WO2021028051A1

WO2021028051A1 - Methods, apparatus, and computer programs

Info

Publication number: WO2021028051A1
Application number: PCT/EP2019/071873
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ling Yu; Torsten WILDSCHEK; Vin VAN PHAN; Jedrzej STANCZAK
Original assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy
Priority date: 2019-08-14
Filing date: 2019-08-14
Publication date: 2021-02-18

Abstract

Apparatus is provided which comprising means for determining prioritization information for use in a communications device when a transmission conflict arises between a device to device communication between said communications device and another communications device and an uplink communication between said communications device and a base station and causing prioritization information to be transmitted from said base station to said communications device.

Description

METHODS, APPARATUS, AND COMPUTER PROGRAMS Field of the Invention

The present application relates to methods, apparatus, and computer programs. In particular, but not exclusively, the present application relates apparatus, methods and computer programs to be used in a communications system which uses sidelink (SL) communication. Background

A communication system can be seen as a facility that enables communication sessions between two or more entities such as user terminals, base stations/access points and/or other nodes by providing carriers between the various entities involved in the communications path. A communication system can be provided for example by means of a communication network and one or more compatible communications devices.

Access to the communication system may be by means of an appropriate communications device or terminal. A communications device is provided with an appropriate signal receiving and transmitting apparatus for enabling communications, for example enabling access to a communication network or communications directly with other communications device. The communications device may access a carrier provided by a station or access point, and transmit and/or receive communications on the carrier.

The communication system and associated devices typically operate in accordance with a given standard or specification which sets out what the various entities associated with the system are permitted to do and how that should be achieved.

In a wireless communication system, at least a part of a communication session between at least two stations occurs over a wireless link. Examples of wireless systems comprise public land mobile networks (PLMN), satellite based communication systems and different wireless local networks, for example wireless local area networks (WLAN). The wireless systems can typically be divided into cells, and are therefore often referred to as cellular systems. One example of a communications system is UTRAN (3G radio). Other examples of communication systems are the long-term evolution (LTE) of the Universal Mobile T elecommunications System (UMTS) radio-access technology and so-called 5G or New Radio (NR) networks.

Summary

According to an aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising means for: determining prioritization information for use in a communications device when a transmission conflict arises between a device to device communication between said communications device and another communications device and an uplink communication between said communications device and a base station; and causing prioritization information to be transmitted from said base station to said communications device.

The prioritization information may comprise information indicating the transmission prioritization between said device to device communication and uplink communication comprising one or more of HARQ ACK feedback, HARQ NACK feedback, a scheduling request and/or channel status indication.

The prioritization information may comprise information indicating that uplink communication comprising HARQ ACK feedback is to be prioritized over said device to device communication.

The prioritization information may comprise information indicating that device to device communication is to be prioritized over uplink communication comprising HARQ NACK feedback.

The prioritization information may comprise information indicating that uplink communication comprising HARQ NACK feedback is to be prioritized over said device to device communication.

The prioritization information may comprise information indicating that device to device communication is to be prioritized over uplink communication comprising HARQ ACK feedback.

The means may be for determining said prioritization information in dependence on one or more of conditions associated with a cell of said base station.

The means may be for determining said prioritization information in dependence on one or more of conditions associated with one or more of traffic in a cell of said base station, traffic to be provided by said device to device communication and traffic to be provide by the uplink communication.

The means may be for determining said prioritization information in dependence on one or more of: loading of a cell of the base station; radio conditions in the cell of the base station; quality of service of traffic on the device to device communication; quality of service of traffic on the uplink communication; quality of service of traffic on the downlink communication that the uplink communication is associated with; sensitivity to delay of traffic on the device to device communication; sensitivity to delay of traffic on the uplink communication; sensitivity to delay of traffic on the downlink communication that the uplink communication is associated with; data which is to be transmitted on the device to device communication; data which is to be transmitted on the uplink communication; data which is to be transmitted on the downlink communication that the uplink communication is associated with; a requirement for reliability of traffic on the device to device communication; a requirement for reliability of traffic on the uplink communication; a requirement for reliability of traffic on the downlink communication that the uplink communication is associated with; tolerance to retransmission of traffic on the device to device communication; tolerance to retransmission of traffic on the uplink communication; tolerance to retransmission of traffic on the downlink communication that the uplink communication is associated with; a required efficiency of resource usage in the cell of the base station; channel conditions associated with one or more of the channels of the device to device communication; channel conditions associated with one or more of the channels of the uplink communication; channel conditions associated with one or more of the channels of the downlink communication that the uplink communication is associated with; priority of one or more channels of the device to device communication; priority of one or more channels of the uplink communication; and priority of one or more channels of the downlink communication that the uplink communication is associated with.

The means may be for determining different prioritization information for different types of information in the uplink communication.

The means may be for: receiving an uplink communication from the said communication device with information indicating that the uplink communication is prioritized over a device to device communication; and allocating resources for at least one of an uplink communication, a downlink communication and device to device communication based on the received information. The allocating may comprise reallocating resources for at least one of an uplink communication, a downlink communication and device to device communication based on the received information.

The information may comprise an indication.

The means may be for: determining that an uplink communication is missing due to prioritization of device to device communication based on the said prioritization information; and determining if a downlink communication associated with the uplink communication it to be retransmitted.

The determining if the downlink communication associated with the uplink communication is to be retransmitted may be dependent on a quality of service of traffic of the downlink communication.

The means may be for detecting that the uplink communication is missing.

The uplink communication may comprise uplink control information.

The device to device communication may comprise a sidelink communication.

The means may be for causing said prioritization information to be transmitted via a physical layer control signalling.

The means may be for causing said prioritization information to be transmitted via radio resource control signalling.

The apparatus may be provided in an access node or a base station. The apparatus may be an access node or a base station.

According to another aspect there is provided an apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory including computer code for one or more programs, the at least one memory and the computer code configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus at least to: determine prioritization information for use in a communications device when a transmission conflict arises between a device to device communication between said communications device and another communications device and an uplink communication between said communications device and a base station; and cause prioritization information to be transmitted from said base station to said communications device.

The prioritization information may comprise information indicating the transmission prioritization between said device to device communication and uplink communication comprising one or more of HARQ ACK feedback, HARQ NACK feedback, a scheduling request and/or channel status indication. The prioritization information may comprise information indicating that uplink communication comprising HARQ ACK feedback is to be prioritized over said device to device communication.

The at least one memory and the computer code may be configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to determine said prioritization information in dependence on one or more of conditions associated with a cell of said base station.

The at least one memory and the computer code may be configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to determine said prioritization information in dependence on one or more of conditions associated with one or more of traffic in a cell of said base station, traffic to be provided by said device to device communication and traffic to be provide by the uplink communication.

The at least one memory and the computer code may be configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to determine said prioritization information in dependence on one or more of: loading of a cell of the base station; radio conditions in the cell of the base station; quality of service of traffic on the device to device communication; quality of service of traffic on the uplink communication; quality of service of traffic on the downlink communication that the uplink communication is associated with; sensitivity to delay of traffic on the device to device communication; sensitivity to delay of traffic on the uplink communication; sensitivity to delay of traffic on the downlink communication that the uplink communication is associated with; data which is to be transmitted on the device to device communication; data which is to be transmitted on the uplink communication; data which is to be transmitted on the downlink communication that the uplink communication is associated with; a requirement for reliability of traffic on the device to device communication; a requirement for reliability of traffic on the uplink communication; a requirement for reliability of traffic on the downlink communication that the uplink communication is associated with; tolerance to retransmission of traffic on the device to device communication; tolerance to retransmission of traffic on the uplink communication; tolerance to retransmission of traffic on the downlink communication that the uplink communication is associated with; a required efficiency of resource usage in the cell of the base station; channel conditions associated with one or more of the channels of the device to device communication; channel conditions associated with one or more of the channels of the uplink communication; channel conditions associated with one or more of the channels of the downlink communication that the uplink communication is associated with; priority of one or more channels of the device to device communication; priority of one or more channels of the uplink communication; and priority of one or more channels of the downlink communication that the uplink communication is associated with.

The at least one memory and the computer code may be configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to determine different prioritization information for different types of information in the uplink communication.

The at least one memory and the computer code may be configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to receive an uplink communication from the said communication device with information indicating that the uplink communication is prioritized over a device to device communication and allocate resources for at least one of an uplink communication, a downlink communication and device to device communication based on the received information.

The allocating may comprise reallocating resources for at least one of an uplink communication, a downlink communication and device to device communication based on the received information. The information may comprise an indication.

The at least one memory and the computer code may be configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to determine that an uplink communication is missing due to prioritization of device to device communication based on the said prioritization information; and determining if a downlink communication associated with the uplink communication it to be retransmitted.

The at least one memory and the computer code may be configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to detect that the uplink communication is missing.

The uplink communication may comprise uplink control information.

The device to device communication may comprise a sidelink communication.

The at least one memory and the computer code may be configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to cause said prioritization information to be transmitted via a physical layer control signalling.

The at least one memory and the computer code may be configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to cause said prioritization information to be transmitted via radio resource control signalling.

According to another aspect there is provided a method performed by an apparatus, said method comprising: determining prioritization information for use in a communications device when a transmission conflict arises between a device to device communication between said communications device and another communications device and an uplink communication between said communications device and a base station; and causing prioritization information to be transmitted from said base station to said communications device.

The prioritization information may comprise information indicating that uplink communication comprising HARQ ACK feedback is to be prioritized over said device to device communication. The prioritization information may comprise information indicating that device to device communication is to be prioritized over uplink communication comprising HARQ NACK feedback.

The method may comprise determining said prioritization information in dependence on one or more of conditions associated with a cell of said base station.

The method may comprise determining said prioritization information in dependence on one or more of conditions associated with one or more of traffic in a cell of said base station, traffic to be provided by said device to device communication and traffic to be provide by the uplink communication.

The method may comprise determining said prioritization information in dependence on one or more of: loading of a cell of the base station; radio conditions in the cell of the base station; quality of service of traffic on the device to device communication; quality of service of traffic on the uplink communication; quality of service of traffic on the downlink communication that the uplink communication is associated with; sensitivity to delay of traffic on the device to device communication; sensitivity to delay of traffic on the uplink communication; sensitivity to delay of traffic on the downlink communication that the uplink communication is associated with; data which is to be transmitted on the device to device communication; data which is to be transmitted on the uplink communication; data which is to be transmitted on the downlink communication that the uplink communication is associated with; a requirement for reliability of traffic on the device to device communication; a requirement for reliability of traffic on the uplink communication; a requirement for reliability of traffic on the downlink communication that the uplink communication is associated with; tolerance to retransmission of traffic on the device to device communication; tolerance to retransmission of traffic on the uplink communication; tolerance to retransmission of traffic on the downlink communication that the uplink communication is associated with; a required efficiency of resource usage in the cell of the base station; channel conditions associated with one or more of the channels of the device to device communication; channel conditions associated with one or more of the channels of the uplink communication; channel conditions associated with one or more of the channels of the downlink communication that the uplink communication is associated with; priority of one or more channels of the device to device communication; priority of one or more channels of the uplink communication; and priority of one or more channels of the downlink communication that the uplink communication is associated with.

The method may comprise determining different prioritization information for different types of information in the uplink communication.

The method may comprise: receiving an uplink communication from the said communication device with information indicating that the uplink communication is prioritized over a device to device communication; and allocating resources for at least one of an uplink communication, a downlink communication and device to device communication based on the received information.

The allocating may comprise reallocating resources for at least one of an uplink communication, a downlink communication and device to device communication based on the received information.

The information may comprise an indication.

The method may comprise: determining that an uplink communication is missing due to prioritization of device to device communication based on the said prioritization information; and determining if a downlink communication associated with the uplink communication it to be retransmitted. The determining if the downlink communication associated with the uplink communication is to be retransmitted may be dependent on a quality of service of traffic of the downlink communication.

The method may comprise detecting that the uplink communication is missing.

The uplink communication may comprise uplink control information.

The device to device communication may comprise a sidelink communication.

The method may comprise causing said prioritization information to be transmitted via a physical layer control signalling.

The method may comprise causing said prioritization information to be transmitted via radio resource control signalling.

The method may be performed by an apparatus. The apparatus may be provided in an access node or a base station. The apparatus may be an access node or a base station.

According to an aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising means for: receiving prioritization information for use in a communications device when a transmission conflict arises between a device to device communication between said communications device and another communications device and an uplink communication between said communications device and an base station; and using said prioritization information when a transmission conflict arises between a device to device communication and an uplink communication to determine which of said device to device communication and said uplink communication is to be transmitted.

The prioritization information may comprise information indicating that uplink communication comprising HARQ NACK feedback is to be prioritized over said device to device communication. The prioritization information may comprise information indicating that device to device communication is to be prioritized over uplink communication comprising HARQ ACK feedback.

The prioritization information may be dependent on one or more of conditions associated with a cell of said base station.

The prioritization information may be dependent on one or more of conditions associated with one or more of traffic in a cell of said base station, traffic to be provided by said device to device communication and traffic to be provide by the uplink communication. The prioritization information may be dependent on one or more of: loading of a cell of the base station; radio conditions in the cell of the base station; quality of service of traffic on the device to device communication; quality of service of traffic on the uplink communication; quality of service of traffic on the downlink communication that the uplink communication is associated with; sensitivity to delay of traffic on the device to device communication; sensitivity to delay of traffic on the uplink communication; sensitivity to delay of traffic on the downlink communication that the uplink communication is associated with; data which is to be transmitted on the device to device communication; data which is to be transmitted on the uplink communication; data which is to be transmitted on the downlink communication that the uplink communication is associated with; a requirement for reliability of traffic on the device to device communication; a requirement for reliability of traffic on the uplink communication; a requirement for reliability of traffic on the downlink communication that the uplink communication is associated with; tolerance to retransmission of traffic on the device to device communication; tolerance to retransmission of traffic on the uplink communication; tolerance to retransmission of traffic on the downlink communication that the uplink communication is associated with; a required efficiency of resource usage in the cell of the base station; channel conditions associated with one or more of the channels of the device to device communication; channel conditions associated with one or more of the channels of the uplink communication; channel conditions associated with one or more of the channels of the downlink communication that the uplink communication is associated with; priority of one or more channels of the device to device communication; priority of one or more channels of the uplink communication; and priority of one or more channels of the downlink communication that the uplink communication is associated with.

The means may be for receiving and using different prioritization information for different types of information in the uplink communication.

The uplink communication may comprise uplink control information.

The device to device communication may comprise a sidelink communication.

The means may be for receiving said prioritization information via a physical layer control signalling.

The means may be for causing an uplink communication to be provided from the said communication device with information indicating that the uplink communication is prioritized over a device to device communication.

The means may be for receiving said prioritization information via radio resource control signalling.

The apparatus may be provided in a communications device. The apparatus may be communications device.

According to another aspect there is provided an apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory including computer code for one or more programs, the at least one memory and the computer code configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus at least to: receive prioritization information for use in a communications device when a transmission conflict arises between a device to device communication between said communications device and another communications device and an uplink communication between said communications device and an base station; and use said prioritization information when a transmission conflict arises between a device to device communication and an uplink communication to determine which of said device to device communication and said uplink communication is to be transmitted.

The at least one memory and the computer code may be configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to receive and use different prioritization information for different types of information in the uplink communication.

The uplink communication may comprise uplink control information.

The device to device communication may comprise a sidelink communication.

The at least one memory and the computer code may be configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to receive said prioritization information via a physical layer control signalling.

The at least one memory and the computer code may be configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to cause an uplink communication to be provided from the said communication device with information indicating that the uplink communication is prioritized over a device to device communication. The at least one memory and the computer code may be configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to receive said prioritization information via radio resource control signalling.

According to an aspect, there is provided a method performed by an apparatus, the method comprising: receiving prioritization information for use in a communications device when a transmission conflict arises between a device to device communication between said communications device and another communications device and an uplink communication between said communications device and an base station; and using said prioritization information when a transmission conflict arises between a device to device communication and an uplink communication to determine which of said device to device communication and said uplink communication is to be transmitted.

The prioritization information may be dependent on one or more of conditions associated with one or more of traffic in a cell of said base station, traffic to be provided by said device to device communication and traffic to be provide by the uplink communication. The prioritization information may be dependent on one or more of: loading of a cell of the base station; radio conditions in the cell of the base station; quality of service of traffic on the device to device communication; quality of service of traffic on the uplink communication; quality of service of traffic on the downlink communication that the uplink communication is associated with; sensitivity to delay of traffic on the device to device communication; sensitivity to delay of traffic on the uplink communication; sensitivity to delay of traffic on the downlink communication that the uplink communication is associated with; data which is to be transmitted on the device to device communication; data which is to be transmitted on the uplink communication; data which is to be transmitted on the downlink communication that the uplink communication is associated with; a requirement for reliability of traffic on the device to device communication; a requirement for reliability of traffic on the uplink communication; a requirement for reliability of traffic on the downlink communication that the uplink communication is associated with; tolerance to retransmission of traffic on the device to device communication; tolerance to retransmission of traffic on the uplink communication; tolerance to retransmission of traffic on the downlink communication that the uplink communication is associated with; a required efficiency of resource usage in the cell of the base station; channel conditions associated with one or more of the channels of the device to device communication; channel conditions associated with one or more of the channels of the uplink communication; channel conditions associated with one or more of the channels of the downlink communication that the uplink communication is associated with; priority of one or more channels of the device to device communication; priority of one or more channels of the uplink communication; and priority of one or more channels of the downlink communication that the uplink communication is associated with. The method may comprise receiving and using different prioritization information for different types of information in the uplink communication.

The uplink communication may comprise uplink control information.

The device to device communication may comprise a sidelink communication.

The method may comprise receiving said prioritization information via a physical layer control signalling.

The method may comprise causing an uplink communication to be provided from the said communication device with information indicating that the uplink communication is prioritized over a device to device communication.

The method may comprise receiving said prioritization information via radio resource control signalling.

The method may be performed by apparatus in a communications device. The method may be performed by apparatus and the apparatus may be communications device.

According to an aspect there is provided a computer program comprising computer executable code which when run on at least one processor is configured to cause any of the previously described methods to be performed.

According to an aspect there is provided a computer program comprising computer executable code which when run on at least one processor of an apparatus is configured to cause any of the previously described methods to be performed.

According to an aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium comprising program instructions stored thereon for performing at least one of the above methods.

According to an aspect, there is provided a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions stored thereon for performing at least one of the above methods.

According to an aspect, there is provided a non-volatile tangible memory medium comprising program instructions stored thereon for performing at least one of the above methods.

In the above, many different aspects have been described. It should be appreciated that further aspects may be provided by the combination of any two or more features from one or more of the aspects described above. These combinations of features may be additional to the features combinations discussed as examples later.

Various other aspects are also described in the following detailed description and in the attached claims.

Description of Figures Some embodiments will now be described in further detail, by way of example only, with reference to the following examples and accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of an example communication system comprising a base station and a plurality of communication devices;

Figure 2 shows a schematic diagram of an example mobile communication device;

Figure 3 shows a schematic diagram of an example apparatus provided in a base station;

Figure 4 shows a schematic representation of a non-volatile memory medium storing instructions which when executed by a processor allow a processor to perform one or more of the steps of the method of some embodiments;

Figure 5 shows a method of some embodiments;

Figure 6 shows another method of some embodiments;

Figure 7 shows a method of some embodiments performed by an apparatus of a communications device; and

Figure 8 shows a method of some embodiments performed by an apparatus of the base station.

Detailed description

As is known, wireless systems can be divided into cells, and are therefore often referred to as cellular systems. Typically, a base station provides at least one cell. The cellular system can support communications between user equipment (UE). The present disclosure relates to cellular radio implementation, including 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G radio access networks (RANs); cellular internet of things (IoT) RAN; and cellular radio hardware.

In the following certain embodiments are explained with reference to communications devices capable of communication via a wireless cellular system and communication systems serving such communications devices. Before explaining in detail the exemplifying embodiments, certain general principles of a wireless communication system, access systems thereof, and communications devices are briefly explained with reference to Figures 1 to 4 to assist in understanding the technology underlying the described examples.

An example of wireless communication systems are architectures standardized by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). A latest 3GPP based development is often referred to as 5G. Other examples of radio access system comprise those provided by base stations of systems that are based on technologies such as wireless local area network (WLAN) and/or WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access). It should be appreciated that although some embodiments are described in the context of a 5G system, other embodiments may be provided in any other suitable system including but not limited to subsequent systems or similar protocols defined outside the 3 GPP forum.

Figure 1 which shows a section of a wireless communication system 100. As can be seen a first communications device 102 and a second communications device 104 are served by cell 1 106 which is provided by a first base station 110. The communications devices will be referred to as a UE (user equipment) in this document but it should be appreciated that the device may be any suitable communications device and the term UE is intended to cover any such device. Some examples of communications devices are discussed below and as used in this document the term UE is intended to cover any one or more of those devices and/or any other suitable device. The communications devices have a wireless connection to a base station or other suitable access node. The base station may be any suitable base station depending on the system in which the base station is provided. For example, the base station may be a gNB or a ng-eNB.

Figure 2 illustrates an example of a communications device 300, such as the wireless communications device 102, or 104 shown on Figure 1. The wireless communications device 300 may be provided by any device capable of sending and receiving radio signals. Non limiting examples comprise a mobile station (MS) or mobile device such as a mobile phone or what is known as a ’smart phone’, a computer provided with a wireless interface card or other wireless interface facility (e.g., USB dongle), personal data assistant (PDA) or a tablet provided with wireless communication capabilities, machine-type communications (MTC) devices, IoT type communications devices or any combinations of these or the like.

The device 300 may receive signals over an air or radio interface 307 via appropriate apparatus for receiving and may transmit signals via appropriate apparatus for transmitting radio signals. In Figure 2 transceiver apparatus is designated schematically by block 306. The transceiver apparatus 306 may be provided for example by means of a radio part and associated antenna arrangement. The antenna arrangement may be arranged internally or externally to the mobile device.

The wireless communications device 300 may be provided with at least one processor 301a and at least one memory. The at least one memory may comprise at least one ROM 302a and/or at least one RAM 302b. The communications device may comprise other possible components 303 for use in software and hardware aided execution of tasks it is designed to perform, including control of access to and communications with access systems and other communications devices. The at least one processor 301 is coupled to the at least one memory. The at least one processor 301 may be configured to execute an appropriate software code 308 to implement one or more of the following aspects. The software code 308 may be stored in the at least one memory, for example in the at least one ROM 302a.

The processor, storage and other relevant control apparatus can be provided on an appropriate circuit board and/or in chipsets. This feature is denoted by reference 304.

The device may optionally have a user interface such as key pad 305, touch sensitive screen or pad, combinations thereof or the like.

Optionally one or more of a display, a speaker and a microphone may be provided depending on the type of the device.

Communication protocols and/or parameters which shall be used for the connection are also typically defined. The communications devices may access the communication system based on various access techniques.

An example apparatus is shown in Figure 3. Figure 3 shows an example of an apparatus 200 for a base station. The apparatus comprises at least one memory. The at least one memory may be at least one random access memory (RAM) 211a and/or at least one read only memory (ROM) 211b, at least one processor 212, 213 and an input/output interface 214. The at least one processor 212, 213 is coupled to the RAM 211a and the ROM 21 lb. The at least one processor 212, 213 may be configured to execute an appropriate software code 215 to implement one or more of the following aspects. The software code 215 may be stored in the ROM 21 lb.

Figure 4 shows a schematic representation of non-volatile memory media 1600a (e.g. computer disc (CD) or digital versatile disc (DVD)) and 1200b (e.g. universal serial bus (USB) memory stick) storing instructions and/or parameters 1602 which when executed by a processor allow the processor to perform one or more of the steps of any of the methods of any of the embodiments.

One or more of the following aspects relate to a 5G system (5GS). (5G is sometimes referred to as new radio (NR)). However, it will be understood that some of these aspects may be used with any other suitable other radio access technology systems such as UTRAN (3G radio), the long-term evolution (LTE) of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) and/or any other suitable system.

Communication devices typically communicate with each other via sending and receiving communications with the base station. However, another form of communication, known as device-to-device (D2D) communication, may be used. In D2D communication, data is exchanged between two devices without traversing the base station or the core network. Sidelink SL aims to enable device-to-device (D2D) communications. Sidelink enables direct communication between proximal UEs. This may be via a PC5 interface or any other suitable interface. This SL communication is such that data does not need to traverse the base station.

For example, referring back to Figure 1, a communication device 102 is shown exchanging D2D communications 122 with the device 104. These communications are exchanged between the devices, without being routed via the base station 110.

Sidelink D2D communications may be used in any suitable situation. For example some SL communications may be used for public safety and/or commercial communication use- cases. In the context of NR/5G systems, Vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) services and vehicle-to- everything (V2X) services, particularly the so-called advanced V2X services that have more demanding requirements in term of data rate, reliability, and/or latency etc., have been proposed to be one of the key services that NR/5G can support. The proposed requirements of such services include the support of sidelink unicast, sidelink groupcast and sidelink broadcast.

In sidelink communications, data may be transmitted from a device to a single device. This type of communication is referred to as unicast. Alternatively, data may be transmitted from a device to multiple devices within a group. This type of communication is referred to as group cast. Some embodiments may be used in unicast and/or group cast scenarios.

Some embodiments may be provided in the context of sidelink (SL) communication or any other suitable D2D communication. Some embodiments may be provided in the context of NR systems. Other embodiments may alternatively or additionally be provided in the context of other suitable systems.

SL communication may in some embodiments be used with an aim to provide high- reliability and low-latency communication (HRLLC). SL communication may be used to support V2X use cases as previously described.

One issue relating to support of SL communication relates to the prioritization between SL and UL (uplink) transmission when SL and UL transmission needs to be performed at the same time by a communication device and the communication device does not have such capability. SL transmission is the transmission from a communications device to another communications device and UL transmission is the transmission from the communications device to the base station.

In some embodiments, the QoS requirement of both SL and UL transmissions may be used to judge whether the SL transmission is to be prioritized over UL or not.

In some embodiments, a MSG1/3 (message 1/ message 3) for a RACH (random access channel) procedure and a PUSCH (physical uplink shared channel) for an emergency PDU (packet data unit) connection may be prioritized over a SL transmission. The MSG1/3 for RACH procedure and the PUSCH for an emergency PDU connection are UL transmissions.

Some embodiments may relate to the priority between the SL and the UL transmission. The SL and UL may be of the same RAT or of different RAT. The RAT may for example be NR or LTE or any other suitable RAT. The UL may for example be a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or any other uplink channel.

In some embodiments, an LTE-solution may be applied for determining the priority between LTE UL and a NR SL that is controlled by LTE radio access network (RAN) in a cross-RAT (radio access technology) scenario. Herein the LTE-solution refers to the solution that the transmission priority of UL and SL is determined according to the per-packet priority of the SL transmission solely.

In some embodiments, for the transmission priority between a NR UL and LTE SL that is controlled by the NR/5G radio access network (RAN) in a cross-RAT case, LTE-solution may be the base line without a change of the LTE SL protocol.

In some embodiments the LTE-solution based on a priority value of the SL transmission may be applied to a PC5-RRC message in addition to SL user plane data transmission. A default priority value may be defined for PC5-RRC message. The default value may be overridden in some situations by (pre)-configuration.

The radio access network (RAN), in e.g. LTE and NR, may specify UL control information (UCI) which is provided in an UL channel. The UL channel may be for example be the PUCCH or the PUSCH or any other suitable channel. The UCI may be physical layer control information. The UCI may comprise one or more of HARQ (hybrid automatic repeat request) ACK/NACK feedback of a DL transmission, a scheduling request (SR) and channel status information (CSI).

Concerning the priority between UCI and SL, one option may be to prioritize the UCI transmission against SL transmission. This solution may work well in some situations. However, this may not be optimal for example if there is high priority or urgent data traffic or control signalling is transmitted over SL. This might for example arise where the SL aims to provide HRLLC for V2X services or other suitable services.

Another option on determination of priority between UCI and SL may be up to UE implementation. However, in some embodiments, it may be preferred for the BS to control and configure the corresponding UL and DL operation (e.g. scheduling UL resources upon receiving SR or DL resources for new or re- transmission of DL data based on received HARQ ACK/NACK feedback). Some embodiments may be such that the base station may provide a configuration to a UE on the prioritization between SL and UCI. The base station may provide corresponding triggers for the UEs to determine the prioritization based on the configuration.

In some embodiments, there is provided a method of configuring the prioritization between SL and UCI transmission when UE has two transmissions scheduled. The transmissions may be scheduled at the same time.

In some embodiments, the base station may configure the UE that has active UL/DL and SL transmission with one or more of the following prioritization configurations between SL and UCI:

Prioritize HARQ ACK feedback over SL transmission. The HARQ NACK feedback transmission may be de-prioritized by the SL transmission. Alternatively the prioritization of HARQ NACK feedback against SL transmission may be based on the third configuration option described below.

Prioritize HARQ NACK feedback over SL transmission. The HARQ ACK feedback transmission may be de-prioritized by the SL transmission. Alternatively the prioritization of HARQ ACK feedback against SL transmission may be based on the third configuration option described below.

The prioritization between HARQ ACK/NACK feedback or SR transmission and SL transmission may be configured based on QoS of DL/UL logical channels or radio bearers associated with HARQ ACK/NACK or SR and QoS of SL logical channels or radio bearers.

Reference is made to Figure 5 which shows some embodiments performed by an apparatus of the base station.

In step SI, the apparatus is configured to determine one or more characteristics associated with one or more of UL traffic and SL traffic associated with a UE and a cell of the base station associated with the UE. The one or more characteristics may comprise one or more of: loading of the cell of the base station; radio conditions in the cell of the base station; quality of service of one or other or both of the UL traffic and the SL traffic; sensitivity to delay of one or other or both of the UL traffic and the SL traffic; the data which is to be transmitted; a requirement for reliability of one or other or both of the UL traffic and the SL traffic; tolerance to retransmission; efficiency of resource usage in the cell of the base station; channel conditions associated with one or other or both of the channels between the UE and the base station for UL traffic transmission and between the UEs for SL transmission; and priority of the channel on which the traffic is provided.

The prioritization may be determined based on one or more of: loading of a cell of the base station; radio conditions in the cell of the base station; quality of service of traffic on the device to device communication; quality of service of traffic on the uplink communication; quality of service of traffic on the downlink communication that the uplink communication is associated with; sensitivity to delay of traffic on the device to device communication; sensitivity to delay of traffic on the uplink communication; sensitivity to delay of traffic on the downlink communication that the uplink communication is associated with; data which is to be transmitted on the device to device communication; data which is to be transmitted on the uplink communication; data which is to be transmitted on the downlink communication that the uplink communication is associated with; a requirement for reliability of traffic on the device to device communication; a requirement for reliability of traffic on the uplink communication; a requirement for reliability of traffic on the downlink communication that the uplink communication is associated with; tolerance to retransmission of traffic on the device to device communication; tolerance to retransmission of traffic on the uplink communication; tolerance to retransmission of traffic on the downlink communication that the uplink communication is associated with; a required efficiency of resource usage in the cell of the base station; channel conditions associated with one or more of the channels of the device to device communication; channel conditions associated with one or more of the channels of the uplink communication; channel conditions associated with one or more of the channels of the downlink communication that the uplink communication is associated with; priority of one or more channels of the device to device communication; priority of one or more channels of the uplink communication; and priority of one or more channels of the downlink communication that the uplink communication is associated with.

In step S2, the apparatus of the base station is configured to determine the SL and UCI prioritization configuration based on one or more of the characteristics mentioned in relation to step SI. It should be appreciated that in some embodiments, step SI may be part of step S2.

For example, the apparatus may be configured to prioritize HARQ ACK feedback transmitted over an uplink channel. This uplink channel may be the PUCCH or PUSCH channel. This may be done where it is preferred to avoid unnecessary DL retransmission. This may aim to achieve a relatively high efficiency of resource usage. This may for example be the case where the cell load is relatively high. In this example configuration, the HARQ NACK feedback may not be considered particularly critical. This may for example be the case if the apparatus of the base station will schedule the retransmission anyway if either an ACK or NACK is not received.

In another scenario, the apparatus may be configured to prioritize HARQ NACK feedback transmitted over an uplink channel. This uplink channel may be the PUCCH or PUSCH channel. This may be done where timely DL retransmission of NACKed transport block (TB) is preferred. This may for example be the case where the traffic is delay sensitive DL traffic. In this example configuration, the apparatus of the base station may be configured to cause retransmission of the TB triggered by missing of an HARQ ACK due to de prioritization or lower priority of the HARQ ACK feedback if the DL traffic requires high reliability. Alternatively the apparatus of the base station may regard the missing of the HARQ ACK feedback as the result of prioritization of SL transmission and therefore does not retransmit the DL TB associated with the missing HARQ ACK feedback.

In another scenario, the apparatus may be configured to configure the UE behaviour in dependence on the traffic priority. This cause the UE to determine a prioritization between SL and UCI based on QoS requirements of SL traffic and/or the UL/DL traffic associated with UCI. For example, the apparatus may be configured to cause the BS to provide corresponding configuration to the UE. This may be provided via, for example, RRC signalling. The configuration may be provided in the form of providing comparison rules.

The rules may be provided in any suitable form. For example the rules may define a threshold difference between the SL QoS and UL/DL QoS to control if the SL or UL is prioritised. This may be used for by the UE to determine if the SL or the UCI is to be transmitted if both SL and UCI need to be transmitted at the same time and UE does not have the capability to transmit both at the same time.

The rales may be in the form of defining certain UL/DL QoSs that are prioritized again SL transmission or vice versa. This may be as previously discussed. This information is used by the UE to determine the prioritization between SL and UCI based on the QoS requirements of the SL traffic and UL/DL traffic associated with UCI.

It should be appreciated that where prioritization information is provided to the UE, the prioritization information may be different for one or more of: HARQ ACK; NACK; SR; and CSI. The prioritization between SL and UCI may be different depending on the information of UCI which is to be transmitted. The prioritization information may be prioritisation information.

In some embodiments, if for example the QoS information of DL traffic associated with the UCI is not available at the UE side, the configuration may be provided for each logical channels/radio bearers instead of corresponding QoS profiles. Alternatively the QoS information of DL traffic may be provided to the UE via RRC signalling when the DL logical channel/radio bearer is configured. The DL QoS profile (e.g. 5QI-5G QoS Indicator in 5G) may be known by the BS, but not by UE. In this case, the BS may configure the prioritization between SL and UCI rather based on the DL logical channel/radio bearer identifier. In some embodiments, the apparatus may be configured to provide a combination of two or more of the above configuration options. By way of example only, the apparatus of the base station BS may be configured to prioritize the UCI (including both HARQ ACK and NACK as well as SR) associated with certain QoS/logical channels using one configuration option described above and to prioritize HARQ ACK feedback for other DL QoS traffic using another configuration option described above. For example, only a HARQ NACK associated with relatively low prioritized DL traffic will be de-prioritized by SL transmission.

In some embodiments, a UCI may either be transmitted on a PUCCH or a PUSCH. The configuration from a BS may be commonly applied by the apparatus of a UE to the UCI regardless of whether it is conveyed over the PUCCH or the PUSCH.

In some embodiments, the configuration provided by the apparatus of the base station may be different for the UCI conveyed over PUCCH as compared to the UCI conveyed by the PUSCH.

In some embodiments, the UCI transmission over PUSCH may follow the prioritization between the SL and UL data that is transmitted over PUSCH together with UCI. In some embodiments, the apparatus may be configured to provide prioritization configuration which is one or more of UL, DL or SL condition specific. In some embodiments, the prioritization configuration may be based on one or more of the CSI of the UL or DL channel between the UE and the BS or CBR (channel busy ratio) of the SL and/or the like.

In step S3, the apparatus of the base station is configured to cause the prioritization information to be transmitted to the UE.

The configuration of prioritization between UCI and SL transmissions may be provided from the base station to the UE in any suitable way. For example the transmission from the base station may be conveyed as physical control signalling over a downlink channel or as RRC signalling. The downlink channel may be downlink control channel. The channel may be the PDCCH. The RRC control signalling may be over the SRB (serving radio bearer).

In some embodiments the information may be provided by a combination of the two types of control signalling.

For example, where the ACK or NACK is always prioritized or de-prioritized against the SL, this may be configured via the physical downlink control channel. For example this may be configured by downlink control information (DCI) over PDCCH. This may be configured per transport block (TB).

RRC signalling may be used to convey information relating to prioritization rules such as described previously. The configured RRC signalling may be combined with physical layer control signalling as discussed. In some embodiments, the RRC signalling may be used to configure the prioritization rules between HARQ ACK feedback or SR and SL transmission according to corresponding QoS profile and combined with physical layer control signalling to indicate that HARQ NACK feedback is always prioritized over SL transmission. In some embodiments, the RRC signalling may be used to configure the prioritization rules between HARQ NACK feedback or SR and SL transmission according to the corresponding QoS profile and combined with physical layer control signalling to indicate that HARQ ACK feedback is always prioritized over SL transmission or any other suitable combination.

Reference is now made to Figure 6 which shows a method performed by an apparatus of a UE.

In step Tl, the apparatus of the UE is configured to receive the prioritization information from the base station. This may be any of the prioritization information as previously describe.

In step T2, the apparatus of the UE is configured to determine that there is a scheduling conflict between a SL and an UL transmission. The SL and the UL transmission may be overlapping in the time domain. This may be caused due to a mode 2 resource selection that is not coordinated by the BS. This may be also caused in the case of mode 1 resource allocation and UL/DL scheduling that are using semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) or configured grant (CG). In this latter case, the BS may not be possible to fully avoid collision between the scheduled SL and UCI transmission.

SL mode 2 resource allocation refers to UE autonomous resource selection for SL transmission, which means the UE selects resources from the resource pool that is configured by the radio access network or pre-configured and uses the selected resource for SL transmission. SL mode 1 resource allocation is another resource allocation mode for SL transmission, in which the resource used for SL transmission is scheduled by the BS. The smart scheduling algorithm in the BS may help to resolve the SL and UL transmission collision to some extent. However, due to the SPS or CG allocation (which means BS will schedule the UL/DL/SL transmission periodically with a configured time interval), it might be rather complicated for BS to make scheduling decision in order to fully avoid SL and UL transmission collision.

In step T3, the apparatus of the UE is configured to determine which of the SL and UL transmissions is to be transmitted based on the prioritization information. Based on the prioritization information, the apparatus of the method, UE may determine the prioritization of SL and UCI on each specific TB specific or for all the TBs transmitted during the period that the prioritization configuration is valid.

In step T4, the apparatus of the UE is configured to cause the determined one of the SL and UL transmissions to be transmitted. If UE determines to transmit UL instead of SL, the UE may also indicate to the BS that the UL transmission is prioritized over SL transmission. The BS may take the indication into consideration for scheduling further UL, DL or SL communication.

Reference is made to Figure 7 which shows a method of some embodiments. The method may be performed using an apparatus. The apparatus may be provided by the user equipment. Thus the apparatus may be in the user equipment. The apparatus may be the user equipment. The apparatus may comprise at least one processor and at least one memory including computer code for one or more programs, the at least one memory and the computer code configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to perform the method.

In step Al, the method receiving prioritization information for use in a communications device when a transmission conflict arises between a device to device communication between said communications device and another communications device and an uplink communication between said communications device and an base station.

In step A2, the method comprises using the prioritization information when a transmission conflict arises between a device to device communication and an uplink communication to determine which of said device to device communication and said uplink communication is to be transmitted.

It should be appreciated that the method may be modified to include one or more steps from one or more of the methods described previously.

Reference is made to Figure 8 which shows a method of some embodiments. The method may be performed using an apparatus. The apparatus may be provided by the base station. Thus the apparatus may be in the base station. The apparatus may be the base station. The apparatus may comprise at least one processor and at least one memory including computer code for one or more programs, the at least one memory and the computer code configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to perform the method.

In step Bl, the method comprises determining prioritization information for use in a communications device when a transmission conflict arises between a device to device communication between said communications device and another communications device and an uplink communication between said communications device and a base station.

In step B2, the method comprises causing prioritization information to be transmitted from said base station to said communications device.

It is noted that whilst example embodiments have been described in relation to NR embodiments are not limited to this standard. Similar principles can be applied in relation to other networks and communication systems.

Therefore, although certain example embodiments were described above by way of example with reference to certain example architectures for wireless networks, technologies and standards, example embodiments may be applied to any other suitable forms of communication systems than those illustrated and described herein.

Some embodiments have example embodiments have been described in terms of SL communication. Other embodiments may be used in different D2D scenarios.

The embodiments may thus vary within the scope of the attached claims. In general, some embodiments may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. For example, some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device, although embodiments are not limited thereto. While various embodiments may be illustrated and described as block diagrams, flow charts, or using some other pictorial representation, it is well understood that these blocks, apparatus, systems, techniques or methods described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

The embodiments may be implemented by computer software stored in a memory and executable by at least one data processor of the involved entities or by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware. Further in this regard it should be noted that any procedures, e.g., in Figures 5 to 8 may represent program steps, or interconnected logic circuits, blocks and functions, or a combination of program steps and logic circuits, blocks and functions. The software may be stored on such physical media as memory chips, or memory blocks implemented within the processor, magnetic media such as hard disk or floppy disks, and optical media such as for example DVD and the data variants thereof, CD.

The memory may be of any type suitable to the local technical environment and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory and removable memory. The data processors may be of any type suitable to the local technical environment, and may include one or more of general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), gate level circuits and processors based on multi core processor architecture, as non limiting examples.

Alternatively or additionally some embodiments may be implemented using circuitry. The circuitry may be configured to perform one or more of the functions and/or method steps previously described. That circuitry may be provided in the base station and/or in the communications device.

As used in this application, the term “circuitry” may refer to one or more or all of the following:

(a) hardware-only circuit implementations (such as implementations in only analogue and/or digital circuitry);

(b) combinations of hardware circuits and software, such as: (i) a combination of analogue and/or digital hardware circuit(s) with software/firmware and

(ii) any portions of hardware processor(s) with software (including digital signal processor(s)), software, and memory(ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as the communications device or base station to perform the various functions previously described; and

(c) hardware circuit(s) and or processor(s), such as a microprocessor(s) or a portion of a microprocessor(s), that requires software (e.g., firmware) for operation, but the software may not be present when it is not needed for operation.

This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term circuitry also covers an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware. The term circuitry also covers, for example integrated device.

The foregoing description has provided by way of exemplary and non-limiting examples a full and informative description of some embodiments However, various modifications and adaptations may become apparent to those skilled in the relevant arts in view of the foregoing description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the appended claims. However, all such and similar modifications of the teachings will still fall within the scope as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

1. Apparatus comprising means for: determining prioritization information for use in a communications device when a transmission conflict arises between a device to device communication between said communications device and another communications device and an uplink communication between said communications device and a base station; and causing prioritization information to be transmitted from said base station to said communications device.

2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said prioritization information comprises information indicating the transmission prioritization between said device to device communication and uplink communication comprising one or more of HARQ ACK feedback, HARQ NACK feedback, a scheduling request and/or channel status indication.

3. The apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said prioritization information comprises information indicating that uplink communication comprising HARQ ACK feedback is to be prioritized over said device to device communication.

4. The apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said prioritization information comprises information indicating that device to device communication is to be prioritized over uplink communication comprising HARQ NACK feedback.

5. The apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said prioritization information comprises information indicating that uplink communication comprising HARQ NACK feedback is to be prioritized over said device to device communication.

6. The apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said prioritization information comprises information indicating that device to device communication is to be prioritized over uplink communication comprising HARQ ACK feedback.

7. The apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said means is for determining said prioritization information in dependence on one or more of conditions associated with a cell of said base station.

8. The apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said means is for determining said prioritization information in dependence on one or more of conditions associated with one or more of traffic in a cell of said base station, traffic to be provided by said device to device communication and traffic to be provide by the uplink communication.

9. The apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said means is for determining said prioritization information in dependence on one or more of: loading of a cell of the base station; radio conditions in the cell of the base station; quality of service of traffic on the device to device communication; quality of service of traffic on the uplink communication; quality of service of traffic on the downlink communication that the uplink communication is associated with; sensitivity to delay of traffic on the device to device communication; sensitivity to delay of traffic on the uplink communication; sensitivity to delay of traffic on the downlink communication that the uplink communication is associated with; data which is to be transmitted on the device to device communication; data which is to be transmitted on the uplink communication; data which is to be transmitted on the downlink communication that the uplink communication is associated with; a requirement for reliability of traffic on the device to device communication; a requirement for reliability of traffic on the uplink communication; a requirement for reliability of traffic on the downlink communication that the uplink communication is associated with; tolerance to retransmission of traffic on the device to device communication; tolerance to retransmission of traffic on the uplink communication; tolerance to retransmission of traffic on the downlink communication that the uplink communication is associated with; a required efficiency of resource usage in the cell of the base station; channel conditions associated with one or more of the channels of the device to device communication; channel conditions associated with one or more of the channels of the uplink communication; channel conditions associated with one or more of the channels of the downlink communication that the uplink communication is associated with; priority of one or more channels of the device to device communication; priority of one or more channels of the uplink communication; and priority of one or more channels of the downlink communication that the uplink communication is associated with.

10. The apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said means is for determining different prioritization information for different types of information in the uplink communication.

11. The apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the means are for: receiving an uplink communication from the said communication device with information indicating that the uplink communication is prioritized over a device to device communication; and allocating resources for at least one of an uplink communication, a downlink communication and device to device communication based on the received information.

12. The apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the means are for: determining that an uplink communication is missing due to prioritization of device to device communication based on the said prioritization information; and determining if a downlink communication associated with the uplink communication it to be retransmitted.

13. The apparatus as claimed in claim 12, wherein the determining if the downlink communication associated with the uplink communication is to be retransmitted is dependent on a quality of service of traffic of the downlink communication.

14. The apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the uplink communication comprises uplink control information.

15. The apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said device to device communication comprises a sidelink communication.

16. The apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said means is for causing said prioritization information to be transmitted via a physical layer control signalling.

17. The apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said means is for causing said prioritization information to be transmitted via radio resource control signalling.

18. An apparatus comprising means for: receiving prioritization information for use in a communications device when a transmission conflict arises between a device to device communication between said communications device and another communications device and an uplink communication between said communications device and an base station; and using said prioritization information when a transmission conflict arises between a device to device communication and an uplink communication to determine which of said device to device communication and said uplink communication is to be transmitted.

19. A method performed by an apparatus, said method comprising: determining prioritization information for use in a communications device when a transmission conflict arises between a device to device communication between said communications device and another communications device and an uplink communication between said communications device and a base station; and causing prioritization information to be transmitted from said base station to said communications device.

20. A method performed by an apparatus, the method comprising: receiving prioritization information for use in a communications device when a transmission conflict arises between a device to device communication between said communications device and another communications device and an uplink communication between said communications device and an base station; and using said prioritization information when a transmission conflict arises between a device to device communication and an uplink communication to determine which of said device to device communication and said uplink communication is to be transmitted.

21. A computer program comprising computer executable instructions which when run on at least one processor cause the method of claim 19 or claim 20 to be performed.