WO2019028779A1

WO2019028779A1 - Method and device for resource allocation of relay communication, and computer readable medium

Info

Publication number: WO2019028779A1
Application number: PCT/CN2017/096917
Authority: WO
Inventors: 刘勇; 李栋; 维尔德斯彻克T.
Original assignee: 上海诺基亚贝尔股份有限公司; 诺基亚通信公司; 诺基亚技术有限公司
Priority date: 2017-08-10
Filing date: 2017-08-10
Publication date: 2019-02-14
Also published as: CN110999127A; CN110999127B

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention relate to a method and device for resource allocation of relay communication, and a computer readable medium. The method described herein comprises determining, at a relay device associated with multiple remote devices, a probability that a downlink transmission for a first remote device of the multiple remote devices and an uplink transmission from a second remote device of the multiple remote devices are executed simultaneously on a single time domain resource. The method further comprises transmitting, in respond to a case where the probability is above a predetermined threshold, to a network device serving the relay device information related to time domain resources required for downlink transmissions of the multiple remote devices.

Description

Method, device and computer readable medium for resource allocation for relay communication

Technical field

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to wireless communication networks, and more particularly to methods, devices, and computer readable media for resource allocation for relay communication in a wireless communication network.

Background technique

In Long Term Evolution-Advanced (LTE-A), relay communication is an important issue. Relay communication enables data forwarding between remote devices and network devices via relay devices. For low-cost devices such as machine type communication devices and wearable devices, it is very beneficial to utilize relay communication to greatly reduce the power consumption of data transmission. However, relay communication has a half duplex limit. As the number of remote devices associated with a relay device increases, the half-duplex limit will significantly affect the performance of the relay communication.

Summary of the invention

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide methods, devices, and computer readable media for resource allocation for relay communications.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a method for resource allocation for relay communication. The method includes determining, at a relay device associated with a plurality of remote devices, a downlink transmission for a first one of the plurality of remote devices and a second remote device from the plurality of remote devices The probability that an uplink transmission will be performed simultaneously on a single time domain resource. The method also includes transmitting, in response to the probability being above a predetermined threshold, information related to time domain resources required for downlink transmissions for the plurality of remote devices to a network device serving the relay device.

In some embodiments, determining the probability comprises determining the probability based on at least one of: traffic of the downlink transmission for the plurality of remote devices, communication resources for the relay communication The number of time domain resources in the pool and the number of the plurality of remote devices.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises determining the number of required subframes based on traffic for the downlink transmissions of the plurality of remote devices.

In some embodiments, transmitting the information comprises transmitting the number of the required subframes to the network device.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises selecting the required subframe from a pool of communication resources for the relay communication based on the number of the required subframes. Transmitting the information includes transmitting an indication of the selected subframe to the network device.

In some embodiments, transmitting the information comprises transmitting traffic for the downlink transmissions of the plurality of remote devices.

In some embodiments, transmitting the information comprises transmitting the information once during a plurality of scheduling allocation periods for the relay communication.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a method for resource allocation for relay communication. The method includes receiving, at a network device, information related to a time domain resource from a relay device served by the network device, the time domain resource being from the relay device to being associated with the relay device Time domain resources required for downlink transmission of multiple remote devices. The method also includes determining the time domain resource based on the information. The method also includes transmitting an indication of the time domain resource to the plurality of remote devices.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a method for resource allocation for relay communication. The method includes receiving, at one of a plurality of remote devices associated with a relay device, an indication of a time domain resource from a network device serving the relay device, the time domain resource being from the relay device Time domain resources required for downlink transmission of the plurality of remote devices. The method also includes obtaining, based on the indication of the time domain resource, a subpool of the communication resource pool by excluding the time domain resource from a communication resource pool for the relay communication. The method also includes selecting, from the sub-pools, time domain resources required for uplink transmissions for the relay device.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a terminal device that functions as a relay device. The relay device is associated with a plurality of remote devices. The relay device includes a controller and a memory coupled to the controller. The memory includes an instruction, the finger Let the relay device perform an action when executed by the controller. The action includes determining that a downlink transmission for a first one of the plurality of remote devices and an uplink transmission from a second one of the plurality of remote devices are simultaneously performed on a single time domain resource The probability. The action also includes transmitting, in response to the probability being above a predetermined threshold, information related to time domain resources required for downlink transmissions for the plurality of remote devices to a network device serving the relay device.

In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a network device. The network device includes a controller and a memory coupled to the controller. The memory includes instructions that, when executed by the controller, cause the network device to perform an action. The action includes receiving information related to a time domain resource from a relay device served by the network device, the time domain resource being from the relay device to a plurality of remote devices associated with the relay device Time domain resources required for downlink transmission. The action also includes determining the time domain resource based on the information. The action also includes transmitting an indication of the time domain resource to the plurality of remote devices.

In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a terminal device that acts as a remote device associated with a relay device. The remote device includes a controller and a memory coupled to the controller. The memory includes instructions that, when executed by the controller, cause the remote device to perform an action. The action includes receiving an indication of a time domain resource from a network device serving the relay device, the time domain resource being a downlink from the relay device to a plurality of remote devices associated with the relay device a time domain resource required for link transmission; based on the indication of the time domain resource, obtaining a child of the communication resource pool by excluding the time domain resource from a communication resource pool for the relay communication a pool; and a time domain resource required to select an uplink transmission for the relay device from the subpool.

In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a computer readable medium comprising computer executable instructions that, when executed on a device, cause the device to perform the method according to the first aspect.

In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a computer readable medium comprising computer executable instructions that, when executed on a device, cause The device performs the method according to the second aspect.

In a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a computer readable medium comprising computer executable instructions that, when executed on a device, cause the device to perform the method according to the third aspect.

It is to be understood that the content of the present invention is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will be readily understood by the following description.

DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent from the aspects of the invention. In the figures, the same reference numerals generally refer to the same parts.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a communication system in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

2 is a flowchart illustrating a resource allocation process for relay communication, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates a flow diagram of a method implemented at a relay device in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

4 shows a flow diagram of a method implemented at a network device in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 illustrates a flow diagram of a method implemented at a remote device in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 shows a simplified block diagram of an electronic device suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure.

Detailed ways

The principles and spirit of the present disclosure are described below with reference to a few exemplary embodiments illustrated in the drawings. It is to be understood that the specific embodiments are described herein, and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure.

The term "base station" as used herein refers to a Node B (Node B, or NB), Basic Transceiver Station (BTS), Base Station (BS), or Base Station Subsystem (BSS), etc. The term "terminal device" refers to any terminal device (TE) capable of communicating with a base station. The terminal device may be a User Equipment (UE), or any terminal having a wireless communication function, including but not limited to, a mobile phone, a computer, a personal digital assistant, a game machine, a wearable device, and a sensor. The term TE can be used interchangeably with mobile stations, subscriber stations, mobile terminals, user terminals, user equipment, terminal equipment, wireless equipment, and the like.

The terms "eNB", and "network device", "base station" are used interchangeably in the context of the present disclosure, and the terms "relay device", "relay UE", "terminal device" are used interchangeably, and the term "remote" Devices, Remote UEs, and Terminal Devices can be used interchangeably. However, it should be understood that this is merely exemplary and is not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure in any manner.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a communication system 100 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. In FIG. 1, a communication system 100 is deployed to provide an architecture for relay communication services. There may be multiple relay devices and multiple remote devices within the coverage of the network device 110, each of which is associated with a group of remote devices. Union. Herein, for the convenience of discussion, a relay communication group formed by a relay device and a group of remote devices associated with the relay device is referred to as a relay cluster or a relay device cluster. Trunk clusters typically have a small range, such as a few meters to tens of meters.

As shown in FIG. 1, relay device 121 is associated with remote device 122, remote device 123, and remote device 124, which together form a relay device cluster 120. In some scenarios, the relay device 121 in the relay device cluster 120 and the

remote devices

122, 123, and 124 perform two-way device-to-device communication through the PC5 interface. For the downlink direction of the two-way communication link, the relay device transmits data to the remote device; for the uplink direction of the two-way communication link, the remote device transmits data to the relay device.

It will be appreciated that there may be any number of relay devices within the coverage of network device 110, each relay device having any suitable number of remote devices associated therewith, FIG. 1 is merely an illustrative example.

The relay communication between the relay device 121 and the remote devices 122-124 typically employs a half-duplex mode. Half-duplex mode does not allow from relay device 121 to remote device 122-124 The uplink transmission and uplink transmissions from the remote devices 122-124 to the relay device 121 are simultaneously performed on a single time domain resource. The time domain resources may include, for example, but are not limited to, subframes.

Network device 110 may configure a pool of communication resources for relay communications. Thereafter, network device 110 can transmit information about the communication resource pool to relay device 121 and remote devices 122-124, respectively.

Traditionally, relay device 121 and remote devices 122-124 autonomously select time domain resources and frequency domain resources from the pool of communication resources for relay communication. Since the relay device 121 and the remote device 122-124 autonomously select the time domain resource, there is a scenario in which at least one of the relay device 121 and the remote device 122-124 selects the same time domain resource and simultaneously performs the service to the other party. Transmission, that is, downlink transmission from relay device 121 to at least one of remote devices 122-124 and uplink transmission from at least one of remote devices 122-124 to relay device 121 in a single time domain resource It was executed at the same time. This will result in the relay device 121 and the remote devices 122-124 failing to simultaneously transmit and receive traffic on a single time domain resource. Moreover, as the number of remote devices associated with the relay device increases, the probability of such a scenario will increase, thereby severely affecting the performance of the relay communication.

In order to at least partially address the above and other potential deficiencies and problems in conventional approaches, embodiments of the present disclosure propose a scheme in which a relay device assists a remote device in making communication resource selection. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the relay device transmits information related to time domain resources required for downlink transmission to the network device. The network device determines a time domain resource used by the relay device for the downlink transmission based on the information, and transmits information about the determined time domain resource to the remote device associated with the relay device. The remote device excludes the time domain resources used by the relay device from the communication resource pool based on the received information, and selects the required time domain resources from the remaining resources in the communication resource pool for uplink transmission.

Since the remote device excludes the time domain resource used by the relay device from the communication resource pool, the remote device and the relay device are prevented from using the same time domain resource for both uplink transmission and downlink transmission, thereby improving The performance of relay communication. Under Herein, a method of resource allocation for relay communication according to the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 2 through 5.

2 is a flow diagram showing a resource allocation process 200 for relay communication, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. Process 200 can be performed, for example, by network device 110, relay device 121, and remote devices 122-124 as shown in FIG. For ease of discussion, the description of process 200 will be performed in conjunction with network device 110, relay device 121, and remote device 122. It is to be understood that the process 200 may also include additional actions not shown and/or may omit the illustrated actions, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this respect.

As shown in FIG. 2, the relay device 121 determines (210) a downlink transmission for a first one of the plurality of remote devices and an uplink transmission from a second one of the plurality of remote devices at a single time The probability that a domain resource will be executed simultaneously. The first remote device may be the same as or different from the second remote device, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this respect. For example, the first remote device and the second remote device may both be the remote device 122 shown in FIG. 1, or the first remote device may be the remote device 122 shown in FIG. 1, and the second remote device may be as shown in FIG. One of the

remote devices

123 and 124.

In some embodiments, the relay device 121 may determine the probability based on at least one of: traffic for downlink transmissions for a plurality of remote devices, time domain resources in a pool of communication resources for relaying communications The number and the number of remote devices associated with the relay device 121.

After determining the probability, the relay device 121 further determines whether the probability is above a predetermined threshold. In one embodiment, the predetermined threshold may be in the range of 0.2 to 0.5. Of course, any other suitable range is also possible depending on the specific needs and application scenarios. It is noted that the specific values in the above examples are exemplary and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure in any way.

If the probability is above a predetermined threshold, the relay device 121 transmits (220) information related to the time domain resources required for downlink transmissions for the plurality of remote devices to the network device 110.

After receiving information about the time domain resources required for downlink transmissions for the plurality of remote devices from the relay device 121, the network device 110 determines based on the information. (230) Time domain resources required by the relay device 121 for downlink transmissions of the plurality of remote devices.

Thereafter, network device 110 transmits (240) an indication to remote device 122 of the time domain resources required by relay device 121 for downlink transmissions for the plurality of remote devices. The indication of the time domain resource may include, but is not limited to, an index of a subframe.

In some embodiments, network device 110 may send an indication of the time domain resource to remote device 122 over a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH). The PDCCH may be addressed by the relay device 121 or the side link radio network temporary identifier (SL-RNTI) of the relay cluster.

After receiving the indication of the time domain resource, the remote device 122 excludes the time domain resource from the communication resource pool based on the indication of the time domain resource, thereby obtaining a subpool of the communication resource pool. The remote device 122 selects (260) the time domain resources required for the uplink transmission of the relay device 121 from the subpools. Since the remote device 122 excludes the time domain resource used by the relay device 121 from the communication resource pool, it avoids the simultaneous use of the same time domain resource as the relay device 121 for downlink transmission and uplink transmission, thereby Improved performance of relay communication.

In some embodiments, relay device 121 may transmit traffic for downlink transmissions for multiple remote devices to network device 110 as information related to the required time domain resources. Accordingly, network device 110 can determine the number of subframes required by relay device 121 for downlink transmissions for multiple remote devices based on the amount of traffic. Further, the network device 110 can allocate the required subframes to the relay device 121 from the communication resource pool based on the number.

In some embodiments, relay device 121 may determine the number of required subframes based on traffic for downlink transmissions for multiple remote devices. Thereafter, the relay device 121 can transmit the number of required subframes to the network device 110 as information related to the required subframe. Accordingly, network device 110 can allocate the required subframes to relay device 121 from the pool of communication resources based on the number.

In some embodiments, network device 110 may randomly select the number of subframes from a pool of communication resources. In other embodiments, network device 110 can be based on different relays The spatial relationship between the relay devices in the cluster, using the resource allocation scheme to reduce interference between different relay clusters, selects the number of subframes from the communication resource pool. Network device 110 may then assign the selected subframes to relay device 121 for downlink transmissions for multiple remote devices.

The network device 110 may transmit an indication of the allocated subframe to the relay device 121 after allocating the required subframe to the relay device 121. In some embodiments, network device 110 may transmit an indication of the allocated subframe to relay device 121 via the PDCCH. The PDCCH may be addressed by the relay device 121 or the SL-RNTI of the relay cluster. After receiving the indication of the subframe, the relay device 121 may further select a frequency domain resource on the allocated subframe from the communication resource pool based on the indication of the subframe.

In other embodiments, the relay device 121 may select the required subframes from the pool of communication resources for downlink transmissions for the plurality of remote devices based on the number of required subframes. In such an embodiment, the relay device 121 may transmit the indication of the selected subframe as information related to the required subframe to the network device 110.

In general, the traffic of the downlink transmission of the relay device 121 for a plurality of remote devices does not change during a plurality of scheduling allocation periods. Thus, to further reduce signaling overhead, in some embodiments, process 200 can be performed once during multiple scheduling allocation cycles for relay communications.

It should be understood that the resource allocation scheme according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may also be applied to resource selection for scheduling allocation transmission in relay communication. The relay device 121 notifies the plurality of remote devices via the network device 110 of information related to scheduling time domain resources required for the allocation transmission. Subsequently, multiple remote devices can perform their own resource selection based on the received information for respective scheduled allocation transmissions, thereby eliminating the effects of half-duplex restrictions.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flow diagram of a method 300 implemented at a relay device in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. For convenience of description, the method 300 will be described below with reference to FIG. 1 as an example implemented at the relay device 121 shown in FIG. 1. It is to be understood that the method 300 can also include additional steps not shown and/or the steps shown can be omitted, and the scope of the disclosure is not limited in this respect.

At block 310, a relay device 121 associated with a plurality of remote devices determines a downlink transmission for a first one of the plurality of remote devices and a second remote device from the plurality of remote devices The probability that uplink transmissions are simultaneously executed on a single time domain resource.

At block 320, the relay device 121 transmits, to the network device 110 serving the relay device 121, time domain resources required for downlink transmissions for the plurality of remote devices in response to the probability being above a predetermined threshold. Information.

In some embodiments, method 300 further includes determining a number of required subframes based on traffic for the downlink transmissions of the plurality of remote devices.

In some embodiments, transmitting the information includes transmitting the number of the required subframes to the network device 110.

In some embodiments, method 300 further includes selecting the required subframe from a pool of communication resources for the relay communication based on the number of the required subframes. Transmitting the information includes transmitting an indication of the selected subframe to network device 110.

It should be understood that the various operations and features described above with respect to relay device 121 described with reference to Figures 1 and 2 are equally applicable to method 300 and have similar effects. The details are omitted here for the sake of simplicity.

FIG. 4 illustrates a flow diagram of a method 400 implemented at a network device in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. For convenience of description, the method 400 will be described below with reference to FIG. 1 as an example implemented at the network device 110 shown in FIG. 1. It should be understood that method 400 Additional steps not shown may also be included and/or the steps shown may be omitted, the scope of the disclosure being not limited in this respect.

At block 410, the network device 110 receives information related to time domain resources from the relay device 121 to a plurality of remote devices associated with the relay device 121 from the relay device 121 served by the network device 110. Time domain resources required for downlink transmission.

At block 420, network device 110 determines the time domain resource based on the information.

At block 430, the network device 110 transmits an indication of the time domain resource to the plurality of remote devices

In some embodiments, receiving the information comprises receiving a number of subframes required for the downlink transmission.

In some embodiments, method 400 further includes allocating the subframes to relay device 121 from a pool of communication resources for the relay communication based on the number of the subframes.

In some embodiments, receiving the information comprises receiving an indication of a subframe required for the downlink transmission.

In some embodiments, receiving the information comprises receiving traffic for the downlink transmission.

In some embodiments, the method 400 further includes determining a number of subframes required for the downlink transmission based on the amount of traffic; and based on the number of the subframes, from using the relay The subframe is allocated to the relay device 121 in the communication resource pool of communication.

In some embodiments, receiving the information comprises receiving the information once during a plurality of scheduling allocation periods for the relay communication.

It should be understood that the various operations and features described above with respect to network device 110 described with reference to Figures 1 and 2 are equally applicable to method 400 and have similar effects. The details are omitted here for the sake of simplicity.

FIG. 5 illustrates a flow diagram of a method 500 implemented at a remote device, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. Method 500 can be in any of remote devices 122-124 shown in FIG. Implemented at the office. For convenience of description, the method 500 will be described below with reference to FIG. 1 as an example implemented at the remote device 122 shown in FIG. 1. It should be understood that the method 500 may also include additional steps not shown and/or the steps shown may be omitted, and the scope of the disclosure is not limited in this respect.

At block 510, the remote device 122 receives an indication of a time domain resource from the network device 110 serving the relay device 121, the time domain resource being a downlink from the relay device 121 to a plurality of remote devices associated with the relay device 121 Time domain resources required for link transmission.

At block 520, the remote device 122 obtains a subpool of the communication resource pool by excluding the time domain resource from the communication resource pool for the relay communication based on the indication of the time domain resource.

At block 530, the remote device 122 selects the time domain resources required for the uplink transmission of the relay device 121 from the subpools.

In some embodiments, the receiving the indication of the time domain resource comprises receiving the indication of the time domain resource once during a plurality of scheduling allocation periods for the relay communication

It should be understood that the various operations and features associated with remote device 122 described above with respect to Figures 1 and 2 are equally applicable to method 500 and have similar effects. The details are omitted here for the sake of simplicity.

The resource allocation scheme according to the present disclosure can improve the performance of relay communication. In order to verify this effect, a system level simulation is performed for a scenario in which the relay device 121 transmits an indication of its selected time domain resource to the network device 110 to compare the conventional resource allocation scheme with the resource allocation scheme of the present disclosure. Simulations were performed for both cases. In the first case, the number of relay devices per cell is N=10, and the number of remote devices associated with each relay device is M=2. In the second case, the number of relay devices per cell is N=10, and the number of remote devices associated with each relay device is M=8.

The performance metrics used in the simulation include the interrupt rate and the average packet throughput for relay communication UL (from remote device to relay device) and relay communication DL (from relay device to remote device). The simulation results are shown in Table 1.

Table 1

The simulation results show the performance gain of the resource allocation scheme of the present disclosure over the conventional resource allocation scheme. This performance gain is significant when the number of remote devices associated with a single relay device is large (M=8).

FIG. 6 shows a block diagram of a communication device 600 suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 600 can be used to implement a transmitting device or receiving device in an embodiment of the present disclosure, such as one of the network device 110, the relay device 121, or the remote devices 122-124 shown in FIG.

As shown in the example of FIG. 6, communication device 600 can include one or more processors 610, one or more memories 620 coupled to processor 610, and one or more transmitters coupled to processor 610 and/or Or receiver (TX/RX) 640.

Processor 610 can be of any suitable type suitable for use in a local technology environment and can include, but is not limited to, general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microcontrollers, digital signal controllers (DSPs), and processors based on multi-core processor architectures. One or more. Communication device 600 can have multiple processors, such as an application specific integrated circuit chip that is time dependent on a clock synchronized with the host processor.

Memory 620 can be of any suitable type suitable for use in a local technology environment and can be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as non-transitory computer readable storage media, semiconductor-based memory devices, magnetic memory, by way of non-limiting example Components and systems, optical storage devices and systems, fixed memory, and removable memory.

Memory 620 stores at least a portion of program 630. The TX/RX 640 is used for two-way communication. The TX/RX 640 has at least one antenna to facilitate communication, but in practice the device can have several antennas. The communication interface can represent any interface required to communicate with other network elements.

Program 630 can include program instructions that, when executed by associated processor 610, enable device 600 to operate in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, as described with respect to Figures 2-5. That is, embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by computer software executable by the processor 610 of the communication device 600, or by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware.

In general, the various example embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic, or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which can be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device. When the various aspects of the embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated or described as a block diagram, a flowchart, or some other graphical representation, it will be understood that the blocks, devices, systems, techniques, or methods described herein may be non-limiting. Examples are implemented in hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controllers or other computing devices, or some combination thereof. Examples of hardware devices that can be used to implement embodiments of the present disclosure include, but are not limited to, Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), Application Specific Standard (ASSP), System on Chip (SOC), Complex Programmable Logic Device (CPLD), and more.

By way of example, embodiments of the present disclosure may be described in the context of machine-executable instructions, such as in a program module that is executed in a device on a real or virtual processor of a target. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, and the like that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data structures. In various embodiments, the functionality of the program modules may be combined or divided between the described program modules. Machine-executable instructions for program modules can be executed within a local or distributed device. In a distributed device, program modules can be located in both local and remote storage media.

Computer program code for implementing the methods of the present disclosure can be written in one or more programming languages. The computer program code can be provided to a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer or a processor of other programmable data processing apparatus such that the program code, when executed by a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, causes a flowchart and/or block diagram. The functions/operations specified in are implemented. The program code can execute entirely on the computer, partly on the computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the computer and partly on the remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server.

In the context of the present disclosure, a machine-readable medium can be any tangible medium that contains or stores a program for or relating to an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The machine readable medium can be a machine readable signal medium or a machine readable storage medium. A machine-readable medium can include, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination thereof. More detailed examples of machine readable storage media include electrical connections with one or more wires, portable computer disks, hard disks, random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read only Memory (EPROM or flash memory), optical storage device, magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination thereof.

In addition, although the operations are depicted in a particular order, this should not be construed as requiring that such operations be performed in a particular order or in a sequential order, or all illustrated operations are performed to obtain the desired results. In some cases, multitasking or parallel processing can be beneficial. As such, the present invention is not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention. Certain features that are described in this specification in the context of separate embodiments can also be implemented in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment can be implemented in various embodiments or in any suitable sub-combination.

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methods, it is understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not limited to the specific features or acts described. Instead, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

A resource allocation method for relay communication, comprising:

Determining a downlink transmission for a first one of the plurality of remote devices and an uplink from a second one of the plurality of remote devices at a relay device associated with the plurality of remote devices The probability that a road transmission will be executed simultaneously on a single time domain resource;

In response to the probability being above a predetermined threshold, information related to time domain resources required for downlink transmissions for the plurality of remote devices is transmitted to a network device serving the relay device.
The method of claim 1 wherein determining the probability comprises:

The probability is determined based on at least one of the following:

The amount of traffic for the downlink transmission of the plurality of remote devices,

The number of time domain resources in the communication resource pool for the relay communication, and

The number of the plurality of remote devices.
The method of claim 1 further comprising:

The number of required subframes is determined based on the amount of traffic for the downlink transmissions of the plurality of remote devices.
The method of claim 3 wherein transmitting the information comprises:

Sending the number of the required subframes to the network device.
The method of claim 3 wherein:

The method further includes:

Selecting the required subframe from a pool of communication resources for the relay communication based on the number of the required subframes;

Sending the information includes:

An indication of the selected subframe is sent to the network device.
The method of claim 1 wherein transmitting the information comprises:

Transmitting traffic for the downlink transmissions for the plurality of remote devices.
The method of claim 1 wherein transmitting the information comprises:

The information is transmitted once during a plurality of scheduling allocation periods for the relay communication.
A resource allocation method for relay communication, comprising:

Receiving, at the network device, information related to a time domain resource from a relay device served by the network device, the time domain resource being from the relay device to a plurality of remotes associated with the relay device Time domain resources required for downlink transmission of the device;

Determining the time domain resource based on the information;

An indication of the time domain resource is sent to the plurality of remote devices.
The method of claim 8 wherein receiving the information comprises:

The number of subframes required to receive the downlink transmission.
The method of claim 9 further comprising:

The subframe is allocated to the relay device from a communication resource pool for the relay communication based on the number of the subframes.
The method of claim 8 wherein receiving the information comprises:

An indication of a subframe required for the downlink transmission is received.
The method of claim 8 wherein receiving the information comprises:

Receiving traffic of the downlink transmission.
The method of claim 12 further comprising:

Determining a number of subframes required for the downlink transmission based on the amount of traffic;

The subframe is allocated to the relay device from a communication resource pool for the relay communication based on the number of the subframes.
The method of claim 8 wherein receiving the information comprises:

The information is received once during a plurality of scheduling allocation periods for the relay communication.
A resource allocation method for relay communication, comprising:

Receiving, at one of a plurality of remote devices associated with the relay device, an indication of a time domain resource from the network device serving the relay device, the time domain resource being from the middle a time domain resource required for downlink transmission of the device to the plurality of remote devices;

And obtaining, according to the indication of the time domain resource, a subpool of the communication resource pool by excluding the time domain resource from a communication resource pool for the relay communication;

Time domain resources required for uplink transmissions for the relay device are selected from the subpools.
The method of claim 15 wherein receiving the indication of the time domain resource comprises:

The indication of the time domain resource is received once during a plurality of scheduling allocation periods for the relay communication.
A terminal device that acts as a relay device associated with a plurality of remote devices and includes:

Controller;

Coupled to a memory of the controller, the memory including instructions that, when executed by the controller, cause the relay device to perform an action, the action comprising:

Determining a probability that a downlink transmission for a first one of the plurality of remote devices and an uplink transmission from a second one of the plurality of remote devices are simultaneously performed on a single time domain resource; as well as

In response to the probability being above a predetermined threshold, information related to time domain resources required for downlink transmissions for the plurality of remote devices is transmitted to a network device serving the relay device.
The relay device of claim 17, wherein determining the probability comprises:

The probability is determined based on at least one of the following:

The amount of traffic for the downlink transmission of the plurality of remote devices,

The number of time domain resources in the communication resource pool for the relay communication, and

The number of the plurality of remote devices.
The relay device of claim 17, further comprising:

The number of required subframes is determined based on the amount of traffic for the downlink transmissions of the plurality of remote devices.
The relay device of claim 19, wherein transmitting the information comprises:

Sending the number of the required subframes to the network device.
The relay device of claim 19, wherein:

The relay device further includes:

Selecting the required subframe from a pool of communication resources for the relay communication based on the number of the required subframes;

Sending the information includes:

An indication of the selected subframe is sent to the network device.
The relay device of claim 17, wherein transmitting the information comprises:

Transmitting traffic for the downlink transmissions for the plurality of remote devices.
The relay device of claim 17, wherein transmitting the information comprises:

The information is transmitted once during a plurality of scheduling allocation periods for the relay communication.
A network device, including:

Controller;

Coupled to a memory of the controller, the memory including instructions that, when executed by the controller, cause the network device to perform an action, the action comprising:

Receiving information related to a time domain resource from a relay device served by the network device, the time domain resource being a downlink from the relay device to a plurality of remote devices associated with the relay device Time domain resources required for transmission;

Determining the time domain resource based on the information;

An indication of the time domain resource is sent to the plurality of remote devices.
The network device of claim 24, wherein receiving the information comprises:

The number of subframes required to receive the downlink transmission.
The network device of claim 25, further comprising:

The subframe is allocated to the relay device from a communication resource pool for the relay communication based on the number of the subframes.
The network device of claim 24, wherein receiving the information comprises:

An indication of a subframe required for the downlink transmission is received.
The network device of claim 24, wherein receiving the information comprises:

Receiving traffic of the downlink transmission.
The network device of claim 28, further comprising:

Determining a number of subframes required for the downlink transmission based on the amount of traffic;

The subframe is allocated to the relay device from a communication resource pool for the relay communication based on the number of the subframes.
The network device of claim 24, wherein receiving the information comprises:

The information is received once during a plurality of scheduling allocation periods for the relay communication.
A terminal device that acts as a remote device associated with a relay device and includes:

Controller;

Coupled to a memory of the controller, the memory including instructions that, when executed by the controller, cause the remote device to perform an action, the action comprising:

Receiving an indication of a time domain resource from a network device serving the relay device, the time domain resource being a downlink transmission from the relay device to a plurality of remote devices associated with the relay device Required time domain resources;

And obtaining, according to the indication of the time domain resource, a subpool of the communication resource pool by excluding the time domain resource from a communication resource pool for the relay communication;

Time domain resources required for uplink transmissions for the relay device are selected from the subpools.
The remote device of claim 31, wherein the receiving the indication of the time domain resource comprises:

The indication of the time domain resource is received once during a plurality of scheduling allocation periods for the relay communication.
A computer readable medium comprising computer executable instructions that, when executed on a device, cause the device to perform according to claim 1 The method of any of 7.
A computer readable medium comprising computer executable instructions that, when executed on a device, cause the device to perform the method of any one of claims 8 to 14.
A computer readable medium comprising computer executable instructions that, when executed on a device, cause the device to perform the method of any one of claims 15-16.