WO2019066706A1

WO2019066706A1 - Methods, wireless communication devices and network nodes for assisting sidelink resource allocation

Info

Publication number: WO2019066706A1
Application number: PCT/SE2018/050981
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ricardo BLASCO SERRANO; Marco BELLESCHI; Zhang Zhang
Original assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ)
Priority date: 2017-09-28
Filing date: 2018-09-26
Publication date: 2019-04-04

Abstract

Methods of operating a first wireless communication device may be provided. Information may be received from a node of a radio access network wherein the information defines availability/unavailability of radio resources with respect to sidelink communications. Transmissions from other wireless communication devices may be sensed, and a radio resource may be selected based on the information that defines availability/unavailability of radio resources with respect to sidelink communications and based on sensing the transmissions from other wireless communication devices. A sidelink communication may be transmitted to a second wireless communication device using the radio resource selected based on the information defining availability/unavailability of radio resources with respect to sidelink communications and based on sensing the transmissions from other wireless communication devices.

Description

METHODS, WIRELESS COMMUNICATION DEVICES AND

NETWORK NODES FOR ASSISTING SIDELINK RESOURCE

ALLOCATION

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to communications, and more particularly, to wireless communications and related wireless communication devices.

BACKGROUND

In Release 14, support for V2X (vehicle to anything) communication was introduced to the Long Term Evolution LTE specification. V2X is a collective term which includes any combination of direct communication between vehicles, pedestrians, and/or infrastructure. V2x communication may take advantage of a network NW (e.g., Radio Access Network RAN) infrastructure, when available, but at least basic V2x connectivity should be possible even in case of lack of NW coverage. Providing an LTE-based V2x interface may be economically advantageous because of the LTE economies of scale and it may enable tighter integration between communications with the NW infrastructure (vehicle-to-infrastructure V2I

communications), with pedestrians (vehicle-to-pedestrian V2P communications), and/or with other vehicles (vehicle-to- vehicle V2V communications), as compared with using a dedicated V2x technology.

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating V2x scenarios for an LTE-based Radio Access Network NW. As shown in Figure 1, V2I (vehicle-to-infrastructure) communications may be provided between a vehicle and the radio access network (RAN), V2V (vehicle-to- vehicle) communications may be provided directly between different vehicles (without communicating through the radio access network), and V2P (vehicle-to-pedestrian)

communications may be provided directly between a vehicle and a device held/carried by the pedestrian (e.g., a smartphone, a tablet computer, etc.). V2X communications are meant to include any/all of V2I, V2P, and V2V communications.

V2x communications may carry both non-safety and safety information, where each of the applications and services may be associated with specific requirements sets (e.g., in terms of latency, reliability, capacity, etc.). The European Telecommunication Standards Institute ETSI has defined two types of messages for road safety: Co-operative Awareness Messages (CAMs) and Decentralized Environmental Notification Messages (DENMs).

The CAM message is intended to enable vehicles, including emergency vehicles, to notify their presence and other relevant parameters in a broadcast fashion. Such messages target other vehicles, pedestrians, and infrastructure, and are handled by their applications. A CAM message also serves as active assistance to safety driving for normal traffic. The availability of a CAM message is indicatively checked for every 100ms, yielding a maximum detection latency requirement of <=100ms for most messages. However, the latency requirement for Pre-crash sensing warning is 50ms.

The DENM message is event-triggered, such as by braking, and the availability of a DENM message is also checked for every 100ms, and the requirement of maximum latency is <=100ms.

The package size of CAM and DENM messages may vary from 100+ to 800+ bytes, and a typical size may be around 300 bytes. The message is supposed to be detected by all vehicles in proximity.

The SAE (Society of the Automotive Engineers) also defined the Basic Safety Message (BSM) for DSRC with various message sizes defined.

According to the importance and urgency of the messages, the BSMs are further classified into different priorities.

In Release 14, two modes of operation (sometimes referred to as transmission modes) for V2X UEs were introduced: Mode 3 or TM3 (also referred to as a first transmission mode) and Mode 4 or TM4 (also referred to as a second transmission mode). V2P and V2V transmissions may be referred to as sidelink (or ProSe) transmissions, and as discussed above, such

V2P/V2V/sidelink/ProSe communications are provided directly between respective UE devices without communicating though the radio access network and/or nodes (e.g., base stations) thereof.

Mode 4 (TM4) is also known as the autonomous mode because the UE makes many decisions related to V2V/V2P transmission to other UEs on its own. There are two fundamental features to achieve a well-functioning distributed operation: semi-persistent transmission and sensing-based resource allocation. Semi-persistent transmission is based on the fact that the UE can predict with reasonable accuracy the arrival of new packets to its transmission buffer. This is so because LTE V2X was mainly designed to support periodic transmissions such as CAM. Using appropriate signaling, a first UE performing transmissions can notify all other UEs about its intention to transmit on specific radio resources at a certain time in the future. Using a sensing algorithm, a second UE can learn the presence of these semi-persistent transmissions. This information can be used by the second UE when selecting radio resources. In this way, collisions between UE V2V/V2P transmissions can be reduced/avoided.

In Mode 3 (TM3), the UEs are tightly controlled by the NW. Typical transmissions by a Mode 3 UE may be performed as follows:

1. The UE requests resources for V2V/V2P sidelink transmissions using uplink signaling to the NW.

2. The NW grants resources to the UE for V2V/V2P sidelink transmission.

3. The UE performs the sidelink V2V/V2P transmission on the resources granted by the NW.

The grant provided by the NW may be valid for the transmission of a single transport block (TB), including its retransmission; or for the transmission of multiple TBs if it is a semi- persistent scheduling (SPS) grant. In the current specification, Mode 3 UEs are not allowed to reserve resources for potential future transmission even if they have received an SPS grant from the NW.

With the deployment of TM3 and TM4 UEs using the same radio resources, collisions between TM3 and TM4 sidelink transmissions from different UEs may occur.

Approaches described in the Background section could be pursued, but are not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated herein, the approaches described in the Background section are not prior art to the inventive embodiments disclosed in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in the Background section. Therefore, any description contained in the Background section may be moved to the Detailed Description section.

SUMMARY According to some embodiments of inventive concepts, a method of operating a first wireless communication device may be provided. Information may be received from a node of a radio access network wherein the information defines availability/unavailability of radio resources with respect to sidelink communications. Transmissions from other wireless communication devices may be sensed, and a radio resource may be selected based on the information that defines availability/unavailability of radio resources with respect to sidelink communications and based on sensing the transmissions from other wireless communication devices. A sidelink communication may be transmitted to a second wireless communication device using the radio resource selected based on the information defining

availability/unavailability of radio resources with respect to sidelink communications and based on sensing the transmissions from other wireless communication devices.

According to some embodiments, a first wireless communication device, such as user equipment (UE) is provided. The first wireless communication device includes a transceiver configured to provide wireless network communication with a radio access network using a network carrier and to provide wireless sidelink communication with a sidelink carrier. The first wireless communication device further includes a processor coupled with the transceiver, wherein the processor is configured to provide wireless network communication and wireless sidelink communication through the transceiver, and wherein the processor is configured to receive information from a node (eNB) of a radio access network, RAN, where the information defines availability/unavailability of radio resources with respect to sidelink communications. The processor is further configured to sense transmissions from other wireless communication devices. Furthermore, the processor is configured to select a radio resource based on the information that defines availability/unavailability of radio resources with respect to sidelink communications and based on sensing the transmissions from other wireless communication devices. Finally, the first wireless communication device is configured to transmitting a sidelink communication to a second wireless communication device using the radio resource selected based on the information defining availability/unavailability of radio resources with respect to sidelink communications and based on sensing the transmissions from other wireless communication devices.

According to some other embodiments of inventive concepts, a method of operating a node of a radio access network may be provided, wherein the node supports wireless communication devices providing sidelink communications. Information may be generated defining availability/unavailability of radio resources with respect to sidelink communications for a wireless communication device providing sidelink communication according to a first transmission mode. The information may be generated based on an allocation of radio resources for sidelink communications according to a second transmission mode different than the first transmission mode. In addition, transmission of the information to the wireless communication device may be initiated and/or performed.

According to some embodiments, a network node such as a base station or e B or gNodeB, of a radio access network is provided. The network node supports wireless

communication devices providing sidelink communications, where the network node includes a transceiver configured to provide wireless network communication with a wireless terminal. The network node further includes a processor coupled with the transceiver. The processor is configured to provide wireless network communications through the transceiver, and where the processor is configured to generate information defining availability/unavailability of radio resources with respect to sidelink communications for a wireless communication device providing sidelink communication according to a first transmission mode, where the information is generated based on an allocation of radio resources for sidelink communications according to a second transmission mode different than the first transmission mode. The network node is further configured to initiate transmission of the information to the wireless communication device.

According to some embodiments, collisions between TM4 and TM3 sidelink

transmissions may be reduced.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the disclosure and are incorporated in a constitute a part of this application, illustrate certain non- limiting embodiments of inventive concepts. In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating communication scenarios using sidelink V2X communications within a coverage area of an LTE-based radio access network NW;

Figure 2 is a flow chart illustrating operations according to some embodiments of inventive concepts; Figure 3 is a flow chart illustrating steps of Figure 2 with additional steps according to some embodiments of inventive concepts;

Figure 4 is a block diagram illustrating a wireless communication device UE according to some embodiments of inventive concepts;

Figure 5 is a block diagram illustrating a base station e B according to some

embodiments of inventive concepts;

Figures 6-9 are flow charts illustrating wireless communication device operations according to some embodiments of inventive concepts; and

Figures 10-11 are flow charts illustrating network node operations according to some embodiments of inventive concepts.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Inventive concepts will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which examples of embodiments of inventive concepts are shown. Inventive concepts may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of present inventive concepts to those skilled in the art. It should also be noted that these embodiments are not mutually exclusive. Components from one embodiment may be tacitly assumed to be present/used in another embodiment.

The following description presents various embodiments of the disclosed subject matter. These embodiments are presented as teaching examples and are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the disclosed subject matter. For example, certain details of the described embodiments may be modified, omitted, or expanded upon without departing from the scope of the described subject matter.

Figure 4 is a block diagram illustrating elements of a wireless communication device UE (also referred to as a wireless device, a wireless terminal, a wireless communication terminal, user equipment, UE, or a user equipment node/terminal/device) configured to provide V2X sidelink communication according to embodiments of inventive concepts. As shown, wireless communication device UE may include a transceiver circuit 401 (also referred to as a transceiver) including a transmitter and a receiver configured to provide uplink and downlink radio communications with a base station of a radio access network, and to provide V2X sidelink communications (e.g., V2V and/or V2P communications) directly with other V2X wireless communication devices. Wireless communication device UE may also include a processor circuit 403 (also referred to as a processor) coupled to the transceiver circuit, and a memory circuit 407 (also referred to as memory) coupled to the processor circuit. The memory circuit 405 may include computer readable program code that when executed by the processor circuit 403 causes the processor circuit to perform operations according to embodiments disclosed herein. According to other embodiments, processor circuit 403 may be defined to include memory so that a separate memory circuit is not required. Wireless communication device UE may also include an interface (such as a user interface) coupled with processor 403, and/or wireless communication device UE may be incorporated in a vehicle.

As discussed herein, operations of wireless communication device UE may be performed by processor 403 and/or transceiver 401. For example, processor 403 may control transceiver 401 to transmit communications through transceiver 401 over a radio interface to another UE and/or to receive communications through transceiver 401 from another UE over a radio interface. In addition, processor 403 may control transceiver 401 to receive communications through transceiver 401 from base station e B. Moreover, modules may be stored in memory 405, and these modules may provide instructions so that when instructions of a module are executed by processor 403, processor 403 performs respective operations (e.g., operations discussed below with respect to one or more of Figures 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, and/or 9).

Figure 5 is a block diagram illustrating elements of a node (also referred to as a network node, base station, eNB, eNodeB, etc.) of a Radio Access Network (RAN) configured to provide cellular communication according to embodiments of inventive concepts. As shown, the network node may include a transceiver circuit 501 (also referred to as a transceiver) including a transmitter and a receiver configured to provide uplink and downlink radio communications with wireless communication devices UEs. The network node may include a network interface circuit 507 (also referred to as a network interface) configured to provide communications with other nodes (e.g., with other base stations and/or core network nodes) of the RAN. The network node may also include a processor circuit 503 (also referred to as a processor) coupled to the transceiver circuit, and a memory circuit 505 (also referred to as memory) coupled to the processor circuit. The memory circuit 505 may include computer readable program code that when executed by the processor circuit 503 causes the processor circuit to perform operations according to embodiments disclosed herein. According to other embodiments, processor circuit 503 may be defined to include memory so that a separate memory circuit is not required.

As discussed herein, operations of the network node may be performed by processor 503, network interface 507, and/or transceiver 501. For example, processor 503 may control transceiver 501 to transmit communications through transceiver 501 over a radio interface to one or more UEs and/or to receive communications through transceiver 501 from one or more UEs over a radio interface. Similarly, processor 503 may control network interface 507 to transmit communications through network interface 507 to one or more other network nodes and/or to receive communications through network interface from one or more other network nodes.

Moreover, modules may be stored in memory 505, and these modules may provide instructions so that when instructions of a module are executed by processor 503, processor 503 performs respective operations (e.g., operations discussed below with respect to Figures 2, 3, 10, and/or 11).

The current specification supports deployment of UEs using Mode 3 TM3 and Mode 4 TM4 in the same radio resources. However, there may be insufficient coexistence mechanisms to reduce/minimize collisions between UEs using different modes. More specifically:

• The autonomous resource allocation algorithm described above is used by Mode 4 TM4 UEs to select their resources for transmission. This algorithm may have limited effectivity in reducing/preventing collisions with Mode 3 UEs because Mode 3 UEs do not perform resource reservation.

• The NW allocates the resources for Mode 3 UEs. When assigning resources to different UEs, the NW may easily reduce/avoid collision between Mode 3 UEs. However, the NW may be unaware of the resources autonomously selected by Mode 4 UEs as these Mode 4 UEs may or may not be connected to or served by the NW.

To reduce collisions/interference, separate resources may be dedicated to Mode 3 and Mode 4 UEs. However, the number of UEs using each mode may vary very dynamically, and it may be difficult or impossible to predict these numbers. Consequently, splitting the resources between modes may result in an inefficient utilization of resources.

According to some embodiments of inventive concepts, the NW may inform Mode 4 UEs of its intention to allocate resources to Mode 3 UEs. The information sent by the NW may then be used by Mode 4 UEs to reduce/avoid collisions by selecting appropriate resources for transmission. A number of collisions between Mode 3 and Mode 4 UEs may thus be reduced without significantly underutilizing radio resources.

The terms Mode-3 (TM3) and Mode-4 (TM4) are used herein to refer to sidelink V2X (e.g., V2V or V2P) transmission modes in which the specific resources used by the UE are selected by the eNB (TM3) or by the UE (TM4) itself (according to some rules), respectively. This is the usual terminology in 3GPP LTE V2X Rel-14. However, other releases may use other terminologies. Nevertheless, embodiments disclosed hereinafter can be applicable to any type of configuration in which modes for autonomous transmission (or resource allocation) and eNB scheduled transmission are provided.

Further, although reference is made to LTE, embodiments are not limited to LTE but may be implemented in a variety of other radio access technologies (RATs), such as fifth generation (5G) and new radio (NR) technologies. The 3GPP has issued agreements concerning NR terminology in the period between the earliest priority date and the filing date of the present disclosure. NR terminology and LTE terminology coincide to a considerable extent; for instance, a resource element (RE) remains 1 subcarrier x 1 OFDM symbol. Yet some terms known in LTE have been given a new meaning in NR. This disclosure, including the claims, applies prefixes "LTE" and "NR" when indefiniteness could otherwise arise. A non-prefixed term in this disclosure is to be understood in the LTE sense unless otherwise stated. However, any term designating an object or operation known from LTE is expected to be reinterpreted functionally in view of NR specifications. Examples: An LTE radio frame may be functionally equivalent to an NR frame, considering that both have a duration of 10 ms. An LTE eNB may be functionally equivalent to an NR gNB, since their functionalities as downlink transmitter are at least partially overlapping. The least schedulable resource unit in LTE may be reinterpreted as the least schedulable resource unit in NR. The shortest data set for which LTE acknowledgement feedback is possible may be reinterpreted as the shortest data set for which NR

acknowledgement feedback is possible. Therefore, even though some embodiments of this disclosure have been described using LTE-originated terminology, they remain fully applicable to NR technology.

Similarly, the terminology Mode-4 pool and Mode-3 pool may be used to indicate respectively the pool of resources where a TM4 UE is allowed to autonomously select resources (according to some rules) and the pool of resources in which the resources used by the TM3 UE are selected by the e B. Mode-4 and Mode-3 terminology is used in 3GPP Rel.14, however, possible new terminologies can be used in future releases to identify autonomous resource pools and e B-scheduled resource pools. Nevertheless, the embodiments disclosed hereinafter can be applicable to any type of configurations in which resource pools for autonomous UE selection and eNB-scheduled resource pools are provided.

The terminology ProSe Per Packet Priority PPPP is sometimes used in the following to identify sidelink packet priorities. However, the following embodiments may apply also in case the packet priority is identified with other types of traffic identifier, such as LCG, LCID, destination index, service types, etc.

Figure 2 is a flow diagram illustrating operations according to some embodiments of inventive concepts. According to some embodiments of inventive concepts disclosed herein, a method may include two steps illustrated in Figure 2:

Step 1. The NW informs a TM4 UE using Mode 4 about current/instantaneous

availability/unavailability of the radio resources.

Step 2. The TM4 UE using Mode 4 selects resources for its own transmission taking into account the information received in Step 1.

Some embodiments of step 1 of Figure 2 are discussed in greater detail below.

According to some embodiments of inventive concepts, the information transmitted by the NW and received by the TM4 UE describes which of the resources correspond to allocations to Mode 3 UEs. In other embodiments, the information transmitted by the NW and received by the UE describes which of the resources are available to Mode 4 UEs (e.g., without specifying whether the unavailable resources are allocated to Mode 3 UEs or used for another purpose).

According to some embodiments of inventive concepts, the network signals (in dedicated signaling and/or in broadcast signaling) which parts of the mode-4 pool is shared with the mode- 3 pool. Assuming that the mode-4 pool consists of a certain number of PRBs or subchannels (where each subchannel corresponds to a set of one or more consecutive PRBs), the signaling may include the list of PRBs/sub channels which are shared with the mode-3 pool, where each PRB/subchannel is indexed with an index such that the lowest index corresponds to the subchannel allocated to the lowest part of the bandwidth. In another variant, if the whole mode-4 pool is shared and completely overlapping with the mode-3 pool, a flag may be used to indicate that the whole pool is shared (e.g., with a boolean parameter true/false or with a bit string of 1 bit).

In some embodiments of inventive concepts, the information transmitted by the NW may include an estimate of the position of the Mode 3 UE to which the resources have been allocated. The position might be represented by a zone in which the Mode 3 UE is located, where the zone represents a specific area of the cell. The zone can be signaled by the Mode 3 UE in the form of a zone ID that is transmitted to the network periodically (e.g., via RRC or MAC CE) or upon network request. The network can therefore signal which PRBs/sub channels are shared and in which zone ID the sharing takes place. For example, if some PRBs/sub channels are shared across multiple pools of different zones, the signaling may include the zone IDs (or the pool IDs assuming that each pool ID is associated to a specific zone ID) in which such PRBs/sub channels are shared.

In some embodiments of inventive concepts, the transmission by the NW may include all the information about the availability of the resources. In other embodiments, the transmission by the NW may include a subset of the information (e.g., allocations for TM3 UEs with high- priority messages/services, etc.).

In some embodiments, the transmission by the NW may include information on the availability/unavailability of the resources during a specific time interval. For example, the NW may transmit at time n information about the resources during an interval [n+T_a, n+Tb], where 0 < T_a < Tb.

In some embodiments of inventive concepts, the transmission by the NW may include information on the availability/unavailability of periodic occurrences of time resources. For example, the NW may inform at time n that a specific radio resource will be unavailable at all times n + k * T, for some T > 0 and all k = { 1,2,3,... } (k may or may not be limited to a specific subset of values). This may be used by the NW to provide information about SPS allocations to Mode 3 UEs.

In some embodiments of inventive concepts, the transmission by the NW may describe a set of resources that are reserved by the eNB. These resources may be allocated to Mode-3 UEs, used for measurements, or remain unused (e.g., if there are no Mode-3 users to schedule). In some embodiments of inventive concepts, the transmission by the NW may include information about the priority of the messages/services to be transmitted by the Mode 3 UEs that are allocated the resources.

In some embodiments of inventive concepts, the information is transmitted by the NW using broadcast signaling. For example, using a MIB or a SIB. Broadcast transmissions may be received by TM4 UEs that are in RRC CONNECTED as well as RRC IDLE states. The information may be received by TM4 UEs belonging to the same or another NW operator.

In some embodiments of inventive concepts, the information may be transmitted by the NW using signaling dedicated to one or more TM4 UEs (e.g., unicast or multicast).

In some embodiment of inventive concepts, the network signals both a mode-4 pool and a mode-3 pool separately in broadcast signaling. In this case, it is the TM4 UE that determines which part of the mode-4 pool and mode-3 pool are overlapping. If a mode-4 UE which is in idle mode goes in connected mode or the network de-configures the mode-4 pool, the eNB does not signal the mode-3 pool again, which is assumed to be already received by the TM4 UE, or alternatively the eNB indicates with a flag that the same mode-3 pool received in broadcast signaling should be used. The TM4 UE may also indicate to the network, e.g., in the UE

Assistance Information, whether the mode-3 pool was already received from the broadcast signaling.

Some embodiments of step 2 of Figure 2 are discussed in greater detail below.

In some embodiments of inventive concepts, the Mode 4 UE selecting resources for sidelink V2X transmission(s) may avoid resources indicated by the transmission in Step 1.

In some embodiments of inventive concepts, the Mode 4 UE may prioritize avoiding selection of resources indicated by the transmission in Step 1. That is, the TM4 UE avoids selecting the indicated resources if possible (e.g., if other resources are available) but it may still select an indicated resource if necessary (e.g., if no other resources are available).

In some embodiments, the TM4 UE selection of resources may take into account the information received in Step 1. For example, the network may associate to each part of the resource pool, which is shared, a probability that the UE has to select that part. The probability can be proportional to the size of the shared PRBs/sub channels of the resource pool, i.e., to the number of shared PRBs/subchannels, and/or configured by the network such that it depends on the CBR reported by UEs for the shared parts, i.e., for the shared PRBs/subchannels. In such embodiments, the UE may randomly select (with equal probability) a value in the interval [0, 1] and if the randomly selected value is below the probability configured by the network for the concerned shared pool, the UE selects the shared part of the pool for transmission, or if the randomly selected value is above the probability, the UE does not select the shared part of the pool. In an alternative, the UE may randomly select (with equal probability) a value in the interval [0, 1] and if the randomly selected value is above the probability configured by the network for the concerned shared pool, the UE selects the shared part of the pool for

transmission, or if the randomly selected value is below the probability, the UE does not select the shared part of the pool.

In some embodiments of inventive concepts, the selection of the resources may take into account the information received in Step 1 depending on the priority of the packet(s)/service(s) that the Mode 4 UE wants to transmit. For example, resource selection for transmission of packets/services with certain priorities may be exempt from taking into account the information. Besides, the network when signaling the parts of the resource pool which are shared may indicate which are the PPPPs that are allowed to be transmitted in that part of the resources, or which are the PPPP which should not be transmitted in that part of the resources. This configuration could be different for different Mode 4 UEs. In another variant of this embodiment, the network may signal the probability the UE has to select a part of the pool which is shared depending on the PPPP the UE has to transmit. For a mode 3 UE, the probability could be higher for PPPPs of higher priority and lower for PPPPs of lower priority. Alternatively, for a Mode 4 UE the probability could be higher for PPPPs of lower priority and lower for PPPPs of higher priority. This is to reduce/avoid collision of a Mode 4 UE's transmissions with higher priority PPPPs with mode-3 UE's transmissions with higher priority PPPPs. If the UE has to transmit a transport block with data associated to more than one PPPP, the UE may have to consider the PPPP of higher priority (or in another embodiment of lower priority, depending on, e.g., the transmission mode of the UE) when determining whether to transmit the transport block in the shared pool.

In some embodiments of inventive concepts, the selection of the resources may take into account the information received in Step 1 depending on the channel occupancy ratio. For example, resource selection may only be required to take into account the information if the channel is considered to be busy. For example, the UE takes into account the

interference/congestion measured of the shared resource pools and in the non-shared resource pools. For example, the TM4 UE may be allowed by the configuration to select the shared part of the resource pool only if the CBR of the shared part is below a certain threshold, and/or only if the CBR of the non-shared part of the resource pool is above a certain threshold. Further, the NW may configure which type of UE(s) is allowed and/or prioritized to use the shared part of the resource pool, e.g., a Mode 3 UE could be given higher priority to use the resource pool that may be shared. This embodiment can be combined with any of the previous embodiments.

In some embodiments of inventive concepts, the selection of the resources takes into account the information received in Step 1 only for some carriers. For example, selection of resources on a certain carrier (e.g., primary carrier) may be exempt from taking into account the information. The configuration of which carrier(s) require use of such information may be the same for all TM4 UEs or specific for each of them.

In some embodiments of inventive concepts, if the TM4 UE is not allowed to transmit on the shared part of the pool, due to any of the rules disclosed in previous embodiments and the non-shared part of the pool is not suitable any longer for reliable sidelink communications (e.g., CBR is too high), the TM4 UE may request mode-3 resources, and if in IDLE mode, the TM4 UE may enter the connected mode and request mode-3 resources.

The following optional steps may be provided in addition to Steps 1 and 2 of Figure 2. Figure 3 is a flow diagram illustrating steps 1 and 2 of Figure 2 with additional steps A, B, and C which are discussed in greater detail below.

In some embodiments of inventive concepts, the TM4 UE may report to the network some information that may be relevant for the method. The reports may be configured by the network or decided by the TM4 UE (e.g., based on traffic, channel conditions, etc.). For example, in some embodiment, the network may configures the TM4 UE to report the CBR of the shared part of the pool. The network may indicate that the TM4 UE should report CBRs for all the PRBs/sub channels that are shared (e.g., a boolean or a bit string of 1 bit can be used), or only for some of the PRBs/sub channels that are shared.

In some embodiments of inventive concepts, the transmission of information in Step 1 may be initiated by the network in response to a request transmitted by the TM4 UE as shown in Step A of Figure 3.

In some embodiments of inventive concepts, the request of Step A may be transmitted responsive to measuring the channel occupation (e.g., CBR, CR). For example, the request may only be transmitted for high channel occupancies, when collisions between UE transmissions are more likely. As mentioned in previous embodiments, the channel occupation may be reported only per sub channel s/PRBs which are shared, and/or only if the CBR measured is above or below a certain threshold, or periodically depending on changes of the CBR measured in previous measurements. As used herein, CBR may be based on measurements of transmissions of other UEs, and CR may be based on transmissions by the TM4 UE (past and/or predicted).

In some embodiments of inventive concepts, the request of Step A may be transmitted responsive to a priority level. For example, the UE using Mode 4 may transmit a request for information to the NW only if it has a packet/service with a certain priority level.

In some embodiments of inventive concepts, the request of step A may only be used for some carriers. For example, selection of resources on a certain carrier (e.g., primary carrier) may be exempt from taking into account the information. The configuration of which carriers require use of such information may be the same for all UEs or specific for each of them.

In some embodiments of inventive concepts, the UE using Mode 4 may transmit a data packet (e.g., a transport block or TB) at step B using the resources selected in Step 2. The data packet may be transmitted by the TM4 UE using a Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH).

In some embodiments of inventive concepts, a TM4 UE using Mode 4 may use the information received in Step 1 to reserve resources for potential future transmission at Step C. In some further embodiments of inventive concepts, the reservation of the resources may be indicated to other UEs by transmitting control information using a Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH). Moreover, the data packet of Step B and the information to reserve resources of Step C may be transmitted (e.g., respectively using PSSCH and PSCCH) during a same subframe.

Operations of a wireless communication device UE will now be discussed with reference to the flow charts of Figures 6, 7, 8, and 9. For example, modules may be saved in UE memory 405 of Figure 4, and these modules may provide instructions so that when the instructions of a module are executed by processor 403, processor 403 preforms respective operations of the flow charts of Figures 6, 7, 8, and/or 9. As shown in Figure 4, the wireless communication device UE may communicate using transceiver 401 with other wireless communication devices and/or with nodes of a radio access network. Figure 6 is a flow chart illustrating wireless communication device operations according to some embodiments of inventive concepts. At block 601, processor 403 may transmit a request through transceiver 401 to a node of the radio access network. Processor 403, for example, may transmit the request responsive to a channel occupation measure exceeding a threshold, responsive to a priority of a data packet for a sidelink communication exceeding a threshold, and/or responsive to selection of a secondary carrier for a sidelink communication.

At block 611 of Figure 6, processor may receive information from a node (e B) of a radio access network (RAN) through transceiver 401, and the information may define

availability/unavailability of radio resources with respect to sidelink communications. If the wireless communication device transmitted a request at block 601, the information may be provided by the node responsive to the request.

At block 621 of Figure 6, processor 403 may sense transmissions from other wireless communication devices (e.g., based on reception through transceiver 401).

At block 631 of Figure 6, processor 403 may select a radio resource based on the information that defines availability/unavailability of radio resources with respect to sidelink communications and based on sensing the transmissions from other wireless communication devices.

At block 641 of Figure 6, processor 403 may transmit a sidelink communication through transceiver 401 to a second wireless communication device using the radio resource selected at block 631 based on the information defining availability/unavailability of radio resources with respect to sidelink communications and based on sensing the transmissions from other wireless communication devices.

At block 651 of Figure 6, processor 403 may transmit a measurement report through transceiver 401 to the node of the radio access network. For example, the information of block 611 may define a pool of radio resources, and the report may be based on a measurement for the pool of radio resources (e.g., a report of a channel busy ratio CBR for the pool of radio resources).

The information of block 611 may define at least one radio resource allocation that is unavailable to the first wireless communication device for sidelink communications. For example, the first wireless communication device may provide sidelink communications according to a first transmission mode, and the at least one radio resource allocation may be for a third wireless communication device that provides sidelink communications according to a second transmission mode different than the first transmission mode. Moreover, the first transmission mode may be a sidelink transmission mode 4 TM4, and the second transmission mode may be sidelink transmission mode 3 TM3.

According to another example of Figure 6, the information of block 611 may define a plurality of radio resource allocations that are available to the first wireless communication device for sidelink communications, and the selecting of block 631 may include selecting one of the plurality of radio resource allocations based on sensing the transmissions from the other wireless communications devices.

According to some embodiments of Figure 6, a pool of radio resources may be available to the wireless communication device for sidelink transmission mode 4 (TM4) transmissions, and the information of block 611 may indicate a subset of the pool of radio resources for sidelink TM4 transmissions that is shared in a pool of radio resources that are available for sidelink transmission mode 3 (TM3) transmissions. In such embodiments, selecting a radio resource at block 611 may include selecting a radio resource from the pool of radio resources available for TM4 transmissions.

According to some embodiments of Figure 6, a pool of radio resources may be available to the wireless communication device for sidelink transmission mode 4 (TM4) transmissions, and the information of block 611 may include a flag indicating that an entirety of the pool of radio resources that is available for sidelink TM4 transmissions is shared in a pool of radio resources that are available for sidelink transmission mode 3 (TM3) transmissions. According to such embodiments, selecting a radio resource at block 631 may include selecting a radio resource from the pool of resources available for TM4 transmissions.

According to some embodiments of Figure 6, the information of block 611 may define a radio resource, and selecting a radio resource at block 631 may include selecting a radio resource other than the radio resource defined by the information. In addition, the information of block 611 may define a location associated with the radio resource defined by the information. For example, the radio resource defined by the information may be allocated to a third wireless communication device, and the third wireless communication device may be associated with the location. According to some embodiments of Figure 6, the information of block 611 may define a time interval associated with the availability/unavailability of radio resources with respect to sidelink communications, the information may define a periodic occurrence of a radio resource, and/or the information may define a priority associated with a radio resource allocated to a third wireless communication device.

According to some embodiments of Figure 6, the information of block 611 may be received from the node via broadcast and/or dedicated signaling, and/or selecting the radio resource at block 631 may include avoiding radio resources indicated by the information.

According to some embodiments of Figure 6, transmitting the sidelink communication at block 641 may include transmitting a data packet and a reservation for a future transmission. The data packet may be transmitted using a sidelink shared channel, and the reservation for the future transmission may be transmitted using a sidelink control channel.

Moreover, the wireless communication device UE may be a vehicular wireless communication device integrated in a vehicle, and transmitting the sidelink communication at block 641 may include transmitting a Vehicle-to-Anything V2X sidelink communication to the second wireless communication device.

In some embodiments of Figure 6, the information of block 611 from the node may be used to define first and second pools of radio resources, and the information from the node may define a packet priority associated with at least one of the first and second pools of radio resources. According to such embodiments, selecting at block 631 may include selecting the radio resource from one of the first and second pools of radio resources based on comparing a packet priority of a data packet for the sidelink communication with the packet priority.

Figure 7 is a flow chart illustrating wireless communication device operations according to some other embodiments of inventive concepts. At block 611 of Figure 7, processor 403 may receive information from a node (eNB) of a radio access network (RAN) through transceiver 401, and the information may define availability/unavailability of radio resources with respect to sidelink communications. More particularly, the information may define a pool of radio resources. If the wireless communication device transmitted a request, the information may be provided by the node responsive to the request.

At block 621 of Figure 7, processor 403 may sense transmissions from other wireless communication devices (e.g., based on reception through transceiver 401). At block 625 of Figure 7, processor 403 may determine if a data packet is available for a sidelink transmission. The sensing may be performed before and/or after determining that a data packet is available for sidelink transmission.

At block 627 of Figure 7, processor 403 may determine availability of a first resource outside the pool of radio resources responsive to determining that a first data packet is available for a sidelink transmission. At block 63 la, processor 403 may select a first radio resource outside the pool of radio resources responsive to availability of the first radio resource (e.g., based on the information that defines availability/unavailability of radio resources with respect to sidelink communications and/or based on sensing the transmissions from other wireless communication devices).

At block 641 of Figure 7, processor 403 may transmit a first sidelink communication including the first data packet through transceiver 401 to a second wireless communication device using the first radio resource selected at block 63 la.

Responsive to determining that a second data packet is available for a second sidelink transmission at block 625, processor 403 may determine at block 627 if a data packet outside the pool of radio resources is available for a sidelink transmission. Responsive to insufficient availability of a radio resource outside the pool of radio resources at block 627, processor 403 may select a second radio resource from the pool of radio resources at block 63 lb, and processor 403 may transmit a second sidelink communication including the second data packet through transceiver 401 to a third wireless communication device using the second radio resource at block 641 of Figure 7.

Figure 8 is a flow chart illustrating wireless communication device operations according to some more embodiments of inventive concepts. At block 611 of Figure 8, processor may receive information from a node (eNB) of a radio access network (RAN) through transceiver 401, and the information may define availability/unavailability of radio resources with respect to sidelink communications. If the wireless communication device transmitted a request, the information may be provided by the node responsive to the request.

At block 621 of Figure 8, processor 403 may sense transmissions from other wireless communication devices (e.g., based on reception through transceiver 401). At block 625 of Figure 7, processor 403 may generate a data packet for a sidelink transmission. The sensing may be performed before and/or after generating a data packet for sidelink transmission. At block 629 of Figure 8, processor 403 may determine availability of a radio resource in accordance with a first transmission mode. Responsive to determining that the radio resource in accordance with the first transmission mode is available, processor 403 may select a radio resource at block 631 in accordance with the first transmission mode based on the information that defines availability/unavailability of radio resources with respect to sidelink communications and based on sensing the transmissions from other wireless communication devices. At block 641 of Figure 8, processor 403 may transmit a first sidelink communication including the first data packet through transceiver 401 to a second wireless communication device using the radio resource selected in accordance with the first transmission mode at block 631.

After transmitting the first sidelink communication, processor 403 may generate a second data packet at block 625 of Figure 8. Responsive to generating the second data packet at block 625 and responsive to determining unavailability of a radio resource in accordance with the first transmission mode at block 629 of Figure 8, processor 403 may transmit a request through transceiver 401 to the RAN in accordance with a second transmission mode (different than the first transmission mode). At block 635 of Figure 8, processor 403 may receive identification of a radio resource from the node through transceiver 401 in accordance with the second transmission mode, with the identification of the radio resource being provided by the node in response to the request. At block 641 of Figure 8, processor 403 may transmit a second sidelink communication using the radio resource identified by the node in accordance with the second transmission mode.

In operations of Figure 8, for example, the first transmission mode may be sidelink transmission mode 4 (TM4), and the second transmission mode may be sidelink transmission mode 3 (TM3).

Figure 9 is a flow chart illustrating wireless communication device operations according to some embodiments of inventive concepts. At block 601, processor 403 may transmit a request through transceiver 401 to a node of the radio access network. Processor 403, for example, may transmit the request responsive to a channel occupation measure exceeding a threshold, responsive to a priority of a data packet for a sidelink communication exceeding a threshold, and/or responsive to selection of a secondary carrier for a sidelink communication.

At block 611 of Figure 9, processor may receive information from a node (eNB) of a radio access network (RAN) through transceiver 401, and the information may define

availability/unavailability of radio resources with respect to sidelink communications. The information from the node may be used to define a pool of radio resources, and the information from the node may include a probability threshold associated with the pool of resources. If the wireless communication device transmitted a request, the information may be provided by the node responsive to the request.

At block 621 of Figure 9, processor 403 may sense transmissions from other wireless communication devices (e.g., based on reception through transceiver 401). At block 623, processor 403 may generate a random number. For example, the random number may be selected from an interval [0, 1] such that the random number is greater than or equal to 0 and less than or equal to 1.

At block 631 of Figure 9, processor 403 may select a radio resource based on the information that defines availability/unavailability of radio resources with respect to sidelink communications and based on sensing the transmissions from other wireless communication devices. Moreover, selecting the radio resource may include selecting the radio resource based on the sensing and based on comparing the random number with the probability threshold associated with the pool of resources.

At block 641 of Figure 9, processor 403 may transmit a sidelink communication through transceiver 401 to a second wireless communication device using the radio resource selected at block 631 based on the information defining availability/unavailability of radio resources with respect to sidelink communications and based on sensing the transmissions from other wireless communication devices.

According to some embodiments of Figure 9, the pool of resources may be shared for a first transmission mode and a second transmission mode. For example, the pool of resources may be a first pool of resources, and the information from the node may further define a second pool of radio resources that is dedicated for the first transmission mode. Moreover, the first transmission mode may be sidelink transmission mode 4 (TM4), and the second transmission mode may be sidelink transmission mode 3 (TM3).

Various operations of Figures 6, 7, 8, and/or 9 may be optional with respect to some embodiments of wireless communication devices and related methods. Regarding Figure 6, for example, operations of blocks 601 and 651 may be optional.

Operations of a network node of a radio access network (RAN) will now be discussed with reference to the flow charts of Figures 10 and 11. For example, modules may be saved in network node memory 505 of Figure 5, and these modules may provide instructions so that when the instructions of a module are executed by processor 503, processor 503 preforms respective operations of the flow charts of Figures 10 and 11. As shown in Figure 5, the network node may communicate using transceiver 501 with wireless communication devices and/or the network node may communicate with other network nodes using network interface 507.

Figure 10 is a flow chart illustrating network node operations according to some embodiments of inventive concepts. In particular, the network node e B supports wireless communication devices providing sidelink communications.

At block 1011 of Figure 10, processor 503 generates information defining

availability/unavailability of radio resources with respect to sidelink communications for a wireless communication device providing sidelink communication according to a first transmission mode. Moreover, the information is generated based on an allocation of radio resources for sidelink communications according to a second transmission mode different than the first transmission mode.

At block 1021 of Figure 10, processor 503 may initiate transmission of the information to the wireless communication device through transceiver 501 and/or through network interface 507. If the network node is a base station eNB, for example, processor 503 may transmit the information through transceiver 503 to the wireless communication device. If the network node is a core network node (without a transceiver), processor 503 may transmit the information through network interface 507 to a base station that provide transmission over a radio interface to the wireless communication device.

According to some embodiments of Figure 10, the information of blocks 1011 and 1021 may define a pool of radio resources. If so, processor 403 may receive a report from the wireless communication device through transceiver 501 and/or network interface 507 at block 1031, with the report being based on a measurement for the pool of radio resources (e.g., a report of a channel busy ratio CBR).

According to some embodiments of Figure 10, the information may define at least one radio resource allocation that is unavailable to the wireless communication device for sidelink communications. The at least one radio resource allocation may be for a second wireless communication device that provides sidelink communications according to the second transmission mode. The first transmission mode may be sidelink transmission mode 4 (TM4), and the second transmission mode may be sidelink transmission mode 3 (TM3).

According to some embodiments of Figure 10, the information may define a plurality of radio resource allocations that are available to the wireless communication device for sidelink communications.

According to some embodiments of Figure 10, a pool of radio resources may be available to the wireless communication device for sidelink transmission mode 4 (TM4) transmissions, and the information may indicate a subset of the pool of radio resources for sidelink TM4 transmissions that is shared in a pool of radio resources that are available for sidelink

transmission mode 3 (TM3) transmissions.

According to some embodiments of Figure 10, a pool of radio resources may be available to the wireless communication device for sidelink transmission mode 4 (TM4) transmissions, and the information may include a flag indicating that an entirety of the pool of radio resources that is available for sidelink TM4 transmissions is shared in a pool of radio resources that are available for sidelink transmission mode 3 (TM3) transmissions.

According to some embodiments of Figure 10, the information may define a radio resource allocated to a second wireless communication device. The information may define a location associated with the second wireless communication device.

According to some embodiments of Figure 10, the information may define a time interval associated with the availability/unavailability of radio resources with respect to sidelink communications, the information may define a periodic occurrence of a radio resource, and/or the information defines a priority associated with a radio resource.

According to some embodiments of Figure 10, the information may be transmitted from the node via broadcast and/or dedicated signaling, and/or transmitting the information to the wireless communication device may include transmitting the information responsive to receiving a request from the wireless communication device.

According to some embodiments of Figure 10, the information may relate to radio resources for secondary carriers.

According to some embodiments of Figure 10, the wireless communication device may be a vehicular wireless communication device integrated in a vehicle, the first transmission mode may include a first Vehicle-to- Anything (V2X) sidelink transmission mode, and the second transmission mode may be a second V2X sidelink transmission mode.

According to some embodiments of Figure 10, the information may defines a pool of radio resources, and the information may define a probability threshold associated with the pool of resources. Moreover, the pool of resources may be a shared for a first transmission mode and a second transmission mode, and/or the pool of resources may be a first pool of resources with the information from the node further defining a second pool of radio resources that is dedicated for a first transmission mode. In addition, the first transmission mode may include sidelink transmission mode 4 (TM4), and the second transmission mode may be sidelink transmission mode 3 (TM3).

According to some embodiments of Figure 10, the information from the node may be used to define first and second pools of radio resources, and the information from the node may define a packet priority associated with at least one of the first and second pools of radio resources.

Figure 11 is a flow chart illustrating network node operations according to some embodiments of inventive concepts. In particular, the network node e B supports wireless communication devices providing sidelink communications including a first wireless

communication device provide sidelink communications according to a first transmission mode and a second wireless device providing sidelink communications according to a second transmission mode.

At block 1001 of Figure 11, processor 503 may receive location information from the second wireless communication device through transceiver 501 and/or network interface 507, and the processor may allocate a radio resource to the second wireless communication device for sidelink communication according to the second transmission mode.

At block 1011 of Figure 11, processor 503 generates information defining

availability/unavailability of radio resources with respect to sidelink communications for the first wireless communication device providing sidelink communication according to the first transmission mode. Moreover, the information is generated based on an allocation of radio resources for sidelink communications according to the second transmission mode. More particularly, the information may define the radio resource allocated to the second wireless communication device and a location associated with the second wireless communication device based on the location information received from the second wireless communication device.

At block 1021 of Figure 11, processor 503 may initiate transmission of the information to the wireless communication device through transceiver 501 and/or through network interface 507. If the network node is a base station e B, for example, processor 503 may transmit the information through transceiver 503 to the wireless communication device. If the network node is a core network node (without a transceiver), processor 503 may transmit the information through network interface 507 to a base station that provide transmission over a radio interface to the wireless communication device.

Various operations of Figures 10 and 11 may be optional with respect to some embodiments of network nodes and related methods. Regarding Figure 10, for example, operations of block 1001 may be optional.

According to some embodiments of inventive concepts, assistance for autonomous resource allocation by TM4 UEs may be provided.

Explanations for abbreviations user herein are provided below.

Abbreviation Explanation

3G Third Generation of Mobile Telecommunications Technology

BSM Basic Safety Message

BW Bandwidth

CAM Collective awareness message

CBR Channel busy ratio

CDMA Code-Division Multiple Access

CR Channel ratio or occupancy ratio

D2D Device-to-Device Communication

DE M Decentralized environmental notification message

DSRC Dedicated Short-Range Communications

eNB eNodeB

ETSI European Telecommunications Standards Institute

FDMA Frequency-Division Multiple Access

GLONASS Global Navigation Satellite System

GSM Global System for Mobile Communications GPS Global Positioning System

LCID Logical Channel Identity

LCG Logical Channel Group

LTE Long-Term Evolution

MIB Master information block

NW Network

OFDM Orthogonal-Frequency -Division Multiplexing

PPPP ProSe Per Packet Priority

PRB Physical resource block (pair)

PSBCH Physical Sidelink Broadcast CHannel

PSCCH Physical Sidelink Control CHannel

PSSCH Physical Sidelink Shared CHannel

RRC Radio resource control

SAE Society of the Automotive Engineers

SIB System information block

SPS Semi-persistent scheduling

TA Timing Advance

TDMA Time-Division Multiple Access

TB Transport Block

TF Transport Format

UE User equipment

UTC Coordinated Universal Time

V2I Vehicle-to-infrastructure

V2P Vehicle-to-pedestrian

V2V Vehi cl e-to- vehi cl e

V2X Vehicle-to-anything

Further definitions and embodiments are discussed below.

In the above-description of various embodiments of present inventive concepts, it is to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of present inventive concepts. Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which present inventive concepts belong. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of this specification and the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

When an element is referred to as being "connected", "coupled", "responsive", or variants thereof to another element, it can be directly connected, coupled, or responsive to the other element or intervening elements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being "directly connected", "directly coupled", "directly responsive", or variants thereof to another element, there are no intervening elements present. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. Furthermore, "coupled", "connected", "responsive", or variants thereof as used herein may include wirelessly coupled, connected, or responsive. 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. Well-known functions or constructions may not be described in detail for brevity and/or clarity. The term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

It will be understood that although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements/operations, these elements/operations should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element/operation from another

element/operation. Thus a first element/operation in some embodiments could be termed a second element/operation in other embodiments without departing from the teachings of present inventive concepts. The same reference numerals or the same reference designators denote the same or similar elements throughout the specification.

As used herein, the terms "comprise", "comprising", "comprises", "include", "including", "includes", "have", "has", "having", or variants thereof are open-ended, and include one or more stated features, integers, elements, steps, components or functions but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, elements, steps, components, functions or groups thereof. Furthermore, as used herein, the common abbreviation "e.g.", which derives from the Latin phrase "exempli gratia," may be used to introduce or specify a general example or examples of a previously mentioned item, and is not intended to be limiting of such item. The common abbreviation "i.e.", which derives from the Latin phrase "id est," may be used to specify a particular item from a more general recitation.

Example embodiments are described herein with reference to block diagrams and/or flowchart illustrations of computer-implemented methods, apparatus (systems and/or devices) and/or computer program products. It is understood that a block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustrations, can be implemented by computer program instructions that are performed by one or more computer circuits. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor circuit of a general purpose computer circuit, special purpose computer circuit, and/or other programmable data processing circuit to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer and/or other programmable data processing apparatus, transform and control transistors, values stored in memory locations, and other hardware components within such circuitry to implement the functions/acts specified in the block diagrams and/or flowchart block or blocks, and thereby create means (functionality) and/or structure for implementing the functions/acts specified in the block diagrams and/or flowchart block(s).

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a tangible computer-readable medium that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable medium produce an article of manufacture including instructions which implement the functions/acts specified in the block diagrams and/or flowchart block or blocks. Accordingly, embodiments of present inventive concepts may be embodied in hardware and/or in software (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) that runs on a processor such as a digital signal processor, which may collectively be referred to as "circuitry," "a module" or variants thereof.

It should also be noted that in some alternate implementations, the functions/acts noted in the blocks may occur out of the order noted in the flowcharts. For example, two blocks shown in succession may in fact be executed substantially concurrently or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality/acts involved. Moreover, the functionality of a given block of the flowcharts and/or block diagrams may be separated into multiple blocks and/or the functionality of two or more blocks of the flowcharts and/or block diagrams may be at least partially integrated. Finally, other blocks may be added/inserted between the blocks that are illustrated, and/or blocks/operations may be omitted without departing from the scope of inventive concepts. Moreover, although some of the diagrams include arrows on communication paths to show a primary direction of communication, it is to be understood that communication may occur in the opposite direction to the depicted arrows.

Many variations and modifications can be made to the embodiments without substantially departing from the principles of the present inventive concepts. All such variations and modifications are intended to be included herein within the scope of present inventive concepts. Accordingly, the above disclosed subject matter is to be considered illustrative, and not restrictive, and the examples of embodiments are intended to cover all such modifications, enhancements, and other embodiments, which fall within the spirit and scope of present inventive concepts. Thus, to the maximum extent allowed by law, the scope of present inventive concepts are to be determined by the broadest permissible interpretation of the present disclosure including the examples of embodiments and/or claims and their equivalents, and shall not be restricted or limited by the foregoing detailed description.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A method of operating a first wireless communication device (UE), the method comprising:

receiving (61 1) information from a node (e B) of a radio access network, RAN, wherein the information defines availability/unavailability of radio resources with respect to sidelink communications;

sensing (621) transmissions from other wireless communication devices;

selecting (631, 63 la, 63 lb) a radio resource based on the information that defines availability/unavailability of radio resources with respect to sidelink communications and based on sensing the transmissions from other wireless communication devices; and

transmitting (641) a sidelink communication to a second wireless communication device using the radio resource selected based on the information defining availability/unavailability of radio resources with respect to sidelink communications and based on sensing the transmissions from other wireless communication devices.

2. The method of Claim 1, wherein the information defines at least one radio resource allocation that is unavailable to the first wireless communication device for sidelink

communications.

3. The method of Claim 2, wherein the first wireless communication device provides sidelink communications according to a first transmission mode, and wherein the at least one radio resource allocation is for a third wireless communication device that provides sidelink communications according to a second transmission mode different than the first transmission mode.

4. The method of Claim 3, wherein the first transmission mode comprises sidelink transmission mode 4, TM4, and wherein the second transmission mode comprises sidelink transmission mode 3, TM3.

5. The method of Claim 1, wherein the information defines a plurality of radio resource allocations that are available to the first wireless communication device for sidelink

communications, and wherein selecting comprises selecting one of the plurality of radio resource allocations based on sensing the transmissions from the other wireless communications devices.

6. The method of Claim 1, wherein a pool of radio resources is available to the wireless communication device for sidelink transmission mode 4, TM4, transmissions, wherein the information indicates a subset of the pool of radio resources for sidelink TM4 transmissions that is shared in a pool of radio resources that are available for sidelink transmission mode 3, TM3, transmissions, wherein selecting a radio resource comprises selecting a radio resource from the pool of radio resources available for TM4 transmissions.

7. The method of Claim 1, wherein a pool of radio resources is available to the wireless communication device for sidelink transmission mode 4, TM4, transmissions, wherein the information includes a flag indicating that an entirety of the pool of radio resources that is available for sidelink TM4 transmissions is shared in a pool of radio resources that are available for sidelink transmission mode 3, TM3, transmissions, wherein selecting a radio resource comprises selecting a radio resource from the pool of resources available for TM4 transmissions.

8. The method of Claim 1, wherein the information defines a radio resource, and wherein selecting a radio resource comprises selecting a radio resource other than the radio resource defined by the information.

9. The method of Claim 8, wherein the information defines a location associated with the radio resource defined by the information.

10. The method of Claim 9, wherein the radio resource defined by the information is allocated to a third wireless communication device, and wherein the third wireless

communication device is associated with the location.

11. The method of any of Claims 1-10, wherein the information defines a time interval associated with the availability/unavailability of radio resources with respect to sidelink communications.

12. The method of any of Claims 1-11, wherein the information defines a periodic occurrence of a radio resource.

13. The method of any of Claims 1-2, 5-9, and 11-12, wherein the information defines a priority associated with a radio resource allocated to a third wireless communication device.

14. The method of any of Claims 1-13, wherein the information is received from the node via broadcast and/or dedicated signaling.

15. The method of any of Claims 1-14, wherein selecting the radio resource comprises avoiding radio resources indicated by the information.

16. The method of any of Claims 1, wherein the information defines a pool of radio resources, wherein selecting comprises selecting a first radio resource outside the pool of radio resources responsive to availability of the first radio resource, and wherein transmitting comprises transmitting a first sidelink communication using the first radio resource, the method further comprising:

selecting (63 lb) a second radio resource from the pool of radio resources responsive to insufficient availability of a radio resource outside the pool of radio resources; and

transmitting (641) a second sidelink communication to a third wireless communication device using the second radio resource.

17. The method of any of Claims 1-16 further comprising:

before receiving the information, transmitting (601) a request to the node of the radio access network, wherein the information is provided by the node responsive to the request.

18. The method of Claim 17, wherein the request is transmitted responsive to a channel occupation measure exceeding a threshold.

19. The method of Claim 17, wherein the request is transmitted responsive to a priority of a data packet for the sidelink communication exceeding a threshold, and wherein the sidelink communication includes the data packet.

20. The method of Claim 17, wherein the request is transmitted responsive to selection of a secondary carrier for the sidelink communication.

21. The method of any of Claims 1-20, wherein the information relates to radio resources for secondary carriers.

22. The method of any of Claim 1, wherein the information defines a pool of radio resources, the method further comprising:

transmitting a report to the node, wherein the report is based on a measurement for the pool of radio resources.

23. The method of Claim 22, wherein the report is a report of a channel busy ratio, CBR.

24. The method of any of Claims 1-23, wherein transmitting the sidelink communication comprises transmitting a data packet and a reservation for a future transmission.

25. The method of Claim 24, wherein the data packet is transmitted using a sidelink shared channel, and wherein the reservation for the future transmission is transmitted using a sidelink control channel.

26. The method of any of Claims 1-25, wherein the wireless communication device is a vehicular wireless communication device integrated in a vehicle, and wherein transmitting the sidelink communication comprises transmitting a Vehicle-to-Anything, V2X, sidelink communication to the second wireless communication device.

27. The method of any of Claims 1-26, wherein the sidelink communication is a first sidelink communication including a first data packet, and wherein transmitting the first sidelink communication comprises transmitting the first sidelink communication in accordance with a first transmission mode, the method further comprising:

after transmitting the first sidelink communication, generating (625) a second data packet;

responsive to generating the second data packet and responsive to determining unavailability of a radio resource in accordance with the first transmission mode, transmitting (633) a request to the RAN in accordance with a second transmission mode;

receiving (635) identification of a radio resource from the node in accordance with the second transmission mode, wherein the identification of the radio resource is provided by the node in response to the request; and

transmitting (641) a second sidelink communication using the radio resource identified by the node.

28. The method of any of Claims 1-27, wherein the information from the node is used to define a pool of radio resources, and wherein the information from the node includes a probability threshold associated with the pool of resources, the method further comprising: generating a random number;

wherein selecting comprises selecting the radio resource based on the sensing and based on comparing the random number with the probability threshold associated with the pool of resources.

29. The method of Claim 28, wherein the pool of resources is shared for a first transmission mode and a second transmission mode.

30. The method of Claim 29, wherein the pool of resources is a first pool of resources, and wherein the information from the node further defines a second pool of radio resources that is dedicated for the first transmission mode.

31. The method of any of Claims 27 and 29-30, wherein the first transmission mode comprises sidelink transmission mode 4, TM4, and wherein the second transmission mode comprises sidelink transmission mode 3, TM3.

32. The method of any of Claims 1-28, wherein the information from the node is used to define first and second pools of radio resources, and wherein the information from the node defines a packet priority associated with at least one of the first and second pools of radio resources, and wherein selecting comprises selecting the radio resource from one of the first and second pools of radio resources based on comparing a packet priority of a data packet for the sidelink communication with the packet priority.

33. A first wireless communication device, UE, comprising:

a transceiver (401) configured to provide wireless network communication with a radio access network using a network carrier and to provide wireless sidelink communication with a sidelink carrier; and

a processor (403) coupled with the transceiver, wherein the processor is configured to provide wireless network communication and wireless sidelink communication through the transceiver, and wherein the processor is configured to perform operations according to any of Claims 1-32.

34. A wireless communication device, UE, wherein the wireless terminal is adapted to perform according to any of claims 1-32.

35. A wireless communication device, UE, comprising modules adapted to perform according to any of Claims 1-32.

36. A method of operating a node (e B) of a radio access network, RAN, wherein the node supports wireless communication devices providing sidelink communications, the method comprising:

generating (1011) information defining availability/unavailability of radio resources with respect to sidelink communications for a wireless communication device providing sidelink communication according to a first transmission mode, wherein the information is generated based on an allocation of radio resources for sidelink communications according to a second transmission mode different than the first transmission mode; and

initiating transmission (1021) of the information to the wireless communication device.

37. The method of Claim 36, wherein the information defines at least one radio resource allocation that is unavailable to the wireless communication device for sidelink communications.

38. The method of Claim 37, wherein the at least one radio resource allocation is for a second wireless communication device that provides sidelink communications according to the second transmission mode.

39. The method of any of Claims 36-38, wherein the first transmission mode comprises sidelink transmission mode 4, TM4, and wherein the second transmission mode comprises sidelink transmission mode 3, TM3.

40. The method of Claim 36, wherein the information defines a plurality of radio resource allocations that are available to the wireless communication device for sidelink communications.

41. The method of Claim 36, wherein a pool of radio resources is available to the wireless communication device for sidelink transmission mode 4, TM4, transmissions, wherein the information indicates a subset of the pool of radio resources for sidelink TM4 transmissions that is shared in a pool of radio resources that are available for sidelink transmission mode 3, TM3, transmissions.

42. The method of Claim 36, wherein a pool of radio resources is available to the wireless communication device for sidelink transmission mode 4, TM4, transmissions, wherein the information includes a flag indicating that an entirety of the pool of radio resources that is available for sidelink TM4 transmissions is shared in a pool of radio resources that are available for sidelink transmission mode 3, TM3, transmissions.

43. The method of Claim 36, wherein the information defines a radio resource allocated to a second wireless communication device.

44. The method of Claim 43, wherein the information defines a location associated with the second wireless communication device.

45. The method of Claim 44 further comprising:

receiving (1001) location information from the second wireless communication device, wherein the information defining the location associated with the second wireless

communication device is based on the location information received from the second wireless communication device.

46. The method of any of Claims 36-45, wherein the information defines a time interval associated with the availability/unavailability of radio resources with respect to sidelink communications.

47. The method of any of Claims 36-46, wherein the information defines a periodic occurrence of a radio resource.

48. The method of any of Claims 36-47, wherein the information defines a priority associated with a radio resource.

49. The method of any of Claims 36-48, wherein the information is transmitted from the node via broadcast and/or dedicated signaling.

50. The method of any of Claims 36-49, wherein transmitting the information to the wireless communication device comprises transmitting the information responsive to receiving a request from the wireless communication device.

51. The method of any of Claims 36-50, wherein the information relates to radio resources for secondary carriers.

52. The method of any of Claim 36, wherein the information defines a pool of radio resources, the method further comprising:

receiving (1031) a report from the wireless communication device, wherein the report is based on a measurement for the pool of radio resources.

53. The method of Claim 52, wherein the report is a report of a channel busy ratio, CBR.

54. The method of any of Claims 36-53, wherein the wireless communication device is a vehicular wireless communication device integrated in a vehicle, wherein the first transmission mode comprises a first Vehicle-to- Anything, V2X, sidelink transmission mode, and wherein the second transmission mode comprises a second V2X sidelink transmission mode.

55. The method of any of Claims 36-54, wherein the information defines a pool of radio resources, and wherein the information defines a probability threshold associated with the pool of resources.

56. The method of Claim 55, wherein the pool of resources is a shared for a first transmission mode and a second transmission mode.

57. The method of Claim 55, wherein the pool of resources is a first pool of resources, and wherein the information from the node further defines a second pool of radio resources that is dedicated for a first transmission mode.

58. The method of any of Claims 56-57, wherein the first transmission mode comprises sidelink transmission mode 4, TM4, and wherein the second transmission mode comprises sidelink transmission mode 3, TM3.

59. The method of any of Claims 36-58, wherein the information from the node is used to define first and second pools of radio resources, and wherein the information from the node defines a packet priority associated with at least one of the first and second pools of radio resources.

60. A network node (e B) of a radio access network, wherein the node supports wireless communication devices providing sidelink communications, wherein the network node includes: a transceiver (501) configured to provide wireless network communication with a wireless terminal; and

a processor (503) coupled with the transceiver, wherein the processor is configured to provide wireless network communications through the transceiver, and wherein the processor is configured to perform operations according to any of Claims 36-59.

61. A network node (eNB) of a radio access network, wherein the node supports wireless communication devices providing sidelink communications, wherein the network node is adapted to perform according to any of Claims 36-59.

62. A network node (eNB) of a radio access network, wherein the node supports wireless communication devices providing sidelink communications, the network node comprising adapted to perform according to any of Claims 36-59.