Terminal device and method

Abstract

An exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure relates to a solution for resource allocation configuration for sidelink reference signals, in which a first communication device acquires a resource allocation configuration for sidelink reference signals, the resource allocation configuration including: a first resource allocation configuration indicating a resource pool set including multiple resource pools for sidelink communication and a time-frequency location within the resource pool set; or a second resource allocation configuration indicating a number of resource units of a predetermined bandwidth selected from a dedicated resource pool for sidelink reference signal communication. The first communication device determines resources to be allocated for sidelink reference signals based on the resource allocation configuration, and performs sidelink reference signal communication with at least one second communication device using the determined resources.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to the field of communication technologies, and more particularly, to methods, apparatuses, and media for resource allocation configuration for sidelink reference signals (SL-RS).

Background Art

[0002] A sidelink (SL) refers to a communication mode in which a direct link is established between communication devices such as terminal devices, and data and information are directly exchanged between the terminal devices without going through a network device. In sidelink communication, sidelink reference signals (SL-RS) may be exchanged between communication devices for many applications. For example, a communication device (e.g., a terminal device) may be configured to determine its own position and / or the position of other communication devices based on SL-RS (e.g., positioning reference signals (PRS)) exchanged with other communication devices. Generally, resource allocation may be configured for SL-RS communication.

Summary of the Invention

Means for Solving the Problems

[0003] Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method, an apparatus, and a computer storage medium for resource allocation configuration for sidelink reference signals.

[0004] In a first embodiment, a communication method is provided, the method comprising: obtaining a resource allocation setting for a sidelink reference signal in a first communication device, the resource allocation setting including a first resource allocation setting indicating a set of resource pools including a plurality of resource pools for sidelink communication and time-frequency positions within the set of resource pools, or a second resource allocation setting indicating a number of resource units of a predetermined bandwidth selected from a dedicated resource pool for sidelink reference signal communication; determining resources to be allocated for the sidelink reference signal based on the resource allocation setting; and performing sidelink reference signal communication with at least one second communication device using the determined resources.

[0005] In a second embodiment, a communication device is provided. The communication device comprises a processing unit and a memory coupled to the processing unit, which stores instructions, and when the instructions are executed by the processing unit, causes the device to execute the method according to the first embodiment.

[0006] In a third aspect, a computer-readable medium is provided, which, when executed on at least one processor, stores instructions in at least one processor that implement the method according to the first aspect.

[0007] Other features of this disclosure should be easily understood through the following description. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0008] The above-mentioned and other objectives, features and advantages of this disclosure will be further clarified by describing in more detail some exemplary embodiments of this disclosure in the accompanying drawings.

[0009] [Figure 1] This figure shows an exemplary communication environment in which exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented.

[0010] [Figure 2]This figure shows a flowchart of the process for resource allocation for sidelink reference signals according to some embodiments of this disclosure.

[0011] [Figure 3A] This is a schematic diagram illustrating some examples of resource allocation settings for SL-RS according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 3B] This is a schematic diagram illustrating some examples of resource allocation settings for SL-RS according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0012] [Figure 4A] This is a schematic diagram illustrating some examples of resource allocation settings for SL-RS according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 4B] This is a schematic diagram illustrating some examples of resource allocation settings for SL-RS according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0013] [Figure 5A] This is a schematic diagram illustrating some examples of resource allocation settings for SL-RS according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 5B] This is a schematic diagram illustrating some examples of resource allocation settings for SL-RS according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 5C] This is a schematic diagram illustrating some examples of resource allocation settings for SL-RS according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 5D] This is a schematic diagram illustrating some examples of resource allocation settings for SL-RS according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0014] [Figure 6A] This is a schematic diagram illustrating some examples of resource allocation settings and control information for SL-RS according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 6B] This is a schematic diagram illustrating some examples of resource allocation settings and control information for SL-RS according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0015] [Figure 7A] A schematic diagram showing some examples of resource allocation settings and control information for SL-RS according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 7B] A schematic diagram showing some examples of resource allocation settings and control information for SL-RS according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 7C] A schematic diagram showing some examples of resource allocation settings and control information for SL-RS according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 7D] A schematic diagram showing some examples of resource allocation settings and control information for SL-RS according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 7E] A schematic diagram showing some examples of resource allocation settings and control information for SL-RS according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0016] [Figure 8A] A schematic diagram showing some examples of resource allocation settings for SL-RS according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 8B] A schematic diagram showing some examples of resource allocation settings for SL-RS according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0017] [Figure 9] A schematic diagram showing an example of resource allocation settings for SL-RS according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0018] [Figure 10A] A schematic diagram showing some examples of resource allocation settings for SL-RS according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 10B] A schematic diagram showing some examples of resource allocation settings for SL-RS according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 10C]This is a schematic diagram illustrating some examples of resource allocation settings for SL-RS according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 10D] This is a schematic diagram illustrating some examples of resource allocation settings for SL-RS according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0019] [Figure 11A] This is a schematic diagram illustrating some examples of resource allocation settings for SL-RS according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 11B] This is a schematic diagram illustrating some examples of resource allocation settings for SL-RS according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0020] [Figure 12] This is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus suitable for implementing an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0021] Throughout the entire drawing, identical or similar reference numbers represent identical or similar elements. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0022] The principles of this disclosure will be described with reference to several embodiments. These embodiments are described solely for illustrative purposes and should be helpful to those skilled in the art in understanding and implementing this disclosure, and should not be considered to imply any limitation on the scope of this disclosure. The disclosure described herein can be implemented in various other ways than those described below.

[0023] In the following description and claims, unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used have the same meaning as those commonly understood by those skilled in the art to which this disclosure pertains.

[0024] In this disclosure, the term "terminal device" refers to any device having wireless or wired communication capabilities. Examples of terminal devices include user equipment (UE), personal computers, desktops, mobile phones, cellular phones, smartphones, personal digital assistants (PDA), portable computers, tablets, wearable devices, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, Ultra-reliable and Low Latency Communication (URLLC) devices, Internet of Everything (IoE) devices, machine-type communication (MTC) devices, in-vehicle devices for V2X communication where X represents a pedestrian, vehicle, or infrastructure / network, devices for Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB), spacecraft or aircraft in non-terrestrial networks (NTN) including satellites and high-altitude platforms (HAP), Augmented Reality (AR), Mixed Reality (MR) This includes, but is not limited to, extended reality (XR) devices that encompass different types of reality such as reality, virtual reality (VR), unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as drones (i.e., aircraft without human pilots), equipment on high-speed trains (HST), or image capture devices such as digital cameras, sensors, and game consoles, music storage and playback devices, and internet appliances that enable wireless or wired internet access and browsing.The “terminal device” may further have “multicast / broadcast” functionality and can support public safety and mission-critical, V2X applications, transparent IPv4 / IPv6 multicast delivery, IPTV, smart TV, wireless services, wireless software delivery, group communications, and IoT applications. It may also incorporate one or more subscriber identity modules (SIMs) referred to as multi-SIMs. The term “terminal device” may be used interchangeably with UE, mobile station, subscriber station, mobile terminal, user terminal, or wireless device.

[0025] The term "network device" refers to a device capable of providing or hosting a cell or coverage from which terminal devices can communicate. Examples of network devices include, but are not limited to, Node B (NodeB or NB), evolved Node B (eNodeB or eNB), next generation Node B (gNB), transmission reception point (TRP), remote radio unit (RRU), radio head (RH), remote radio head (RRH), low-power nodes such as IAB nodes, femtonodes, and piconodes, and reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS).

[0026] Terminal devices or network devices may have artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning capabilities. Typically, these include models trained from a large amount of collected data for a specific function and can be used to predict some kind of information.

[0027] Terminal or network devices may operate in multiple frequency ranges, such as FR1 (410 MHz to 7125 MHz), FR2 (24.25 GHz to 71 GHz), frequency bands greater than 100 GHz, and terahertz (THz). Furthermore, they can operate in licensed / unlicensed / shared spectrum. Terminal devices may have multiple connections to network devices in multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC) application scenarios. Terminal or network devices can operate in full-duplex, flexible-duplex, and cross-division-duplex modes.

[0028] Embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in test equipment such as signal generators, signal analyzers, spectrum analyzers, network analyzers, test terminal devices, test network devices, and channel emulators. In some embodiments, the terminal device may be connected to a first network device and a second network device. One of the first and second network devices may be a master node and the other a secondary node. The first and second network devices may use different radio access technologies (RATs). In some embodiments, the first network device may be a first RAT device, and the second network device may be a second RAT device. In some embodiments, the first RAT device is an eNB, and the second RAT device is a gNB. Information regarding different RATs may be transmitted to the terminal device from at least one of the first and second network devices. In some embodiments, the first information may be transmitted from the first network device to the terminal device, and the second information may be transmitted from the second network device to the terminal device directly or via the first network device. In some embodiments, information regarding the configuration of a terminal device set by the second network device may be transmitted from the second network device via the first network device. Information regarding the reconfiguration of a terminal device set by the second network device may be transmitted from the second network device directly to the terminal device or via the first network device.

[0029] In this disclosure, unless otherwise specified in the text, the singular forms of “a,” “the said,” and “the said” are also plural. The term “including” and its variations are interpreted as an open term meaning “including but not limited to.” The term “based on” is interpreted as “based at least partially on.” The terms “one embodiment” and “embodiment” are interpreted as “at least one embodiment.” The term “another embodiment” is interpreted as “at least one other embodiment.” Terms such as “first,” “second,” etc., may refer to different or the same subject. The following content may include other explicit and implicit definitions.

[0030] In some examples, values, procedures, or devices are referred to as “optimal,” “lowest,” “highest,” “minimum,” “maximum,” etc. It is understood that such descriptions are intended to indicate that a choice is available from among several functional alternatives, and that such a choice does not necessarily have to be better, smaller, higher, or more preferable than the others.

[0031] In this specification, the terms “resource,” “transmitting resource,” “uplink resource,” or “downlink resource” may refer to any resource for performing communication, such as a time-domain resource, a frequency-domain resource, a space-domain resource, a code-domain resource, or any other resource that enables communication. Hereafter, unless otherwise specified, both frequency-domain and time-domain resources will be used as examples of transmitting resources to describe some exemplary embodiments of this disclosure. It should be noted that the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure are equally applicable to other resources in other domains.

[0032] Embodiments of this disclosure provide a solution for resource allocation for sidelink reference signals.

[0033] The principles and embodiments of this disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

[0034] Examples of communication networks Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary communication environment 100 in which an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure can be implemented.

[0035] The communication environment 100 includes multiple communication devices 110-1, 110-2, 110-3, 110-4, and 120. In Figure 1, communication devices 110-1, 110-2, 110-3, and 110-4 (collectively or individually referred to as communication device 110) are shown as terminal devices. Communication device 120 is shown as a network device that provides a serving area 102 called a cell.

[0036] Please note that the number of devices and their connections shown in Figure 1 are for illustrative purposes only and do not limit this disclosure. The communication environment 100 may include any appropriate number of network devices and / or terminal devices adapted to implement embodiments of this disclosure.

[0037] Communication in communication environment 100 includes, but is not limited to, GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE-Evolution, LTE-A (LTE-Advanced), NR (New Radio), WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), GERAN (GSM EDGE Radio Access Network), MTC (Machine Type Communication), and any other suitable standard. Embodiments of this disclosure may be implemented in accordance with any generation of communication protocol that is currently known or will be developed in the future. Examples of communication protocols include, but are not limited to, first generation (1G), second generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G), 4.5G, fifth generation (5G) communication protocols, 5.5G, 5G-Advanced networks, or sixth generation (6G) networks.

[0038] In some embodiments, communication devices 110 and 120 may communicate with each other via a channel such as a wireless communication channel on an air interface (e.g., a Uu interface). A communication device 110 that can communicate with communication device 120 may be within the serving area 102 of communication device 120. In the example illustrated in Figure 1, communication devices 110-1 and 110-2 can communicate with communication device 120. Wireless communication channels may include physical uplink control channels (PUCCH), physical uplink shared channels (PUSCH), physical random access channels (PRACH), physical downlink control channels (PDCCH), physical downlink shared channels (PDSCH), and physical broadcast channels (PBCH). Of course, any other suitable channels are also available. In a specific example of the communication environment 100, the link from communication device 110 to communication device 120 is referred to as an uplink, and the link from communication device 120 to communication device 110 is referred to as a downlink.

[0039] In some embodiments, the communication devices 110 may communicate with each other via a sidelink (SL) connection. A sidelink is a communication mode that allows direct communication between two or more terminal devices without communication through a network device. SL communication may be performed using a wireless interface (such as a PC5 interface). SL communication may be unicast, groupcast, or broadcast, and may be used for device-to-device (D2D) communication, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, emergency rescue applications, etc.

[0040] Depending on whether they are covered within the serving area of ​​a network device, SL communication scenarios include in-coverage, partial coverage, and out-of-coverage (OOC). For example, in the example in Figure 1, as SL communication between communication devices, the SL communication between communication device 110-1 and communication device 110-2 is in the coverage of communication device 120, while the SL communication between communication device 110-3 and communication device 110-4 is out of coverage. Partial coverage can involve scenarios where communication device 110 is within the network coverage area, but other communication devices are outside the network coverage area. For example, in Figure 1, the SL communication between communication device 110-1 and one of communication devices 110-2, and between communication device 110-3 and one of communication devices 110-4, may be partial coverage.

[0041] In some cases, the network device facilitates the scheduling of resources for SL communication. In other cases, SL communication is performed between communication devices 110 without going through the network device (e.g., communication device 120).

[0042] An SL resource allocation scheme may be applied to allocate resources within the SL resource pool for SL communication. There can be two SL resource allocation schemes. In the first SL resource allocation scheme (referred to as Mode 1 for SL resource allocation), the network device may schedule SL resources via a communication interface with the communication device 110. Resource allocation includes dynamic grants based on downlink control information (DCI) or configured grants (e.g., Type 1 or Type 2 configured grants). In the second SL resource allocation scheme (referred to as Mode 2 for SL resource allocation), resources for SL communication may be autonomously selected by the communication device 110 based on a contention scheme.

[0043] In SL communication, reference signals transmitted over a sidelink may be called sidelink reference signals (SL-RS). SL-RS may be exchanged between communication devices for many applications. For example, a communication device (e.g., a user device (UE)) may be configured to determine its own position and / or the position of other communication devices based on SL-RS (e.g., positioning reference signals (PRS)) exchanged with other communication devices. In addition to positioning, SL-RS may be communicated to enable the determination of the sidelink channel state, the communication scheme, and / or other purposes. In addition to SL-PRS, SL-RS may also include, for example, channel status information reference signals (CSI RS), sounding reference signals (SRS), or other reference signals that need to be transmitted in SL communication.

[0044] The reference signal is typically recognized by both the transmitter (TX) and receiver (RX) communication devices. In SL communication, resources may be allocated for the TX communication device to transmit the SL-RS and for the RX communication device to detect the SL-RS.

[0045] SL communication may be performed using resources from a configured SL resource pool. Resource allocation settings for SL-RS are important considering the unitization and discovery accuracy of SL-RS resources.

[0046] Operating principle and process example Exemplary embodiments of this disclosure provide a solution for resource allocation settings for SL-RS. In this solution, the resources allocated for SL-RS are determined based on a resource allocation setting that indicates a set of resource pools, which include multiple resource pools for sidelink communication, and a time-frequency position within the set of resource pools. Alternatively, the resources allocated for SL-RS are determined based on a resource allocation setting that indicates a number of resource units selected from a dedicated resource pool for sidelink reference signal communication, where each resource unit is a predetermined bandwidth. A communication device determines the resources to be allocated based on the resource allocation setting and uses the determined resources to perform SL-RS communication with at least one other communication device.

[0047] This solution allows for the establishment of a dedicated resource pool for SL resource pools and / or SL-RS, facilitating resource allocation for SL-RS transmission. The resource pool set or dedicated resource pool can also be configured to support broadband SL-RS transmission in various SL communication scenarios.

[0048] The principles and embodiments of this disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

[0049] Refer to Figure 2. Figure 2 shows a flowchart of process 200 for resource allocation for sidelink reference signals according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. For illustrative purposes, process 200 will be described with reference to Figure 1. Process 200 can be implemented in any of the communication devices 110 in Figure 1.

[0050] In block 210, the communication device 110 obtains resource allocation settings for SL-RS.

[0051] In process 200, the communication device 110 (sometimes referred to herein as the "first communication device") may be any communication device having an SL connection with one or more other communication devices 110 (sometimes referred to herein as the "second communication device").

[0052] In some embodiments, the communication device 110 may receive information from a network device, such as the communication device 120 in the example of Figure 1, indicating some or all of the resource allocation settings for SL-RS. That is, the network device is configured to schedule resources for SL-RS transmission (e.g., mode 1 for resource allocation). In some embodiments, the communication device 110 may receive information from the communication device 120 indicating some or all of the resource allocation settings and transmit that information to one or more other communication devices 110 that are configured to receive or transmit SL-RS.

[0053] In some embodiments, the communication device 110 may determine a resource allocation setting for SL-RS (e.g., mode 2 for resource allocation) or may be configured to have a resource allocation setting for SL-RS (e.g., mode 2 for resource allocation). The communication device 110 may transmit information indicating some or all of the resource allocation setting to one or more other communication devices 110 configured to receive or transmit SL-RS. In some embodiments, the communication device 110 may receive such information from one or more communication devices 110 via an SL connection.

[0054] For example, in sidelink positioning, SL-PRS is communicated between the target device being positioned and at least one anchor device according to different PRS-based positioning techniques. The anchor device may include any device that supports the positioning of the target device. In some embodiments, it is assumed that the target device and at least one anchor device have established a sidelink connection, for example, via a PC5 interface. In some embodiments, the target device may function as a TX device that transmits SL-PRS to the anchor device. In some embodiments, one or more anchor devices may function as TX devices that transmit SL-PRS to the target device and / or other anchor devices.

[0055] The communication device 110 implementing process 200 may be either a target device or an anchor device. In some embodiments, the communication device 110 may determine the SL-PRS resource allocation settings itself or receive them from a network device or another communication device 110. In some embodiments, the communication device 110 may transmit information indicating the resource allocation settings or a portion of the resource allocation settings to the other device so that the other device can determine the resources to use for transmitting or receiving the SL-PRS. In some embodiments, the anchor device may transmit or receive the SL-PRS via a directional beam. In this case, the SL-PRS directional beam corresponds to a specific spatial direction and coverage.

[0056] In some embodiments, in the case of side-link positioning, in addition to resource allocation settings, auxiliary information for absolute or relative positioning may be exchanged between the target device and at least one anchor device.

[0057] In embodiments of this disclosure, resource allocation settings are proposed for SL-RS transmission. Several introductions or extensions of the SL-RS resource allocation settings are proposed, as described below. In some embodiments, information indicating the resource allocation settings may be included in sidelink control information (SCI) transmitted to or received from the communication device 110. In some embodiments, one or more new fields having additional information related to the resource allocation settings may be inserted into the conventional SCI format for sidelink communication (SCI format 1-A, SCI format 1-B, SCI format 2-A, SCI format 2-B, SCI format 2-C, etc.). In some embodiments, one or more conventional fields in the conventional SCI format may be redefined or extended (of the same or different size) to indicate information indicating the resource allocation settings for SL-RS. In some embodiments, a new SCI format (SCI format 1-X and / or SCI format 2-D, etc.) or a Media Access Control-Control Element (MAC CE) may be introduced to convey information indicating the resource allocation settings for SL-RS. In some embodiments, the new SCI format may also include some of the information contained in the conventional format.

[0058] In some embodiments, the information indicating the resource allocation settings for SL-RS may include one or more SL-RS resource-related parameters for determining the resources allocated for SL-RS. These SL-RS resource-related parameters may include the subcarrier spacing (SCS) / cyclic prefix (CP) for the SL-RS resource, the SL-RS resource set setting identity, the SL-RS resource allocation setting identity, the SL-RS resource periodicity, the number of SL-RS resource repetitions, the offset between two repeating instances of the SL-RS source, the starting slot / symbol of the SL-RS resource, and the comb size of the SL-RS resource.

[0059] When determining resources for SL-RS, the determination of these parameters may be based on (pre-)setting (which may be communicated in auxiliary information) and / or indication of applicable resources by control information (e.g., via DCI, SCI, and / or MAC-CE). That is, some SL-RS resource-related parameters may be pre-set, and some SL-RS resource-related parameters may be indicated when resources for SL-RS transmission are needed or will be needed. In the latter case, in some embodiments, several approaches may be applied to determine or indicate one or more SL-RS resource-related parameters. In a first approach, the association between SL-RS resource-related parameters and applicable resources may be pre-defined. In a second approach, SL-RS resource-related parameters may be indicated together with time-frequency resource indications. For example, SL-RS resource-related parameters may be indicated by frequency resource indication values ​​(FRIV) and time resource indication values ​​(TRIV), which may be indicated by information in one or more fields in a new DCI format, a new SCI format, or a new MAC-CE.

[0060] It will be understood that there may be other ways of communicating information indicating resource allocation settings for SL-RS, and the scope of this disclosure is not limited to this.

[0061] A detailed explanation of the proposed resource allocation settings will be provided.

[0062] In some embodiments, SL-RS may be communicated using resources allocated across multiple resource pools for SL communication. In this specification, a resource pool for SL communication is also referred to as an "SL resource pool." An SL resource pool may include a regular or common resource pool set up for the communication device 110 for SL communication, including the communication of SL data and / or SL control information. In this specification, the terms "SL communication," "SL resource pool," or "SL resource" may refer to SL-related communication, an SL-related resource pool, or resources for SL data, SL-RS, and / or other SL control information. In some embodiments, multiple SL resource pools may be (pre)defined or (pre)configured as a resource pool set, which may enable broadband SL-RS transmission and the reuse of conventional SL resource pools. In some embodiments, multiple SL resource pools may include one or more conventional SL resource pools. At least a portion of the frequency resources in each of the multiple SL resource pools may be used for SL-RS transmission.

[0063] When allocating specific resources for SL-RS, the communication device 110 obtains a first resource allocation setting for SL-RS. The first resource allocation setting indicates a resource pool set and the time-frequency position within the resource pool set. By allocating resources across multiple resource pools, resources are configured to have wider bandwidth across multiple SL resource pools, thus supporting broadband SL-RS transmission.

[0064] In some embodiments, a dedicated resource pool (DRP) is introduced for SL-RS communication. In some embodiments, SL-RS is communicated using resources allocated from the dedicated resource pool. The dedicated resource pool is divided into multiple resource units in the frequency domain, each resource unit having a predetermined bandwidth. When allocating specific resources for SL-RS, the communication device 110 obtains a second resource allocation setting indicating the number of resource units selected from the dedicated resource pool for SL-RS communication.

[0065] Several examples of embodiments of the first and second resource allocation settings are described in detail below.

[0066] In block 220, the communication device 110 determines the resources to be allocated for SL-RS based on the resource allocation settings.

[0067] As described above, the communication device 110 may receive or determine on its own information indicating resource allocation settings (e.g., a first resource allocation setting or a second resource allocation setting), such as one or more SL-RS resource-related parameters. Based on the SL-RS resource-related parameters, the communication device 110 may determine the resources allocated for SL-RS.

[0068] In block 230, the communication device 110 uses the determined resources to perform SL-RS communication with at least one other communication device 110.

[0069] In some embodiments, communication device 110 is a TX device for SL-RS and may use its allocated resources to transmit SL-RS to at least one other communication device 110. In some embodiments, communication device 110 is an RX device for SL-RS and may use its allocated resources to detect SL-RS transmitted by other communication devices 110.

[0070] Configuration based on resource pool set As described above, the first resource allocation setting for SL-RS indicates a resource pool set and a time-frequency position within the resource pool set. The resource pool set includes multiple SL resource pools for SL communication. In some embodiments, there may be multiple resource pool sets applicable for SL-RS, each resource pool set containing a different combination of two or more resource pools for SL communication. The number of SL resource pools included in each resource pool set may be predetermined and may be the same or different from each other. The first resource allocation setting may indicate one of multiple applicable resource pool sets by a resource pool set-related parameter, for example, represented as "R".

[0071] In some embodiments, multiple SL resource pools within a resource pool set may overlap each other at least partially in the time domain, so that resources can be allocated from the resource pool set for SL-RS at a specific time.

[0072] In some embodiments, a resource pool set may include at least two resource pools that are contiguous in the frequency domain. Figure 3A shows an example of resource allocation for SL-RS across resource pool sets. As shown in the figure, resource pools 302-1 and 302-2 for SL communication (referred to as SL resource pools) that are contiguous in the frequency domain are combined to form a resource pool set for SL-RS. In this example, SL resource pools 302-1 and 302-2 substantially overlap with each other in the time domain. However, it is understood that SL resource pools within a resource pool set may partially overlap in the time domain.

[0073] To specifically allocate resources from a resource pool set, time-frequency positions within the resource pool set may be indicated. In some embodiments, for consecutive resource pools, resources for SL-RS may be allocated as a combination of all resource pools or a combination of adjacent frequency portions of resource pools. For example, in Figure 3A, resource 310-1 for SL-RS (referred to as SL-RS resource) has a frequency bandwidth across all SL resource pools 302-1 and 302-2. SL-RS resource 310-2 has a bandwidth of all frequency bands of SL resource pool 302-1 and a frequency portion of SL resource pool 302-2. SL-RS resource 310-3 has a bandwidth of adjacent portions of SL resource pools 302-1 and 302-2, and SL-RS resource 310-4 has a bandwidth of a frequency portion of SL resource pool 302-1 and all frequency bands of SL resource pool 302-1. Note that SL-RS resources may be allocated to have other combinations of SL resource pools in the frequency domain.

[0074] In some embodiments, a resource pool set may include at least two SL resource pools that are not adjacent in the frequency domain. That is, there may be a frequency gap between two SL resource pools in the resource pool set. Figure 3B shows another example of resource allocation, in which the resource pool set includes SL resource pools 302-3 and 302-4 that are not adjacent to each other in the frequency domain. In Figure 3B, the SL-RS resource 310-5 is allocated to have bandwidth across all frequency bands of SL resource pools 302-3 and 302-4. However, as in Figure 3A, the SL-RS resource may also be allocated to have bandwidth across all or adjacent portions of two or more SL resource pools in the resource pool set.

[0075] It will be understood that the examples in Figures 3A and 3B are provided for illustrative purposes only. Although two SL resource pools are shown, in some other embodiments, the resource pool set to which SL-RS resources are assigned may include more than two SL resource pools, in which case the SL-RS resources may be assigned to have the bandwidth of all or part of those two or more SL resource pools. In some embodiments, the resource pool set may include both contiguous and non-contiguous SL resource pools.

[0076] In some embodiments, a frequency threshold may be introduced. For non-contiguous SL resource pools, this means that SL-RS may be transmitted using resources with frequency gaps. If the frequency gaps between multiple SL resource pools in a resource pool set are within (e.g., below) a frequency threshold, joint detection may be applied to jointly detect SL-RS transmitted across multiple SL resource pools. Otherwise, if the frequency gaps between multiple SL resource pools in a resource pool set exceed the frequency threshold, independent detection may be applied to detect SL-RS in each of the resource pools in the resource pool set. Independent detection can improve the success rate and accuracy of detecting SL-RS when resource gaps are relatively large. SL-RS detection may be performed by a communication device 110 acting as the RX device for the SL-RS.

[0077] In some embodiments, the frequency threshold may be set as a threshold parameter (represented as Fgap). In some embodiments, for example, the frequency threshold may be set if the resource pool set includes non-contiguous resource pools. In some embodiments, if there are two or more frequency gaps between SL resource pools in the resource pool set, one or the largest of the frequency gaps may be selected and compared to the frequency threshold, or the aggregate value (e.g., the average) of the two or more frequency gaps may be compared to the frequency threshold to determine whether to apply joint detection or independent detection.

[0078] In some embodiments, a dedicated time slot (or simply a slot) for SL-RS communication is introduced in the time domain. Therefore, in a configuration based on a resource pool set, the first resource allocation configuration may indicate a dedicated time slot for SL-RS. An SL resource pool within a resource pool set is configured to have a dedicated slot for SL-RS communication and is therefore sometimes referred to as an SL-RS resource pool.

[0079] A dedicated time slot may be a periodic slot for transmitting periodic SL-RS, or an on-demand slot for one-time or aperiodic SL-RS transmission. Figures 4A and 4B show examples of a first resource allocation configuration having a periodic slot and an on-demand slot for SL-RS, respectively. As illustrated, there may be multiple slots in the time domain. Slot 412 can be used for other communications such as UL / DL communications, periodic slot 414 is set up for normal SL communications, and periodic slot 416 is dedicated to SL-RS communications.

[0080] In Figure 4A, the resources in the dedicated periodic slot 416 for SL-RS communication can be configured as a periodic SL-RS resource pool 402. In a resource pool set-based configuration, each SL resource pool in the resource pool set may be configured to have a periodic slot for SL-RS communication. To allocate resources for SL-RS communication, this dedicated periodic slot may be configured for the corresponding communication device 110 by setting or pre-setting its periodicity. In some embodiments, the periodicity of the dedicated slot for SL-RS communication may be the same as or different from the periodicity of the other slots 414 for SL communication.

[0081] In Figure 4B, when SL-RS communication is performed between communication devices 110, a dedicated on-demand slot 418 for SL-RS communication may be set. The time position of the dedicated on-demand slot 418 may be set relative to the corresponding communication device 110.

[0082] In some embodiments, if a dedicated slot is provided for SL-RS communication, the structure of the dedicated slot for SL-RS communication may be specifically defined. Generally, one slot for communication contains a predetermined number of symbols within a particular structure. In addition to SL-RS, the symbols in the slot may be used to carry other information such as automatic gain control (AGC) and physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH), and / or function as a gap. The PSCCH may be used to carry control information such as SCI.

[0083] In some embodiments, the structure of a dedicated slot may be defined such that all available symbols within the dedicated slot can be configured to transmit a single SL-RS. In some embodiments, the symbol for AGC (referred to as the AGC symbol) may be configured to precede the starting symbol for the SL-RS. Figure 5A shows such an example. In Figure 5A and subsequent figures, the slot is assumed to contain a total of 14 symbols, but other numbers of symbols are also possible. For illustrative purposes, one SL resource pool 502 in the resource pool set is shown in Figures 5A to 5D, but it will be understood that the structure of a dedicated slot for SL-RS communication can also be applied to other SL resource pools.

[0084] As shown in Figure 5A, in addition to the AGC symbol 512 and the gap symbol 518, the twelve symbols 516 in the dedicated slot 504 may be configured to transmit a single SL-RS. In other words, a single 12-symbol SL-RS may be transmitted within the dedicated slot 504. In Figure 5A, the AGC symbol 512 is placed immediately before the first SL-RS symbol of the twelve SL-RS symbols 516. The gap symbol 518 is placed at the end of the dedicated slot 504.

[0085] In some embodiments, a shorter length of SL-RS (e.g., shorter than the length of 12 symbols) may be set within the slot. The number of symbols for SL-RS may be set to a smaller number, and there may be multiple opportunities for SL-RS transmission within the slot. In some embodiments, the AGC symbol may be set to precede the starting symbol for each SL-RS.

[0086] For example, as shown in Figure 5B, two symbols 516 may be set up for SL-RS, resulting in a total of four 2-symbol SL-RS within the dedicated slot 504. In this example, an AGC symbol 512 is placed immediately before the first SL-RS symbol 516 of each 2-symbol SL-RS, and a gap symbol 518 is placed at the end of the dedicated slot 504. The remaining symbols are defined as PSCCH symbols 514.

[0087] In another example, as shown in Figure 5C, four symbols 516 may be set up for the SL-RS, resulting in a total of two 4-symbol SL-RS within the dedicated slot 504. In this example, the AGC symbol 512 is placed immediately before the first SL-RS symbol 516 of each 4-symbol SL-RS, and the gap symbol 518 is placed at the end of the dedicated slot 504 and between the two 4-symbol SL-RS. A PSCCH symbol 514 may also be defined within the slot.

[0088] In another example, as shown in Figure 5D, six symbols 516 may be set up for the SL-RS, resulting in a total of two 6-symbol SL-RS configurations within the dedicated slot 504. In this example, an AGC symbol 512 is placed immediately before the first SL-RS symbol 516 of each 6-symbol SL-RS configuration.

[0089] In some embodiments, the structure of the dedicated slot for an SL resource pool used in a resource pool set may depend on whether the dedicated slot includes an SCI (e.g., PSCCH). Thus, the dedicated slot may include an AGC symbol and an SL-RS symbol with or without an SCI (e.g., the PSCCH symbol in Figures 5B and 5C).

[0090] It should be understood that the number and types of symbols shown in Figures 5A to 5D are for illustrative purposes only. Depending on the total number of symbols in a slot and other necessary information carried in the slot, the symbols in SL-RS may be defined in other ways.

[0091] In some embodiments, depending on the predefined structure of the dedicated slots in the SL resource pool, and considering specific resources for transmitting SL-RS, the first resource allocation setting may indicate the number of symbols and the respective positions of the symbols for SL-RS communication within the dedicated slot. The positions of the symbols may be indicated by their corresponding symbol indices. For example, if the structure of Figure 5B is applied and the first of four 2-symbol SL-RS is allocated, the number of symbols is 2, and the positions of the symbols may indicate the third and fourth symbols within the dedicated slot 504.

[0092] Several examples of embodiments relating to a first resource allocation setting based on a resource pool set have been described. In some embodiments, information indicating the first resource allocation setting may be transmitted in the SCI and / or MAC CE to indicate the resource pool set and specific resources allocated or reserved from the resource pool set for SL-RS transmission. In some embodiments of SL positioning in which SL-PRS is transmitted, information regarding the positioning signal / channel (SL-PRS, measurement report, etc.) and positioning procedure may be transmitted in the SCI and / or MAC CE.

[0093] In some embodiments, information indicating a first resource allocation setting may be carried in at least one first resource for control information within at least one SL resource pool in the resource pool set. In some embodiments, the SL resource pool for carrying information indicating a first resource allocation may be selected as an SL resource pool having a relatively low subchannel, such as the lowest subchannel in the frequency domain. Figure 6A shows an example in which SL resource pools 602-1 and 602-2 in dedicated slot 601 are allocated for SL-RS communication. SL resource pool 602-1 has a lower subchannel compared to SL resource pool 602-2. Therefore, information indicating a first resource allocation setting may be carried in a resource for control information within SL resource pool 602-1. The resource for control information may include a PSCCH symbol in the dedicated slot. In some examples, for a symbol in dedicated slot 601 for control information, the lowest subchannel of the symbol (e.g., the lower end of the PSCCH symbol 614) may be configured to carry information regarding a first resource allocation setting for SL-RS. The remaining symbols in SL resource pools 602-1 and 602-2 may be set as AGC symbol 612, SL-RS symbol 616, and gap symbol 618.

[0094] In some embodiments, an SL resource pool may be randomly selected from a set of resource pools to convey information regarding a first resource allocation setting for SL-RS.

[0095] In some embodiments, information indicating a first resource allocation setting may be carried in at least one second resource for control information in at least one other resource pool for SL communication. For example, if a dedicated slot is set up for SL-RS transmission, another SL resource pool may not be set up in the resource pool set. The time position of at least one second resource may precede the time position of a resource in a dedicated time slot for SL-RS.

[0096] For example, in Figure 6B, the SL resource pools 602-1 and 602-3 in the normal slot 603 are used for SL communication, while the SL resource pools 602-1 and 602-3 in the subsequent dedicated slot 605 are used only for SL-RS communication. AGC symbol 622 and gap symbol 626 In addition, SL resource pools 602-1 and 602-3 within slot 603 may be configured primarily for SL data transmission, for example, via the physical sidelink shared channel (PSCCH) symbol 625.

[0097] Information indicating the first resource allocation setting in the dedicated slot 605 for SL-RS communication may be carried in resources from the normal slot 603. For example, the PSCCH symbol 623 in the SL resource pool 602-1 having the lowest subchannel may be set to carry information. The PSCCH symbol 624 in the SL resource pool 602-2 may be used to carry other control information. In such cases, the symbols in the dedicated slot 605 are mainly used for SL-RS transmission and may be set as the SL-RS symbol 627 in addition to the AGC symbol 622 and the gap symbol 626.

[0098] In some embodiments, a first resource allocation setting is activated by a simple trigger being carried as control information (e.g., in SCI) based on the (pre)setting of the positioning of dedicated slots for SL-RS across multiple SL resource pools and the (pre)setting of the corresponding SL-RS resources. Based on the trigger, the communication device 110, which functions as an RX device, is notified of the intended SL-RS transmission. In some embodiments, a limited amount of additional information, such as the identity and time offset of the allocated SL-RS resource, is also included as a trigger at the same time, enabling the RX device to determine the specific resource to be used at this point. In some embodiments, the SL-RS resource instruction is transmitted within the dedicated slot, for example, in the form of a trigger. For example, in Figure 6A, an SL-RS trigger is carried in PSCCH symbol 614 to activate a first resource allocation setting indicating a set of resource pools.

[0099] In some embodiments, the information indicating the first resource allocation setting may include one or more specific SL-RS resource-related parameters (e.g., FRIV or TRIV) to set up the SL-RS resource allocation (RA), and a certain amount of information may need to be transmitted to the RX device. In such cases, more symbols in the slot may be configured to carry the information indicating the first resource allocation setting. In some embodiments, resources in the SL resource pool in a normal slot (e.g., not for SL-RS communication) may be configured to carry the information indicating the first resource allocation setting. For example, in Figure 6B, more PSCCH symbols 623 in the normal slot 603 may be used to carry the information indicating the first resource allocation setting. In this way, more resources in the dedicated slot 605 may be configured for SL-RS communication.

[0100] In some embodiments, a communication device 110 functioning as a TX device (which may be a target device or anchor device in the example of side-link positioning) may transmit information indicating a first resource allocation. A communication device 110 functioning as an RX device may monitor the corresponding resource pool to receive information indicating a first resource allocation.

[0101] In some cases, when SL-RS is transmitted across multiple SL resource pools within a resource pool set, SL communication and SL-RS communication may share the same resource pool in both the time and frequency domains. In other words, a dedicated slot is not set up for SL-RS transmission. SL-RS may be multiplexed with other SL traffic data / information (PSSCH, PSCCH, measurement reports, etc.) using a slot (e.g., a regular slot).

[0102] In the case of a normal slot, in some embodiments, to simplify SL-RS detection, the same resource pattern in different SL resource pools within a resource pool set may be set for SL-RS in the normal slot. In some examples, the resource pattern may be defined by a symbol in the time domain. In some embodiments, within a normal slot, symbols at the same time position are set in multiple SL resource pools. As shown in Figure 7A, in SL resource pools 702-1 and 702-2 within normal slot 701, a symbol 715 having the same resource pattern in the two SL resource pools is assigned for SL-RS communication. Normal slot 701 may also include other symbols in the two SL resource pools 702-1 and 702-2, including an AGC symbol 711, a PSCCH symbol 712 for control information, a PSSCH symbol 713 for SL data transmission, and a gap symbol 714.

[0103] In a typical slot, in some embodiments, multiple resource pools have different resource patterns for communicating sidelink reference signals. These resource patterns can be shifted in the time domain. The different resource patterns may correspond to resources (e.g., symbols) in multiple resource pools that partially overlap in the time domain. As shown in Figure 7B, unlike the example in Figure 7A, the SL-RS resource pattern of SL resource pool 702-1 includes symbol 715, and the SL-RS resource pattern of SL resource pool 702-2 includes SL-RS symbol 716, which partially overlaps with SL-RS symbol 715.

[0104] The shifted resource pattern for SL-RS can be adapted to the normal SL traffic data within the SL resource pool when SL traffic and SL-RS are multiplexed in the same slot. For example, compared to SL resource pool 702-2, SL resource pool 702-1 contains more control information transmitted by PSCCH symbol 712, so SL-RS may be placed in a later symbol.

[0105] In some embodiments, the first resource allocation setting may indicate the same or different resource patterns for SL-RS communication within the resource pool set, allowing the RX device to determine the symbols for SL-RS.

[0106] If an SL resource pool within a resource pool set is configured within a normal slot, then, as in the case of a dedicated slot described above, the information indicating the first resource allocation setting may be carried in the resources for control information within either an SL resource pool having a lower or lowest subchannel in the frequency domain, or an SL resource pool from which SL-RS is transmitted.

[0107] For example, as shown in Figure 7C, information indicating a first resource allocation setting for SL-RS is carried by the PSCCH symbol 722 in SL resource pool 702-1, which indicates the SL-RS symbol 715 allocated for both SL resource pool 702-1 ("RP1") and SL resource pool 702-2 ("RP2"). In some examples, the PSCCH symbol 723 in SL resource pool 702-2 may be configured to indicate the SL-RS symbol 715 allocated only for SL-RS in SL resource pool 702-2.

[0108] In some embodiments, diversity transmission can be achieved by distributing the information indicating the first resource allocation setting equally among the resources (e.g., SCI) for control information in each SL resource pool within the resource pool set. That is, the information indicating the first resource allocation setting is carried among the resources for control information in multiple SL resource pools within the resource pool set, enabling information transmission diversity and improving the accuracy of information detection. In the example in Figure 7C, the same resource pattern is assigned to two consecutive SL resource pools for SL-RS. However, it is understood that this can also be applied when different staggered resource patterns and non-contiguous SL resource pools are configured.

[0109] For example, in Figure 7D, the information indicating the first resource allocation setting for SL-RS may be carried in the PSCCH symbol 732 of both SL resource pools 702-1 and 702-2. The PSCCH symbol 732 of each resource pool may indicate the same information for the RA of the SL-RS symbol 715 of both resource pools. In the example in Figure 7D, the same resource pattern is allocated to two non-contiguous SL resource pools of SL-RS. However, it is clear that this can also be applied when setting up different staggered resource patterns and contiguous SL resource pools.

[0110] In some embodiments, the control information for each SL resource pool may include partial resource settings for that resource pool. Specifically, the information indicating a first resource allocation setting may include a first information section relating to a partial resource allocation setting for a first SL resource pool in the resource pool set, and a second information section relating to a partial resource setting for a second resource pool in the resource pool set, and so on. The first information section is carried in the resources for control information in the first resource pool, the second information section is carried in the resources for control information in the second resource pool, and so on.

[0111] For example, as shown in Figure 7E, the PSCCH symbol 742 in SL resource pool 702-1 is configured to carry the information section related to SL-RS RA for SL resource pool 702-1, while the PSCCH symbol 744 in SL resource pool 702-2 is configured to carry the information section related to SL-RS RA for SL resource pool 702-2. In the example in Figure 7E, different staggered resource patterns are assigned to two non-contiguous SL resource pools for SL-RS. However, it is understood that this can also be applied when configuring the same resource pattern for contiguous SL resource pools.

[0112] Configuration based on a dedicated resource pool In some embodiments, as described above, a second resource allocation configuration for SL-RS may be configured to include a dedicated resource pool for SL-RS communication. Configuring a dedicated resource pool for SL-RS facilitates efficient resource use in the dedicated resource pool for SL-RS transmissions from the same or different normal SL resource pools, thereby facilitating efficient resource allocation for SL-RS.

[0113] The frequency domain structure of a dedicated resource pool may be defined to enable flexible transmission of SL-RS. Specifically, the dedicated resource pool is divided into multiple resource units in the frequency domain, each resource unit having a predetermined bandwidth. The bandwidth of the dedicated resource pool may be set or pre-set to include an integer number of such resource units. A resource unit may be the minimum bandwidth for SL-RS within the dedicated resource pool.

[0114] In some embodiments, the bandwidth of a resource unit (or frequency domain unit) may be determined based on the potential bandwidth granularity and potential subchannel bandwidth of the physical resource block (PRB) for the SL-RS. In some embodiments, the potential granularity of the PRB may include, for example, 4, 8, and / or 16 PRBs for the SL-RS. In some embodiments, the potential subchannel bandwidth may include, for example, 10, 12, 15, 20, 25, 50, 75, or 100 PRBs for each subchannel. In some embodiments, a predetermined bandwidth for a resource unit in a second resource allocation setting is equal to an integer multiple of the least common multiple of the bandwidth granularity and subchannel bandwidth for the SL-RS, for example, 12 PRB, 20 PRB, or 24 PRB.

[0115] Resource units may be used as intervals within a dedicated resource pool. A dedicated resource pool may contain a set of evenly spaced resource units for SL-RS resources. When allocating specific resources for an SL-RS, a certain number of resource units may be allocated. In other words, each SL-RS may be located on a grid of resource units in the frequency domain within the dedicated resource pool.

[0116] In some embodiments, the bandwidth of the SL-RS in a dedicated resource pool may be set or pre-configured to include an integer number of resource units. For example, as shown in Figure 8A, in a dedicated resource pool 802 for SL-RS, resource unit 812 includes multiple subchannels 810 in the frequency domain. Two resource units 812 are allocated for SL-RS 814, and more than two resource units 812 are allocated for SL-RS 816.

[0117] In some embodiments, the bandwidth settings of SL-RS within a dedicated resource pool may be classified in an integer multiple relationship. That is, the bandwidth of one SL-RS may be equal to an integer multiple of the bandwidth of another SL-RS. As a result, when allocating resources for two SL-RSs, the total bandwidth of the number of resource units allocated for one SL-RS may be equal to an integer multiple of the total bandwidth of the number of resource units allocated for the other SL-RS. For example, as shown in Figure 8B, the total bandwidth of SL-RS816 is twice the total bandwidth of SL-RS818, and the total bandwidth of SL-RS818 is twice the total bandwidth of SL-RS814. Such a classification in the frequency domain allows for optimal utilization of the bandwidth of the dedicated resource pool for SL-RS transmission. If necessary, resource units of different sizes may be allocated to transmit different SL-RSs.

[0118] Regarding resource allocation for SL-RS in a dedicated resource pool, particularly a resource allocation method performed by the communication device 110 without the involvement of network devices, resource allocation may follow a predetermined order in the frequency domain. Specifically, the number of resource units indicated by the second resource allocation setting from among the available resource blocks (RBs) such as PRBs in the dedicated resource pool may be selected from the available RBs according to a predetermined order in the frequency domain. In this way, resource utilization can be improved and the number of resource units that remain unallocated can be reduced.

[0119] For example, as shown in Figure 9, the priority may be in the direction from the lower end of the frequency domain to the upper end 902, that is, from the lowest available PRB in the dedicated resource pool 802 to the highest available PRB. Specifically, two resource units are selected from the first lowest PRB for the first SL-RS 914, and then two more resource units are selected from the new lowest available PRB for the second SL-RS 914, and so on. Alternatively, as shown in Figure 9, the priority may be in the direction from the highest available PRB to the lowest available PRB 904. In this direction, the first SL-RS 914 is allocated four resource units from the highest PRB or highest resource unit.

[0120] In some embodiments, resource allocation may be randomly assigned a top-to-bottom ranking and a bottom-to-top ranking. In some embodiments, resource units for SL-RS may be randomly selected from a dedicated resource pool.

[0121] In some embodiments, if a dedicated resource pool is configured for SL-RS communication, the slots for the dedicated resource pool may be considered dedicated slots for SL-RS communication. In some embodiments, the structure of the dedicated slots is similar to that described for configurations based on resource pool sets, for example, similar to those shown in Figures 5A to 5D. Thus, a single 12-symbol SL-RS with a single AGC, or multiple 2-symbol, 4-symbol, or 6-symbol SL-RS with multiple AGCs, with or without SCI, may be included in the dedicated slots. The structure of the dedicated slots may be designed to take various factors into consideration. In some embodiments, the second resource allocation configuration may further specify the number of symbols for sidelink reference signal communication within the time slot and the position of each symbol.

[0122] The above describes some examples of embodiments relating to a second resource allocation setting based on a dedicated resource pool set. In some embodiments, information indicating the second resource allocation setting may be transmitted via SCI and / or MAC CE to indicate the dedicated resource pool set and the resource units in the dedicated resource pool allocated for SL-RS transmission.

[0123] In some embodiments, information indicating a second resource allocation setting may be carried in a resource for control information within a dedicated resource pool. In some embodiments, information indicating a second resource allocation setting may be carried in a separate resource pool for SL communication other than the dedicated resource pool, for example, in a resource for control information within a normal SL resource pool.

[0124] In some embodiments, when a dedicated resource pool is associated with a single normal SL resource pool, that is, when all SL-RS transmissions in the dedicated resource pool are transmitted by a communication device 110 that shares the same SL resource pool, information indicating a second resource allocation setting may be transmitted only in the SCI in the normal SL resource pool, for example, as a new field in the normal SCI format or as a field in the SCI of a new format.

[0125] As shown in Figure 10A, the dedicated resource pool 1002 for SL-RS is associated with the regular SL resource pool 1004 in slot 1001. Information indicating the second resource allocation setting may be carried in a resource for control information within the SL resource pool 1004, for example, the PSCCH symbol 1014. 1014This indicates the allocation of SL resources in the dedicated resource pool 1002. The remaining symbols in the SL resource pool 1004 may be set as AGC symbol 1012, PSSCH symbol 1016 for SL data, and gap symbol 1018. In addition to AGC symbol 1012 and gap symbol 1018, the symbols in the dedicated resource pool 1002 may be set as SL-RS symbol 1019.

[0126] In some embodiments, similar to configurations based on resource pool sets, information indicating a second resource allocation configuration may take the form of comprehensive information including FRIV, TRIV, etc., or simple instructions as triggers, based on specific requirements such as different resource allocation schemes. Such information may be carried in a normal SL resource pool.

[0127] In some embodiments, information indicating a second resource allocation setting may be transmitted in a new format of SCI (e.g., format 1-X) within the dedicated resource pool, such as in the lowest subchannel corresponding to the intended SL-RS transmission in the dedicated resource pool. SCI format 1-X includes an SL-RS resource instruction / reservation and may occupy one or two symbols in the slot. For time-division multiplexing (TDM) of overlapping or partially overlapping SL-RS resources in the frequency domain within a slot, if the lowest subchannel is (partially) occupied for an SCI transmission related to one SL-RS, then the subchannel adjacent to the lowest subchannel is used for an SCI transmission related to another SL-RS, and so on according to the time order of different SL-RS in the slot, and so on, and therefore a predetermined number (e.g., M) of lowest subchannels may be reserved solely for transmitting SCIs.

[0128] As shown in Figure 10B, for a resource pool 1003 dedicated to SL-RS and associated with SL resource pool 1004, subchannel 1014 in the PSCCH symbol of the dedicated resource pool 1003 is used to carry information about resource allocation settings for SL-RS symbol 1020 assigned for the first SL-RS, and subchannel 1015 in the PSCCH symbol of the dedicated resource pool 1003 is used to carry information about resource allocation settings for SL-RS symbol 1019 assigned for the second SL-RS. With this setting, the SL-RS in SL-RS symbol 1019 and the SL-RS in SL-RS symbol 1020 may communicate using the TDM method. The PSCCH symbol 1022 in SL resource pool 1004 may be set to carry SCI for normal SL communication.

[0129] In some embodiments, a dedicated resource pool may be associated with multiple normal SL resource pools, i.e., communication devices 110 in different normal SL resource pools may share the dedicated resource pool to transmit SL-RS. In this case, for at least the associated SL resource pools having a resource allocation scheme by the communication device 110 without the involvement of a network device, information related to the second resource allocation setting may be transmitted in a new format SCI (such as format 1-X) in the dedicated resource pool, for example, as the lowest subchannel corresponding to the intended SL-PRS transmission in the dedicated resource pool. For example, as shown in Figure 10C, a dedicated resource pool 1003 for SL-RS is associated with SL resource pools 1004 and 1006. Subchannel 1014 in the PSCCH of the dedicated resource pool 1003 is used to carry information about the resource allocation setting for the SL-RS symbol 1020 allocated for the first SL-RS, and subchannel 1015 in the PSCCH symbol of the dedicated resource pool 1003 is used to carry information about the resource allocation setting for the SL-RS symbol 1019 allocated for the second SL-RS. The PSCCH symbol 1022 in SL resource pools 1004 and 1006 can be set to carry SCI for normal SL communication.

[0130] Alternatively, as in the above case where a dedicated resource pool is associated with one regular SL resource pool, adjacent subchannels may be used for TDM SL-PRS having slots.

[0131] As shown in Figure 10D, a dedicated resource pool 1005 may be configured for TDM SL-RS communication in slot 1001. In addition to subchannels 1014 and 1015, the PSCCH symbol 1017 in the lowest subchannel may also be configured to carry information regarding resource allocation settings for SL-RS symbol 1021. The SL-RS in SL-RS symbol 1021 may communicate with the SL-RS in SL-RS symbols 1019 and 1020 using frequency division multiplexing (FDM).

[0132] In some embodiments, SL-RS may be transmitted to both a dedicated resource pool and related SL resource pools that are contiguous or non-contiguous to the dedicated resource pool. For example, in a configuration based on a resource pool set, the resource pool set may be configured to include one or more dedicated resource pools for SL-RS and one or more regular SL resource pools. In some embodiments, the resources allocated from such a resource pool set may be based on a resource allocation scheme with or without the involvement of network equipment applicable to the SL-RS communication (mode 1 or mode 2).

[0133] In some embodiments, the information indicating resource allocation settings for a resource pool set may be the same as that described above. In some embodiments, the information indicating resource allocation settings may be partially transmitted in a new format SCI (such as format 1-X) on the lowest subchannel corresponding to the intended SL-RS transmission in a dedicated resource pool. At the same time, the remaining information corresponding to the intended SL-RS transmission in a normal SL resource pool may be transmitted in the SCI transmitted in the normal SL resource pool. In other words, SL-RS resources in a normal SL resource pool and a dedicated resource pool are indicated separately in the SCI of the corresponding resource pool.

[0134] As shown in Figure 11A, the resource pool set includes a regular SL resource pool 1102 and a dedicated resource pool for SL-RS. In slot 1101, the PSCCH symbol 1114 in the dedicated resource pool 1104 is configured to transmit an information section indicating the SL-RS symbol 1122 in the dedicated resource pool 1104, and the PSCCH symbol 1116 in the SL resource pool 1102 is configured to transmit an information section indicating the SL-RS symbol 1122 in the SL resource pool 1102. The remaining symbols in the resource pool set include the AGC symbol 1112, the PSCCH symbol 1118 in the SL resource pool 1102, and the gap symbol 1120.

[0135] In some embodiments, the same or staggered resource patterns may be set for the dedicated resource pool and the SL resource pool, as well as for a resource pool set having all SL resource pools. For example, in Figure 11A, the SL-RS symbol 1122 in the SL resource pool 1102 and the dedicated resource pool 1104 have the same resource pattern. In another example shown in Figure 11B, the SL-RS symbol 1122 in the dedicated resource pool 1104 has a different resource pattern from the SL-RS symbol 1124 in the SL resource pool 1102. The two resource patterns are staggered in the time domain.

[0136] It is understood that the examples and structures in Figures 10A to 11B are provided for illustrative purposes only. There are many variations of the slot structure, and the scope of this disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0137] Example of a device Figure 12 is a schematic block diagram of a device 1200 suitable for carrying out embodiments of the present disclosure. Device 1200 can be considered another exemplary implementation of the communication device 110 or communication device 120 shown in Figure 1. Thus, device 1200 can be implemented in or at least as part of the communication device 110 or communication device 120.

[0138] As shown in the figure, the device 1200 comprises a processor 1210, a memory 1220 coupled to the processor 1210, a suitable transmitter (TX) / receiver (RX) 1240 coupled to the processor 1210, and a communication interface coupled to the TX / RX 1240. 1220 It stores at least a portion of program 1230. TX / RX 1240 is for bidirectional communication. TX / RX 1240 has at least one antenna to facilitate communication, although in practice, the access nodes referred to in this disclosure may have multiple antennas. The communication interface may represent any interface necessary for communication with other network elements, such as, for example, an X2 / Xn interface for bidirectional communication between eNBs / gNBs, an S1 / NG interface for communication between a Mobility Management Entity (MME) / Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) / SGW / UPF and an eNB / gNB, an Un interface for communication between an eNB / gNB and a relay node (RN), or a Uu interface for communication between an eNB / gNB and a terminal device.

[0139] Program 1230 is assumed to include program instructions that, when executed by the associated processor 1210, enable the device 1200 to operate according to embodiments of the disclosure, as described in the disclosure with reference to Figures 1 to 11B. Embodiments in the disclosure may be implemented by computer software executable by the processor 1210 of the device 1200, by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware. The processor 1210 may be configured to implement various embodiments of the disclosure. Furthermore, a combination of the processor 1210 and memory 1220 may form processing means 1250 suitable for implementing various embodiments of the disclosure.

[0140] Memory 1220 may, in non-limiting examples, be any type suitable for a local technology network and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as non-temporary computer-readable storage media, semiconductor-based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory and removable memory. Although only one memory 1220 is shown for device 1200, device 1200 may have multiple physically different memory modules. Processor 1210 may, in non-limiting examples, be any type suitable for a local technology network and may include one or more of general-purpose computers, dedicated computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs), and processors based on multicore processor architectures. Device 1200 may have multiple processors, such as application-specific integrated circuit chips that are temporally slewn to a clock that synchronizes the main processor.

[0141] In some embodiments, a communication device (e.g., a terminal device) comprises a circuit that acquires a resource allocation setting for a sidelink reference signal, the resource allocation setting including a first resource allocation setting indicating a set of resource pools including a plurality of resource pools for sidelink communication and time-frequency positions within the set of resource pools, or a second resource allocation setting indicating a number of resource units, each being a predetermined bandwidth, selected from a dedicated resource pool for sidelink reference signal communication; and is configured to determine resources to be allocated for the sidelink reference signal based on the resource allocation setting, and to perform sidelink reference signal communication with at least one second communication device using the determined resources.

[0142] In some embodiments, the multiple resource pools include at least one of at least two resource pools that partially overlap in the time domain and are contiguous in the frequency domain, and at least two resource pools that are not contiguous in the frequency domain.

[0143] In some embodiments, the resource allocation configuration includes a first resource allocation configuration. In some embodiments, the circuit is configured to perform sidelink reference signal communication by applying independent detection of sidelink reference signals to each of the resource pools according to a determination that the frequency gap between the resource pools exceeds a frequency threshold, and by applying joint detection of sidelink reference signals to the resource pools according to a determination that the frequency gap is within a frequency threshold.

[0144] In some embodiments, the first resource allocation setting further indicates a dedicated time slot for the sidelink reference signal.

[0145] In some embodiments, the first resource allocation setting further indicates the periodicity of the dedicated time slot.

[0146] In some embodiments, the first or second resource allocation setting further indicates the number of symbols and the respective positions of the symbols for the communication of the sidelink reference signal within the time slot.

[0147] In some embodiments, a symbol for automatic gain control (AGC) is included before the start symbol for the symbol for sidelink reference signal communication.

[0148] In some embodiments, information indicating a first resource allocation setting is carried in at least one first resource for control information in at least one resource pool in a resource pool set, or at least one second resource for control information in at least one other resource pool for sidelink communication, wherein the time position of the second resource precedes the time position of the resource in a dedicated time slot for sidelink reference signals.

[0149] In some embodiments, information indicating a first resource allocation setting is carried for control information within each resource in a set of multiple resource pools.

[0150] In some embodiments, the information indicating a first resource allocation setting includes a first information section relating to a partial resource allocation setting for a first resource pool in a resource pool set, and a second information section relating to a partial resource allocation setting for a second resource pool in a resource pool set. In some embodiments, the first information section is carried in the resources for control information in the first resource pool, and the second information section is carried in the resources for control information in the second resource pool.

[0151] In some embodiments, information indicating a second resource allocation setting is carried in a third resource for control information within a dedicated resource pool, or in a fourth resource for control information within another resource pool for sidelink communication other than the dedicated resource pool.

[0152] In some embodiments, the information indicating a first resource allocation setting or a second resource allocation setting includes at least one parameter for the first resource allocation setting, or a trigger for activating the first resource allocation setting.

[0153] In some embodiments, the first resource allocation configuration further includes resource patterns for sidelink reference signal communication in multiple resource pools, or distinct resource patterns for sidelink reference signal communication in multiple resource pools, each corresponding to resources in multiple resource pools that partially overlap in the time domain.

[0154] In some embodiments, a predetermined bandwidth for a resource unit in a second resource allocation setting is equal to an integer multiple of the least common multiple of the bandwidth granularity and subchannel bandwidth for the sidelink reference signal.

[0155] In some embodiments, the total bandwidth of a number of resource units for a sidelink reference signal is equal to an integer multiple of the total bandwidth of another number of resource units for a different sidelink reference signal.

[0156] In some embodiments, the dedicated resource pool includes multiple physical blocks (RBs), and the number of resource units, as indicated by a second resource allocation setting, is selected from the available RBs in the dedicated resource pool according to a predetermined order in the frequency domain.

[0157] In some embodiments, the multiple resource pools in a resource pool set include dedicated resource pools.

[0158] In some embodiments, the circuit is configured to acquire resource allocation settings by receiving information indicating resource allocation settings from a third communication device.

[0159] In some embodiments, the circuit is configured to transmit information indicating resource allocation settings to at least one second communication device.

[0160] In some embodiments, the circuit is configured such that the sidelink reference signal includes a sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS).

[0161] As used in this disclosure, the term “circuit” may refer to a hardware circuit and / or a combination of a hardware circuit and software. For example, a circuit may be a combination of an analog and / or digital hardware circuit and software / firmware. As another example, a circuit may be any part of a hardware processor having software, the hardware processor including (multiple) digital signal processors, software, and (multiple) memories, which work together to enable a device such as a terminal or network device to perform various functions. In yet another example, a circuit may be a hardware circuit and / or processor, such as a microprocessor or a part of a microprocessor, which requires software / firmware to operate, but the software may not be present when not required for operation. As used in this disclosure, the term “circuit” may also include simply a hardware circuit or (multiple) processors or a part of a hardware circuit or (multiple) processors and the implementation of the software and / or firmware associated with it (or them).

[0162] In summary, embodiments of this disclosure provide the following solutions.

[0163] One solution provides a communication method which includes, in a first communication device, obtaining a resource allocation setting for a sidelink reference signal, the resource allocation setting including a first resource allocation setting indicating a set of resource pools including multiple resource pools for sidelink communication and time-frequency positions within the set of resource pools, or a second resource allocation setting indicating a number of resource units of a predetermined bandwidth selected from a dedicated resource pool for sidelink reference signal communication; determining the resources to be allocated for the sidelink reference signal based on the resource allocation setting; and using the determined resources to perform sidelink reference signal communication with at least one second communication device.

[0164] In some embodiments, the multiple resource pools include at least one of at least two resource pools that partially overlap in the time domain and are contiguous in the frequency domain, and at least two resource pools that are not contiguous in the frequency domain.

[0165] In some embodiments, the resource allocation configuration includes a first resource allocation configuration, and performing sidelink reference signal communication includes applying independent detection of the sidelink reference signal to each of the multiple resource pools according to a determination that the frequency gap between the multiple resource pools exceeds a frequency threshold, and applying joint detection of the sidelink reference signal to the multiple resource pools according to a determination that the frequency gap is within a frequency threshold.

[0166] In some embodiments, the first resource allocation setting further indicates a dedicated time slot for the sidelink reference signal.

[0167] In some embodiments, the first resource allocation setting further indicates the periodicity of the dedicated time slot.

[0168] In some embodiments, the first or second resource allocation setting further indicates the number of symbols and the respective positions of the symbols for the communication of the sidelink reference signal within the time slot.

[0169] In some embodiments, a symbol for automatic gain control (AGC) is included before the start symbol for the symbol for sidelink reference signal communication.

[0170] In some embodiments, information indicating a first resource allocation setting is carried in at least one first resource for control information in at least one resource pool in a resource pool set, or at least one second resource for control information in at least one other resource pool for sidelink communication, wherein the time position of the second resource precedes the time position of the resource in a dedicated time slot for sidelink reference signals.

[0171] In some embodiments, information indicating a first resource allocation setting is carried for control information within each resource in a set of multiple resource pools.

[0172] In some embodiments, information indicating a first resource allocation setting includes a first information section relating to a partial resource setting for a first resource pool in a resource pool set, and a second information section relating to a partial resource setting for a second resource pool in a resource pool set, wherein the first information section is carried in the resources for control information in the first resource pool, and the second information section is carried in the resources for control information in the second resource pool.

[0173] In some embodiments, information indicating a second resource allocation setting is carried in a third resource for control information within a dedicated resource pool, or in a fourth resource for control information within another resource pool for sidelink communication other than the dedicated resource pool.

[0174] In some embodiments, the information indicating a first resource allocation setting or a second resource allocation setting includes at least one parameter for the first resource allocation setting, or a trigger for activating the first resource allocation setting.

[0175] In some embodiments, the first resource allocation configuration further includes resource patterns for sidelink reference signal communication in multiple resource pools, or distinct resource patterns for sidelink reference signal communication in multiple resource pools, each corresponding to resources in multiple resource pools that partially overlap in the time domain.

[0176] In some embodiments, a predetermined bandwidth for a resource unit in a second resource allocation setting is equal to an integer multiple of the least common multiple of the bandwidth granularity and subchannel bandwidth for the sidelink reference signal.

[0177] In some embodiments, the total bandwidth of a number of resource units for a sidelink reference signal is equal to an integer multiple of the total bandwidth of another number of resource units for a different sidelink reference signal.

[0178] In some embodiments, the dedicated resource pool includes multiple physical blocks (RBs), and the number of resource units, as indicated by a second resource allocation setting, is selected from the available RBs in the dedicated resource pool according to a predetermined order in the frequency domain.

[0179] In some embodiments, the multiple resource pools in a resource pool set include dedicated resource pools.

[0180] In some embodiments, obtaining resource allocation settings includes receiving information indicating resource allocation settings from a third communication device.

[0181] In some embodiments, the method further includes transmitting information indicating resource allocation settings to at least one second communication device.

[0182] In some embodiments, the sidelink reference signal includes a sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS).

[0183] In another solution, the communication device comprises at least one processor and at least one memory in which instructions are stored, and when such instructions are executed by at least one processor, the device causes the device to perform one of the methods described above.

[0184] Another possible solution is a computer-readable medium that, when executed on at least one processor, stores instructions that cause at least one processor to perform one of the methods described above.

[0185] Another possible solution is a computer program that, when run on at least one processor, contains instructions that cause at least one processor to perform one of the methods described above.

[0186] Generally, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or dedicated circuitry, software, logic, or any combination thereof. Some embodiments may be implemented in hardware, while others may be implemented in firmware or software that can be executed by a controller, microprocessor, or other computing device. Various embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described using block diagrams, flowcharts, or any other pictorial representation, but it should be understood that the blocks, devices, systems, techniques, or methods described in the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, dedicated circuitry or logic, general-purpose hardware or controllers, or other computing devices, or any combination thereof, as non-limiting examples.

[0187] This disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-temporary computer-readable storage medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions (such as computer-executable instructions contained in a program module) that are executed in the device on a target real processor or virtual processor to perform the processes or methods described above with reference to Figures 1 to 11. Generally, a program module includes routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, etc., that perform a specific task or implement a specific abstract data type. The functions of the program modules may be combined or divided amongst the program modules as desired in various embodiments. The machine-executable instructions to the program modules may be executed locally or in a distributed device. In a distributed device, the program modules may be located on both local and remote storage media.

[0188] Program code for carrying out the methods of this disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. This program code may be provided to a processor or controller of a general-purpose computer, a dedicated computer, or other programmable data processing device, so that when executed by the processor or controller, the program code implements functions / operations specified in flowcharts and / or block diagrams. The program code may run entirely on a machine, partially on a machine, as a standalone software package, partially on a machine and partially on a remote machine, or entirely on a remote machine or server.

[0189] The above program code may be embodied in a machine-readable medium, which may be any tangible medium that contains or can store a program for use by or with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The machine-readable medium may be a machine-readable signal medium or a machine-readable storage medium. The machine-readable medium includes, but is not limited to, electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor systems, apparatus, or devices, or any suitable combination thereof. More specific examples of machine-readable storage media include electrical connections having one or more wires, portable computer disks, hard disks, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), optical fibers, portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), optical storage devices, magnetic storage devices, or any suitable combination thereof.

[0190] Furthermore, although the operations are described in a specific order, it should not be understood that, in order to achieve the desired result, such operations must be performed in a specific order indicated, or sequentially, or that all indicated operations must be performed. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Similarly, although some specific implementation details are included in the above description, these should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of this disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to a particular embodiment. Certain features described in the context of individual embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented individually or in any suitable subcombination in multiple embodiments.

[0191] While this disclosure has been described in language specific to structural features and / or methodological logic and operation, it should be understood that this disclosure, limited to the appended claims, is not necessarily limited to the specific features or operations described above. Rather, the specific features and operations described above are disclosed as exemplary forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

1. A means for transmitting a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) transmission having sidelink control information (SCI) in a subchannel of a dedicated sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) resource pool, The subchannel for the PSCCH transmission is determined based on the corresponding SL PRS resource scheduled by the SCI in the PSCCH transmission within the same slot, and different SL PRS resources are means for occupying different consecutive sets of symbols within the slot. Means for transmitting SL PRS using the corresponding SL PRS resource, Equipped with, The SCI includes first information for requesting another SL PRS transmission, The first terminal device.

2. The last symbol in the slot functions as a guard symbol. The first terminal device according to claim 1.

3. It further includes means for sending another SCI to schedule another SL PRS, The aforementioned other SCI includes fields included in SCI format 2-A or SCI format 2-B. The first terminal device according to claim 1.

4. A means for receiving a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) transmission having sidelink control information (SCI) in a subchannel of a dedicated sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) resource pool, The subchannel for the PSCCH transmission is determined based on the corresponding SL PRS resource scheduled by the SCI in the PSCCH transmission within the same slot, and different SL PRS resources are means for occupying different consecutive sets of symbols within the slot. Means for receiving SL PRS on the corresponding SL PRS resource, Equipped with, The SCI includes first information for requesting another SL PRS transmission, The second terminal device.

5. The last symbol in the slot functions as a guard symbol. The second terminal device according to claim 4.

6. It further comprises means for receiving another SCI for scheduling another SL PRS, The aforementioned other SCI includes fields included in SCI format 2-A or SCI format 2-B. The second terminal device according to claim 4.

7. A method performed by a first terminal device, Transmitting a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) transmission containing sidelink control information (SCI) in a subchannel of a dedicated sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) resource pool, The subchannel for the PSCCH transmission is determined based on the corresponding SL PRS resource scheduled by the SCI in the PSCCH transmission within the same slot, and different SL PRS resources occupy different consecutive sets of symbols within the slot. Sending an SL PRS using the corresponding SL PRS resource, Includes, The SCI includes first information for requesting another SL PRS transmission, method.

8. The last symbol in the slot functions as a guard symbol. The method according to claim 7.

9. This further includes sending another SCI to schedule another SL PRS, The aforementioned other SCI includes fields included in SCI format 2-A or SCI format 2-B. The method according to claim 7.

10. A method performed by a second terminal device, Receiving a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) transmission containing sidelink control information (SCI) in a subchannel of a dedicated sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) resource pool, The subchannel for the PSCCH transmission is determined based on the corresponding SL PRS resource scheduled by the SCI in the PSCCH transmission within the same slot, and different SL PRS resources occupy different consecutive sets of symbols within the slot. The corresponding SL PRS resource receives SL PRS, Includes, The SCI includes first information for requesting another SL PRS transmission, method.

11. The last symbol in the slot functions as a guard symbol. The method according to claim 10.

12. Further comprising receiving another SCI for scheduling another SL PRS, The aforementioned other SCI includes fields included in SCI format 2-A or SCI format 2-B. The method according to claim 10.

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