WO2024050735A1

WO2024050735A1 - Device and method for radio resource selection in sidelink communications with a plurality of candidate beams

Info

Publication number: WO2024050735A1
Application number: PCT/CN2022/117652
Authority: WO
Inventors: Daniel Medina; Torsten WILDSCHEK; Nuno Manuel KIILERICH PRATAS; Thomas Haaning Jacobsen; Renato Barbosa ABREU; Yong Liu
Original assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co., Ltd.; Nokia Solutions And Networks Oy; Nokia Technologies Oy
Priority date: 2022-09-07
Filing date: 2022-09-07
Publication date: 2024-03-14

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a device and method for sidelink communications. A first device determines a plurality of candidate beams or antenna panels (a₁, a₂) of the first device for communication with a second device. The first device determines a first candidate resource set (S₁) comprising a first plurality of candidate radio resources (r₁₁, r₁₂) for communication with the second device using a first beam or antenna panel (a₁) from the determined plurality of candidate beams or antenna panels (a₁, a₂). The first device determines a second candidate resource set (S₂) comprising a second plurality of candidate radio resources (r₂₁, r₂₂) for communication with the second device using a second beam or antenna panel (a₂) from the determined plurality of candidate beams or antenna panels (a₁, a₂). The first device determines a union set (S_A) by forming a union of the determined first (S₁) and second (S₂) candidate resource sets. The first device determines whether to exclude a candidate radio resource (r₁₁, r₁₂, r₂₁, r₂₂) from the union set (S_A) at least based on whether the candidate radio resource (r₁₁, r₁₂, r₂₁, r₂₂) overlaps, at least partially, with a radio resource expected to be used for communication by a third device. The first device transmits control information indicating at least one candidate radio resource (r₁₁, r₁₂, r₂₁, r₂₂) remaining in the union set (S_A) after the exclusion.

Description

DEVICE AND METHOD FOR RADIO RESOURCE SELECTION IN SIDELINK COMMUNICATIONS WITH A PLURALITY OF CANDIDATE BEAMS

TECHNICAL FIELD

Implementations of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of telecommunication, and in particular, to devices and methods for radio resource selection in sidelink communications with a plurality of candidate beams or antenna panels.

BACKGROUND

New Radio (NR) supports vehicle-to-everything (V2X) and device-to-device (D2D) communications to be performed. V2X communications can be based on communication technologies such as sidelink communication technologies. For this, sidelink resource pools and sidelink channels can be established for vehicles participating in such communications.

In V2X communications, there are two modes of resource allocation. In a first mode (also referred to as NR V2X resource allocation mode 1 or mode 1 hereinafter) , one terminal device may perform V2X communications with the other terminal device by using resources allocated by a network device. In a second mode (also referred to as NR V2X resource allocation mode 2 or mode 2 hereinafter) , one terminal device may perform V2X communications with the other terminal device by using resources autonomously selected in a resource pool by the one terminal device.

SUMMARY

The scope of protection sought for various embodiments of the invention is set out by the independent claims. The [embodiments/examples] and features, if any, described in this specification that do not fall under the scope of the independent claims are to be interpreted as examples useful for understanding various embodiments of the invention. ”

Please note that the term “embodiments” or “examples” should be adapted accordingly to the terminology used in the application, i.e. if the term “examples” is used, then the statement should talk of “examples” accordingly, or if the term “embodiments” is used, then the statement should talk of “embodiments” accordingly.

In general, example implementations of the present disclosure provide devices, methods and computer readable media for sidelink communications.

In a first aspect, there is provided a first device. The first device comprises at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code. The at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the first device to: determine a plurality of candidate beams or antenna panels (a ₁, a ₂) of the first device for communication with a second device; determine a first candidate resource set (S ₁) comprising a first plurality of candidate radio resources (r ₁₁, r ₁₂) for communication with the second device using a first beam or antenna panel (a ₁) from the determined plurality of candidate beams or antenna panels (a ₁, a ₂) ; determine a second candidate resource set (S ₂) comprising a second plurality of candidate radio resources (r ₂₁, r ₂₂) for communication with the second device using a second beam or antenna panel (a ₂) from the determined plurality of candidate beams or antenna panels (a ₁, a ₂) ; determine a union set (S _A) by forming a union of the determined first (S ₁) and second (S ₂) candidate resource sets; determine whether to exclude a candidate radio resource (r ₁₁, r ₁₂, r ₂₁, r ₂₂) from the union set (S _A) at least based on whether the candidate radio resource (r ₁₁, r ₁₂, r ₂₁, r ₂₂) overlaps, at least partially, with a radio resource expected to be used for communication by a third device; and transmit control information indicating at least one candidate radio resource (r ₁₁, r ₁₂, r ₂₁, r ₂₂) remaining in the union set (S _A) after the exclusion.

In a second aspect, there is provided a method implemented at a first device. The method comprises: determining, at a first device, a plurality of candidate beams or antenna panels (a ₁, a ₂) of the first device for communication with a second device; determining a first candidate resource set (S ₁) comprising a first plurality of candidate radio resources (r ₁₁, r ₁₂) for communication with the second device using a first beam or antenna panel (a ₁) from the determined plurality of candidate beams or antenna panels (a ₁, a ₂) ; determining a second candidate resource set (S ₂) comprising a second plurality of candidate radio resources (r ₂₁, r ₂₂) for communication with the second device using a second beam or antenna panel (a ₂) from the determined plurality of candidate beams or antenna panels (a ₁, a ₂) ; determining a union set (S _A) by forming a union of the determined first (S ₁) and second (S ₂) candidate resource sets; determining whether to exclude a candidate radio resource (r ₁₁, r ₁₂, r ₂₁, r ₂₂) from the union set (S _A) at least based on whether the candidate radio resource (r ₁₁, r ₁₂, r ₂₁, r ₂₂) overlaps, at least partially, with a radio resource expected to be used for communication by a third device; and transmitting control information indicating at least one candidate radio resource (r ₁₁, r ₁₂, r ₂₁, r ₂₂) remaining in the union set (S _A) after the exclusion.

In a third aspect, there is provided an apparatus. The apparatus comprises: means for determining, at a first device, a plurality of candidate beams or antenna panels (a ₁, a ₂) of the first device for communication with a second device; means for determining a first candidate resource set (S ₁) comprising a first plurality of candidate radio resources (r ₁₁, r ₁₂) for communication with the second device using a first beam or antenna panel (a ₁) from the determined plurality of candidate beams or antenna panels (a ₁, a ₂) ; means for determining a second candidate resource set (S ₂) comprising a second plurality of candidate radio resources (r ₂₁, r ₂₂) for communication with the second device using a second beam or antenna panel (a ₂) from the determined plurality of candidate beams or antenna panels (a ₁, a ₂) ; means for determining a union set (S _A) by forming a union of the determined first (S ₁) and second (S ₂) candidate resource sets; means for determining whether to exclude a candidate radio resource (r ₁₁, r ₁₂, r ₂₁, r ₂₂) from the union set (S _A) at least based on whether the candidate radio resource (r ₁₁, r ₁₂, r ₂₁, r ₂₂) overlaps, at least partially, with a radio resource expected to be used for communication by a third device; and means for transmitting control information indicating at least one candidate radio resource (r ₁₁, r ₁₂, r ₂₁, r ₂₂) remaining in the union set (S _A) after the exclusion.

In a fourth aspect, there is provided a non-transitory computer readable medium. The non-transitory computer readable medium comprises program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform the method according to the second aspect.

It is to be understood that the summary section is not intended to identify key or essential features of implementations of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become easily comprehensible through the following description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Through the more detailed description of some implementations of the present disclosure in the accompanying drawings, the above and other objects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent, wherein:

Fig. 1A illustrates an example communication network in which implementations of the present disclosure can be implemented;

Fig. 1B illustrates another example communication network in which implementations of the present disclosure can be implemented;

Fig. 2 illustrates a flowchart of a legacy resource selection procedure;

Fig. 3 illustrates a flowchart of an example method in accordance with some implementations of the present disclosure;

Fig. 4 illustrates a flowchart of an example method in accordance with some other implementations of the present disclosure;

Fig. 5 illustrates a simplified block diagram of an apparatus that is suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure; and

Fig. 6 illustrates a block diagram of an example computer readable medium in accordance with some implementations of the present disclosure.

Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar element.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

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

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

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

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

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms “a” , “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” , “comprising” , “has” , “having” , “includes” and/or “including” , when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, elements, and/or components etc., but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components and/or combinations thereof. As used herein, “at least one of the following: <a list of two or more elements>” and “at least one of <a list of two or more elements>” and similar wording, where the list of two or more elements are joined by “and” or “or” , mean at least any one of the elements, or at least any two or more of the elements, or at least all the elements.

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

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

(b) combinations of hardware circuits and software, such as (as applicable) :

(i) a combination of analog and/or digital hardware circuit (s) with software/firmware and

(ii) any portions of hardware processor (s) with software (including digital signal processor (s) ) , software, and memory (ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions) and

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

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

As used herein, the term “communication network” refers to a network following any suitable communication standards, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) , LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) , Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) , High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) , Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT) and so on. Furthermore, the communications between a terminal device and a network device in the communication network may be performed according to any suitable generation communication protocols, including, but not limited to, the first generation (1G) , the second generation (2G) , 2.5G, 2.75G, the third generation (3G) , the fourth generation (4G) , 4.5G, the future fifth generation (5G) communication protocols, and/or any other protocols either currently known or to be developed in the future. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied in various communication systems. Given the rapid development in communications, there will of course also be future type communication technologies and systems with which the present disclosure may be embodied. It should not be seen as limiting the scope of the present disclosure to only the aforementioned system.

As used herein, the term “network device” refers to a node in a communication network via which a terminal device accesses the network and receives services therefrom. The network device may refer to a base station (BS) or an access point (AP) , for example, a node B (NodeB or NB) , an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB) , a NR NB (also referred to as a gNB) , a Remote Radio Unit (RRU) , a radio header (RH) , a remote radio head (RRH) , a relay, a low power node such as a femto, a pico, and so forth, depending on the applied terminology and technology.

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

Fig. 1A illustrates a schematic diagram of an example communication network 100 in which implementations of the present disclosure can be implemented. As shown in Fig. 1A, the communication network 100 may include a first device 110 and a second device 120. For example, the second device 120 may be a transmitter (TX) UE of a sidelink signal and the first device 110 may be a receiver (RX) UE of the sidelink signal.

In this example, only for ease of discussion, the first device 110 and the second device 120 are illustrated as vehicles which enable V2X communications. It is to be understood that the vehicles are only example implementations of the first device 110 and the second device 120 without suggesting any limitation as to the scope of the present application. Any other suitable implementations are possible as well.

It is to be understood that the number of

devices

110 and 120 in Fig. 1A is given for the purpose of illustration without suggesting any limitations to the present disclosure. The communication network 100 may include any suitable number of devices adapted for implementing implementations of the present disclosure.

The communications in the communication network 100 may conform to any suitable standards including, but not limited to, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) , LTE, LTE-Evolution, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) , Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) , Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) , GSM EDGE Radio Access Network (GERAN) , Machine Type Communication (MTC) and the like. Furthermore, the communications may be performed according to any generation communication protocols either currently known or to be developed in the future. Examples of the communication protocols include, but not limited to, the first generation (1G) , the second generation (2G) , 2.5G, 2.75G, the third generation (3G) , the fourth generation (4G) , 4.5G, the fifth generation (5G) communication protocols.

The first device 110 and the second device 120 may use sidelink channels to transmit sidelink signaling or information. The sidelink channels may include at least one of the following: a Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH) resource which is used for carrying sidelink control information (SCI) , a PSSCH resource which is used for carrying sidelink data, a PSFCH resource which is used for carrying sidelink Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) feedback information, a physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH) resource which is used for carrying sidelink broadcast information, and a physical sidelink discovery channel (PSDCH) resource which is used for carrying a sidelink discovery signal.

In order to assist a resource selection of the second device 120, the first device 110 may transmit Inter-UE Coordination (IUC) information to the second device 120. In some embodiments, the IUC information may comprise a set of radio resources preferred or non-preferred for transmission of the second device 120. Alternatively, the IUC information may comprise an indication of an expected/potential resource conflict.

The first device 110 and the second device 120 may be able to communicate using a plurality of candidate beams (or antenna panels) of the first device 110 and/or a plurality of candidate beams (or antenna panels) of the second device 120. This will be described with reference to Fig. 1B.

Fig. 1B illustrates a schematic diagram of another example communication network 105 in which implementations of the present disclosure can be implemented. As shown in Fig. 1A, the communication network 105 may include the first device 110 and the second device 120.

As illustrated in Fig. 1B, a first candidate beam pair (a ₁, b ₁) may be used for communication over a first propagation path (e.g., via the Line of Sight (LOS) or a first reflector 130) and a second candidate beam pair (a ₂, b ₂) may be used for communication over a second propagation path (e.g., via a second reflector 140) .

The currently specified UE-autonomous resource allocation procedure is based on time-frequency resource selection. The introduction of a spatial dimension into this procedure (e.g., as a result of TX and/or RX beamforming) is not straightforward. For example, as shown in Fig. 1B, different candidate beams (or antenna panels) may be seen as orthogonal links such that a time-frequency resource in one candidate beam may be perceived as being occupied, while in the other candidate beam it may be perceived as available. Thus, a natural way to extend the UE-autonomous resource allocation procedure would be to treat the time-frequency resource selection for each candidate beam in an independent manner.

Accordingly, when selecting radio resources for communication over a plurality of candidate beams (or antenna panels) , a device (for example, the first device 110 or the second device 120) would perform resource exclusion on a per-beam (or per-panel) basis, e.g., based on SCI decoded and Reference Signal Receiving Power (RSRP) measured on each candidate beam (or antenna panel) .

For example, the first device 110 may perform sensing on multiple candidate receive beams (or antenna panels) a ₁ and a ₂ of the first device 110 and determine preferred or non-preferred resources for reception from the second device 120 on each of the candidate receive beams a ₁ and a ₂. Fig. 1B shows an example of a first preferred resource set S _A1 determined for a first candidate receive beam a ₁ of the first device 110 and a second preferred resource set S _A2 determined for a second candidate receive beam a ₂ of the first device 110. Details about determination of the first preferred resource set S _A1 and the second preferred resource set S _A2 will be described later with reference to Fig. 2.

In general, the first preferred resource set S _A1 and the second preferred resource set S _A2 may be quite different, reflecting the spatial distribution of potential interference sources. For example, a candidate resource may overlap with a resource indicated as reserved by SCI received on the second candidate receive beam a ₂. Consequently, it may be a preferred resource when using the first candidate receive beam a ₁ but not when using the second candidate receive beam a ₂.

Alternatively or additionally, the second device 120 may perform sensing on multiple candidate transmit beams or antenna panels b ₁ and b ₂ of the second device 120 and determine preferred or non-preferred resources for transmission to the first device 110 on each of the candidate transmit beams b ₁ and b ₂. Fig. 1B shows an example of a first preferred resource set S _B1 determined for a first candidate transmit beam b ₁ of the second device 120 and a second preferred resource set S _B2 determined for a second candidate transmit beam b ₂ of the second device 120.

In general, the first preferred resource set S _B1 and the second preferred resource set S _B2 may be quite different, reflecting the spatial distribution of potential interference sinks i.e., interference-threatened UEs. For example, a candidate resource may overlap with a resource indicated as non-preferred by IUC information received on the first candidate transmit beam b ₁. Consequently, it may be a preferred resource when using the second candidate transmit beam b ₂ but not when using the first candidate transmit beam b ₁.

In order to avoid interference both from and toward other UEs, the first device 110 and the second device 120 may exchange IUC information with each other, indicating preferred resource sets or non-preferred resource sets determined on a per-beam or per-panel basis. For example, the first device 110 may transmit the first preferred resource set S _A1 and the second preferred resource set S _A2 to the second device 120. The second device 120 may then compare (e.g., intersect) the received sets S _A1 and S _A2 with its own preferred resource sets S _B1 and S _B2 on a per-beam or per-panel basis to determine candidate resources that are preferred from the perspective of both of the first device 110 and the second device 120.

For example, a first candidate resource r ₁ may be determined for transmission using the first candidate beam pair (a ₁, b ₁) based on the intersection of respective preferred resource sets S _A1 and S _B1. Similarly, a second candidate resource r ₂ may be determined for transmission using the second candidate beam pair (a ₂, b ₂) based on the intersection of respective preferred resource sets S _A2 and S _B2.

However, performing resource selection/exclusion on a per-beam or per-panel basis may be suboptimal. For example, the radio channel congestion as perceived by the first device 110 on the first candidate beam a ₁ may be significantly higher than that on the second candidate beam a ₂. In case where the radio channel congestion may be indicated by a Channel Busy Ratio (CBR) , CBR ₁ measured by the first device 110 on the first candidate beam a ₁ may be significantly higher than CBR ₂ measured by the first device 110 on the second candidate beam a ₂ (i.e., CBR ₁ ＞＞ CBR ₂) . If so, the first preferred resource set S _A1 determined for the first candidate beam a ₁ may include candidate resources subject to higher interference (e.g., as a result of the resource exclusion threshold having been increased many times to ensure a minimum ratio of remaining candidates in the first preferred resource set S _A1) .

On the other hand, the second preferred resource set S _A2 determined for the second candidate beam a ₂ may include candidate resources subject to lower interference (e.g., as a result of the resource exclusion threshold not having been increased even once) . Such disparity in resource quality between the preferred resource sets S _A1 and S _A2 may lead to suboptimal resource selection at the second device 120, unless the first device 110 explicitly indicates which preferred resource set S _A1 or S _A2 is more optimal (i.e., subject to less interference) .

Fig. 2 illustrates a flowchart 200 of a legacy resource selection procedure. Generally, in the flowchart 200, the first preferred resource set S _A1 and the second preferred resource set S _A2 may be determined independently for each of the candidate receive beams (or antenna panels) a ₁ and a ₂.

As shown in Fig. 2, at block 210, a first UE determines multiple candidate beams for communication with a second UE. For example, the first UE may determine candidate beams a ₁ and a ₂ for communication with the second UE.

At block 220, the first UE determines a resource selection window and initializes separate resource exclusion thresholds RSRPthreshold ₁ and RSRPthreshold ₂.

At block 230, the first UE initializes a candidate resource set S _A1 for communication with beam a ₁.

At block 232, the first UE excludes candidate resources corresponding to non-monitored slots of beam a ₁.

At block 234, the first UE excludes candidate resources that overlap with reserved resources with associated RSRP greater than RSRPthreshold ₁.

At block 236, the first UE determines whether the number of remaining resources in the candidate resource set S _A1 is smaller than 0.2|S _A1|, where |S _A1| represents the initial total number of resources in the set S _A1.

If the number of remaining resources is smaller than 0.2|S _A1|, the first UE increases, at block 238, the RSRPthreshold ₁ by a step (i.e., RSRPthreshold ₁ = RSRPthreshold ₁ + step, where the step is currently defined to be 3 dB) . Then, the method 200 proceeds to block 230.

If the number of remaining resources is not smaller than 0.2|S _A1|, the first UE reports, at block 240, the preferred resource set S _A1 to the second UE.

On the other hand, in order to determine the second preferred resource set S _A2, the first UE initializes, at block 250, a candidate resource set S _A2 for communication with beam a ₂.

At block 252, the first UE excludes candidate resources corresponding to non-monitored slots of beam a ₂.

At block 254, the first UE excludes candidate resources that overlap with reserved resources with associated RSRP greater than RSRPthreshold ₂.

At block 256, the first UE determines whether the number of remaining resources in the candidate resource set S _A2 is smaller than 0.2|S _A2|, where |S _A2| represents the initial total number of resources in the set S _A2.

If the number of remaining resources is smaller than 0.2|S _A2|, the first UE increases, at block 258, the RSRPthreshold ₂ by a step (i.e., RSRPthreshold ₂ = RSRPthreshold ₂ + step, where the step is currently defined to be 3 dB) . Then, the method 200 proceeds to block 250.

If the number of remaining resources is not smaller than 0.2|S _A2|, the first UE reports, at block 260, the preferred resource set S _A2 to the second UE.

The present invention proposes an optimization of radio resource selection (leading to reduced control signaling overhead and increased radio resource quality) when multiple candidate beams (or antenna panels) are available at a first device for sidelink communication with a second device. Instead of separately determining a preferred resource set for each candidate beam, the first device jointly considers candidate radio resources for communication using any of the candidate beams by determining a union set and performing resource exclusion on the union set. By transmitting a single preferred resource set instead of two (or more) preferred resource sets (i.e., one for each candidate beam or antenna panel) , the control signaling overhead is reduced (assuming a fixed overhead per set) .

Hereinafter, the principle of the present disclosure will be described with reference to Figs. 3 to 6.

Fig. 3 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 300 in accordance with some implementations of the present disclosure. In some implementations, the method 300 can be implemented at a device, such as the device 110 or the device 120 as shown in Figs. 1A and 1B.For the purpose of discussion, the method 300 will be described with reference to Figs. 1A and 1B as performed by the first device 110 without loss of generality.

At block 310, the first device 110 determines a plurality of candidate beams or antenna panels of the first device 110 for communication with the second device 120. Hereinafter, some embodiments of the present disclosure will be described taking two candidate beams or antenna panels a ₁ and a ₂ of the first device 110 for example. Any proper number of the candidate beams or antenna panels of the first device 110 may be applied to the present disclosure.

For example, the first device 110 may determine such candidate beams or antenna panels a ₁ and a ₂ based on measurements at the first device 110 of sidelink (SL) Channel State Information -Reference Signal (CSI-RS) transmitted by the second device 120. Alternatively, the candidate beams a ₁ and a ₂ may be reported by the second device 120 based on measurements at the second device 120 of SL CSI-RS transmitted by the first device 110. It shall be noted that the second device 120 is not required to use beamforming (or multiple antenna panels) –e.g., the second device 120 may use an omnidirectional antenna. However, in a more general case, the second device 120 may similarly have determined at least two corresponding candidate beams or antenna panels b ₁ and b ₂ of the second device 120 for communication with the first device 110.

At block 320, the first device 110 determines a first candidate resource set S ₁ comprising a first plurality of candidate radio resources for communication with the second device 120 using a first beam or antenna panel a ₁ from the determined plurality of candidate beams or antenna panels. For example, the first candidate resource set S ₁ may comprise candidate radio resources r ₁₁ and r _12. It shall be noted that r _mn denotes the n-th candidate radio resource for communication using beam/panel a _m. For example, r ₁₁ denotes the first candidate radio resource for communication using the beam or antenna panel a ₁, and r ₁₂ denotes the second candidate radio resource for communication using the beam or antenna panel a ₁.

For example, the first device 110 may initialize the first candidate resource set S ₁ to all candidate single-slot resources comprising a given number of contiguous subchannels L _subCH, 1 within a resource pool (RP) and a resource selection window (RSW) .

At block 330, the first device 110 determines a second candidate resource set S ₂ comprising a second plurality of candidate radio resources for communication with the second device 120 using a second beam or antenna panel a ₂ from the determined plurality of candidate beams or antenna panels. For example, the second candidate resource set S ₂ may comprise candidate radio resources r ₂₁ and r _22. For example, r ₂₁ denotes the first candidate radio resource for communication using the beam or antenna panel a ₂, and r ₂₂ denotes the second candidate radio resource for communication using the beam or antenna panel a ₂.

For example, the first device 110 may initialize the second candidate resource set S ₂ to all candidate single-slot resources comprising a given number of contiguous subchannels L _subCH, 2 within the RP and the RSW.

It shall be noted that the number of contiguous subchannels L _subCH, 2 used when determining the second candidate resource set S ₂ may be different than the number of contiguous subchannels L _subCH, 1 used when determining the first candidate resource set S ₁. This may be the case, for example, when a first received signal strength RSRP ₁ determined for the first beam or antenna panel a ₁ is significantly different compared to a second received signal strength RSRP ₂ determined for the second beam or antenna panel a ₂. Such received signal strength difference may lead the first device 110 or the second device 120 to select different modulation and coding schemes (MCS) for communication using the different beams or antenna panels a ₁ and a ₂ of the first device 110, resulting in different radio resource requirements L _subCH, 1 and L _subCH, 2.

At block 340, the first device 110 determines a union set S _A by forming a union of the determined first candidate resource set S ₁ and the second candidate resource set S ₂. For example, the union set S _A comprises the candidate radio resources r ₁₁ and r ₁₂ for communication with the second device 120 using the first beam or antenna panel a ₁ as well as the candidate radio resources r ₂₁, r ₂₂ for communication with the second device 120 using the second beam or antenna panel a ₂.

At block 350, the first device 110 determines whether to exclude a candidate radio resource from the union set S _A at least based on whether the candidate radio resource overlaps, at least partially, with a radio resource expected to be used for communication by a third device.

In some embodiments, the candidate radio resource r ₁₁, r ₁₂, r ₂₁ or r ₂₂ may be excluded from the union set S _A if it corresponds to a slot that has not been monitored by the first device 110 while using the first beam or antenna panel a ₁ or while using the second beam or antenna panel a ₂, respectively. This may occur, for instance, as a result of the first device 110 having itself transmitted PSCCH/PSSCH during such a slot or performed sensing while using a different beam or antenna panel.

In some embodiments, the first device 110 receives SCI from the third device using each of the beams or antenna panels a ₁ and a ₂. The received SCI indicates the radio resource to be reserved for communication by the third device. The first device 110 may then determine, based on the SCI, whether a candidate radio resource r ₁₁, r ₁₂, r ₂₁ or r ₂₂ in the union set S _A overlaps in time-and-frequency with the radio resource reserved by the third device. In some embodiments, additionally or alternatively, the first device 110 may also determine whether a future occurrence of the candidate radio resource r ₁₁, r ₁₂, r ₂₁ or r ₂₂ in accordance with a resource reservation period P _{rsvp_TX} overlaps in time-and-frequency with the radio resource reserved by the third device.

If the candidate radio resource r ₁₁, r ₁₂, r ₂₁ or r ₂₂ in the union set S _A overlaps in time-and-frequency with the radio resource reserved by the third device, the candidate radio resource r ₁₁, r ₁₂, r ₂₁ or r ₂₂ may be referred to as an overlapping candidate radio resource r ₁₁, r ₁₂, r ₂₁ or r ₂₂. Based on a received signal strength (RSRP) associated with the received SCI, the first device 110 may determine whether or not to exclude the overlapping candidate radio resource r ₁₁, r ₁₂, r ₂₁ or r ₂₂ from the union set S _A. The first device 110 may determine to exclude the overlapping candidate radio resource r ₁₁, r ₁₂, r ₂₁ or r ₂₂ from the union set S _A if the received signal strength RSRP is above a resource exclusion threshold Th. In this way, the interference among radio transmissions in overlapping radio resources can be reduced.

In some embodiments, a first resource exclusion threshold Th ₁ may be applied to candidate radio resources r ₁₁, r ₁₂ for communication using the first beam or antenna panel a ₁ while a second resource exclusion threshold Th ₂ may be applied to candidate radio resources r ₂₁, r ₂₂ for communication using the second beam or antenna panel a ₂.

For example, the first device 110 may measure a first received signal strength RSRP ₁ associated with a first radio transmission received from the second device 120 using the first beam or antenna panel a ₁ of the first device 110. The first device 110 may also measure a second received signal strength RSRP ₂ associated with a second radio transmission received from the second device 120 using the second beam or antenna panel a ₂ of the first device 110.

If the first received signal strength RSRP ₁ determined for the first beam or antenna panel a ₁ is higher than the second received signal strength RSRP ₂ determined for the second beam or antenna panel a ₂ (i.e., RSRP ₁ > RSRP ₂) , a (correspondingly) higher first resource exclusion threshold Th ₁ may be applied (i.e., Th ₁ > Th ₂) to candidate radio resources r ₁₁ and r ₁₂.

The first device 110 may measure a third received signal strength associated with a third radio transmission received from the third device using the first beam or antenna panel a ₁ of the first device 110. The third radio transmission received from the third device is associated with a first SCI received from the third device. If the third received signal strength is above the first resource exclusion threshold Th ₁, the first device 110 may exclude the candidate radio resource r ₁₁ or r ₁₂ for communication using the first beam or antenna panel a ₁ which overlaps with a radio resource indicated by the first SCI.

Similarly, the first device 110 may measure a fourth received signal strength associated with a fourth radio transmission received from the third device using the second beam or antenna panel a ₂ of the first device 110. The fourth radio transmission received from the third device is associated with a second SCI received from the third device. If the fourth received signal strength is above the second resource exclusion threshold (Th ₂) , the first device 110 may exclude the candidate radio resource r ₂₁ or r ₂₂ for communication using the second beam or antenna panel a ₂ which overlaps with a radio resource indicated by the second SCI.

In some embodiments, the difference (ΔTh = Th ₁ –Th ₂) between the first resource exclusion threshold Th ₁ and the second resource exclusion threshold Th ₂ may be equal to the difference (ΔRSRP = RSRP ₁ –RSRP ₂) (in dB) between the first received signal strength RSRP ₁ and the second received signal strength RSRP ₂ (i.e., ΔTh = ΔRSRP) . As a result, the candidate radio resource r ₁₁ or r ₁₂ for communication using the stronger beam or antenna panel a ₁ may be excluded if it overlaps with a radio resource indicated by the first SCI with an associated RSRP higher than Th ₁, and the candidate radio resource r ₂₁ or r ₂₂ for communication using the weaker beam or antenna panel a ₂ may be excluded if it overlaps with a radio resource indicated by the second SCI with an associated RSRP higher than Th ₂ (Th ₂ = Th ₁ –ΔRSRP) .

In some embodiments, the first resource exclusion threshold Th ₁ or the second resource exclusion threshold Th ₂ may be determined based on a priority of the radio transmission received from the third device and a priority of a radio transmission to be transmitted by the second device 120. For example, the SCI received from the third device may indicate the priority of the radio transmission received from the third device.

In some embodiments, the first resource exclusion threshold Th ₁ and the second resource exclusion threshold Th ₂ may also depend on a first modulation and coding scheme (MCS ₁) and second MCS ₂ to be used for communication using the first beam or antenna panel a ₁ and second beam or antenna panel a ₂ of the first device 110, respectively. For example, in case of a similar received signal strength, i.e., RSRP ₁ ≈ RSRP ₂, a more robust modulation and coding scheme MCS ₁ for communication using the first beam or antenna panel a ₁ may lead to higher interference tolerance. Thus, a higher first resource exclusion threshold Th ₁ may be applied.

To sum up, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the resource exclusion threshold (Th) used for excluding candidate radio resources r ₁₁, r ₁₂, r ₂₁ and r ₂₂ that overlap with reserved radio resources is adjusted to reflect the expected signal strength of the desired signal from the second device 120 on the respective beam or antenna panel a ₁ or a ₂. For example, candidate resources for communication using a stronger signal path are more interference-tolerant.

In some embodiments, after excluding overlapping candidate radio resource r ₁₁, r ₁₂, r ₂₁ or r ₂₂ from the union set S _A, the first device 110 may determine whether the percentage or ratio of candidate radio resources remaining in the union set S _A is below a minimum percentage X (also referred to as a minimum ratio or fraction X) . The percentage of candidate radio resources remaining in the union set S _A may be equal to the number of candidate radio resources remaining in the union set S _A after the exclusion divided by the original cardinality |S _A| of the union set (i.e., the original number of candidate radio resources in the union set S _A) . For example, the minimum percentage X may be equal to 20%.

If the percentage or fraction of candidate radio resources remaining in the union set S _A is below the minimum percentage, the first device 110 may relax its resource exclusion by increasing the first resource exclusion threshold Th ₁ and the second resource exclusion threshold Th ₂ and repeat the procedure starting from the initial union set S _A.

It is worth noting that, by virtue of the union set S _A having a larger cardinality than the first candidate resource set S ₁ and the second candidate resource set S ₂, a lower minimum percentage X _A may be used compared to that which would be used for the first candidate resource set S ₁ or second candidate resource set S ₂ individually (X ₁, X ₂) –while resulting in the same number of remaining candidate radio resources as each of them individually. In particular, the minimum percentage X _A may be a function of the cardinality |S _A| of the initial union set. If there are many candidate beams or antenna panels a ₁, a ₂, …, the union set S _A may be very large, thus the minimum percentage X _A may be set to a smaller value, e.g., X _A=10%. This results in a lower likelihood that the resource exclusion threshold Th ₁ or Th ₂ needs to be increased, thus reducing interference and improving performance.

Once the resource exclusion procedure is done, at block 360, the first device 110 transmits, to the second device 120 or a network node (gNB) , control information indicating at least one candidate radio resource r ₁₁, r ₁₂, r ₂₁ or r ₂₂ remaining in the union set S _A after the exclusion.

In some embodiments, the first device 110 transmits the control information to the second device 120. Upon receiving the control information, the second device 120 may perform Mode 2 resource selection procedure based on the control information.

Alternatively, the first device 110 transmits the control information to a network node (gNB) . Upon receiving the control information, the network node may perform centralized scheduling (Mode 1) for the second device 120.

In the legacy procedure, if there is a significant difference in radio channel congestion (e.g., CBR ₁ ＞＞ CBR ₂) as perceived by the first device 110 on the different candidate beams (or antenna panels) a ₁ and a ₂, the preferred resource set S ₁ determined for the more congested beam a ₁ may include candidate radio resources r ₁₁ and r ₁₂ subject to higher interference (e.g., as a result of the resource exclusion threshold having been increased many times to ensure a minimum ratio of remaining candidates) . On the other hand, the preferred resource set S ₂ determined for the less congested beam a ₂ may include candidate radio resources r ₂₁ and r ₂₂ subject to lower interference (e.g., as a result of the resource exclusion threshold not having been increased even once) . Such disparity in resource quality between the preferred resource sets S ₁ and S ₂ may lead to suboptimal resource selection, unless the first device 110 explicitly indicates which preferred resource set S ₁, S ₂ is more optimal (i.e., subject to less interference) . With the solution of the present disclosure, the first device jointly considers candidate radio resources for communication using any of the candidate beams. Thus, quality of the candidate radio resources may be increased.

In some example implementations, an apparatus capable of performing any of the method 300 (for example, the first device 110) may comprise means for performing the respective steps of the method 300. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module.

In some example implementations, the apparatus comprises: means for determining, at a first device, a plurality of candidate beams or antenna panels (a ₁, a ₂) of the first device for communication with a second device; means for determining a first candidate resource set (S ₁) comprising a first plurality of candidate radio resources (r ₁₁, r ₁₂) for communication with the second device using a first beam or antenna panel (a ₁) from the determined plurality of candidate beams or antenna panels (a ₁, a ₂) ; means for determining a second candidate resource set (S ₂) comprising a second plurality of candidate radio resources (r ₂₁, r ₂₂) for communication with the second device using a second beam or antenna panel (a ₂) from the determined plurality of candidate beams or antenna panels (a ₁, a ₂) ; means for determining a union set (S _A) by forming a union of the determined first (S ₁) and second (S ₂) candidate resource sets; means for determining whether to exclude a candidate radio resource (r ₁₁, r ₁₂, r ₂₁, r ₂₂) from the union set (S _A) at least based on whether the candidate radio resource (r ₁₁, r ₁₂, r ₂₁, r ₂₂) overlaps, at least partially, with a radio resource expected to be used for communication by a third device; and means for transmitting control information indicating at least one candidate radio resource (r ₁₁, r ₁₂, r ₂₁, r ₂₂) remaining in the union set (S _A) after the exclusion.

In some embodiments, the means for determining whether to exclude a candidate radio resource comprises: means for determining to exclude from the union set (S _A) a candidate radio resource (r ₁₁, r ₁₂) for communication with the second device using the first beam or antenna panel (a ₁) based on: determining that a third received signal strength associated with a radio transmission received from the third device using the first beam or antenna panel (a ₁) of the first device is above a first resource exclusion threshold (Th ₁) .

In some embodiments, the first resource exclusion threshold (Th ₁) is determined based on at least one of a first received signal strength (RSRP ₁) and a second received signal strength (RSRP ₂) , the first and second received signal strengths (RSRP ₁, RSRP ₂) being associated with a radio transmission received from the second device using, respectively, the first and second beams or antenna panels (a ₁, a ₂) of the first device.

In some embodiments, the first resource exclusion threshold (Th ₁) is determined based on a first modulation and coding scheme (MCS ₁) to be used for communication with the second device using the first beam or antenna panel (a ₁) of the first device.

In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises: means for increasing the first resource exclusion threshold (Th ₁) until a minimum percentage (X) of candidate radio resources (r ₁₁, r ₁₂, r ₂₁, r ₂₂) remain in the union set (S _A) after the exclusion.

In some embodiments, the minimum percentage (X) is determined based on a cardinality of the union set (S _A) before the exclusion.

Fig. 4 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 400 in accordance with some other implementations of the present disclosure. The method 400 may be considered as an example implementation of the method 300. In some implementations, the method 400 can be implemented at a device, such as the device 110 or the device 120 as shown in Figs. 1A and 1B. For the purpose of discussion, the method 400 will be described with reference to Figs. 1A and 1B as performed by the first device 110 without loss of generality.

At block 410, the first device 110 determines a plurality of candidate beams or antenna panels (a ₁, a ₂) of the first device for communication with the second device 120.

At block 420, the first device 110 determines a resource selection window and initializes a common resource exclusion threshold. The common resource exclusion threshold may be represented by RSRPthreshold.

At block 430, the first device 110 initializes the first candidate resource set S ₁ comprising the first plurality of candidate radio resources for communication with the second device 120 using the first beam or antenna panel a ₁. For example, the first device 110 may initialize the first candidate resource set S ₁ to all candidate single-slot resources comprising a given number of contiguous subchannels L _subCH, 1 within a resource pool and the resource selection window.

At block 432, the first device 110 initializes the second candidate resource set S ₂ comprising the second plurality of candidate radio resources for communication with the second device 120 using the second beam or antenna panel a ₂. For example, the first device 110 may initialize the second candidate resource set S ₂ to all candidate single-slot resources comprising a given number of contiguous subchannels L _subCH, 2 within the resource pool and the resource selection window.

At block 440, the first device 110 determines a union set S _A by forming a union of the first candidate resource set S ₁ and the second candidate resource set S ₂. In other words, the first device 110 initializes the set S _A to the union of set S ₁ and set S ₂.

At block 450, the first device 110 excludes candidate resources for communication using beam a _i that correspond to non-monitored slots of beam a _i, where i=1 or 2.

At block 460, the first device 110 excludes candidate resources for communication using beam a _i that overlap with reserved resources with associated RSRP measured on beam a _i greater than the i-th resource exclusion threshold. The i-th resource exclusion threshold may be represented by (RSRPthreshold –ΔRSRP _i) , where i=1 or 2. In one example, ΔRSRP _i = max (RSRP ₁, RSRP ₂) –RSRP _i. In another example, ΔRSRP _i =min (RSRP ₁, RSRP ₂) –RSRP _i. In yet another example, ΔRSRP _i = mean (RSRP ₁, RSRP ₂) –RSRP _i.

At block 470, the first device 110 determines whether the number of remaining resources in the union set S _A is smaller than 0.2|S _A|, where |S _A| represents the initial total number of resources in the union set S _A.

If the number of remaining resources is smaller than 0.2|S _A|, the first device 110 increases, at block 480, the common resource exclusion threshold RSRPthreshold by a step (i.e., RSRPthreshold = RSRPthreshold + step, where the step is currently defined to be 3 dB) . Then, the method 400 proceeds to block 440.

If the number of remaining resources is not smaller than 0.2|S _A|, the first device 110 reports, at block 490, the set S _A to the second device 120.

It will be understood that the details of some embodiments described with reference to Fig. 3 are also applied to the method 400. Thus, the details are omitted for brevity.

Fig. 5 is a simplified block diagram of a device 500 that is suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 500 may be provided to implement the communication device, for example, the first device 110 (for example, an Rx UE) or the second device 120 (for example, a Tx UE) as shown in Figs. 1A and 1B. As shown, the device 500 includes one or more processors 510, one or more memories 520 coupled to the processor 510, and one or more communication modules 540 coupled to the processor 510.

The communication module 540 is for bidirectional communications. The communication module 540 has at least one antenna to facilitate communication. The communication interface may represent any interface that is necessary for communication with other network elements.

The processor 510 may be of any type suitable to the local technical network and may include one or more of the following: general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs) and processors based on multicore processor architecture, as non-limiting examples. The device 500 may have multiple processors, such as an application specific integrated circuit chip that is slaved in time to a clock which synchronizes the main processor.

The memory 520 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of the non-volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a Read Only Memory (ROM) 524, an electrically programmable read only memory (EPROM) , a flash memory, a hard disk, a compact disc (CD) , a digital video disk (DVD) , and other magnetic storage and/or optical storage. Examples of the volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a random access memory (RAM) 522 and other volatile memories that will not last in the power-down duration.

A computer program 530 includes computer executable instructions that are executed by the associated processor 510. The program 530 may be stored in the ROM 524. The processor 510 may perform any suitable actions and processing by loading the program 530 into the RAM 522.

The embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by means of the program 530 so that the device 500 may perform any process of the disclosure as discussed with reference to Figs. 1A to 4. The embodiments of the present disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or by a combination of software and hardware.

In some example embodiments, the program 530 may be tangibly contained in a computer readable medium which may be included in the device 500 (such as in the memory 520) or other storage devices that are accessible by the device 500. The device 500 may load the program 530 from the computer readable medium to the RAM 522 for execution. The computer readable medium may include any types of tangible non-volatile storage, such as ROM, EPROM, a flash memory, a hard disk, CD, DVD, and the like. Fig. 6 shows an example of the computer readable medium 600 in form of CD or DVD. The computer readable medium has the program 530 stored thereon.

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

The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as those included in program modules, being executed in a device on a target real or virtual processor, to carry out the

methods

300 and 400 as described above with reference to Figs. 3 and 4. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, or the like that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of the program modules may be combined or split between program modules as desired in various embodiments. Machine-executable instructions for program modules may be executed within a local or distributed device. In a distributed device, program modules may be located in both local and remote storage media.

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

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

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

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

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

Claims

A first device, comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program code;

wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the first device to:

determine a plurality of candidate beams or antenna panels (a ₁, a ₂) of the first device for communication with a second device;

determine a first candidate resource set (S ₁) comprising a first plurality of candidate radio resources (r ₁₁, r ₁₂) for communication with the second device using a first beam or antenna panel (a ₁) from the determined plurality of candidate beams or antenna panels (a ₁, a ₂) ;

determine a second candidate resource set (S ₂) comprising a second plurality of candidate radio resources (r ₂₁, r ₂₂) for communication with the second device using a second beam or antenna panel (a ₂) from the determined plurality of candidate beams or antenna panels (a ₁, a ₂) ;

determine a union set (S _A) by forming a union of the determined first (S ₁) and second (S ₂) candidate resource sets;

determine whether to exclude a candidate radio resource (r ₁₁, r ₁₂, r ₂₁, r ₂₂) from the union set (S _A) at least based on whether the candidate radio resource (r ₁₁, r ₁₂, r ₂₁, r ₂₂) overlaps, at least partially, with a radio resource expected to be used for communication by a third device; and

transmit control information indicating at least one candidate radio resource (r ₁₁, r ₁₂, r ₂₁, r ₂₂) remaining in the union set (S _A) after the exclusion.
The first device of claim 1, wherein the first device is caused to determine to exclude from the union set (S _A) a candidate radio resource (r ₁₁, r ₁₂) for communication with the second device using the first beam or antenna panel (a ₁) based on:

determining that a third received signal strength associated with a radio transmission received from the third device using the first beam or antenna panel (a ₁) of the first device is above a first resource exclusion threshold (Th ₁) .
The first device of claim 2, wherein the first resource exclusion threshold (Th ₁) is determined based on at least one of a first received signal strength (RSRP ₁) and a second received signal strength (RSRP ₂) , the first and second received signal strengths (RSRP ₁, RSRP ₂) being associated with a radio transmission received from the second device using, respectively, the first and second beams or antenna panels (a ₁, a ₂) of the first device.
The first device of claim 2, wherein the first resource exclusion threshold (Th ₁) is determined based on a first modulation and coding scheme (MCS ₁) to be used for communication with the second device using the first beam or antenna panel (a ₁) of the first device.
The first device of claim 2, wherein the first device is further caused to increase the first resource exclusion threshold (Th ₁) until a minimum percentage (X) of candidate radio resources (r ₁₁, r ₁₂, r ₂₁, r ₂₂) remain in the union set (S _A) after the exclusion.
The first device of claim 5, wherein the minimum percentage (X) is determined based on a cardinality of the union set (S _A) before the exclusion.
A method, comprising:

determining, at a first device, a plurality of candidate beams or antenna panels (a ₁, a ₂) of the first device for communication with a second device;

determining a first candidate resource set (S ₁) comprising a first plurality of candidate radio resources (r ₁₁, r ₁₂) for communication with the second device using a first beam or antenna panel (a ₁) from the determined plurality of candidate beams or antenna panels (a ₁, a ₂) ;

determining a second candidate resource set (S ₂) comprising a second plurality of candidate radio resources (r ₂₁, r ₂₂) for communication with the second device using a second beam or antenna panel (a ₂) from the determined plurality of candidate beams or antenna panels (a ₁, a ₂) ;

determining a union set (S _A) by forming a union of the determined first (S ₁) and second (S ₂) candidate resource sets;

determining whether to exclude a candidate radio resource (r ₁₁, r ₁₂, r ₂₁, r ₂₂) from the union set (S _A) at least based on whether the candidate radio resource (r ₁₁, r ₁₂, r ₂₁, r ₂₂) overlaps, at least partially, with a radio resource expected to be used for communication by a third device; and

transmitting control information indicating at least one candidate radio resource (r ₁₁, r ₁₂, r ₂₁, r ₂₂) remaining in the union set (S _A) after the exclusion.
The method of claim 7, wherein determining to exclude from the union set (S _A) a candidate radio resource (r ₁₁, r ₁₂) for communication with the second device using the first beam or antenna panel (a ₁) is based on:

determining that a third received signal strength associated with a radio transmission received from the third device using the first beam or antenna panel (a ₁) of the first device is above a first resource exclusion threshold (Th ₁) .
The method of claim 8, wherein the first resource exclusion threshold (Th ₁) is determined based on at least one of a first received signal strength (RSRP ₁) and a second received signal strength (RSRP ₂) , the first and second received signal strengths (RSRP ₁, RSRP ₂) being associated with a radio transmission received from the second device using, respectively, the first and second beams or antenna panels (a ₁, a ₂) of the first device.
The method of claim 8, wherein the first resource exclusion threshold (Th ₁) is determined based on a first modulation and coding scheme (MCS ₁) to be used for communication with the second device using the first beam or antenna panel (a ₁) of the first device.
The method of claim 8, further comprising:

increasing the first resource exclusion threshold (Th ₁) until a minimum percentage (X) of candidate radio resources (r ₁₁, r ₁₂, r ₂₁, r ₂₂) remain in the union set (S _A) after the exclusion.
The method of claim 11, wherein the minimum percentage (X) is determined based on a cardinality of the union set (S _A) before the exclusion.
A computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method of any of claims 7 to 12.