EP4732620A1

EP4732620A1 - Method, device and computer readable medium for sidelink communication

Info

Publication number: EP4732620A1
Application number: EP23941902.1A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Gang Wang; Zhaobang MIAO
Original assignee: NEC Corp
Current assignee: NEC Corp
Priority date: 2023-06-20
Filing date: 2023-06-20
Publication date: 2026-04-29
Also published as: WO2024259598A1

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to method, device and computer readable media for sidelink communication. A terminal device determines multiple PSFCH resources on an interlace. The multiple PSFCH resources comprise a first number of logically adjacent PSFCH resources on the interlace or the first number of logically interlaced PSFCH resources on the interlace. In turn, the terminal device transmits or receives HARQ feedback information on the multiple PSFCH resources.

Description

METHOD, DEVICE AND COMPUTER READABLE MEDIUM FOR SIDELINK COMMUNICATION

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of telecommunication, and in particular, to a method, device and computer readable medium for sidelink communication.

BACKGROUND

Wireless communication networks are widely deployed and can support various types of service applications for terminal devices. Many communication schemes have been proposed to support the rapidly increasing data traffic. For example, sidelink communication has been proposed. In the sidelink communication, one or more sidelinks may be established between the terminal devices in the wireless communication network and the terminal devices may exchange signalling and data with each other directly via the established sidelinks.
In scenarios where the sidelink communication is performed, a transmitting terminal device transmits sidelink control information associated with sidelink data on a Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH) , and transmits the sidelink data on a Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH) based on the sidelink control information. Further, in order to ensure the reliability of the sidelink transmission, a Physical Sidelink Feedback Channel (PSFCH) is used to carry Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) feedback information for the sidelink data from a receiving terminal device to the transmitting terminal device.

SUMMARY

In general, example embodiments of the present disclosure provide methods, devices and computer readable media for sidelink communication.
In a first aspect, there is provided a terminal device. The terminal device comprises a processor. The processor is configured to cause the terminal device to: determine multiple PSFCH resources on an interlace, wherein the multiple PSFCH resources comprise a first number of logically adjacent PSFCH resources on the interlace or the first number of logically interlaced PSFCH resources on the interlace; and transmit or receive HARQ feedback information on the multiple PSFCH resources.
In a second aspect, there is provided a method for sidelink communication. The method comprises: determining multiple PSFCH resources on an interlace, wherein the multiple PSFCH resources comprise a first number of logically adjacent PSFCH resources on the interlace or the first number of logically interlaced PSFCH resources on the interlace; and transmitting or receiving HARQ feedback information on the multiple PSFCH resources.
In a third aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon. The instructions, when executed on at least one processor of a device, cause the device to perform the method according to the second aspect.
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 will become easily comprehensible through the following description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Through the more detailed description of some embodiments of the present disclosure in the accompanying drawings, the above and other objects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent, wherein:
Fig. 1 illustrates an example communication network in which embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented;
Fig. 2 illustrates an example of PSFCH resources in time domain in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;
Fig. 3 illustrates an example of timing line between sidelink data transmissions on PSSCH and a PSFCH resource in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;
Fig. 4 illustrates another example of mapping between a sidelink data transmission on PSSCH and a PSFCH resource in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;
Fig. 5 illustrates a flowchart of an example method in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;
Fig. 6A illustrates an example of mapping between a data transmission on PSSCH and a PSFCH resource in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;
Fig. 6B illustrates examples of a gap between any two of multiple PSFCH resources which are logically adjacent among the multiple PSFCH resources in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;
Figs. 6C and 6D illustrate an example of PSFCH resources available for multiplexing HARQ feedback information in a PSFCH transmission in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure, respectively;
Figs. 7A and 7B illustrate an example of multiple sets of PSFCH resources in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure, respectively;
Figs. 8A and 8B illustrate an example of multiple sets of PSFCH resources in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure, respectively;
Fig. 8C illustrates an example of two sets for carrying the HARQ feedback information associated with a data transmission within a sub-channel in a first slot in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;
Fig. 8D illustrates an example of PSFCH resources available for multiplexing HARQ feedback information in a PSFCH transmission in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure; and
Fig. 9 is a simplified block diagram of a device that is suitable for implementing some embodiments of the present disclosure.
Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar element.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Principle of the present disclosure will 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 limitations as to the scope of the disclosure. The disclosure described herein can be implemented in various manners other than the ones described below.
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.
As used herein, the term “terminal device” refers to any device having wireless or wired communication capabilities. Examples of the terminal device include, but not limited to, user equipment (UE) , personal computers, desktops, mobile phones, cellular phones, smart phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) , portable computers, tablets, wearable devices, internet of things (IoT) devices, Ultra-reliable and Low Latency Communications (URLLC) devices, Internet of Everything (IoE) devices, machine type communication (MTC) devices, device on vehicle for V2X communication where X means pedestrian, vehicle, or infrastructure/network, devices for Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) , Small Data Transmission (SDT) , mobility, Multicast and Broadcast Services (MBS) , positioning, dynamic/flexible duplex in commercial networks, reduced capability (RedCap) , Space borne vehicles or Air borne vehicles in Non-terrestrial networks (NTN) including Satellites and High Altitude Platforms (HAPs) encompassing Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) , eXtended Reality (XR) devices including different types of realities such as Augmented Reality (AR) , Mixed Reality (MR) and Virtual Reality (VR) , the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) commonly known as a drone which is an aircraft without any human pilot, devices on high speed train (HST) , or image capture devices such as digital cameras, sensors, gaming devices, music storage and playback appliances, or Internet appliances enabling wireless or wired Internet access and browsing and the like. The ‘terminal device’ can further has ‘multicast/broadcast’ feature, to support public safety and mission critical, V2X applications, transparent IPv4/IPv6 multicast delivery, IPTV, smart TV, radio services, software delivery over wireless, group communications and IoT applications. It may also incorporate one or multiple Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) as known as Multi-SIM. The term “terminal device” can be used interchangeably with a UE, a mobile station, a subscriber station, a mobile terminal, a user terminal or a wireless device.
The term “network device” refers to a device which is capable of providing or hosting a cell or coverage where terminal devices can communicate. Examples of a network device include, but not limited to, a Node B (NodeB or NB) , an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB) , a next generation NodeB (gNB) , a transmission reception point (TRP) , a remote radio unit (RRU) , a radio head (RH) , a remote radio head (RRH) , an IAB node, a low power node such as a femto node, a pico node, a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) , Network-controlled Repeaters, and the like.
The terminal device or the network device may have Artificial intelligence (AI) or Machine learning capability. It generally includes a model which has been trained from numerous collected data for a specific function, and can be used to predict some information.
The terminal or the network device may work on several frequency ranges, e.g. FR1 (410 MHz –7125 MHz) , FR2 (24.25GHz to 71GHz) , frequency band larger than 100GHz as well as Tera Hertz (THz) . It can further work on licensed/unlicensed/shared spectrum. The terminal device may have more than one connection with the network devices under Multi-Radio Dual Connectivity (MR-DC) application scenario. The terminal device or the network device can work on full duplex, flexible duplex and cross division duplex modes.
The network device may have the function of network energy saving, Self-Organizing Networks (SON) /Minimization of Drive Tests (MDT) . The terminal may have the function of power saving.
The embodiments of the present disclosure may be performed in test equipment, e.g. signal generator, signal analyzer, spectrum analyzer, network analyzer, test terminal device, test network device, channel emulator.
The embodiments of the present disclosure may be performed according to any generation communication protocols either currently known or to be developed in the future. Examples of the communication protocols include, but not limited to, the first generation (1G) , the second generation (2G) , 2.5G, 2.75G, the third generation (3G) , the fourth generation (4G) , 4.5G, the fifth generation (5G) communication protocols, 5.5G, 5G-Advanced networks, or the sixth generation (6G) networks.
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. The term ‘includes’ and its variants are to be read as open terms that mean ‘includes, but is not limited to. ’ The term ‘based on’ is to be read as ‘at least in part based on. ’ The term ‘some embodiments’ and ‘an embodiment’ are to be read as ‘at least some embodiments. ’ The term ‘another embodiment’ is to be read as ‘at least one other embodiment. ’ The terms ‘first, ’ ‘second, ’ and the like may refer to different or same objects. Other definitions, explicit and implicit, may be included below.
In some examples, values, procedures, or apparatus are referred to as ‘best, ’ ‘lowest, ’ ‘highest, ’ ‘minimum, ’ ‘maximum, ’ or the like. It will be appreciated that such descriptions are intended to indicate that a selection among many used functional alternatives can be made, and such selections need not be better, smaller, higher, or otherwise preferable to other selections.
Fig. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of an example communication network 100 in which embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented. As shown in Fig. 1, the communication network 100 may include a terminal device 110, a terminal device 120, a terminal device 130, network devices 140 and 150. The network devices 140 and 150 may communicate with the terminal device 110, the terminal device 120 and the terminal device 130 via respective wireless communication channels.
In some embodiments, the network device 140 may be a gNB in NR. Thus, the network device 140 may be also referred to as an NR network device 140.
In some embodiments, the network device 150 may be an eNB in Long Term Evolution (LTE) system. Thus, the network device 150 may be also referred to as an LTE network device 150.
It is to be understood that the number of devices in Fig. 1 is given for the purpose of illustration without suggesting any limitations to the present disclosure. The communication network 100 may include any suitable number of network devices and/or terminal devices adapted for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure.
The communications in the communication network 100 may conform to any suitable standards including, but not limited to, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) , LTE, LTE-Evolution, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) , Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) , Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) , GSM EDGE Radio Access Network (GERAN) , Machine Type Communication (MTC) and the like. Furthermore, the communications may be performed according to any generation communication protocols either currently known or to be developed in the future. Examples of the communication protocols include, but not limited to, the first generation (1G) , the second generation (2G) , 2.5G, 2.75G, the third generation (3G) , the fourth generation (4G) , 4.5G, the fifth generation (5G) communication protocols.
In some embodiments, the communications in the communication network 100 may comprise sidelink communication. Sidelink communication is a wireless radio communication directly between two or more terminal devices, such as two or more terminal devices among the terminal device 110, the terminal device 120 and the terminal device 130. In this type of communication, the two or more terminal devices that are geographically proximate to each other can directly communicate without going through the network device 140 or 150 or through a core network. Data transmission in sidelink communication is thus different from typical cellular network communications, in which a terminal device transmits data to the network device 140 or 150 (i.e., uplink transmissions) or receives data from the network device 140 or 150 (i.e., downlink transmissions) . In sidelink communication, data is transmitted directly from a source terminal device (such as the terminal device 110) to a target terminal device (such as the terminal device 120) through the Unified Air Interface, e.g., PC5 interface, (i.e., sidelink transmissions) , as shown in Fig. 1.
Sidelink communication can provide several advantages, including reducing data transmission load on a core network, system resource consumption, transmission power consumption, and network operation costs, saving wireless spectrum resources, and increasing spectrum efficiency of a cellular wireless communication system.
In a sidelink communication system, the sidelink resource is used to transmit information between terminal devices. According to application scenarios, service types, etc., a sidelink communication manner includes but is not limited to device to device (D2D) communication, Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) communication, etc.
V2X communication enables vehicles to communicate with other vehicles (i.e. Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) communication) , with infrastructure (i.e. Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) , with wireless networks (i.e. Vehicle-to-Network (V2N) communication) , with pedestrians (i.e. Vehicle-to-Pedestrian (V2P) communication) , and even with the owner's home (i.e. Vehicle-to-Home (V2H) ) . Examples of infrastructure include roadside units such as traffic lights, toll gates and the like. V2X communication can be used in a wide range of scenarios, including in accident prevention and safety, convenience, traffic efficiency and clean driving, and ultimately in relation to autonomous or self-driving vehicles.
For sidelink communication, a terminal device uses resources in sidelink resource pools to transmit or receive signals. The sidelink resource pools include resources in time domain and frequency domain, which are dedicated resources of the sidelink communication, or shared by the sidelink communication and a cellular link. For sidelink communication, two modes of resource assignment may be used for sidelink, including network device schedules sidelink resources for terminal devices to perform sidelink signal transmission, named as mode 1 resource scheme in NR sidelink or mode 3 resource scheme in LTE sidelink, and terminal device selects sidelink resources by itself to perform sidelink signal transmission, named as mode 2 resource scheme in NR sidelink or mode 4 resource scheme in LTE sidelink.
The terminal device 110, the terminal device 120 and the terminal device 130 may use sidelink channels to transmit sidelink signaling or information. The sidelink channels include at least one of the following: a PSCCH resource which is used for carrying sidelink control information (SCI) , a PSSCH resource which is used for carrying sidelink data service information, a PSFCH resource which is used for carrying sidelink Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) feedback information, a physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH) resource which is used for carrying sidelink broadcast information, and a physical sidelink discovery channel (PSDCH) resource which is used for carrying a sidelink discovery signal.
Within a resource pool, whether a PSFCH resource is available may be configured or pre-configured. In time domain, according to the configuration or pre-configuration of a resource pool, one of every N slots in the resource pool contains PSFCH resources, N= [0, 1, 2, 4] . In a sidelink resource pool, PSCCH or PSSCH resources are presented in every slot and used for transmitting sidelink data packet. Within a slot containing a PSFCH resource, the last three SL symbols (GP+AGC+PSFCH) preceding the last GP symbols are used for PSFCH related, as shown in Fig. 2.
A PSFCH resource may comprises one RB in frequency domain and one symbol in time domain (AGC symbol is repeated) and one cyclic shift pair in code domain. In addition, the PSFCH resource may carry 1 bit ACK/NACK information. Furthermore, the PSFCH resource may be related to one sub-channel in one slot.
While PSFCH is used for carrying sidelink HARQ feedback information associated with a sidelink data transmission on the assigned slots. Based on that, the time intervals between HARQ feedback information on PSFCH and the associated sidelink data transmission on PSSCH are various. As an example shown in Fig. 3, where N=4, i.e., one out of every four slots in the resource pool contains a PSFCH resource.
There is an N-to-one mapping relationship in time domain between PSSCH and PSFCH. For the data transmission on PSSCH in slot #n, the associated HARQ feedback information may be reported in slot #n+k, k >=K. K represents a minimum time gap between a PSFCH occasion and a PSSCH occasion. Hereinafter, K is also referred to as “Gap” . K may be configured or pre-configured through high layer. For example, K may be configured as K=[2, 3] by sl-MinTimeGapPSFCH. As shown in Fig. 3, K=2 slots. Accordingly, the HARQ feedback information associated with the PSSCH in slots #n and #n+1 may be reported on PSFCH in slot #n+3, and the HARQ feedback information associated with the PSSCH in slots #n+2, #n+3, n+4 and n+5 may be reported on PSFCH in slot #n+7.
In frequency domain, the RBs used as PSFCH resources may be configured by bitmap. Based on that, the assigned RBs for PSFCH resources may be allocated to carry the sidelink HARQ feedback information associated with data transmissions on PSSCH. This will be described with reference to Fig. 4.
Fig. 4 illustrates an example of mapping between a sidelink data transmission on PSSCH and a PSFCH resource. In the example of Fig. 4, a period of PSFCH resources is equal to 2 and K is equal to 2. Hereinafter, the period of PSFCH resources is also referred to as PSFCH period for brevity. represents the number of RBs in a resource pool configured for feedback channel resources. represents the number of RBs for carrying HARQ feedback information associated with a data transmission within a sub-channel in a slot, wheremay be determined based on the following:
where N_subch represents the number of sub-channels in the resource pool, and represents a period of PSFCH resources. In the example of Fig. 4,
HARQ feedback information associated with a data transmission on PSSCH within a sub-channel 410 in slot #n may be reported on an RB 411 in slot #n+3. HARQ feedback information associated with a data transmission on PSSCH within a sub-channel 430 in slot #n may be reported on an RB 412 in slot #n+3. HARQ feedback information associated with a data transmission on PSSCH within the sub-channel 420 in slot #n+1 may be reported on an RB 421 in slot #n+3. HARQ feedback information associated with a data transmission on PSSCH within the sub-channel 440 in slot #n+1 may be reported on an RB 422 in slot #n+3.
Regarding PSFCH transmission with 15 kHz and 30 kHz Subcarrier Spacing (SCS) , each PSFCH transmission occupies one common interlace and a first number of dedicated PSFCH resources. Thus, it needs to discuss how to determine the first number of dedicated PSFCH resources.
Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for sidelink communication. According to the solution, a terminal device determines multiple PSFCH resources on an interlace. The multiple PSFCH resources comprise a first number of logically adjacent PSFCH resources on the interlace or the first number of logically interlaced PSFCH resources on the interlace. In turn, the terminal device transmits or receives HARQ feedback information on the multiple PSFCH resources. In this way, transmission or reception of HARQ feedback information on multiple dedicated PSFCH resources may be achieved. Hereinafter, principle of the present disclosure will be described with reference to Figs. 5 to 9.
Fig. 5 illustrates a flowchart of an example method in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the method 800 can be implemented at a terminal device, such as one of the terminal device 110, the terminal device 120 and the terminal device 130 as shown in Fig. 1. For the purpose of discussion, the method 800 will be described with reference to Fig. 1 as performed by the terminal device 110 without loss of generality.
At block 510, the terminal device 110 determines multiple PSFCH resources on an interlace. The multiple PSFCH resources comprise a first number of logically adjacent PSFCH resources on the interlace or the first number of logically interlaced PSFCH resources on the interlace. Hereinafter, the first number may be represented by K1.
In some embodiments, the first number may be configured or pre-configured by higher layer.
In some embodiments, the first number may be in a range of 2 to 10. For example, the first number may be equal to 2 or 5.
In some embodiments, each of the multiple PSFCH resources comprises a physical resource block (PRB) .
At block 520, the terminal device 110 transmits or receives HARQ feedback information on the multiple PSFCH resources.
With the method 500, transmission or reception of HARQ feedback information on multiple dedicated PSFCH resources may be achieved.
In some embodiments, each PSFCH transmission may occupy one common interlace and the first number of the multiple PSFCH resources. In this regard, the first number of the multiple PSFCH resources may be referred to as the first number of dedicated PSFCH resources. In this way, transmission of HARQ feedback information may satisfy occupied channel bandwidth (OCB) requirement. In addition, transmission or reception of the HARQ feedback information on multiple dedicated PSFCH resources may be achieved.
In some embodiments, PSSCH transmissions on non-overlapped resources are mapped to orthogonal dedicated PRBs for PSFCH transmission.
In some embodiments, in order to determine the first number of the multiple PSFCH resources, the terminal device 110 may determine available PSFCH resources in a resource block (RB) set by excluding PSFCH resources on the common interlace from the RB set. In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine available PSFCH resources in the RB set by further excluding at least one resource for a guard band which is adjacent to the PSFCH resources on the common interlace.
Hereinafter, the number of the available PSFCH resources in the RB set is represented by M_R. If each of the multiple PSFCH resources comprises a PRB, M_R represents the number of available PRBs for PSFCH transmissions in the RB set.
Alternatively, in some embodiments, the available PSFCH resources in the RB set may be configured by the network device 140 or 150 through a radio resource control (RRC) signaling.
Alternatively, in some embodiments, the available PSFCH resources in the RB set may be pre-defined for a resource pool or the RB set.
In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine a first PSFCH resource among the multiple PSFCH resources. In some embodiments, legacy subsequent procedures as specified in TS 38.213, clause 16.3.0 may be reused to determine the first PSFCH resource in frequency domain with one cyclic shift (CS) pair in code domain. Then, the terminal device 110 may determine a gap between any two of the multiple PSFCH resources which are logically adjacent among the multiple PSFCH resources. In turn, the terminal device 110 may determine at least one remaining PSFCH resource among the multiple PSFCH resources based on the first PSFCH resource and the gap. This will be described with reference to Figs. 6A, 6B and 6C.
Fig. 6A illustrates an example of mapping between a data transmission on PSSCH and a PSFCH resource in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. In the example of Fig. 6A, SCS is equal to 30KHz, one RB set comprises 50 PRBs. The 50 PRBs are divided into 5 interlaces, i.e., interlaces #0, #1, #2, #3 and #4. That is, each of the interlaces #0, #1, #2, #3 and #4 comprises 10 PRBs. The interlace #4 is configured as a common interlace. represents the number of PRBs for carrying HARQ feedback information associated with a data transmission within a sub-channel in a slot. The terminal device 110 may determineby replacingin the equation (1) with M_R. That is, the terminal device 110 may determinebased on the following:
where M_R represents the number of available PRBs for PSFCH transmissions in the RB set, N_subch represents the number of sub-channels in a resource pool, andrepresents a period of PSFCH resources. In the example of Fig. 6A, M_R=40, N_subch=10, and
For example, HARQ feedback information associated with a data transmission on PSSCH within a sub-channel 610 in slot #n may be reported on a PRB 611 on interlace #0 and on a PRB 612 on interlace #1. HARQ feedback information associated with a data transmission on PSSCH within a sub-channel 620 in slot #n+1 may be reported on a PRB 621 on interlace #2 and on a PRB 622 on interlace #3. HARQ feedback information associated with a data transmission on PSSCH within a sub-channel 630 in slot #n+1 may be reported on a PRB 631 on interlace #2 and on a PRB 632 on interlace #3.
Then, the terminal device 110 may determine the PRB 631 on interlace #2 as the first PSFCH resource among the multiple PSFCH resources.
Upon determining the first PSFCH resource among the multiple PSFCH resources, the terminal device 110 may determine a gap between any two of the multiple PSFCH resources which are logically adjacent among the multiple PSFCH resources.
In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine the gap based on at least one of the following: the system pre-definition, the system configuration, or the system pre-configuration.
In some embodiments, the gap may be pre-defined, configured, or pre-configured per resource pool, per BWP, per carrier, or per RB set.
Alternatively, in some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine the gap based on at least one of the following: the first number (K1) of the multiple PSFCH resources, or a second number (represented by W) of PRBs comprised in the interlace. For example, the terminal device 110 may determine the gap based on the following:
gap = [W/K1] (3)
For example, if W=10 and K1 = 2, gap = 5. For another example, if W= 11, one PRB at one edge of the RB set is not used for PSFCH transmission.
Fig. 6B illustrates examples of a gap between any two of multiple PSFCH resources which are logically adjacent among the multiple PSFCH resources in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in Fig. 6B, the gap may be equal to one of the following: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, …9.
In turn, the terminal device 110 may determine at least one remaining PSFCH resource among the multiple PSFCH resources based on the first PSFCH resource, the gap and the first number.
For example, as shown in Fig. 6B, the terminal device 110 may determine a PRB 641 on interlace #2 as the first PSFCH resource. If the gap is equal to 1 and the first number (K1) is equal to 3, the terminal device 110 may determine that the at least one remaining PSFCH resource comprises PRBs 642 and 643 on interlace #2. That is, the multiple PSFCH resources comprise PRBs 641, 642 and 643 on interlace #2.
For another example, as shown in Fig. 6B, the terminal device 110 may determine the PRB 641 on interlace #2 as the first PSFCH resource. If the gap is equal to 2 and the first number (K1) is equal to 2, the terminal device 110 may determine that the at least one remaining PSFCH resource comprises PRB 643 on interlace #2. That is, the multiple PSFCH resources comprise PRBs 641 and 643 on interlace #2.
In some embodiments, a shift direction from the first PSFCH resource to the at least one remaining PSFCH resource may be pre-defined across the RB set. For example, the shift direction may be from low frequency to high frequency as indicated by 650 in Fig. 6B. Alternatively, the shift direction may be from high frequency to low frequency which is not shown.
In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine the number of PSFCH resources available for multiplexing HARQ feedback information in a PSFCH transmission as following:
whererepresents the number of cyclic shift (CS) pairs for the resource pool provided by sl-NumMuxCS-Pair and, based on an indication by sl-PSFCH-CandidateResourceType. If sl-PSFCH-CandidateResourceType is configured as startSubCH, and thePRBs are associated with the starting sub-channel of the corresponding PSSCH. If sl-PSFCH-CandidateResourceType is configured as allocSubCH, and thePRBs are associated with thesub-channels of the corresponding PSSCH.
In some embodiments, the PSFCH resources are first indexed according to an ascending order of the PRB index, from thePRBs, and then according to an ascending order of the cyclic shift pair index from thecyclic shift pairs.
Fig. 6C illustrates an example of PSFCH resources available for multiplexing HARQ feedback information in a PSFCH transmission in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. In the example of Fig. 6C, and cyclic shift pairs comprise CS#1, …, CS#c. For example, c = 2. That is, the numberof cyclic shift pairs is equal to 2. If the gap is equal to 2 and the first number (K1) is equal to 2, the terminal device 110 may determine a first set of PSFCH resources with CS#1 and a second set of PSFCH resources with CS#2. The first set of PSFCH resources with CS#1 comprises PRBs 641 and 643 on interlace #2. The second set of PSFCH resources with CS#2 comprises PRBs 661 and 663 on interlace #2.
In turn, the terminal device 110 may select one of the first set of PSFCH resources with CS#1 and the second set of PSFCH resources with CS#2. For example, the terminal device 110 may determine an index of a PSFCH resource in one of the first and second sets for a PSFCH transmission with HARQ feedback information in response to a PSSCH reception as following:
where P_ID is a physical layer source ID provided by SCI format 2-A/2-B/2-C [5, TS 38.212] scheduling the PSSCH reception, M_ID is the identity of a terminal device receiving the PSSCH as indicated by higher layers if the UE detects a SCI format 2-A with Cast type indicator field value of "01" ; otherwise, M_ID is zero.
In some embodiments, if the terminal device 110 receives the PSSCH from the terminal device 120, the P_ID is a physical layer source ID may be a physical layer source ID of the terminal device 120 and M_ID is an identity of the terminal device 110.
For example, if the terminal device 110 determines the index of the PRB 641 based on the equation (5) , the terminal device 110 selects the first set of PSFCH resources with CS#1. On the other hand, if the terminal device 110 determines the index of the PRB 661 based on the equation (5) , the terminal device 110 selects the second set of PSFCH resources with CS#2.
In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine a first PSFCH resource among the multiple PSFCH resources. In turn, the terminal device 110 may determine at least one second PSFCH resource which is logically adjacent to the first PSFCH resource on the interlace as at least one remaining PSFCH resource among the multiple PSFCH resources. This will be described with reference to Fig. 6D.
Fig. 6D illustrates an example of PSFCH resources available for multiplexing HARQ feedback information in a PSFCH transmission in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. In the example of Fig. 6D, legacy subsequent procedures as specified in TS 38.213, clause 16.3.0 may be reused to determine the first PSFCH resource in frequency domain with one cyclic shift pair (such as CS#1) in code domain. For example, the terminal device 110 may perform the procedure as described with reference to Fig. 6A to determine the first PSFCH resource as a PRB 671 on interlace #2.
Then, the terminal device 110 determines at least one PRB which is logically adjacent to the PRB 671 on interlace#2 as at least one remaining PSFCH resource among the multiple PSFCH resources. In other words, the terminal device 110 determines the at least one remaining PSFCH resource by extending occupying logically adjacent K1-1 PRBs on interlace #2. For example, if the first number (K1) of the multiple PSFCH resources is equal to 2, the terminal device 110 determines a PRB 672 on interlace#2 as a remaining PSFCH resource among the multiple PSFCH resources.
In some embodiments, if an interlace comprises 11 PRBs, one PRB at one edge of the RB set is not used for PSFCH transmission.
In some embodiments, the occupying direction may be pre-defined across the RB set. For example, the occupying direction may be from low frequency to high frequency as indicated by 680 in Fig. 6D. Alternatively, the occupying direction may be from high frequency to low frequency, which is not shown.
In some embodiments, in order to transmit or receive the HARQ feedback information, the terminal device 110 may transmit or receive a first sequence associated with the HARQ feedback information on each of multiple PSFCH resources. In other words, the terminal device 110 may transmit or receive repetition of the first sequence on each of multiple PSFCH resources. For example, the first sequence may be a 12-bit sequence. In this way, each PSFCH repetition is separated across the RB set and there is more robustness for the PSFCH transmission.
Alternatively, in some embodiments, in order to transmit or receive the HARQ feedback information, the terminal device 110 may transmit or receive part of a second sequence associated with the HARQ feedback information on each of multiple PSFCH resources. For example, the second sequence may be a (12*K1) -bits sequence.
In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine a third sequence associated with the HARQ feedback information based on a first cyclic shift pair. In addition, the terminal device 110 may determine at least one fourth sequence associated with the HARQ feedback information based on at least one second reserved cyclic shift pair. In such embodiments, the terminal device 110 may transmit or receive the third sequence on the first PSFCH resource among the multiple PSFCH resources. In addition, the terminal device 110 may transmit or receive the at least one fourth sequence on at least one remaining PSFCH resource among the multiple PSFCH resources. In this way, PSFCH collision between the terminal device 110 and other terminal device may be avoided.
In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine multiple sets of PSFCH resources based on available PSFCH resources on the interlace. Each of the sets comprises the first number (K1) of PSFCH resources. In other words, the available PSFCH resources on the interlace are divided into multiple sets of PSFCH resources. In turn, the terminal device 110 may determine the first number of PSFCH resources in a first set among the sets of PSFCH resources as the multiple PSFCH resources.
In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine the number of the multiple sets of PSFCH resources based on the number of the available PSFCH resources in the RB set and the first number of the multiple PSFCH resources. For example, the terminal device 110 may determine the number of the multiple sets of PSFCH resources based on the following:
M = M_R/K1 (6)
where M represents the number of the multiple sets of PSFCH resources, M_R represents the number of the available PSFCH resources in the RB set, and K1 represents the first number (K1) of the multiple PSFCH resources.
In some embodiments, the first number of PSFCH resources in the first set comprise the first number of logically adjacent PRBs on the interlace. This will be described with reference to Figs. 7A and 7B.
Figs. 7A and 7B illustrate an example of multiple sets of PSFCH resources in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure, respectively.
In the examples of Figs. 7A and 7B, SCS is equal to 30KHz, one RB set comprises 50 PRBs. The 50 PRBs are divided into 5 interlaces, i.e., interlaces #0, #1, #2, #3 and #4. That is, each of the interlaces #0, #1, #2, #3 and #4 comprises 10 PRBs. The interlace #4 is configured as a common interlace. The number (M_R) of available PRBs for PSFCH transmissions in the RB set is equal to 40.
In the example of Fig. 7A, the first number (K1) of PSFCH resources in each of the sets is equal to 2. Thus, 40 available PRBs for PSFCH transmissions in the RB set are divided into 20 sets of PSFCH resources. Each of the sets is represented by m_i, where i=0, 1, 2,…, 19. Within an interlace, the logically adjacent K1 PRBs start from the first PRB are mapped to one of the sets.
In the example of Fig. 7B, the first number (K1) of PSFCH resources in each of the sets is equal to 5. Thus, 40 available PRBs for PSFCH transmissions in the RB set are divided into 8 sets of PSFCH resources. Each of the sets is represented by m_i, where i=0, 1, 2,…, 7. Within an interlace, the logically adjacent K1 PRBs start from the first PRB are mapped to one of the sets.
Alternatively, in embodiments where the available PSFCH resources on the interlace are divided into multiple sets of PSFCH resources, the first number of PSFCH resources in each of the sets comprise the first number of logically interlaced PRBs on the interlace. In such embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine the multiple sets of PSFCH resources by determining a gap between any two of the first number of PSFCH resources which are logically adjacent in each of the sets.
In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine the gap based on at least one of the following: the system pre-definition, the system configuration, or the system pre-configuration.
In some embodiments, the gap may be pre-defined, configured, or pre-configured per resource pool, per BWP, per carrier, or per RB set.
Alternatively, in some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine the gap based on at least one of the following: the first number (K1) of the multiple PSFCH resources in each of the sets, or the second number (represented by W) of PRBs comprised in the interlace. For example, the terminal device 110 may determine the gap based on the equation (3) as described above.
For example, if W=10 and K1 = 2, gap = 5. For another example, if W= 11, one PRB at one edge of the RB set is not used for PSFCH transmission.
Figs. 8A and 8B illustrate an example of multiple sets of PSFCH resources in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure, respectively.
In the examples of Figs. 8A and 8B, SCS is equal to 30KHz, one RB set comprises 50 PRBs. The 50 PRBs are divided into 5 interlaces, i.e., interlaces #0, #1, #2, #3 and #4. That is, each of the interlaces #0, #1, #2, #3 and #4 comprises 10 PRBs. The interlace #4 is configured as a common interlace. The number (M_R) of available PRBs for PSFCH transmissions in the RB set is equal to 40.
In the example of Fig. 8A, the first number (K1) of PSFCH resources in each of the sets is equal to 2 and the gap is equal to 5. Thus, 40 available PRBs for PSFCH transmissions in the RB set are divided into 20 sets of PSFCH resources. Each of the sets is represented by m_i, where i=0, 1, 2, 3 and 19. Within an interlace, the logically interlaced K1 PRBs start from the first PRB are mapped to one of the sets.
In the example of Fig. 8B, the first number (K1) of PSFCH resources in each of the sets is equal to 5 and the gap is equal to 2. Thus, 40 available PRBs for PSFCH transmissions in the RB set are divided into 8 sets of PSFCH resources. Each of the sets is represented by m_i, where i=0, 1 and 7. Within an interlace, the logically interlaced K1 PRBs start from the first PRB are mapped to one of the sets.
In some embodiments, in order to determine the first number of PSFCH resources in the first set among the sets of PSFCH resources as the multiple PSFCH resources, the terminal device 110 may determine at least one of the multiple sets for carrying the HARQ feedback information associated with a data transmission within a sub-channel in a slot based on the number of the multiple sets, the number of sub-channels in a resource pool and a period of the PSFCH resources. For example, the terminal device 110 may determine by replacingin the equation (1) with M. That is, the terminal device 110 may determinebased on the following:
whereis the number of the at least one of the multiple sets for carrying the HARQ feedback information associated with the data transmission within the sub-channel in the slot. M represents the number of the multiple sets, N_subch represents the number of sub-channels in a resource pool, andrepresents a period of PSFCH resources.
Fig. 8C illustrates an example of two sets for carrying the HARQ feedback information associated with a data transmission within a sub-channel in a first slot in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.
In the example of Fig. 8C, SCS is equal to 30KHz, one RB set comprises 50 PRBs. The 50 PRBs are divided into 5 interlaces, i.e., interlaces #0, #1, #2, #3 and #4. That is, each of the interlaces #0, #1, #2, #3 and #4 comprises 10 PRBs. The interlace #4 is configured as a common interlace. The number (M_R) of available PRBs for PSFCH transmissions in the RB set is equal to 40. Three CS pairs (i.e., CS#1, CS#2 and CS#3) are applied.
In the example of Fig. 8C, the first number (K1) of PSFCH resources in each of the sets is equal to 2. Thus, 40 available PRBs for PSFCH transmissions in the RB set are divided into 20 sets of PSFCH resources. Each of the sets is represented by m_i, where i=0, 1, 2,…, 19. Within an interlace, the logically adjacent K1 PRBs start from the first PRB are mapped to one of the sets.
In the example of Fig. 8C, M=20, Thus, based on the equation (7) , That is, two sets are used for carrying the HARQ feedback information associated with a data transmission within a sub-channel in a slot.
After after determiningthe terminal device 110 may further determine the mapping between each PSSCH and the associatedFor example, PSFCH resource sets m8 and m9 are used to carrying HARQ feedback information associated with a data transmission on PSSCH within a sub-channel 805 in slot #n.
In turn, the terminal device 110 may determine the first set among the at least one of the multiple sets based on a first identity of a first terminal device performing the data transmission, a second identity of a second terminal device 110 receiving the data transmission, the number of the at least one of the multiple sets and the number of cyclic shift pairs. This will be described with reference to Fig. 8D.
Fig. 8D illustrates an example of PSFCH resources available for multiplexing HARQ feedback information in a PSFCH transmission in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. In the example of Fig. 8D, and cyclic shift pairs comprise CS#1, CS#2 and CS#3. That is, the numberof cyclic shift pairs is equal to 3.
Base on the above equation (4) , the terminal device 110 may determine the number of PSFCH resources available for multiplexing HARQ feedback information associated with the data transmission on PSSCH within the sub-channel 805 in slot #n as the following: That is, based on the PSFSCH resource sets m8 and m9, the terminal device 110 may determine a first set of PSFCH resources with CS#1, a second set of PSFCH resources with CS#2, a third set of PSFCH resources with CS#3, a fourth set of PSFCH resources with CS#1, a fifth set of PSFCH resources with CS#2, and a sixth set of PSFCH resources with CS#3.
The first set of PSFCH resources with CS#1 comprises PRBs 811 and 812 on the same interlace. The second set of PSFCH resources with CS#2 comprises PRBs 821 and 822 on the same interlace. The third set of PSFCH resources with CS#3 comprises PRBs 831 and 832 on the same interlace. The fourth set of PSFCH resources with CS#1 comprises PRBs 841 and 842 on the same interlace. The fifth set of PSFCH resources with CS#2 comprises PRBs 851 and 852 on the same interlace. The sixth set of PSFCH resources with CS#3 comprises PRBs 861 and 862 on the same interlace.
In turn, the terminal device 110 may select one of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth sets. For example, the terminal device 110 may determine an index of a PSFCH resource in one of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth sets for a PSFCH transmission with HARQ feedback information in response to a PSSCH reception based on the above equation (5) .
In some embodiments, if the terminal device 110 receives the PSSCH from the terminal device 120, the P_ID is a physical layer source ID may be a physical layer source ID of the terminal device 120 and M_ID is an identity of the terminal device 110.
For example, if the terminal device 110 determines the index of the PRB 811 based on the equation (5) , the terminal device 110 selects the first set of PSFCH resources with CS#1.
In some embodiments, for the common interlace for common PSFCH transmission, the terminal device 110 should always perform transmission on the common interlace even the terminal device 110 does not intend to transmit PSFCH.
In some embodiments, a medium access control (MAC) layer of the terminal device 110 may perform the following procedure:
5>if HARQ feedback is enabled for groupcast:
if Alternative 1-1b is (pre-) configured:
■ 6>if both a group size and a member ID are provided by upper layers and the (group size or (groupsize-1) ·configured number of PRBs of dedicated PSFCH) is not greater than the number of candidate PSFCH resources associated with this sidelink grant:
if Alternative 2-3a is (pre-) configured:
■ 6>if both a group size and a member ID are provided by upper layers and the (group size or (groupsize-1) is not greater than the number of candidate PSFCH resources associated with this sidelink grant:
◆ 7>select either positive-negative acknowledgement or negative-only acknowledgement.
■ 6>else
◆ 7>select negative-only acknowledgement.
In the Alternative 1-1b, each PSFCH transmission occupies one common interlace and K1 dedicated PRB (s) . K3 is configured or pre-configured. On the K1 dedicated PRB (s) , multiple CS pairs can be used as in legacy NR SL PSFCH transmission. When a PRB of common interlace and a dedicated PRB locate within the same 1 MHz bandwidth, the terminal device 110 only transmits on the dedicated PRB.
In the Alternative 2-3a, each PSFCH transmission occupies one dedicated interlace.
Fig. 9 is a simplified block diagram of a device 900 that is suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 900 can be considered as a further example embodiment of the terminal device 110, 120 or 130 as shown in Fig. 1. Accordingly, the device 900 can be implemented at or as at least part of the terminal device 110, 120 or 130.
As shown, the device 900 includes a processor 910, a memory 920 coupled to the processor 910, a suitable transceiver 940 coupled to the processor 910, and a communication interface coupled to the transceiver 940. The memory 910 stores at least a part of a program 930. The transceiver 940 may be for bidirectional communications or a unidirectional communication based on requirements. The transceiver 940 may include at least one of a transmitter 942 and a receiver 944. The transmitter 942 and the receiver 944 may be functional modules or physical entities. The transceiver940 has at least one antenna to facilitate communication, though in practice an Access Node mentioned in this application may have several ones. The communication interface may represent any interface that is necessary for communication with other network elements, such as X2/Xn interface for bidirectional communications between eNBs/gNBs, S1/NG interface for communication between a Mobility Management Entity (MME) /Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) /SGW/UPF and the eNB/gNB, Un interface for communication between the eNB/gNB and a relay node (RN) , or Uu interface for communication between the eNB/gNB and a terminal device.
The components included in the apparatuses and/or devices of the present disclosure may be implemented in various manners, including software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. In one embodiment, one or more units may be implemented using software and/or firmware, for example, machine-executable instructions stored on the storage medium. In addition to or instead of machine-executable instructions, parts or all of the units in the apparatuses and/or devices may be implemented, at least in part, by one or more hardware logic components. For example, and without limitation, illustrative types of hardware logic components that can be used include Field-programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) , Application-specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) , Application-specific Standard Products (ASSPs) , System-on-a-chip systems (SOCs) , Complex Programmable Logic Devices (CPLDs) , and the like.

Claims

A terminal device, comprising:

a processor configured to cause the terminal device to:

determine multiple physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) resources on an interlace, wherein the multiple PSFCH resources comprise a first number of logically adjacent PSFCH resources on the interlace or the first number of logically interlaced PSFCH resources on the interlace; and

transmit or receive Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) feedback information on the multiple PSFCH resources.
The terminal device of claim 1, wherein the terminal device is caused to determine the multiple PSFCH resources by:

determining a first PSFCH resource among the multiple PSFCH resources;

determining a gap between any two of the multiple PSFCH resources which are logically adjacent among the multiple PSFCH resources; and

determining at least one remaining PSFCH resource among the multiple PSFCH resources based on the first PSFCH resource, the gap and the first number.
The terminal device of claim 1, wherein the terminal device is caused to determine the multiple PSFCH resources by:

determining a first PSFCH resource among the multiple PSFCH resources; and

determining at least one second PSFCH resource which is logically adjacent to the first PSFCH resource on the interlace as at least one remaining PSFCH resource among the multiple PSFCH resources.
The terminal device of claim 1, wherein the terminal device is caused to determine the multiple PSFCH resources by:

determining multiple sets of PSFCH resources based on available PSFCH resources on the interlace, each of the sets comprising the first number of PSFCH resources; and

determining the first number of PSFCH resources in a first set among the sets of PSFCH resources as the multiple PSFCH resources.
The terminal device of claim 4, wherein the first number of PSFCH resources comprise the first number of logically adjacent physical resource blocks (PRBs) on the interlace.
The terminal device of claim 4, wherein the first number of PSFCH resources comprise the first number of logically interlaced physical resource blocks (PRBs) on the interlace.
The terminal device of claim 6, wherein the terminal device is caused to determine the multiple sets of PSFCH resources by:

determining a gap between any two of the first number of PSFCH resources which are logically adjacent in each of the sets.
The terminal device of claim 2 or 7, wherein the terminal device is caused to determine the gap based on at least one of the following:

the system pre-definition,

the system configuration, or

the system pre-configuration.
The terminal device of claim 2 or 7, wherein the terminal device is caused to determine the gap based on at least one of the following:

the first number of the multiple PSFCH resources, or

the second number of physical resource blocks (PRBs) comprised in the interlace.
The terminal device of claim 4, wherein the terminal device is caused to determine the first number of PSFCH resources in the first set among the sets of PSFCH resources as the multiple PSFCH resources by:

determining at least one of the multiple sets for carrying the HARQ feedback information associated with a data transmission within a sub-channel in a first slot based on the number of the multiple sets, the number of sub-channels in a resource pool and a period of the PSFCH resources; and

determining the first set among the at least one of the multiple sets based on a first identity of a first terminal device performing the data transmission, a second identity of a second terminal device 110 receiving the data transmission, the number of the at least one of the multiple sets and the number of cyclic shift pairs.
The terminal device of claim 1, wherein the terminal device is caused to transmit or receive the HARQ feedback information by:

transmitting or receiving a first sequence associated with the HARQ feedback information on each of multiple PSFCH resources.
The terminal device of claim 1, wherein the terminal device is caused to transmit or receive the HARQ feedback information by:

transmitting or receiving part of a second sequence associated with the HARQ feedback information on each of multiple PSFCH resources.
The terminal device of claim 1, wherein the terminal device is further caused to:

determine a third sequence associated with the HARQ feedback information based on a first cyclic shift pair; and

determine at least one fourth sequence associated with the HARQ feedback information based on at least one second reserved cyclic shift pair; and

wherein the terminal device is caused to transmit or receive the HARQ feedback information by:

transmitting or receiving the third sequence on a first PSFCH resource among the multiple PSFCH resources; and

transmitting or receiving the at least one fourth sequence on at least one remaining PSFCH resource among the multiple PSFCH resources.
A method for sidelink communication, comprising:

determining, at a terminal device, multiple physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) resources on an interlace, wherein the multiple PSFCH resources comprise a first number of logically adjacent PSFCH resources on the interlace or the first number of logically interlaced PSFCH resources on the interlace; and

transmitting or receiving Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) feedback information on the multiple PSFCH resources.
A computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions, when executed on at least one processor of a device, causing the device to carry out the method according to claim 14.