its own RX range threshold. If the receiving UE determines that the RX range threshold is one adjacent zone, the result will be the same as the example with the range information (one adjacent zone) provided in the PC5 communication from the transmitting UE. Alternatively, if the receiving UE determines that the RX range threshold is two adjacent zones and is configured to override the range received in PC5 communication, the application layer message provided in the PC5 communication from the transmitting UE will be processed in a larger UE - to - UE range (e.g., up to two adjacent zones instead of one).

[0089] The determination of the UE - to - UE range may take any of the forms described herein and it should be understood that it is not limited to this particular example of zone ID. Further, it should be understood that the zone ID and range information may represent any of a variety of configurations as described herein. For example, the zone ID may be circular with a given radius centered on the transmitting / sending UE location. Alternatively, the zone ID may be rectangular, e.g., one adjacent zone may include eight additional zones each adjacent to each side and corner of the rectangular zone defined by the transmitting UE's zone ID. Alternatively, the range may be defined as an absolute distance (e.g., 100 meters) from the geographical location of the transmitting / sending UE. Thus, the above examples are provided for illustrative purposes only and it should be understood that specific examples should not be construed as limiting the various aspects disclosed herein.

[0090] According to some additional aspects, rather than a one-dimensional range, the range information can be two-dimensional or three-dimensional as determined by the direction module 926, whereby beam steering becomes possible to concentrate the transmitted RF signal. The PHY-MAC layer 920 can in some cases be configured such that beam steering using the direction module 926 steers the RF beam energy to the most relevant location according to the situation (e.g., to a known lane, intersection, towards the transmitting UE, away from an obstacle, etc.). By concentrating the RF signal / energy in a specific direction / vector, unnecessary RF congestion and RF noise can be reduced and increased situational awareness can be provided.

[0091] Above, the functions of the component 900 have been mainly described from the perspective of reception. As described above, various modules can be used in the transmission operation. For example, the first UE is configured to transmit a message in D2D communication (e.g., C-V2X, PC5, etc.). The message can include one or more data elements regarding the geoposition of the first UE. For example, the range specification module 916 can specify the range that will be associated with the message. The range specification module 916 can also, in some cases, determine the orientation of the first UE with respect to potential receiving UEs (e.g., towards a lane, intersection, railway track, away from an obstacle, etc.). The range module 922 can identify the current geographical location of the first UE, and the current geographical location of the first UE can be converted into a zone ID, and the range received from the range specification module 916 can be included together with the zone ID to be transmitted (e.g., included in the SCI for PC5 communication). The direction module 926 can, in some cases, be used to steer the RF signal (e.g., by beamforming and / or beam steering) to concentrate the transmission energy in the direction of potential receiving UEs based on the orientation.

[0092] FIG. 10 shows data elements that can be used to extend existing application layer standard messages or can be part of new application layer messages. Application layer messages can include those defined by industry and government agencies such as the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), the European Telecommunications Standards Institute - Intelligent Transport Systems (ETSI-ITS), or others. Examples of existing application layer messages suitable for encapsulating application layer data elements (DEs) include the SAE Personal Safety Message (PSM), which is defined in the SAE standard J2735, "Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) Message Set Dictionary". For example, new application data elements regarding ProximityAlertType, GeoFenceAlert, and GeoFenceMotionInstruction can be included in the PSM according to various aspects disclosed herein. The PSM is an example of an existing application layer message defined by the SAE. Another example is the Basic Safety Message (BSM), however, it should be noted that the data elements defined herein can also be easily included in other existing SAE application layer messages. Also, it will be understood that new application data elements can alternatively be encapsulated in other messages for different standard groups (e.g., IEEE, 3GPP (registered trademark), etc.). Thus, the various aspects disclosed herein are not limited to the specific examples provided herein. According to some exemplary aspects, the ProximityAlertType data element includes various entity types including pedestrians, cyclists, animals, vehicles, etc.This data element can be used to alert a UE (e.g., a vehicle, a tag bearer, a pedestrian, etc.) about the presence of an entity within a distance threshold (e.g., a vehicle being alerted about a tag bearer, or a tag bearer being alerted about a vehicle). The GeoFenceAlert data element includes various warning or action types, such as audible alerts, tactile alerts, etc. This data element can be used for direct warning actions. The GeoFenceMotionInstruction data element can include instructions to initiate movement by a UE (e.g., a vehicle, a tag bearer, etc.) in a direction defined by an angle value (e.g., a J2735 DE_Angle value). It is understood that these messages, data elements, and actions can assist in UE - to - UE ranging and the detection of approach to a geofence, and / or can be used for various functions such as collision avoidance.

[0093] Figure 11 shows a new application layer message according to an aspect of the present disclosure. For example, new messages such as proximity alert messages, and selected elements thereof, can be provided as shown. The new message can enable both request and response dialogues between UEs (e.g., between a vehicle and a device / tag bearer). The proximity alert message can have a message part that includes source parameters and proximity alert components. The source parameter content can include, for example, identification information, static characteristics, dynamic characteristics, type: proximity alert request, and type: proximity alert response. The static characteristic identification information can include a permanent UE identifier such as a license plate number for a vehicle, a VIN number for a vehicle, an issued identification number of an alphanumeric code for a UE related to an animal, an existing number or alphanumeric code for a UE related to a pedestrian, cyclist, scooter, or other non-vehicle road user, or a number or alphanumeric code assigned to a UE specifically for proximity-based geofence detection. Other static characteristics can include vehicle type, vehicle size, color, or other descriptive attributes. The static characteristics of a cyclist, scooter, electric wheel balance board, moped, or user or other non-vehicle can include wheel size, physical size, color, number of permitted passengers, or other static attributes. The dynamic characteristics can include attributes associated with the current and permitted movement states of the UE or the device containing the UE. Vehicle dynamic characteristics can include location, speed, linear acceleration, attitude, angular velocity, where these five attributes are measured along three orthogonal axes. Additional vehicle dynamic parameters can include turning radius, stopping distance. The proximity alert components can include data elements including ProximityAlertType, GeoFenceAlert, and GeoFenceMotionInstruction according to various aspects disclosed herein. The ProximityAlertType data element includes various entity types including pedestrians, cyclists, animals, etc. This data element can be used to alert a UE (e.g., a vehicle, tag bearer) about the presence of an entity within a range threshold (e.g., a vehicle being alerted about a tag bearer, or a tag bearer being alerted about a vehicle).The GeoFenceAlert data element includes various warning or action types, such as audible alerts, tactile alerts, etc. This data element can be used for direct warning actions. The GeoFenceMotionInstruction data element may include instructions to initiate movement in a direction (e.g., by a tag bearer) defined by an angle value (e.g., J2735 DE_Angle value). It should be understood that these messages, data elements, and actions can assist in UE - to - UE ranging, detecting proximity to a geofence, and / or can be used for various functions such as collision avoidance.

[0094] FIG. 12 shows an exemplary signal flow between a first UE (UE1) 1230 (e.g., a transmitting UE) and a second UE (UE2) 1220. It should be understood that UE2 1220 and UE1 1230 can be various devices and their roles can vary in various aspects. For example, in one aspect, UE1 can be a vehicle and UE2 can be another device / tag bearer (e.g., another vehicle, pedestrian, cyclist, animal, livestock, construction equipment, agricultural equipment, etc.) according to various aspects of the present disclosure. UE2 1220 and UE1 1230 can be similar to any of the UEs disclosed herein (e.g., UE104, 152, 160, 182, 190 in FIG. 1, UE240 shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, any of UE310, 350 in FIG. 3, etc.).

[0095] At 1202, D2D information (e.g., included during PC5 communication) is transmitted from UE2 1220 to UE1 1230. In some aspects, the PC5 communication can be, or can include, an existing application layer message such as PSM that includes new data elements (see, e.g., the data elements in FIG. 10). Alternatively, the PC5 communication can consist of a new application layer message that includes new data elements (see, e.g., the data elements in FIG. 10). When the PC5 communication is received, at 1204, a determination is made as to whether UE2 1220 (the transmitting UE) is within a threshold range. As described above, this determination can be performed in the PHY-MAC and, in some aspects, can be performed without GPS assistance. If it is determined that UE2 1220 is not within the threshold range, at 1205, the PC5 communication (e.g., application layer message, data element, etc.) is not provided to the application layer. If it is determined that UE2 1220 is within the threshold range, at 1206, the PC5 communication is provided to the application layer and / or application layer processing is enabled for the received PC5 communication. At 1208, in some cases, high-reliability transmission is enabled by UE1 1230 for communication with UE2 1220. In some aspects, high-reliability transmission can include that when the transmitter and receiver are close enough, the receiver (e.g., UE1 1230) can positively NACK a known transmission that was not correctly received or can be configured to positively ACK the received transmission (as described above). At 1210, in some cases, new data elements in the received D2D information (e.g., application layer message) are acted upon by UE1 1230. For example, an alarm / warning can be activated, movement can be initiated, etc. However, it will be appreciated that in some aspects, the message may not be acted upon directly.

[0096] In another aspect, UE1 1230, which is a message receiving UE, can be a vehicle, and according to various aspects of the present disclosure, it will be understood that transmitting UE2 1220 can be a device / tag bearer (e.g., another vehicle, pedestrian, cyclist, animal, livestock, construction equipment, agricultural equipment, etc.). Additionally, the D2D information is not limited to the examples of PC5 communication and / or application layer messages used above. Thus, it will be understood that the above examples are provided for illustrative purposes only and should not be construed as limiting the various aspects disclosed herein.

[0097] FIG. 13 shows an exemplary signal flow between transmitting / sending UE2 1320 (e.g., a device / tag bearer) and message receiving UE1 1330 (e.g., a vehicle) according to an aspect of the present disclosure. It will be understood that UE1 1330 and UE2 1320 can be various devices and their roles can vary in various aspects. For example, in one aspect, UE2 1320 can be a vehicle and UE1 1330 can be another device / tag bearer (e.g., another vehicle, pedestrian, cyclist, animal, livestock, construction equipment, agricultural equipment, etc.) according to various aspects of the present disclosure. It will be understood that UE2 1320 and UE1 1330 can be similar to any of the UEs disclosed herein (e.g., UE104, 152, 160, 182, 190 in FIG. 1, UE240 shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, any of UE310, 350 in FIG. 3, etc.).

[0098] At 1302, D2D information (e.g., PC5 communication) is transmitted from UE2 1320 to the message receiving UE, UE1 1330. In some aspects, in contrast to previous examples of using existing messages, the PC5 communication can be, or can include, a new message such as a ProximityAlertRequest (see, e.g., FIG. 11). When the PC5 communication is received, at 1304, a determination is made as to whether UE2 1320 (the transmitting UE / transmitter) is within a threshold range. As described above, this determination is made in the PHY-MAC and, in some aspects, can be made without GPS assistance. If UE2 1320 is determined not to be within the threshold range, at 1305, the PC5 communication (e.g., a new message, data element, etc.) is not provided to the application layer. If UE2 1320 is determined to be within the threshold range, at 1306, the PC5 communication is provided to the application layer and / or the application layer is enabled to process the received PC5 communication. At 1308, in some cases, high-reliability transmission is enabled by UE1 1330 for communication with UE2 1320. As described above, in some aspects, high-reliability transmission can include that when the transmitter and receiver are close enough, the receiver (e.g., UE1 1330) can positively NACK known transmissions that were not received or can be configured to positively ACK received transmissions. At 1310, in some cases, the action specified in the PC5 communication (e.g., ProximityAlertRequest) is effected by UE1 1330. At 1312, the PC5 communication from UE2 1320 (e.g., ProximityAlertRequest) is responded to (e.g., ProximityAlertResponse) in a transmission from UE1 1330 back to UE2 1320. In some aspects, the ProximityAlertResponse includes an alert type, a geofence alert action, a receiver location (optionally), an entity identifier (i.e., vehicle ID number, VIN, etc.), a geofence movement command to be accepted or initiated Do may contain similar elements.

[0099] It should be understood that the D2D information is not limited to the examples of PC5 communication, ProximityAlertRequest, and / or ProximityAlertResponse used above. Therefore, the above examples are provided for illustrative purposes only, and it should be understood that specific examples should not be construed as limiting the various aspects disclosed herein.

[0100] Figure 14 shows an exemplary signal flow between a first UE, UE1 1420 (e.g., a message receiving UE) and a second UE, UE2 1430 (e.g., a transmitting UE) according to some aspects of the present disclosure. For example, in one aspect, UE1 1420 can be a vehicle, and UE2 1430 can be another device / tag bearer (e.g., another vehicle, pedestrian, cyclist, animal, livestock, construction equipment, agricultural equipment, etc.) according to various aspects of the present disclosure. It should be understood that UE1 1420 and UE2 1430 can be similar to any of the UEs disclosed herein (e.g., UE104, 152, 160, 182, 190 in FIG. 1, UE240 shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, any of UE310, 350 in FIG. 3, etc.).

[0101] At 1401, the transmitting UE2 1430 can, in some cases, at 1402, steer the transmitted RF signal towards UE1420 as part of the transmission of D2D messages / information (e.g., PC5 communication such as those described above) from UE2 1430 to UE1 1420. It should be understood that beamforming and / or beam steering can be used to direct the transmitted RF signal / RF transmission power towards the approximate location / direction of UE1 1420. For example, even if UE2 1430 does not know the specific location of UE1 1420 (or even if UE1 1420 is present), it may be possible to direct the transmitted RF signal towards a location or direction where a UE may be present (e.g., a road, intersection, bicycle path, hiking trail, railway, etc.). It should be understood that optional RF steering modes can, among other benefits, reduce RF / channel congestion, improve transmission reliability, and reduce power consumption. For example, if UE2 1430 is a pedestrian in an urban environment, the initial beam steering can be based on the direction and / or orientation of the pedestrian's movement, as well as any roads or intersections in the direction and / or orientation of the pedestrian's movement. The transmitted RF signal / RF transmission power is not directed towards adjacent buildings, behind the pedestrian, etc., in order to reduce the power consumed by the device and improve reliable transmission by reducing the RF noise floor, thereby improving the performance of the transmitting device and other devices in the wireless communication network. Similarly, if UE2 1430 is a tagged animal in a rural environment, the initial beam steering can be directed towards known roads, intersections, hiking trails, etc., based on the direction and / or orientation of the tagged animal's movement. The transmitted RF signal / RF transmission power is not directed towards the offload area, thereby reducing the power consumed by the device.

[0102] Regardless of the transmission technique, when PC5 communication is received, at 1404, a determination is made as to whether UE1 1420 is within a threshold range. As described above, this determination can be performed in the PHY-MAC and, in some aspects, can be performed without GPS assistance. Additionally, in some aspects, UE1 can be determined to be within the threshold range because, as described above, the determination is based on the UE-to-UE range / distance between UE1 and UE2. If UE1 1420 is determined not to be within the threshold range, at 1405, the PC5 communication (e.g., an application layer message) is not provided to the application layer. If UE1 1420 is determined to be within the threshold range, at 1406, the PC5 communication is provided to the application layer and, in some aspects, application layer processing is enabled to process the received PC5 communication. Optionally, at 1408, as described in the above disclosure, high-reliability transmission is enabled at UE1 1420 for communication with UE2 1430. At 1410, optionally, an action specified in the PC5 communication (e.g., an application layer message, ProximityAlertRequest, etc.) is effected by UE1 1420. At 1411, optionally, UE1 1420 can steer an RF signal towards UE2 1430 when responding to a D2D message / information received from UE2 1430 (e.g., PC5 communication such as that described above). For example, D2D / PC5 communication from UE2 1430 (e.g., an application layer message, ProximityAlertRequest, etc.) can be responded to (e.g., ProximityAlertResponse) in a transmission from UE1 1420 back to UE2 1430 at 1412 and can include a request.

[0103] In other aspects, it will be appreciated that the message receiving UE, UE1 1420, can be another device / tag bearer (e.g., another vehicle, pedestrian, cyclist, animal, livestock, construction equipment, agricultural equipment, etc.) according to various aspects of the present disclosure. Additionally, while the beamforming / beam steering aspects described above can be used in some configurations, they may not be used in other configurations. For example, the RF signal / beam steering of 1401 of D2D information transmission 1402 can be used regardless of whether there is a response to the D2D information and / or an RF signal / beam steering (e.g., 1411) used in the response. Similarly, in some aspects, the RF signal / beam steering 1411 of the response to the D2D information can be used regardless of whether the RF signal / beam steering was used in the transmission of the D2D information. Thus, it will be appreciated that the above examples are provided for illustrative purposes only and should not be construed as limiting the various aspects disclosed herein.

[0104] From the above, it will be appreciated that the various aspects described and disclosed herein include a method for determining proximity to a geofence and, in some cases, invoking proximity-based actions for various applications such as collision avoidance. FIG. 15 shows a flowchart of a method 1500 according to at least one aspect of the present disclosure. The method 1500 may be performed by a first UE (such as any of the UEs disclosed herein (e.g., UE 104, 152, 160, 182, 190 in FIG. 1, UE 240 shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, UE 310, 350 in FIG. 3, etc.)). In block 1502, the first UE (e.g., a vehicle, tag bearer, pedestrian, etc.) receives device-to-device (D2D) information from a second UE (e.g., a vehicle, tag bearer, pedestrian, etc.). In block 1504, the first UE can determine whether the first UE is within a threshold range from the second UE based on the D2D information (e.g., as described above, this can be performed at the PHY-MAC layer). In block 1506, if the first UE is within the threshold range (i.e., "Yes" in the flowchart), the first UE can enable application layer processing of a message in the D2D information (e.g., this can include a new data element contained in an existing application layer message (e.g., SAE PSM) or a new message as described above). In block 1516, if the first UE is not within the threshold range (i.e., the "No" path in the flowchart), the first UE can block the message from the application layer (e.g., at the PHY-MAC as described above). As described above, this can enable significant power savings as the application layer processor and / or processing functions are not initialized. In block 1508, if the first UE is within the threshold range, the first UE can, in some cases, enable high-reliability transmission.For example, as described above, feedback may be sent back from the receiving UE (the first UE) to improve reliability. For example, if the first UE does not correctly receive D2D information (e.g., PC5 communication), the first UE may send a NACK (e.g., via PC5 communication) indicating to the second UE that there was an error when receiving the message. In response to the NACK, the second UE may retransmit the message. Additionally, beamforming and / or beam steering may also be used, as described above, to steer the RF signal / beam towards the second UE. In block 1510, the first UE may, in some cases, perform one or more actions at the first UE based on one or more data elements of the message (e.g., an alert, movement, etc., as described above). From the disclosure herein, other methods and variations of the methods may be recognized, and it will be understood that each detailed flowchart and / or description is not provided. For example, in various aspects, a response to the received D2D information may be sent from the first UE to the second UE. The response sent may, in some cases, use beamforming / beam steering to more accurately direct the RF transmission towards the second UE, as described herein. Accordingly, the various aspects of the present disclosure should not be construed as being limited to the exemplary examples provided.

[0105] From the above, it will be appreciated that the various aspects described and disclosed herein may include application layer messages (e.g., personal safety messages) that may include new data elements described herein (e.g., see FIG. 10), and / or methods for transmitting new messages (e.g., see FIG. 11) regarding the geofence of a transmitting UE. FIG. 16A shows a flowchart of method 1610. Method 1610 for wireless communication is executed at a first user equipment (UE) 1601. At block 1602, the first UE receives device-to-device (D2D) communication from a second UE that includes an application layer message (either an existing message such as a PSM or a new message) that includes one or more data elements regarding the geofence for the second UE. In various other aspects, the application layer message (either an existing message such as a PSM or a new message) may be included as a message included in D2D information that includes range information in order to enable determination of geofence and geofence violations, as detailed above. Similarly, the first UE and the second UE may be any of the various UEs disclosed herein. Thus, from the disclosure herein, other methods and variations of the methods may be recognized, and it will be appreciated that each detailed flowchart and / or description is not provided. Accordingly, the various aspects of the present disclosure should not be construed as being limited to the exemplary examples provided.

[0106] FIG. 16B shows a flowchart of method 1620. Method 1620 for wireless communication is executed in a user equipment (UE) 1621. At block 1622, the UE transmits device-to-device (D2D) communication, where the D2D communication includes an application layer message (e.g., either an existing message such as a PSM with a new data element or a new message), and the application layer message includes one or more data elements regarding the geoprivacy for the UE. The method may optionally include, at 1624, determining the orientation of the UE with respect to a potential receiving UE. The orientation / direction towards one or more potential receiving UEs (e.g., towards a road, away from an obstacle, as described above) will be understood. The term potential receiving UE is used because the transmitting UE may not know whether there is any UE within the transmission range where it can receive the transmission. The method may also optionally include, at 1626, steering the transmitted RF signal in the direction of the potential receiving UE based on the orientation. As described above, steering the RF signal may be performed by beamforming and / or beam steering to concentrate the RF signal / transmission power, thereby, among other benefits, reducing energy consumption, improving situational awareness, and reducing RF congestion, as described herein.

[0107] In various other aspects, the UE can determine the geographical location of the UE (e.g., zone ID, area ID, etc.) and the range for geoprivacy, and the geographical location of the UE and the range for geoprivacy can be used for D2D information, geoprivacy, and determination of geoprivacy violations, as detailed above. Similarly, the UE and the potential receiving UE can be any of the various UEs disclosed herein. Thus, from the disclosure herein, other methods and variations of the methods can be recognized, and it will be understood that each detailed flowchart and / or description is not provided. Therefore, the various aspects of the present disclosure should not be construed as being limited to the exemplary examples provided.

[0108] The functions of the various devices, components, methods, etc. disclosed in this specification can be implemented in various ways that are not inconsistent with the teachings of this specification. In some designs, the functions of these modules can be implemented as one or more electrical components. In some designs, the functions of these blocks can be implemented as a processing system that includes one or more processor components. In some designs, the functions of these modules can be implemented using, for example, at least a portion of one or more integrated circuits (e.g., ASICs). As described in this specification, an integrated circuit can include a processor, software, other related components, or some combination thereof. Thus, the functions of different modules can be implemented, for example, as different subsets of an integrated circuit, as different subsets of a set of software modules, or as a combination thereof. Also, it will be understood that a given subset (e.g., of an integrated circuit and / or of a set of software modules) can provide at least a portion of the functions for two or more modules.

[0109] Figure 17 shows an exemplary proximity-based geofencing device 1700 (which may be similar to geofencing component 170 and / or component 900) for implementing various aspects of the present disclosure, which are represented as a series of interrelated functional modules. Device 1700 may correspond to any of the UEs disclosed herein (e.g., UE 104, 152, 160, 182, 190 in FIG. 1, UE 240 shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, any of UE 310, 350 in FIG. 3, etc.). In the illustrated example, module 1702 for receiving D2D information (e.g., PC5 communication) from a second user equipment (UE) may correspond, at least in some aspects, to a communication device (e.g., transceiver 804 and / or a processing system, e.g., processor 810) as described herein. Based on the D2D information, module 1704 for determining whether a first UE is within a threshold range (the inter-UE range between the first UE and the second UE as described above) may correspond, at least in some aspects, to a communication device (e.g., transceiver 804, and / or a processing system, e.g., processor 810), and in some aspects, may be a function of the PHY-MAC layer of a modem processor (including functions such as range module 922 and / or threshold detection module 924 as described herein). When the first UE is within the threshold range, module 1706 for enabling application layer processing of one or more data elements of the received D2D information may correspond, at least in some aspects, to a processing device (e.g., processor 810) as described herein, and in some aspects, may correspond to an application layer processor that executes processing in the application layer (e.g., 910).When the first UE is not within the threshold range, the module 1707 for blocking messages from the application layer may, in at least some aspects, correspond to a communication device (e.g., transceiver 804 and / or a processing system, e.g., processor 810), and in some aspects, may be the functions of the PHY-MAC layer of the modem processor (e.g., threshold detection module 924) as described herein. When the first UE is within the threshold range from the second UE, any module 1708 for enabling high-reliability transmission may, in at least some aspects, correspond to a communication device (e.g., transceiver 804 and / or a processing system, e.g., processor 810). Another optional module 1710 for performing one or more actions at the first UE based on one or more data elements in the message may be, for example, a processing system (e.g., processor 810) or, as described herein, an application processor configured to perform functions in the application layer (e.g., 910, 914). Another optional module 1711 for steering the RF signal of the transmission may, in at least some aspects, correspond to a communication device (e.g., transceiver 804 and / or a processing system, e.g., processor 810), and in some aspects, may be the functions of the PHY-MAC layer of the modem processor (e.g., direction module 926) and / or beamforming functions as described herein. Depending on the configuration, it will be appreciated that module 1711 may be used to steer the RF signal in the intended direction in an initial (outgoing) transmission and / or to steer the RF signal towards the transmitting UE when responding to a transmission from the transmitting UE, as described herein.

[0110] In addition, the modules, components and / or functions represented by FIGS. 9 and 17, as well as other modules, components and / or functions described herein, can be implemented using any suitable means. Such means can also be implemented, at least in part, using corresponding structures as taught herein. For example, the components described above with respect to "module for" can also correspond to the "means for" function specified in the same way. Thus, in some aspects, one or more of such means can be implemented using one or more processors, memories, integrated circuits, or other suitable structures as taught herein, including as algorithms. In the present disclosure, those skilled in the art will recognize that an algorithm can be represented in the functions, actions, etc. described above, as well as in a sequence of actions that can be represented by pseudocode. For example, the components, modules, and / or functions represented by FIGS. 9 and 17 can include code for performing the functions, aspects, and actions disclosed herein.

[0111] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that information and signals can be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips, which may be referred to throughout the above description, may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, optical fields or optical particles, or any combination thereof.

[0112] Furthermore, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the various exemplary logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various exemplary components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Those skilled in the art may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0113] The various exemplary logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or executed using a general purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, an FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gates or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0114] The methods, sequences and / or algorithms described in connection with the aspects disclosed in this specification may be embodied directly in hardware, in software modules executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. The software modules may reside in random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read only memory (ROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), registers, hard disk, a removable disk, CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. Alternatively, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a UE. Alternatively, the processor and the storage medium may reside in the UE as discrete components.

[0115] In one or more exemplary embodiments, the described functions may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted via a computer-readable medium as one or more instructions or code. The computer-readable medium includes both a computer storage medium and a communication medium including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. The storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable medium can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. As used herein, "disk" and "disc" include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, and Blu-ray disc, where "disk" typically magnetically reproduces data and "disc" optically reproduces data using lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0116] Note that the above disclosure illustrates exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, and it should be noted that various changes and modifications can be made herein without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims. The functions, steps, and / or actions of the method claims according to the embodiments of the present disclosure described herein need not be performed in any particular order. Further, although elements of the present disclosure may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless expressly stated to be limited to the singular.

Description of Reference Numerals

[0117] 100 Exemplary wireless communication system, wireless communication system 102 Base station, macrocell base station 102' Small cell base station 104 UE, P-UE 110 Geographic coverage area, coverage area 110' Coverage area 120, 154 Communication link 134 Backhaul link 150 WLAN access point (AP), WLAN AP 152 Wireless local area network (WLAN) station (STA), UE 160 V-UE, UE 162 Wireless side link, side link, wireless unicast side link, unicast side link 164 Roadside access point 166, 168 Side link, wireless side link 170 Geofence component, component 180 mmW base station 182, 190, 240, 408 UE 184 Beamforming 192, 194 D2D P2P link 200, 250 Exemplary wireless network structure 210 Next Generation Core (NGC), NGC 212 User plane function 213 User plane interface (NG-U), NG-U 214 Control plane function 215 Control plane interface (NG-C), NG-C 220 New RAN 222 gNB 223 Backhaul connection 224 eNB 230 Location Management Function (LMF), LMF 242 Wireless unicast side link, wireless side link 260 evolved packet core (EPC), EPC 262 Packet data network gateway / serving gateway (P / SGW), P / SGW 263 S1 user plane interface (S1-U), S1-U 264 Mobility management entity (MME), MME 265 S1 control plane interface (S1-MME), S1-MME 270 Location server 310 First wireless communication device, device, receiving device, transmitting device, UE 316 Transmit (TX) processor, TX processor 318TX, 354TX Transmitter 320, 352 Antenna 350 Second wireless communication device, device, receiving device, transmitting device, UE 354RX, 318RX Receiver 356, 370 Receive (RX) processor, RX processor 358, 374 Channel estimator 359, 375 Controller / processor 360, 376 Memory 368 TX processor 391, 393 Message component 392, 394 Decision component 400 Communication 401 Range / area, intended area, intended geographical area 402 UE, transmitting UE, transmitting device 404, 406 UE, receiver 414, 511, 525 Message 416, 420 NACK 500 Exemplary communication flow 502 Transmitting device 504 Receiving device 600, 700 Example 602, 608, 702, 708, 910 Application layer 604, 610 Layer 3 for D2D communication, e.g., V2X layer, layer 606 Access stratum (AS) layer, AS layer 612, 712 AS layer, AS 614, 714 SCI 616, 716 Data 704 Layer 3 for D2D communication, e.g., V2X layer 706 AS layer 710 Layer 800 Exemplary UE, UE 802 Antenna 804 Transceiver 806 Satellite positioning service (SPS) receiver, SPS receiver 808 Sensor 810 Processor 814 Memory 850 User interface 852 Microphone / speaker 854 Keypad 856 Display 900 Proximity component, component 912 Module, application layer message processing module 914 Module, UE action module 916 Range specification module 920 PHY-MAC layer 922 Range module 924 Threshold detection module 926 Direction module 1220 Second UE (UE2), UE2, transmitting UE2 1230 First UE (UE1), UE1 1320 Transmitting / sending UE2, UE2 1330 Message receiving UE1, UE1 1420 UE1, UE 1430 UE2 1601 First user equipment (UE) 1621 User Equipment (UE) 1700 Geofence Device, Device 1702, 1704, 1706, 1707 Module 1708 Any Module 1710 Another Arbitrary Module 1711 Another Arbitrary Module, Module

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication in a first user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving device-to-device (D2D) communication from a second user equipment (UE) that includes an application layer message, the application layer message including one or more data elements related to a geopreference for the second UE; determining, based on the D2D communication, whether the first UE is within the geopreference of the second UE; enabling application layer processing of the application layer message if the first UE is within the geopreference of the second UE; and A method comprising the steps of.

2. enabling high-reliability transmission in the first UE if the first UE is within the geopreference of the second UE The method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of.

3. performing one or more actions in the first UE based on the one or more data elements of the application layer message The method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the one or more data elements are encapsulated in the application layer message.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the application layer message is a Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) application layer message that includes at least one of a basic safety message (BSM) or a personal safety message (PSM).

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the encapsulated one or more data elements include at least one of a ProximityAlertType data element, a GeoFenceAlert data element, or a GeoFenceMotionInstruction data element.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the application layer message is a proximity alert message.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the proximity alert message enables both request and response dialogues between the first UE and the second UE.

9. The method according to claim 7, wherein the proximity alert message includes source parameters and proximity alert components.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the source parameters include at least one of identification information, static characteristics, dynamic characteristics, type: proximity alert request, or type: proximity alert response.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the proximity alert components include data elements including at least one of a ProximityAlertType data element, a GeoFenceAlert data element, and a GeoFenceMotionInstruction data element.

12. The ProximityAlertType data element includes an entity type including a pedestrian, a cyclist, an animal, a vehicle, or other things, the GeoFenceAlert data element includes a warning or action including an audible alert, a tactile alert, or other alerts, and the GeoFenceMotionInstruction data element includes an instruction to start moving. The method according to claim 6 or 11.

13. The method according to claim 1, wherein the application layer message includes a response request.

14. When the first UE is within the geopresence, sending a response to the second UE The method according to claim 13, further comprising: **Claim 15** A first user equipment (UE), comprising: a transceiver; a memory and at least one processor coupled to the transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to cooperate with the transceiver to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 14.

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