Enhanced logical channel prioritization for sidelink with multiple monitored beams and / or carriers

Abstract

Apparatuses and methods to enhance Logical Channel Prioritization (LCP) procedure for sidelink (SL) operation in FR2 with beamformed transmission / reception as well as for SL operation with carrier aggregation (CA) are disclosed. The apparatus includes means for determining, for each of a plurality of receiving apparatuses, whether a time resource to be used for a sidelink (SL) transmission is expected to be monitored with a suitable beam (b1, c4, d1) and / or carrier by a receiver of each receiving apparatus; wherein one or more receive beams (b1, c4, d1) and / or carriers of the plurality of receiving apparatuses are determined as being desirable or acceptable for receiving the SL transmissions based on a received signal strength (RSRP) or received signal quality (RSRQ); and means for selecting a destination for the SL transmission based on said determining, the destination comprising at least one receiving apparatus of the plurality of receiving apparatuses.

Description

ENHANCED LOGICAL CHANNEL PRIORITIZATION FOR SIDELINKWITH MULTIPLE MONITORED BEAMS AND / OR CARRIERSFIELDS

[0001] Various example embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of telecommunication and in particular, to methods, devices, apparatuses and computer readable storage medium to enhance the Logical Channel Prioritization (LCP) procedure for sidelink (SL) operation in FR2 with beamformed transmission / reception as well as for SL operation with carrier aggregation (CA).BACKGROUND

[0002] The existing LCP procedure does not take into account the user equipment (UE) limitation of not being able to monitor more than one beam / carrier at a time for SL operation in FR2 with beamformed transmission / reception as well as for SL operation with carrier aggregation (CA). It might lead to selecting a destination whose corresponding receiver UE(s) may not be monitoring an appropriate receive beam and / or carrier at the time of transmission.SUMMARY

[0003] In a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an apparatus (102a) in wireless communication with a plurality of receiving apparatuses (102b to 102d). The apparatus (102a) includes at least one processor (132); and at least one memory (130) storing computer program code or instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor (132), cause the apparatus (102a) to: determine (208), for each of a plurality of receiving apparatuses (102b to 102d), whether a time resource to be used for a sidelink (SL) transmission (212, 106b, 106c) is expected to be monitored with a suitable beam (bl, c4, dl) and / or carrier by a receiver (114b to 114d) of each receiving apparatus (102b to 102d), wherein one or more receive beams (bl, c4, dl) of the plurality of receiving apparatuses (102b to 102d) are determined as being desirable or acceptable for receiving the SL transmission (212, 106b, 106c) based on a received signal strength (RSRP) or received signal quality (RSRQ); and select (210) a destination (102c and / or 102d) for the SL transmission (212, 106b, 106c) based on said determining, the destination (102c and / or 102d) includes at least one receiving apparatus (102c, 102d) of the plurality of receiving iapparatuses (102b to 102d), wherein the selecting is based on determining that a logical channel associated with the at least one receiving apparatus (102c, 102d) has a highest priority.

[0004] In a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an apparatus (102a) in wireless communication with a plurality of receiving apparatuses (102b to 102d). The apparatus (102a) includes means (132, 130) for determining (208), for each of a plurality of receiving apparatuses (102b to 102d), whether a time resource to be used for a sidelink (SL) transmission (212, 106b, 106c) is expected to be monitored with a suitable beam (bl, c4, dl) and / or carrier by a receiver (114b to 114d) of each receiving apparatus (102b to 102d); wherein one or more receive beams (bl, c4, dl) and / or carriers of the plurality of receiving apparatuses (102b to 102d) are determined as being desirable or acceptable for receiving the SL transmissions (212, 106b, 106c) based on a received signal strength (RSRP) or received signal quality (RSRQ); and means (132, 130) for selecting (210) a destination (102c and / or 102d) for the SL transmission (212, 106b, 106c) based on said determining, the destination (102c and / or 102d) includes at least one receiving apparatus (102c, 102d) of the plurality of receiving apparatuses (102b to 102d), wherein the selecting is based on determining that a logical channel associated with the at least one receiving apparatus (102c, 102d) has a highest priority.

[0005] In a third aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer- implemented method for wireless communication. The method includes: a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising computer instructions, when executed by a processor (132) of a transmitting apparatus (102a), causes the transmitting apparatus (102a) to perform steps comprising: determining (208), for each of a plurality of receiving apparatuses (102b to 102d), whether a time resource to be used for a sidelink (SL) transmission (212, 106b, 106c) is expected to be monitored with a suitable beam (bl, c4, dl) and / or carrier by a receiver (114b to 114d) of each receiving apparatus (102b to 102d), wherein one or more receive beams (bl, c4, dl) and / or carriers of the plurality of receiving apparatuses (102b to 102d) are determined as being desirable or acceptable for receiving the SL transmission (212, 106b, 106c) based on a received signal strength (RSRP) or received signal quality (RSRQ); and selecting (210) a destination (102c and / or 102d) for the SL transmission (212, 106b, 106c) based on said determining, the destination (102c and / or 102d) comprising at least one receiving apparatus (102c, 102d) of the plurality of receiving apparatuses (102b to 102d), wherein the selecting is based on determining thata logical channel associated with the at least one receiving apparatus (102c, 102d) has a highest priority.

[0006] In a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium includes instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method according to the third aspect.

[0007] It is to be understood that the Summary section is not intended to identify key or essential features of embodiments of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure may become easily comprehensible through the following description.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008] Some example embodiments may now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, where:

[0009] FIG. 1 illustrates example sidelink communication environments in which an apparatus monitors receive beams and / or carriers of multiple receiving apparatuses, according to example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0010] FIG. 2 illustrates a signaling flow illustrating an example of sidelink communication with a plurality of receiving apparatuses, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0011] FIG. 3 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a transmitting apparatus (102a) and a plurality of receiving apparatuses (102b to 102d) that is suitable for implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0012] Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar element.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0013] Principle of the present disclosure may now be described with reference to some example embodiments. It is to be understood that these embodiments are described only for the purpose of illustration and help those skilled in the art to understand and implement the present disclosure, without suggesting any limitation as to the scope of the disclosure. Embodiments described herein may be implemented in various manners other than theones described below.

[0014] In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skills in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

[0015] References in the present disclosure to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “an example embodiment,” and the like indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but it is not necessary that every embodiment includes the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.

[0016] It shall be understood that although the terms “first,” “second,”..., etc. in front of noun(s) and the like may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another and they do not limit the order of the noun(s). For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of example embodiments. As used herein, the term “and / or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

[0017] As used herein, “at least one of the following: ” and “at least one of ” and similar wording, where the list of two or more elements are joined by “and” or “or”, mean at least any one of the elements, or at least any two or more of the elements, or at least all the elements.

[0018] As used herein, unless stated explicitly, performing a step “in response to A” does not indicate that the step is performed immediately after “A” occurs and one or more intervening steps may be included.

[0019] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It may be further understood that theterms “comprises”, “comprising”, “has”, “having”, “includes” and / or “including”, when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, elements, and / or components etc., but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components and / or combinations thereof.

[0020] As used in this application, the term “circuitry” may refer to one or more or all of the following:(a) hardware-only circuit implementations (such as implementations in only analog and / or digital circuitry) and(b) combinations of hardware circuits and software, such as (as applicable):(i) a combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuit(s) with software / firmware and(ii) any portions of hardware processor(s) with software (including digital signal processor(s)), software, and memory(ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions) and(c) hardware circuit(s) and or processor(s), such as a microprocessor(s) or a portion of a microprocessor(s), that requires software (e.g., firmware) for operation, but the software may not be present when it is not needed for operation.

[0021] This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term circuitry also covers an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and / or firmware. The term circuitry also covers, for example and if applicable to the particular claim element, a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in server, a cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

[0022] Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied in various communication systems. Given the rapid development in communications, there may of course also be future type communication technologies and systems with which the present disclosure may be embodied. It should not be seen as limiting the scope of thepresent disclosure to only the aforementioned system.

[0023] The term “terminal device” refers to any end device that may be capable of wireless communication. By way of example rather than limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, user equipment (UE), a Subscriber Station (SS), a Portable Subscriber Station, a Mobile Station (MS), or an Access Terminal (AT). The terminal device may include, but not limited to, a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a smart phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, a tablet, a wearable terminal device, a personal digital assistant (PDA), portable computers, desktop computer, image capture terminal devices such as digital cameras, gaming terminal devices, music storage and playback appliances, vehicle-mounted wireless terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), USB dongles, smart devices, wireless customerpremises equipment (CPE), an Internet of Things (loT) device, a watch or other wearable, a head-mounted display (HMD), a vehicle, a drone, a medical device and applications (e.g., remote surgery), an industrial device and applications (e.g., a robot and / or other wireless devices operating in an industrial and / or an automated processing chain contexts), a consumer electronics device, a device operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, and the like. The terminal device may also correspond to a Mobile Termination (MT) part of an IAB node (e.g., a relay node). In the following description, the terms “terminal device”, “communication device”, “terminal”, “user equipment” and “UE” may be used interchangeably.

[0024] As used herein, the term “resource,” “time resource”, “transmission resource,” “resource block,” “physical resource block” (PRB), “uplink resource,” or “downlink resource” may refer to any resource for performing a communication, for example, a communication between a terminal device and a network device, such as a resource in time domain, a resource in frequency domain, a resource in space domain, a resource in code domain, or any other combination of the time, frequency, space and / or code domain resource enabling a communication, and the like. In the following, unless explicitly stated, a resource in both frequency domain and time domain may be used as an example of a transmission resource for describing some example embodiments of the present disclosure. It is noted that example embodiments of the present disclosure are equally applicable to other resources in other domains.

[0025] FIG. 1 illustrates example sidelink communication environments or operation inFR2 with beamformed transmission / reception as well as for SL operation with carrier aggregation (CA), in which an apparatus (102a) (i.e., UE (A)) communicates with multiple receiving apparatuses (102b to 102d), according to example embodiments of the present disclosure. In an example, apparatus (102a) or UE (A) may communicate through SL transmissions (106a to 106c) through uni-cast or groupcast, using one or more antenna(s) (136) to transmit signals to one or more respective antenna(s) (146 to 166) of a plurality of receiving apparatuses (102b to 102d) (UE (B) to UE (D)).

[0026] In Rel-17, it was assumed that an apparatus (102b) such as a user equipment (UE (B)), uses an omnidirectional antenna (146) to monitor a sidelink (SL) resource pool (RP) to perform sensing (i.e., PSCCH decoding and associated RSRP measurement, as described in clause 8.1.4 of 3GPP TS 38.214). In future releases, however, non-omnidirectional transmission / reception (e.g., beamforming) may be introduced for SL transmission and / or reception (106a to 106c) in FR2 spectrum, as shown in FIG. 1. Due to hardware constraints (e.g., analog rather than digital beamforming), each of the one or more of the plurality of receiving apparatuses (102b to 102d) (UE (B) to UE (D)) may be able to monitor only one beam at a time or in a given (time) slot.

[0027] For example, apparatus (102b) or UE (B) may monitor a SL transmission 106a through only one of its receive beams bl to b4, likewise, apparatus (102c) or UE (C) may monitor the SL transmission 106b through only one of its receive beams cl to c4, and apparatus (102d) or UE (D) may monitor the SL transmission 106c through only one of its receive beams dl to d4, etc.

[0028] The present disclosure aims to enhance the Logical Channel Prioritization (LCP) procedure for SL operation in FR2 with beamformed transmission / reception as well as for SL operation with carrier aggregation (CA).

[0029] When selecting a destination for a SL transmission associated with a SL grant, the MAC layer at the transmitter UE (A) (102a) may take into account whether the corresponding receiver UE(s) (B, C, ...) may be monitoring the (time) slot to be used for the SL transmission (106a to 106c) using an appropriate receive beam and / or carrier. If multiple destinations fulfill the above condition (i.e., the corresponding receiver UE(s) are expected to monitor the slot using the appropriate receive beam and / or carrier), then the destination apparatus may be selected based on logical channel priority. Destinations not fulfilling the above condition (e.g., a receiver UE (B) expected to monitor the (time) slot on a carrier other than that which is to be used for transmission or using a receivebeam whose main lobe points away from the transmitter UE (A)) may not be considered for further selection, regardless of their associated priority.

[0030] A destination may include a single receiver (114b) UE (B), e.g., in case of SL unicast. In other cases, a destination may include multiple receiver UEs (B, C, ...), e.g., in case of SL groupcast or SL broadcast.

[0031] The transmitter UE (A) (102a) may determine whether or not the receiver UE(s) (B, C, D) (102b, 102c, 102d) may be monitoring an appropriate receive beam and / or carrier at the time of transmission based on information previously received from the receiver UE(s) (B, C, D) (102b, 102c, 102d), e.g., via inter-UE coordination (IUC) signaling. For example, the receiver UE(s) (102b to 102d) may signal a periodic beam / carrier monitoring pattern, indicating in which time resources (slots) the receiver UE(s) (102b to 102d) may monitor a specific beam / carrier.

[0032] In some cases, there may be multiple receive beams that may be good enough (i.e., suitable or acceptable) for receiving the SL transmission at a receiver UE (B, C, D) (102b to 102d). For example, a wide beam (e.g., 120deg beamwidth) which does not point directly towards the line of sight (LOS) (e.g., 60deg off) may not be as desirable as a narrow beam (e.g., 30deg) pointing straight towards the LOS. However, if the receiver UE (B, C, D) happens to be monitoring the wide beam at the time of transmission, and is only expected to monitor the narrow beam much later (e.g., beyond a latency budget), then the transmitter UE (A) (102a) may select the receiver UE (B, C, D) (102b to 102d) as the destination, especially if it is associated with a logical channel of higher priority than other potential receiver UEs.

[0033] Whether or not a receive beam (bl to b4) is acceptable may depend on a transmit beam to be used for the SL transmission 106a. For example, referring to Figure 1 and receiver UE (B) (102b), if the transmitter UE (A) (102a) expects to use transmit beam as, which points directly towards the LOS, then in addition to receive beam bi, which points directly towards the LOS, other receive beams, such as b? and b4, may have sufficient beamforming gain towards the LOS to be also acceptable. However, if the transmitter UE (A) (102a) expects to use transmit beam a2, which does not point towards the LOS, the only acceptable receive beam may be bi. In another example, if the transmitter UE (A) (102a) expects to use a wide transmit beam (i.e., with low beamforming gain) (e.g., in order to reach multiple receiver UEs in different directions in case of a SL groupcasttransmission), the receive beam may need to be narrow enough (i.e., with high enough beamforming gain) to compensate for the low-gain transmit beam. Measurements on reference signals (e.g., SL CSI-RS) transmitted or received using a specific beam pair (e.g., a3 / bl) may be used to determine whether the beam pair may be acceptable, e.g., based on a reference signal receiver power (RSRP) being above a threshold.

[0034] FIG. 2 illustrates a signaling flow illustrating an example of a transmitting apparatus (102a) or UE (A) performing sidelink communication (106a to 106c) with a plurality of receiving apparatuses (102b to 102d) or UE (B) to UE (D), according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0035] In step 202, apparatus (102a) or UE (A) may establish beam alignment by determining transmit / receive (TX / RX) beam pairs for sidelink communication with respective potential receiving apparatuses (102b to 102d) (UE (B) to UE (D)).

[0036] In steps 204a to 204c, apparatus (102a) or UE (A) may receive beam and / or carrier monitoring patterns from each receiving apparatus (102b to 102d) or UE (B) to UE (D).

[0037] In step 206, apparatus (102a) or UE (A) may determine a time resource (slot) for the sidelink (SL) transmission based on a sidelink grant.

[0038] In step 208, apparatus (102a) or UE (A) may determine, for each potential destination, whether at least one receiving apparatus may be expected to monitor the time resource with an acceptable RX beam or carrier.

[0039] In step 210, apparatus (102a) or UE (A) may select a destination apparatus (e.g., apparatus (102c, 102d) or UE (C), UE (D), from among the plurality of receiving apparatuses (102b to 102d) or UE (B) to UE (D) whose receivers are expected to monitor the time resource (slot) with an acceptable RX beam or carrier, based on logical channel priority. In an example, apparatus (102b) or UE (B) (with highest priority) may not be monitoring the time resource (slot) to be used for the SL transmission using any acceptable RX beam, otherwise, apparatus (102b) or UE (B) would have been selected by the apparatus (102a) as the destination. Instead, apparatus (102c) or UE (C) (with medium priority) and / or apparatus (102d) or UE (D) (with lowest priority) may be selected by the apparatus (102a) based on a determination that the apparatus (102c) or UE (C) and / or apparatus (102d) or UE (D) is / are expected to monitor the time resource (slot) to be usedfor the SL transmission using an acceptable RX beam.

[0040] In step 212, apparatus (102a) or UE (A) may perform sidelink (SL) transmission to the selected destination (e.g., apparatus (102c, 102d) or UE (C), UE (D).

[0041] FIG. 3 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a plurality of apparatuses (102a to 102d) or UE (A) to UE (D) that are suitable for implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure. Each of the apparatuses (102a to 102d) may be provided to implement a communication device, as shown in FIG. 1. As shown, each of the apparatuses (102a to 102d) may include, one or more respective processors (132, 142, 152, 162) one or more memories (130, 140, 150, 160) coupled to the respective processors (132, 1421 1521 162), and one or more respective communication modules, such as transceivers (114a to 114d).

[0042] The respective communication modules or transceivers (114a to 114d) is for bidirectional communications, having one or more communication interfaces to facilitate communication with one or more other modules or devices. The communication interfaces may represent any interface that is necessary for communication with other network elements. In some example embodiments, the respective communication module or transceivers (114ato 114d) may include at least one antenna (136, 146, 156, 166), respectively.

[0043] The processor (132 to 162) may be of any type suitable to the local technical network and may include one or more of the following: general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs) and processors based on multicore processor architecture, as non-limiting examples. Each of the apparatuses (102a to 104d) may have multiple processors, such as an application specific integrated circuit chip that is slaved in time to a clock which synchronizes the main processor.

[0044] Each of the respective memory (130 to 160) may include one or more nonvolatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of the non-volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a Read Only Memory (ROM), an electrically programmable read only memory (EPROM), a flash memory, a hard disk, a compact disc (CD), a digital video disk (DVD), an optical disk, a laser disk, and other magnetic storage and / or optical storage. Examples of the volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a random access memory (RAM) and other volatile memories that will not last in thepower-down duration.

[0045] A computer program may include computer executable instructions that are executed by the associated processor (132 to 162), respectively. The instructions of the program may include instructions for performing operations / acts of some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The program may be stored in the memory (130 to 160), e.g., the ROM. The processor (132 to 162) may perform any suitable actions and processing by loading the program into the RAM portion of the memory (130 to 160).

[0046] The example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by means of the program so that each of the apparatuses (102a to 102d) may perform any process of the disclosure as discussed with reference to FIG. 1 to FIG. 3. The example embodiments of the present disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or by a combination of software and hardware.

[0047] In some example embodiments, the program may be tangibly contained in a computer readable medium which may be included in the respective apparatuses (102a to 102d) (such as in the memory (130 to 160) or other storage devices that are accessible by the respective apparatuses (102a to 102d). The respective apparatuses (102a to 102d) may load the program from the computer readable medium to the RAM for execution. In some example embodiments, the computer readable medium may include any types of non- transitory storage medium, such as ROM, EPROM, a flash memory, a hard disk, CD, DVD, and the like. The term “non-transitory,” as used herein, is a limitation of the medium itself (i.e., tangible, not a signal) as opposed to a limitation on data storage persistency (e.g., RAM vs. ROM).

[0048] Generally, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, and other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device. Although various aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flowcharts, or using some other pictorial representations, it is to be understood that the block, apparatus, system, technique or method described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

[0049] Some example embodiments of the present disclosure also provide at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a computer readable medium, such as a non- transitory computer readable medium. The computer program product includes computerexecutable instructions, such as those included in program modules, being executed in a device on a target physical or virtual processor, to carry out any of the methods as described above. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, or the like that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of the program modules may be combined or split between program modules as desired in various embodiments. Machine-executable instructions for program modules may be executed within a local or distributed device. In a distributed device, program modules may be located in both local and remote storage media.

[0050] Program code for carrying out methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. The program code may be provided to a processor or controller of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that the program code, when executed by the processor or controller, cause the functions / operations specified in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams to be implemented. The program code may execute entirely on a machine, partly on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the machine and partly on a remote machine or entirely on the remote machine or server.

[0051] In the context of the present disclosure, the computer program code or related data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable the device, apparatus or processor to perform various processes and operations as described above. Examples of the carrier include a signal, computer readable medium, and the like.

[0052] The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable medium may include but not limited to an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of the computer readable storage medium would include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitablecombination of the foregoing.

[0053] In a first example of the present disclosure, there is provided an apparatus (102a) in wireless communication with a plurality of receiving apparatuses (102b to 102d). The apparatus (102a) includes at least one processor (132); and at least one memory (130) storing computer program code or instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor (132), cause the apparatus (102a) to: determine (208), for each of a plurality of receiving apparatuses (102b to 102d), whether a time resource to be used for a sidelink (SL) transmission (212, 106b, 106c) is expected to be monitored with a suitable beam (bl, c4, dl) and / or carrier by a receiver (114b to 114d) of each receiving apparatus (102b to 102d), wherein one or more receive beams (bl, c4, dl) of the plurality of receiving apparatuses (102b to 102d) are determined as being desirable or acceptable for receiving the SL transmission (212, 106b, 106c) based on a received signal strength (RSRP) or received signal quality (RSRQ); and select (210) a destination (102c and / or 102d) for the SL transmission (212, 106b, 106c) based on said determining, the destination (102c and / or 102d) includes at least one receiving apparatus (102c, 102d) of the plurality of receiving apparatuses (102b to 102d), wherein the selecting is based on determining that a logical channel associated with the at least one receiving apparatus (102c, 102d) has a highest priority.

[0054] In a second example of the present disclosure of the apparatus (102a), the selecting of the destination (102c and / or 102d) is based on a determination that the at least one receiving apparatus (102c, 102d) is expected to monitor the time resource with the suitable beam (c4, dl) and / or carrier.

[0055] In a third example of the present disclosure of the apparatus (102a), the monitoring of the time resource with the suitable beam (c4, dl) and / or carrier by the at least one receiving apparatus (102c, 102d), comprises utilizing at least one of: (i) at least one receive beam (c4, dl), among a plurality of beams (cl, ... , cN, dl, ... , dN) available at the at least one receiving apparatus (102c, 102d); and (ii) at least one carrier (f2, f3) to be used for the SL transmission (212, 106b, 106c), among a plurality of carriers (fl, ... , fL) available at the at least one receiving apparatus (102c, 102d).

[0056] In a fourth example of the present disclosure of the apparatus (102a), the selecting of the destination (102c and / or 102d) is based on a transmit beam (a2, a3) of the apparatus (102a) to be used for the SL transmission (212, 106b, 106c), among a pluralityof beams (al, , aM) that are available at a transmitter (114a) of the apparatus (102a).

[0057] In a fifth example of the present disclosure of the apparatus (102a), the selecting of the destination is based on at least one of: a priority associated with data or control information (MAC CE) or a reference signal (RS) to be transmitted to the at least one receiving apparatus (102c, 102d); and a remaining packet delay budget associated with the data or control information (MAC CE) or the reference signal (RS) to be transmitted to the at least one receiving apparatus (102c, 102d).

[0058] In a sixth example of the present disclosure of the apparatus (102a), the determining (208) of the one or more desirable or acceptable receive beams (c4, dl) and / or carriers of the plurality of receiving apparatuses (102b to 102d) is based at least on the transmit beam (a2, a3) to be used by the apparatus (102a) for the SL transmission (212, 106b, 106c).

[0059] In a seventh example of the present disclosure of the apparatus (102a), the apparatus (102a) is caused to perform one or more of: determine the at least one carrier (f2, f3) to be used for the SL transmission (212, 106b, 106c); determine that at least one receiving apparatus (102c, 102d) of the plurality of receiving apparatuses (102b to 102d) is expected to monitor the time resource to be used for the SL transmission (212, 106b, 106c) on the at least one determined carrier (f2, f3); determine that a logical channel associated with the at least one receiving apparatus (102c, 102d) has a highest priority; and select the destination for the SL transmission (212, 106b, 106c) based on said determining.

[0060] In an eighth example of the present disclosure of the apparatus (102a), wherein in a case when at least one receiving apparatus (102b) is not expected to monitor the time resource with any suitable beam (bl, ..., bN) and / or carrier at a receiver (114b) of the at least one receiving apparatus (102b), the at least one receiving apparatus (102b) is not considered for further selection for the SL transmission (212, 106b, 106c), regardless of any associated priority with the plurality of receiving apparatuses (102b to 102d).

[0061] In a nineth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an apparatus (102a) in wireless communication with a plurality of receiving apparatuses (102b to 102d). The apparatus (102a) includes means (132, 130) for determining (208), for each of a plurality of receiving apparatuses (102b to 102d), whether a time resource to be used for a sidelink (SL) transmission (212, 106b, 106c) is expected to be monitored with a suitable beam (bl,c4, dl) and / or carrier by a receiver (114b to 114d) of each receiving apparatus (102b to 102d); wherein one or more receive beams (bl, c4, dl) and / or carriers of the plurality of receiving apparatuses (102b to 102d) are determined as being desirable or acceptable for receiving the SL transmissions (212, 106b, 106c) based on a received signal strength (RSRP) or received signal quality (RSRQ); and means (132, 130) for selecting (210) a destination (102c and / or 102d) for the SL transmission (212, 106b, 106c) based on said determining, the destination (102c and / or 102d) includes at least one receiving apparatus (102c, 102d) of the plurality of receiving apparatuses (102b to 102d), wherein the selecting is based on determining that a logical channel associated with the at least one receiving apparatus (102c, 102d) has a highest priority.

[0062] In a tenth example of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer- implemented method for wireless communication. The method includes: a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising computer instructions, when executed by a processor (132) of a transmitting apparatus (102a), causes the transmitting apparatus (102a) to perform steps comprising: determining (208), for each of a plurality of receiving apparatuses (102b to 102d), whether a time resource to be used for a sidelink (SL) transmission (212, 106b, 106c) is expected to be monitored with a suitable beam (bl, c4, dl) and / or carrier by a receiver (114b to 114d) of each receiving apparatus (102b to 102d), wherein one or more receive beams (bl, c4, dl) and / or carriers of the plurality of receiving apparatuses (102b to 102d) are determined as being desirable or acceptable for receiving the SL transmission (212, 106b, 106c) based on a received signal strength (RSRP) or received signal quality (RSRQ); and selecting (210) a destination (102c and / or 102d) for the SL transmission (212, 106b, 106c) based on said determining, the destination (102c and / or 102d) comprising at least one receiving apparatus (102c, 102d) of the plurality of receiving apparatuses (102b to 102d), wherein the selecting is based on determining that a logical channel associated with the at least one receiving apparatus (102c, 102d) has a highest priority.

[0063] The proposed enhancement of the LCP procedure may prevent the MAC layer from selecting a destination (e.g., associated with a higher logical channel priority) which may not be reachable at the time of transmission as a result of the corresponding receiver UE(s) not monitoring the appropriate receive beam and / or carrier in the respective slot.

[0064] Further, although operations are depicted in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shownor in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Likewise, although several specific implementation details are contained in the above discussions, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the present disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Unless explicitly stated, certain features that are described in the context of separate embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, unless explicitly stated, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in a plurality of embodiments separately or in any suitable sub-combination.

[0065] Although the present disclosure has been described in languages specific to structural features and / or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the present disclosure defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

[0066] List of abbreviationsCA Carrier AggregationCSLRS Channel State Information - Reference SignalFR2 Frequency Range 2IUC Inter-UE CoordinationLCP Logical Channel PrioritizationLOS Line of SightMACMedium Access ControlMAC CE MAC Control ElementPSCCH Physical Sidelink Control ChannelPSFCH Physical Sidelink Feedback ChannelPSSCH Physical Sidelink Shared ChannelRS Reference SignalRSRP Reference Signal Received PowerRSRQ Reference Signal Received QualitySCI Sidelink Control InformationSL SidelinkUE User Equipment

Claims

WE CLAIM:

1. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory comprising computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: determine, for each of a plurality of receiving apparatuses, whether a time resource to be used for a sidelink (SL) transmission is expected to be monitored with a suitable beam (bl, c4, dl) and / or carrier by a receiver of each receiving apparatus, wherein one or more receive beams (bl, c4, dl) of the plurality of receiving apparatuses are determined as being desirable or acceptable for receiving the SL transmission based on a received signal strength (RSRP) or received signal quality (RSRQ); and select a destination for the SL transmission based on said determining, the destination comprising at least one receiving apparatus of the plurality of receiving, wherein the selecting is based on determining that a logical channel associated with the at least one receiving apparatus has a highest priority.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the selecting of the destination is based on a determination that the at least one receiving apparatus is expected to monitor the time resource with the suitable beam (c4, dl) and / or carrier.

3. The apparatus according to anyone of claims 1 to 2, wherein the monitoring of the time resource with the suitable beam (c4, dl) and / or carrier by the at least one receiving apparatus, comprises utilizing at least one of:(i) at least one receive beam (c4, dl), among a plurality of beams (cl, ... , cN, dl, . . ., dN) available at the at least one receiving apparatus; and(ii) at least one carrier (f2, f3) to be used for the SL transmission, among a plurality of carriers (fl, ... , fL) available at the at least one receiving apparatus.

4. The apparatus according to anyone of claims 1 to 3, wherein the selecting of the destination is based on a transmit beam (a2, a3) of the apparatus to be used for the SL transmission, among a plurality of beams (al, ... , aM) that are available at a transmitter of the apparatus.

5. The apparatus according to anyone of claims 1 to 4, wherein the selecting of the destination is based on at least one of: a priority associated with data or control information (MAC CE) or a reference signal (RS) to be transmitted to the at least one receiving apparatus; and a remaining packet delay budget associated with the data or control information (MAC CE) or the reference signal (RS) to be transmitted to the at least one receiving apparatus.

6. The apparatus according to claim anyone of claims 1 to 5, wherein the determining of the one or more desirable or acceptable receive beams (bl, c4, dl) and / or carriers of the plurality of receiving apparatuses is based at least on the transmit beam (a2, a3) to be used by the apparatus for the SL transmission.

7. The apparatus according to anyone of claims 5 to 6, wherein the apparatus is further caused to perform one or more of: determine the at least one carrier (f2, f3) to be used for the SL transmission; determine that the at least one receiving apparatus is expected to monitor the time resource to be used for the SL transmission on the at least one determined carrier (f2, f3); determine that a logical channel associated with the at least one receiving apparatus has a highest priority; and select the destination for the SL transmission based on said determining.

8. The apparatus according to anyone of claims 1 to 7, wherein in a case when at least one receiving apparatus is not expected to monitor the time resource with any suitable beam (bl, . . . , bN) and / or carrier at a receiver of the at least one receiving apparatus, the at least one receiving apparatus is not considered for further selection for the SL transmission, regardless of any associated priority with the plurality of receiving apparatuses.

9. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising: means for determining, for each of a plurality of receiving apparatuses, whether a time resource to be used for a sidelink (SL) transmission is expected to be monitored with a suitable beam (bl, c4, dl) and / or carrier by a receiver of each receiving apparatus; wherein one or more receive beams (bl, c4, dl) and / or carriers of the plurality of receiving apparatuses are determined as being desirable or acceptable for receiving the SL transmissions based on a received signal strength (RSRP) or received signal quality (RSRQ); andmeans for selecting a destination for the SL transmission based on said determining, the destination comprising at least one receiving apparatus of the plurality of receiving apparatuses, wherein the selecting is based on determining that a logical channel associated with the at least one receiving apparatus has a highest priority.

10. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the selecting of the destination is based on a determination that the at least one receiving apparatus is expected to monitor the time resource with the suitable beam (c4, dl) and / or carrier.

11. The apparatus according to anyone of claims 9 to 10, wherein the monitoring of the time resource with the suitable beam (c4, dl) and / or carrier by the at least one receiving apparatus, comprises means for utilizing at least one of:(i) at least one receive beam (c4, dl), among a plurality of beams (cl, ... , cN, dl, . . ., dN) available at the at least one receiving apparatus; and(ii) at least one carrier (f2, f3) to be used for the SL transmission, among a plurality of carriers (fl, ... , fL) available at the at least one receiving apparatus.

12. The apparatus according to anyone of claims 9 to 11, wherein the selecting of the destination is based on a transmit beam (a2, a3) of the apparatus to be used for the SL transmission, among a plurality of beams (al, ... , aM) that are available at a transmitter of the apparatus.

13. The apparatus according to anyone of claims 9 to 12, wherein the selecting of the destination is based on at least one of: a priority associated with data or control information (MAC CE) or a reference signal (RS) to be transmitted to the at least one receiving apparatus; and a remaining packet delay budget associated with the data or control information (MAC CE) or the reference signal (RS) to be transmitted to the at least one receiving apparatus.

14. The apparatus according to anyone of claims 9 to 13, wherein the determining of the one or more desirable or acceptable receive beams (c4, dl) and / or carriers of the plurality of receiving apparatuses is based at least on the transmit beam (a2, a3) to be used by the apparatus for the SL transmission.

15. A method for wireless communication, comprising: determining by a transmitting apparatus, for each of a plurality of receiving apparatuses, whether a time resource to be used for a sidelink (SL) transmission is expected to be monitored with a suitable beam (bl, c4, dl) and / or carrier by a receiver of each receiving apparatus, wherein one or more receive beams (bl, c4, dl) and / or carriers of the plurality of receiving apparatuses are determined as being desirable or acceptable for receiving the SL transmission based on a received signal strength (RSRP) or received signal quality (RSRQ); and selecting a destination for the SL transmission based on said determining, the destination comprising at least one receiving apparatus of the plurality of receiving apparatuses, wherein the selecting is based on determining that a logical channel associated with the at least one receiving apparatus has a highest priority.

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