WO2024164359A1

WO2024164359A1 - Slot structure for sidelink communication

Info

Publication number: WO2024164359A1
Application number: PCT/CN2023/075553
Authority: WO
Inventors: Naizheng ZHENG; Renato Barbosa ABREU; Laura Luque SANCHEZ; Torsten WILDSCHEK; Timo Erkki Lunttila; Yong Liu; Nuno Manuel KIILERICH PRATAS; Jianguo Liu
Original assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd; Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy; Nokia Technologies Oy
Current assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd; Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy; Nokia Technologies Oy
Priority date: 2023-02-10
Filing date: 2023-02-10
Publication date: 2024-08-15
Anticipated expiration: 2025-08-10
Also published as: CN120693938A

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to devices, methods, apparatuses and computer readable storage media of slot structure for sidelink communication. The method comprises transmitting, at a first device, an indication indicative of a target slot structure to be applied for a multiple consecutive slots transmission within a channel occupancy time. The target slot structure is a first slot structure with a single starting symbol or a second slot structure with a plurality of starting symbols. In this way, overhead for the sidelink transmission can be reduced.

Description

SLOT STRUCTURE FOR SIDELINK COMMUNICATION

FIELD

Various example embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of telecommunication and in particular, to methods, devices, apparatuses and computer readable medium for slot structure for sidelink communication.

BACKGROUND

With the rapid development of the communication technology, communication systems can support various types of service applications for terminal devices, such as transmissions between terminal devices. In recent communication technologies, it has been proposed to use sidelink (SL) connections for transmissions between terminal devices. SL connections are communication connections built between different terminal devices. To enhance to SL transmission, slot structures with one or more (for example 2) starting symbols are introduced for SL communication.

SUMMARY

In a first aspect, there is provided a first device. The first device comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first device at least to perform: transmitting an indication indicative of a target slot structure to be applied for a multiple consecutive slots transmission within a channel occupancy time, the target slot structure being a first slot structure with a single starting symbol or a second slot structure with a plurality of starting symbols.

In a second aspect, there is provided a second device. The second device comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second device at least to perform: receiving an indication indicative of a target slot structure to be applied for a multiple consecutive slots transmission within a channel occupancy time, the target slot structure being a first slot structure with a single starting symbol or a second slot structure with a plurality of starting symbols.

In a third aspect, there is provide a method. The method comprises transmitting, at a first device, an indication indicative of a target slot structure to be applied for a multiple consecutive slots transmission within a channel occupancy time, the target slot structure being a first slot structure with a single starting symbol or a second slot structure with a plurality of starting symbols.

In a fourth aspect, there is provide a method. The method comprises receiving, at a second device, an indication indicative of a target slot structure to be applied for a multiple consecutive slots transmission within a channel occupancy time, the target slot structure being a first slot structure with a single starting symbol or a second slot structure with a plurality of starting symbols.

In a fifth aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising means for transmitting an indication indicative of a target slot structure to be applied for a multiple consecutive slots transmission within a channel occupancy time, the target slot structure being a first slot structure with a single starting symbol or a second slot structure with a plurality of starting symbols.

In a sixth aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising means for receiving an indication indicative of a target slot structure to be applied for a multiple consecutive slots transmission within a channel occupancy time, the target slot structure being a first slot structure with a single starting symbol or a second slot structure with a plurality of starting symbols.

In a seventh aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium having a computer program stored thereon which, when executed by at least one processor of an apparatus, causes the apparatus to carry out the method according to the third aspect or the fourth aspect.

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

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Some example embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, where.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example environment in which example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented;

FIGS. 2A to 2D illustrate diagrams of example slot structures according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure, respectively;

FIG. 3A illustrates a signaling flow for slot structure indication transmission according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3B illustrates a diagram of example slot structure with starting symbol according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 illustrates another signaling flow for slot structure indication transmission according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B illustrate flowcharts of example processes of slot structure indication determination and/or transmission according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure, respectively;

FIG. 6 illustrates another signaling flow for slot structure indication transmission according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 illustrates another flowchart of an example process of slot structure indication transmission according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 illustrates another flowchart of an example process of transmission based on slot structure indication according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a first device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 10 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a second device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 11 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a device that is suitable for implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 12 shows a block diagram of an example computer readable medium in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals may 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. Embodiments described herein may 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 may 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, ” “second” and the like 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.

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 herein, unless stated explicitly, performing a step “in response to A” does not indicate that the step is performed immediately after “A” occurs and one or more intervening steps may be included.

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 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) and

(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 New Radio (NR) , 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) , an Enhanced Machine type communication (eMTC) 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 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 terms “network device” , “radio network device” and/or “radio access 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) , an NR NB (also referred to as a gNB) , a Remote Radio Unit (RRU) , a radio header (RH) , a remote radio head (RRH) , a relay, an Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) node, a low power node such as a femto, a pico, a non-terrestrial network (NTN) or non-ground network device such as a satellite network device, a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite and a geosynchronous earth orbit (GEO) satellite, an aircraft network device, and so forth, depending on the applied terminology and technology. In some example embodiments, radio access network (RAN) split architecture includes a Centralized Unit (CU) and a Distributed Unit (DU) . In some other example embodiments, part of the radio access network device or full of the radio access network device may embarked on an airborne or space-borne NTN vehicle.

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 (loT) 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. The terminal device may also correspond to a Mobile Termination (MT) part of an IAB node (e.g., a relay node) . In the following description, the terms “terminal device” , “communication device” , “terminal” , “user equipment” and “UE” may be used interchangeably.

As used herein, the term “resource, ” “transmission resource, ” “resource block, ” “physical resource block” (PRB) , “uplink resource, ” or “downlink resource” may refer to any resource for performing a communication, for example, a communication between a terminal device and a network device, such as a resource in time domain, a resource in frequency domain, a resource in space domain, a resource in code domain, or any other resource enabling a communication, and the like. In the following, unless explicitly stated, a resource in both frequency domain and time domain will be used as an example of a transmission resource for describing some example embodiments of the present disclosure. It is noted that example embodiments of the present disclosure are equally applicable to other resources in other domains.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example communication environment 100 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. As shown in FIG. 1, the communication environment 100 may comprise a first device 110 and a second device 120. In some example embodiments, the first device 110 and the second 120 are terminal devices. It is to be understood that the number of devices as shown in FIG. 1 is only for the purpose of illustration without suggesting any limitations. The communication environment 100 may include any suitable number of devices adapted for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. The communication environment 100 may include additional devices, for example a network device.

In the communication environment 100, the first device 110 and second device 120 may communicate data and control information with each other. Links between the first device 110 and the second device 120 are referred to as a SL. In SL communication, communications between devices (for example, V2V, V2P, V2I communications) may be performed via SLs. SL communications may support one or more communication methods including unicast communication, multicast communication, and broadcast communication. SL may comprise one or more logical channels, including but not limited to a Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH) , a Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH) , a Physical Sidelink Discovery Channel (PSDCH) , a Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH) and a Sidelink Feedback Channel (PSFCH) .

The first device 110 or the second device 120 may communicate/transmit data and control information to more than one device if the SL connections are established therebetween. In SL communication, a device such as the first device 110 performing a transmission is referred to as a transmitting (Tx) device (or a transmitter or a Tx UE) and a device such as the second device 120 receiving the transmission is referred to as a receiving (Rx) device (or a receiver or a Rx UE) . It is to be understood that the first device 110 may work as a Rx device and the second device 120 may work as a Tx device in some other scenarios.

In some example embodiments, the first device 110 may comprise a Tx device initiating a channel occupancy time (COT) . Alternatively, or in addition, the first device 110 may comprise a Tx device with multi-consecutive slots transmission (MCSt) . In some example embodiments, the second device 120 may comprise a Rx device. Alternatively, or in addition, the second device 120 may comprise another Tx device other than the Tx device initiating the COT and the Tx device with MCSt.

Communications in the communication environment 100 may be implemented according to any proper communication protocol (s) , comprising, but not limited to, cellular communication protocols of the first generation (1G) , the second generation (2G) , the third generation (3G) , the fourth generation (4G) , the fifth generation (5G) , the sixth generation (6G) , and the like, wireless local network communication protocols such as Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 and the like, and/or any other protocols currently known or to be developed in the future. Moreover, the communication may utilize any proper wireless communication technology, comprising but not limited to: Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) , Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) , Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) , Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) , Time Division Duplex (TDD) , Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) , Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple (OFDM) , Discrete Fourier Transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) and/or any other technologies currently known or to be developed in the future.

In some mechanisms, for SL transmission on a shared frequency band such as unlicensed spectrum (also referred to as SL unlicensed (SL-U) ) , additional starting symbol (s) within a slot for the PSCCH/PSSCH transmission is supported. For example, two candidate starting symbols within a slot may be applied for a PSCCH/PSSCH transmission. The candidate starting symbol (s) may be intended for automatic gain control (AGC) purpose.

In some mechanisms, for slots with two candidate starting symbols for PSCCH/PSSCH transmission, a location of the first starting symbol may be fixed as symbol#0, or may be indicated by sl-StartSymbol as in R16 NR SL, and a location of the second starting symbol may be a fixed location such as symbol#4 or symbol#7, or may be (pre-) configured per resource pool. If a resource pool includes slots with two candidate starting symbols for a PSCCH/PSSCH transmission, transport block set (TBS) may be determined based on a reference symbol length. The reference symbol length may be dynamically indicated by Tx device, determined based on the first starting symbol or the second starting symbol, or (pre-) configured.

In some mechanisms, for slots with two candidate starting symbols for PSCCH/PSSCH transmission, regarding the Tx device, if a PSCCH/PSSCH transmission starts from the first starting symbol, the PSCCH/PSSCH transmission may have 1 or 2 symbol (s) for AGC purpose. If PSCCH/PSSCH transmission starts from the second starting symbol, the PSCCH/PSSCH transmission may have one symbol for AGC purpose. In some mechanisms, the Rx device may monitor two AGC symbols in such slot. Alternatively, the Rx device may monitor two AGC symbols in such slot by default, and may drop monitoring the second AGC symbol at least if it detects a PSCCH/PSSCH transmission starting from the first starting symbol. The Rx device may alternatively monitor two AGC symbols in such slot by default, and determines whether to drop monitoring the second AGC symbol up to the device implementation. In such mechanisms, it may be up to the device implementation to monitor first or second AGC symbol (s) in such slot.

Using two starring symbols within a slot brings the benefit for SL-U device with more channel access opportunities. However, for listen before talk (LBT) such as LBT with load-based equipment (LBE) , a time for Tx device performing successful LBT is unpredictable due to variance of adaptive contention window size (CWS) , selected random backoff value within the CWS window, COT duration, etc. FIG. 2A illustrates a diagram of example slot structure 200. As illustrated, the Tx device may not start its transmission until the Tx starting point 201, which brings a Tx delay 202.

In some mechanisms, in NR-U, the Tx starting point may be flexibly chosen to be any symbol, since “mini-slot/sub-slot” format is supported in Uu interface. However, for PC5 with SL interface, the SL does not support “mini-slot” format, instead only 14-symbol slot format is supported. In some mechanisms, fewer than 14-symbol in a slot (except for sidelink-synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel (PBCH) block (S-SSB) ) per SL-bandwidth part (SL-BWP) may be configured by parameters such as sl-StartSymbol and sl-LengthSymbols. sl-StartSymbol may be enumerated {sym0, sym1, sym2, sym3, sym4, sym5, sym6, sym7} optional (need M) . sl-LengthSymbols may be enumerated {sym7, sym8, sym9, sym10, sym11, sym12, sym13, sym14} optional (need M) .

In some mechanisms, for assisting SL-U Tx devices’ operation in unlicensed band, a slot with two starting symbols has been agreed to be supported, considering the tradeoff between the introduced symbol overhead (i.e. AGC and GUARD symbol overhead) and performance. However, locations of the first starting symbol and the second starting symbol are still unclear. FIG. 2B illustrates another diagram of example slot structure 220. As shown in FIG. 2B, a first starting symbol 222 may be located at sym#0 and a second starting symbol 224 may be located at sym#7, with a 7-symbol separation between for each starting symbol/position. Moreover, it is assumed that the slot with two starting symbols is configured per resource pool (RP) , where SL-U devices in the RP may start to perform the transmission either at the first starting symbol or the second starting symbol, after occupying the channel with a successful LBT.

In some mechanisms, MCSt may be applied for mode 1 and mode 2 resource allocation in SL-U. FIG. 2C illustrates another diagram of example slot structure 240. As shown in FIG. 2C, with SL slot format of 14 symbols, the cyclic prefix extension (CPE) as applied in NR-U may be utilized in SL-U operation with MCSt to close the gaps between different transmissions. By supporting MCSt or SL burst transmission (SBt) , the effort for SL-U Tx device performing LBT to access the channel for transmissions may be reduced. Once a SL-U Tx device has acquired a COT, it may retain continuous slot transmission to transmit its data as much as possible.

In some mechanisms, a slot with two starting symbols or two starting AGC symbols may be applied together or jointly with MCSt. FIG. 2D illustrates a diagram of a slot structure 260 with two starting symbols applied together with MCSt 270. However, for a device initiating a COT (also referred to as a COT-initiating device or a COT-initiating UE) , applying the slot structure with two starting symbols with MCSt will bring large overhead such as AGC and GUARD symbol overhead. Such large overhead will impact the transmission efficiency in unlicensed spectrum.

According to some example embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a scheme for slot structure for SL communication. In this scheme, a first device transmits an indication indicative of a target slot structure to be applied for a MCSt within a COT. The target slot structure is a first slot structure with a single starting symbol or a second slot structure with a plurality of starting symbols such as two starting symbols. A second device receives the indication. In some example embodiments, the second device may perform MCSt based on the target slot structure. In some example embodiments, the second device may perform LBT based on the target slot structure.

This scheme may be used by SL device operating in unlicensed spectrum which intends to transmit using MCSt. In this way, the device can dynamically indicate whether the following slots of MCSt will have a single starting symbol or a plurality of starting symbols such as two starting symbols. By indicating the number of starting symbols in the slots, overhead such as the AGC and GUARD symbol overhead within a COT with MCSt will be reduced.

Example embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 3A illustrates a signaling flow 300 for slot structure indication transmission according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The signaling flow 300 involves the first device 110 and the second device 120 which perform SL communication. For the purpose of discussion, there are two devices illustrated in FIG. 3A. It is to be understood that the signaling flow 300 may involves more devices or less devices, and the number of devices illustrated in FIG. 3A is only for the purpose of illustration without suggesting any limitations.

In operation, the first device 110 transmits (315) an indication indicative of a target slot structure to be applied for a MCSt within a COT to the second device 120. The target slot structure is a first slot structure with a single starting symbol or a second slot structure with a plurality of starting symbols. The first slot structure with a single starting symbol may also be referred to as the first slot structure with a single AGC symbol. The second slot structure with a plurality of starting symbols may also be referred to as the second slot structure with a plurality of AGC symbols.

By way of example, the second slot structure may comprise two starting symbols or more than two starting symbols. In some example embodiments, the first device 110 and second device 120 may be (pre-) configured such as in radio resource control (RRC) configuration to use N starting symbols (or AGC symbols) or a dynamic number of starting symbols (or AGC symbols) . N may be an integer equal to or greater than 2. The indication may indicate a number of starting symbols up to N to be applied during remaining MCSt slots.

For the purpose of illustration, several example embodiments will be described with the second slot structure with two starting symbols as an example. It is to be understood that the example second slot structure with two starting symbols is only for the purpose of illustration, without suggesting any limitations. The slot structure with two starting symbols described hereinafter will be replaced by a slot structure with more than two starting symbols.

In some example embodiments, the indication may comprise a physical layer indication. For example, the first device 110 may transmit (315) the indication via SL control information (SCI) . In some example embodiments, the first device 110 may transmit (315) the indication from the first starting symbol in a slot. Alternatively, in some example embodiments, the first device 110 may transmit (315) the indication from a further starting symbol after the first starting symbol in the slot. For example, the further starting symbol may be the second starting symbol.

In some example embodiments, the first device 110 may be a Tx device with MCSt. The second device 120 may be a Rx device or another Tx device attempting channel access. The other Tx device may be different from the COT initiating device or the Tx device with MCSt. In such cases, the first device 110 may receive, from a device initiating a COT, information related to the initiated COT.

In some example embodiments, the received information may comprise a further indication indicative of the target slot structure. The further indication may be determined by the device initiating the COT. The first device 110 may transmit (315) the received indication to the second device 120.

Alternatively, or in addition, in some example embodiments, the received information may indicate that the COT is successfully initiated from the device initiating the COT. The first device 110 may determine (310) the target slot structure. The first device 110 transmits (315) the determined indication to the second device 120.

In some example embodiments, the first device 110 may be a Tx device initiating COT instead of the Tx device with MCSs. The second device 120 may be a Rx device or another Tx device attempting channel access. The other Tx device may be different from the COT initiating device or the Tx device with MCSt. In such cases, the first device 110 may determine (310) the target slot structure and transmit (315) the determined indication to the second device 120. The first device 110 may further cause the target slot structure to be used in the MCSt within the COT. For example, the first device 110 may cause the target slot structure to be used by the Tx device with MCSt and the Rx device. Several further example embodiments regarding the slot structure indication transmission will be described with respect to FIG. 4 to FIG. 8.

The second device 120 receives (320) the indication from the first device 110. In some example embodiments, the second device 120 may be a Rx device. For example, the Rx device may receive the indication from the Tx device initiating the COT or the Tx device with MCSt. In such cases, the second device 120 may perform (325) MCSt transmission based on the target slot structure.

Alternatively, or in addition, in some example embodiments, the second device 120 may be another Tx device in the RP. The other Tx device may be different from the COT initiating device or the Tx device with MCSt. For example, the other Tx device may require channel access. The other Tx device may receive the indication by monitoring the channel. In such cases, the second device 120 may perform (325) a LBT procedure based on the target slot structure. Details regarding the MCSt transmission and LBT procedure will be described with respect to FIG. 4 to FIG. 8.

As discussed above, the indication indicates the target slot structure such as the first or second slot structure. In some example embodiments where the indication indicating the second slot structure, the indication may further indicate whether a guard period (GP) is to be enabled or disabled before a further starting symbol of the second slot structure. The further starting symbol may be after the first starting symbol. For example, the further starting symbol may be the second starting symbol. As used herein, the term “GP” may also be referred to a guard period or a guard symbol. In some example embodiments, if a GP is enabled before the further starting symbol of the second slot structure, transmission may not be performed during the GP. If a GP is disabled before the further starting symbol of the second slot structure, transmission or other actions may be performed during the GP. In other words, the guard symbol may be used for transmission or other usage.

In example embodiments where the second slot structure having N starting symbols (N equal to or greater than 2) , the further starting symbol may be the Nth starting symbol, the (N-1) th starting symbol (if N greater than 2) or the second starting symbol. In this way, the Tx device may use the first slot structure with a single starting symbol. The Tx device may also use at least a slot structure without an additional GP for transmission within the COT with MCSt on the remaining slots where the first starting symbol is applied. The Tx device may further use the slot structure with N starting points (N equal to or greater than 2) where N starting symbols are applied.

By using the signaling flow 300, whether the following slots of MCSt will have a single starting symbol or a plurality of starting symbols such as two starting symbols may be indicated. FIG. 3B illustrates a diagram of example slot structure 350 with starting symbol according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The slot structure 350 may be indicated by the received (320) indication. In the slot structure 350, slots 351, 353 and 355 are shown. The slot structure may be applied together with MCSt 360. If the received (320) indication indicates the first slot structure with a single starting symbol, the slot structure 350 may comprise the first starting symbol at the first point 372. If the received (320) indication indicates the second slot structure with two starting symbols, the slot structure 350 may comprise the first starting symbol at the first point 372 and the second starting symbol at the second point 374. If the received (320) indication indicates that the GP is to be disabled before the second starting symbol of the second slot structure, the GUARD symbol 376 is disabled. By indicating the number of starting symbols in the slots, overhead such as the AGC and GUARD symbol overhead within a COT with MCSt will be reduced.

Several example embodiments regarding slot structure indication transmission have been described with respect to FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B. As discussed above, the first device 110 may comprise a Tx device initiating a COT or a Tx device with MCSt, and the second device 120 may comprise a Rx device or other Tx device. In some example embodiments, the communication environment may comprise the Tx device initiating COT, the Tx device with MCSt, the Rx device and the other Tx device (optional) .

FIG. 4 illustrates a signaling flow 400 for slot structure indication transmission according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The signaling flow 400 involves devices 401, 402, 403 and 404 which perform SL communication. The devices 401 and 402 may be the first device 110 in FIG. 1. The devices 403 and 404 may be the second device 120 in FIG. 1. The device 401 may be a Tx device initiating the COT (also referred to as a COT initiating device) . The device 402 may be a Tx device with MCSt (also referred to as a MCSt device) . The device 403 may be a Rx device. The device 404 may be another Tx device requiring channel access. The other Tx device is not the COT initiating device or the Tx device with MCSt.

It is to be understood that although the device 401 and device 402 may be shown as separate devices in FIG. 4, in some example embodiments, the device 401 and device 402 may be a same device. That is, the COT initiating device may be the Tx device with MCSt.

In some example embodiments, an initial slot structure with a plurality of starting symbols such as two starting symbols may be configured within a RP used by the devices 401, 402, 403 and 404. The initial slot structure may be initially assumed for transmission of the devices 401, 402 and 404. The initial slot structure may be initially assumed for reception of the device 403.

In operation, the device 401 may initiate (410) the COT by applying an initial slot structure with a plurality of starting symbols such as two starting symbols. The device 401 may apply the initial slot structure (such as with two starting symbols or two AGC symbols) to a slot when the device 401 initiates the COT. Alternatively, the device 401 may apply the initial slot structure to a slot before a COT where the MCSt is initiated.

In some example embodiments, the device 401 may determine (420) an indication indicative of the target slot structure. The device 401 may transmit (430) the indication to the device 403. The device 403 may receive (450) the indication for example via SCI. For example, the device 401 may transmit (430) the physical-layer indication via SCI or other suitable signaling.

Alternatively, in some example embodiments, the device 401 may transmit (430) the indication to the device 402 without transmitting the indication to device 403. In such cases, the device 401 may transmit an explicit indication (such as SCI) or implicit indication to the device 402. The device 402 may receive (440) the indication and transmit the indication to the device 403.

In some example embodiments, if the first slot structure is to be applied for the MCSt, the device 401 may transmit (430) the indication indicative of the first slot structure. Otherwise, if the second slot structure is to be applied for the MCSt, the device 401 may transmit (430) the indication indicative of the second slot structure in which a guard period (GP) is to be enabled or disabled before a further starting symbol of the second slot structure. The further starting symbol is after the first starting symbol of the second slot structure. For example, the further starting symbol may be the second starting symbol. In some example embodiments, whether the GP is enabled or disabled may be determined by the device 401.

In some example embodiments, the device 401 may transmit (430) the indication from the first starting symbol in a slot. Alternatively, the device 401 may transmit (430) the indication from a further starting symbol after the first starting symbol in a slot. For example, the further starting symbol may be the second starting symbol.

In some example embodiments, if the MCSt starts from the further starting symbol in the slot, the device 401 may transmit (430) the indication from the further starting symbol. Alternatively, in some example embodiments, if the MCSt starts from the further starting symbol in the slot, the device 401 may transmit (430) the indication from the first starting symbol in a next slot based on a configuration that the indication is received from the first starting symbol or only received from the first starting symbol. For example, in cases where the device 403 or 404 is configured to only receive SCI from the first starting symbol for complexity reduction and power saving, the device 401 transmitting (430) the indication from the first starting symbol in a next slot may ensure that the device 403 or device 404 may receive the indication. In this way, it may in turn benefit for the complexity reduction and power saving.

In some example embodiments, the device 401 is configured to transmit (430) the indication from the first starting symbol or from only the first starting symbol. In such cases, if the MCSt starts from the further starting symbol, the device 401 may transmit (430) the indication from the starting symbol in a next slot.

In some example embodiments, the device 402 and device 403 may perform (470) MCSt based on the target slot structure indicated by the indication. In some example embodiments, if the indication indicates that the first slot structure is to be applied for the MCSt, the device 402 and device 403 may perform (470) the MCSt based on the first slot structure. Otherwise, if the indication indicates that the second slot structure is to be applied for the MCSt, the device 402 and device 403 may perform (470) the MCSt based on the second slot structure.

The device 404 may obtain the indication by perform (460) monitoring. For example, the device 404 may detect or observe a COT with MCSt via SCI to receive the indication. That is, if a COT with MCSt is detected or observed via SCI from device 401 or device 402, the device 404 may receive the indication on whether remaining slots with the COT should have a single starting symbol or a plurality starting symbols.

The device 404 may perform (480) a LBT procedure based on the target slot structure indicated by the indication. If the indication indicates the first slot structure, the device 404 may perform (480) the LBT procedure in the same sub-band based on the first slot structure. For example, the device 404 may attempt accessing the channel prior to the first starting symbol on the remaining slots. If the indication indicates the second slot structure, the device 404 may perform (480) the LBT procedure based on the second slot structure. For example, the device 404 may attempt accessing the channel prior to the first or second starting symbol on the remaining slots.

In some example embodiments, the device 404 may determine a gap configuration based on the target slot structure. The gap configuration indicates whether a guard period (GP) is enabled or disabled before a starting symbol of the target slot structure. The device 404 may determine a type of the LBT procedure based on the gap configuration and a sharing condition of the COT. For example, if the device 404 is not a responder UE, the device 404 may perform (480) a LBT type 1. If the device 404 is a responder UE and GP is enabled prior to corresponding starting symbol, the device 404 may perform (480) a LBT type 2A/2B. If the device 404 is responder UE and if GP is disabled leaving no gap between transmission of the device 401 and starting symbol of the device 404, the device 404 may perform (480) a LBT type 2C.

By performing the LBT procedure based on the target slot structure, other device’s unnecessary attempts to perform LBT can be reduced. In this way, it is beneficial for device power saving.

As discussed above, in some example embodiments, a Tx device initiating the COT may determine the target slot structure and transmit the indication to other devices. FIG. 5A illustrates a flowchart of example process 500 for slot structure indication determination and transmission according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The process 500 may be implemented at the device 401. For the purpose of discussion, the process 500 will be described from the perspective of the device 401.

At block 510, the device 401 may initiate a COT by applying an initial slot structure with two starting symbols. At block 520, the device 401 may determine whether a first slot structure with a single starting symbol or a second slot structure with two starting symbols is to be applied for MCSt within the COT.

If the device 401 determines that the first slot structure is to be applied at block 510, the device 401 transmits an indication indicative of the first slot structure at block 515. At block 525, the device 401 may cause the first slot structure to be used in the MCSt transmission within the COT. For example, the device 401 may use the first slot structure for transmission for MCSt within the initiated COT.

If the device 401 determines that the second slot structure is to be applied at block 510, the device 401 may determine whether GP is enabled or disabled before the second starting symbol of the second slot structure at block 530. If the device 401 determines that the GP is enabled at block 530, at block 535, the device 401 may transmit an indication indicative of the second slot structure in which the GP is to be enabled before the second starting symbol of the second slot structure. If the device 401 determines that the GP is disabled at block 530, at block 545, the device 401 may transmit an indication indicative of the second slot structure in which the GP is to be disabled before the second starting symbol of the second slot structure. At block 540, the device 401 may cause the second slot structure to be used in the MCSt transmission within the COT. For example, the device 401 may use the second slot structure for transmission for MCSt within the initiated COT.

By using the process 500, the COT initiating device may determine the slot structure and indicate the slot structure to other devices such as MCSt devices. The MCSt devices may perform MCSt based on the indicated slot structure.

As discussed above, in some example embodiments, a Tx device initiating the COT may determine the target slot structure and transmit the indication to a Tx device with MCSt. FIG. 5B illustrates another flowchart of example process 550 for slot structure indication determination and transmission according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The process 550 may be implemented at the device 401. For the purpose of discussion, the process 550 will be described from the perspective of the device 401.

The block 510 and block 515 of process 550 are same with the process 500, which will not be repeated here. Different with the process 500, in the process 550, if the device 401 determines that the first slot structure is to be applied at block 510, the device 401 transmits an indication indicative of the first slot structure to a Tx device with MCSt such as the device 402 at block 560. If the device 401 determines that the second slot structure is to be applied at block 510, the device 401 transmits an indication indicative of the second slot structure to a Tx device with MCSt such as the device 402 at block 565.

By using the process 550, the COT initiating device may determine the slot structure and indicate the slot structure to Tx device with MCSt. The MCSt device may further transmit the received indication to Rx device for MCSt transmission. In addition, in some example embodiments where the indication indicating the second slot structure, the indication may further indicate whether a GP is to be enabled or disabled before a further starting symbol of the second slot structure. The further starting symbol may be after the first starting symbol. The MCSt device may be informed of whether the further starting symbol is to be disabled based on the received indication. The Rx device may receive the indication from the MCSt device and be informed of whether the further starting symbol is to be disabled.

FIG. 6 illustrates another signaling flow 600 for slot structure indication transmission according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The signaling flow 600 involves the devices 401, 402, 403 and 404 as shown in FIG. 4.

In operation, the device 401 may initiate (610) the COT by applying an initial slot structure with a plurality of starting symbols such as two starting symbols. In some example embodiments, the initial slot structure with two starting symbols may be configured within a RP. That is, the initial slot structure with two starting symbols is initially assumed for transmission. The device 401 may apply the initial slot structure (such as with two starting symbols or two AGC symbols) to a slot when the device 401 initiates the COT. Alternatively, the device 401 may apply the initial slot structure to a slot before a COT where the MCSt is initiated.

In some example embodiments, the device 401 may determine a target slot structure. The target slot structure is a first slot structure with a single starting symbol (or a single AGC symbol) or a second slot structure with a plurality of starting symbols (or a plurality of AGC symbols) . In such cases, the device 401 may transmit (620) information to the device 402. The information comprises the determined indication. For example, the indication may be explicit or implicit. The device 402 may receive (625) the indication. The device 402 transmits (635) the received indication to the device 403.

Alternatively, or in addition, in some example embodiments, the device 401 may not determine the target slot structure. Instead, the device 401 may transmit (620) information indicating that the COT is successfully initiated from the device 401 to the device 402. The device 402 may determine (630) whether the first slot structure or the second slot structure is to be applied for the MCSt within the COT initiated by the device 401. The device 402 may transmit (635) the determined (630) indication to the device 403.

In some example embodiments, if the first slot structure is to be applied for the MCSt, the device 402 may transmit (635) the indication indicative of the first slot structure. Otherwise, if the second slot structure is to be applied for the MCSt, the device 402 may transmit (635) the indication indicative of the second slot structure in which a guard period (GP) is to be enabled or disabled before a further starting symbol of the second slot structure. The further starting symbol is after the first starting symbol of the second slot structure. For example, the further starting symbol may be the second starting symbol. In some example embodiments, whether the GP is enabled or disabled may be determined by the device 401. Alternatively, in some example embodiments, whether the GP is enabled or disabled may be determined by the device 402.

In some example embodiments, the device 402 may transmit (635) the indication from the first starting symbol in a slot. Alternatively, the device 402 may transmit (635) the indication from a further starting symbol after the first starting symbol in a slot. For example, the further starting symbol may be the second starting symbol.

In some example embodiments, if the MCSt starts from the further starting symbol in the slot, the device 402 may transmit (635) the indication from the further starting symbol. Alternatively, in some example embodiments, if the MCSt starts from the further starting symbol in the slot, the device 402 may transmit (635) the indication from the first starting symbol in a next slot based on a configuration that the indication is only received from the first starting symbol. For example, in cases where the device 403 or 404 is configured to only receive SCI from the first starting symbol for complexity reduction and power saving, the device 402 transmitting (635) the indication from the first starting symbol in a next slot may ensure that the device 403 or device 404 may receive the indication. In this way, it may in turn benefit for the complexity reduction and power saving.

In some example embodiments, the device 402 is configured to transmit (635) the indication from the first starting symbol. In such cases, if the MCSt starts from the further starting symbol, the device 402 may transmit (635) the indication from the starting symbol in a next slot.

The device 403 receives (640) the indication from the device 402. For example, the device 403 may receive (640) the indication via SCI. The device 402 and device 404 may perform (650) the MCSt transmission based on the target slot structure indicated by the indication. In some example embodiments, if the indication indicates that the first slot structure is to be applied for the MCSt, the device 402 and device 403 may perform (650) the MCSt based on the first slot structure. Otherwise, if the indication indicates that the second slot structure is to be applied for the MCSt, the device 402 and device 403 may perform (650) the MCSt based on the second slot structure.

The device 404 may obtain or receive the indication by performing (645) monitoring. For example, the device 404 may detect or observe a COT with MCSt via SCI to receive the indication. That is, if a COT with MCSt is detected or observed via SCI from device 401 or device 402, the device 404 may receive the indication on whether remaining slots with the COT should have a single starting symbol or a plurality starting symbols.

The device 404 may perform (655) a LBT procedure based on the target slot structure indicated by the indication. If the indication indicates the first slot structure, the device 404 may perform (655) the LBT procedure in the same sub-band based on the first slot structure. For example, the device 404 may attempt accessing the channel prior to the first starting symbol on the remaining slots. If the indication indicates the second slot structure, the device 404 may perform (655) the LBT procedure based on the second slot structure. For example, the device 404 may attempt accessing the channel prior to the first or second starting symbol on the remaining slots.

In some example embodiments, the device 404 may determine a gap configuration based on the target slot structure. The gap configuration indicates whether a guard period (GP) is enabled or disabled before a starting symbol of the target slot structure. The device 404 may determine a type of the LBT procedure based on the gap configuration and a sharing condition of the COT. For example, if the device 404 is not a responder UE, the device 404 may perform (655) a LBT type 1. If the device 404 is a responder UE and GP is enabled prior to corresponding starting symbol, the device 404 may perform (480) a LBT type 2A/2B. If the device 404 is responder UE and if GP is disabled leaving no gap between transmission of the device 401 and starting symbol of the device 404, the device 404 may perform (655) a LBT type 2C.

As discussed above, in some example embodiments, a Tx device with MCSt may determine the target slot structure and transmit the indication to other devices. FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart of an example process 700 of slot structure indication determination and transmission by the Tx device with MCSt according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The process 700 may be implemented at the device 402. For the purpose of discussion, the process 700 will be described from the perspective of the device 402.

At block 710, the device 402 may receive, from a COT initiating device such as the device 401, information related to a COT initiated by the device 401. At block 715, the device 402 may determine whether a first slot structure with a single starting symbol or a second slot structure with two starting symbols is to be applied for MCSt within the COT. For example, in response to the received information, the device 402 may determine whether the first or second slot structure is to be applied.

If the device 402 determines that the first slot structure is to be applied at block 715, the device 402 transmits an indication indicative of the first slot structure at block 720. At block 725, the device 402 may perform the MCSt based on the first slot structure within the COT.

If the device 402 determines that the second slot structure is to be applied at block 715, the device 402 may determine whether GP is enabled or disabled before the second starting symbol of the second slot structure at block 730. If the device 402 determines that the GP is enabled at block 730, at block 735, the device 402 may transmit an indication indicative of the second slot structure in which the GP is to be enabled before the second starting symbol of the second slot structure. If the device 402 determines that the GP is disabled at block 730, at block 745, the device 402 may transmit an indication indicative of the second slot structure in which the GP is to be disabled before the second starting symbol of the second slot structure. At block 740, the device 402 may perform the MCSt transmission based on the second slot structure within the COT.

By using the process 700, the Tx device with MCSt may determine the slot structure and indicate the slot structure to other devices such as Rx devices. The MCSt devices and Rx device may perform MCSt based on the indicated slot structure. The overhead can be reduced by using the indicated slot structure.

FIG. 8 illustrates a flowchart of an example process 800 for MCSt transmission based on slot structure indication according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the process 800 will be described from the perspective of the device 403.

In some example embodiments, an initial slot structure with two starting symbols may be configured within a RP used by the device 403. The initial slot structure may be initially assumed for reception of the device 403.

At block 810, the device 403 may receive an indication indicative of a first slot structure with a single starting symbol or a second slot structure with two starting symbols is to be applied for MCSt within a COT. For example, the device 403 may receive the indication from a COT initiating device such as the device 401. Alternatively, the device 403 may receive the indication from a Tx device with MCSt such as the device 402. At block 820, the device 403 may determine whether the indication indicates the first slot structure or the second slot structure.

If the device 403 determines that the indication indicates the first slot structure at block 820, the device 403 perform the MCSt using the first slot structure at block 830. For example, the device 403 may perform corresponding reception based on the first slot structure with the first starting symbol for MCSt reception within the COT.

If the device 403 determines that the indication indicates the second slot structure at block 820, the device 403 may determine whether the indication indicates a GP is enabled or disabled before the second starting symbol of the second slot structure at block 840. If the device 403 determines that the indication indicates the GP is enabled at block 840, at block 850, the device 403 may perform the MCSt using the second slot structure in which the GP is to be enabled before the second starting symbol of the second slot structure. For example, the device 403 performs corresponding reception based on the second slot structure with two starting symbols with the GP before the second starting symbol for MCSt reception within the COT.

If the device 403 determines that the GP is disabled at block 840, at block 860, the device 403 may perform the MCSt using the second slot structure in which the GP is to be disabled before the second starting symbol of the second slot structure. For example, the device 403 performs corresponding reception based on the second slot structure with two starting symbols without the GP before the second starting symbol for MCSt reception within the COT.

By using the process 800, the Rx device may be indicated of the slot structure determined by the COT initiating device or the Tx device with MCSt. In this way, the Rx devices may perform MCSt based on the indicated slot structure. The overhead can be reduced by using the indicated slot structure.

FIG. 9 illustrates a flowchart of a method 900 implemented at a first device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the method 900 will be described from the perspective of the first device 110 in FIG. 1.

At block 910, the first device 110 transmits an indication indicative of a target slot structure to be applied for a multiple consecutive slots transmission within a channel occupancy time. The target slot structure is a first slot structure with a single starting symbol or a second slot structure with a plurality of starting symbols. For example, the target slot structure may be the second slot structure with two starting symbols.

In some example embodiments, if the first device 110 determines that the first slot structure is to be applied for the multiple consecutive slots transmission, the first device 110 may transmit the indication indicative of the first slot structure at block 910. Alternatively, or in addition, in some example embodiments, if the first device 110 determines that the second slot structure is to be applied for the multiple consecutive slots transmission, the first device 110 may transmit the indication indicative of the second slot structure at block 910. In the second slot structure, a guard period is to be enabled or disabled before a further starting symbol of the second slot structure. The further starting symbol is after the first starting symbol of the second slot structure. For example, for the second slot structure with two starting symbols, the further starting symbol is the second starting symbol.

In some example embodiments, at block 910, the first device 110 may transmit the indication via sidelink control information.

In some example embodiments, at block 910, the first device 110 may transmit the indication from at least one of the first starting symbol or a further starting symbol after the first starting symbol in a slot.

In some example embodiments, if the first device 110 determines that the multiple consecutive slots transmission starts from the further starting symbol in the slot, the first device 110 may transmit the indication from the further starting symbol at block 910. Alternatively, in some example embodiments, if the first device 110 determines that the multiple consecutive slots transmission starts from the further starting symbol in the slot, at block 910, the first device 110 may transmit the indication from the first starting symbol in a next slot based on a configuration that the indication is only received from the first starting symbol.

In some example embodiments, the first device 110 is configured to transmit the indication from the first starting symbol. If the first device 110 determines that the multiple consecutive slots transmission starts from the further starting symbol in a slot, the first device 110 may transmit the indication from the first starting symbol in a next slot at block 910.

In some example embodiments, the first device 110 may further determine the target slot structure to be applied for the multiple consecutive slots transmission.

In some example embodiments, the first device 110 may further cause the target slot structure to be used in the multiple consecutive slots transmission within the channel occupancy time.

In some example embodiments, the first device 110 may further initiate the channel occupancy time by applying an initial slot structure with a plurality of starting symbols.

In some example embodiments, the initial slot structure is applied by the first device 110 to a slot when the first device 110 initiates the channel occupancy time. Alternatively, in some example embodiments, the initial slot structure is applied by the first device 110 to a slot before a channel occupancy time where the multiple consecutive slots transmission is initiated.

In some example embodiments, the first device 110 may further receive, from a device initiating the channel occupancy time, information related to the initiated channel occupancy time.

In some example embodiments, the first device 110 may further receive a further indication indicative of the target slot structure. In such embodiments, the first device 110 may transmit the received indication at block 910.

In some example embodiments, the first device 110 may further receive information that the channel occupancy time is successfully initiated from the device initiating the channel occupancy time. In such embodiments, the first device 110 may determine whether the first slot structure or the second slot structure is to be applied for the multiple consecutive slots transmission within the channel occupancy time. The first device 110 may transmit the indication indicative of the target slot structure.

In some example embodiments, the first device 110 may further perform the multiple consecutive slots transmission within the channel occupancy time using the target slot structure.

In some example embodiments, the first device 110 may transmit the indication to a second device performing the multiple consecutive slots transmission.

FIG. 10 illustrates a flowchart of a method 1000 implemented at a second device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the method 1000 will be described from the perspective of the second device 120 in FIG. 1.

At block 1010, the second device 120 receive an indication indicative of a target slot structure to be applied for a multiple consecutive slots transmission within a channel occupancy time. The target slot structure is a first slot structure with a single starting symbol or a second slot structure with a plurality of starting symbols.

In some example embodiments, the second device 120 may further perform the multiple consecutive slots transmission based on the target slot structure.

In some example embodiments, if the second device 120 determines that the indication indicates the first slot structure, the second device 120 may further perform the multiple consecutive slots transmission using the first slot structure. Alternatively, or in addition, in some example embodiments, if the second device 120 determines that the indication indicates the second slot structure, the second device 120 may further perform the multiple consecutive slots transmission using the second slot structure based on a determination whether a guard period is enabled or disabled before a further starting symbol after the first starting symbol of the second slot structure.

In some example embodiments, the second device 120 may further perform a listen before talk procedure based on the target slot structure.

In some example embodiments, if the second device 120 determines that the indication indicates the first slot structure, the second device 120 may perform the listen before talk based on the first slot structure. Alternatively, or in addition, in some example embodiments, if the second device 120 determines that the indication indicates the second slot structure, the second device 120 may perform the listen before talk based on the second slot structure.

In some example embodiments, the second device 120 may determine a gap configuration based on the target slot structure. The gap configuration indicates whether a guard period is enabled or disabled before a starting symbol of the target slot structure. The second device 120 may determine a type of the listen before talk procedure based on the gap configuration and a sharing condition of the channel occupancy time.

In some example embodiments, at block 1010, the second device 120 may receive the indication via sidelink control information.

In some example embodiments, at block 1010, the second device 120 may receive the indication from at least one of the first starting symbol or a further starting symbol after the first starting symbol in a slot.

In some example embodiments, at block 1010, the second device 120 may receive the indication from a first device initiating the channel occupancy time or a first device performing the multiple consecutive slots transmission.

In some example embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing any of the method 900 (for example, the first device 110 in FIG. 1) may comprise means for performing the respective operations of the method 900. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module. The apparatus may be implemented as or included in the first device 110 in FIG. 1.

The apparatus comprises means for transmitting an indication indicative of a target slot structure to be applied for a multiple consecutive slots transmission within a channel occupancy time. The target slot structure is a first slot structure with a single starting symbol or a second slot structure with a plurality of starting symbols. For example, the target slot structure may be the second slot structure with two starting symbols.

In some example embodiments, the means for transmitting may comprise means for in accordance with a determination that the first slot structure is to be applied for the multiple consecutive slots transmission, transmitting the indication indicative of the first slot structure. Alternatively, or in addition, in some example embodiments, the means for transmitting may comprise means for in accordance with a determination that the second slot structure is to be applied for the multiple consecutive slots transmission, transmitting the indication indicative of the second slot structure in which a guard period is to be enabled or disabled before a further starting symbol of the second slot structure, the further starting symbol being after the first starting symbol of the second slot structure.

In some example embodiments, the means for transmitting may comprise means for transmitting the indication via sidelink control information.

In some example embodiments, the means for transmitting may comprise means for transmitting the indication from at least one of the first starting symbol or a further starting symbol after the first starting symbol in a slot.

In some example embodiments, the means for transmitting may comprise means for in accordance with the determination that the multiple consecutive slots transmission starts from the further starting symbol in the slot, transmitting the indication from the further starting symbol. Alternatively, in some example embodiments, the means for transmitting may comprise means for in accordance with the determination that the multiple consecutive slots transmission starts from the further starting symbol in the slot, transmitting the indication from the first starting symbol in a next slot based on a configuration that the indication is only received from the first starting symbol.

In some example embodiments, the means for transmitting may comprise means for transmitting the indication from the first starting symbol, and means for in accordance with the determination that the multiple consecutive slots transmission starts from the further starting symbol in a slot, transmitting the indication from the first starting symbol in a next slot.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise means for determining the target slot structure to be applied for the multiple consecutive slots transmission.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise means for causing the target slot structure to be used in the multiple consecutive slots transmission within the channel occupancy time.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise means for initiating the channel occupancy time by applying an initial slot structure with a plurality of starting symbols.

In some example embodiments, the initial slot structure is applied by the apparatus to a slot when the apparatus initiates the channel occupancy time or before a channel occupancy time where the multiple consecutive slots transmission is initiated.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise means for receiving, from a device initiating the channel occupancy time, information related to the initiated channel occupancy time.

In some example embodiments, the means for receiving may comprise means for receiving a further indication indicative of the target slot structure, and the means for transmitting may comprise means for transmitting the received further indication.

In some example embodiments, the means for receiving may comprise means for receiving information that the channel occupancy time is successfully initiated from the device initiating the channel occupancy time.

In some example embodiments, the means for transmitting may comprise means for determining whether the first slot structure or the second slot structure is to be applied for the multiple consecutive slots transmission within the channel occupancy time; and means for transmitting the indication indicative of the target slot structure.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise means for performing the multiple consecutive slots transmission within the channel occupancy time using the target slot structure.

In some example embodiments, the means for transmitting may comprise means for transmitting the indication to a second device performing the multiple consecutive slots transmission or a second device performing a listen before talk procedure based on the target slot structure.

In some example embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing any of the method 1000 (for example, the second device 120 in FIG. 1) may comprise means for performing the respective operations of the method 1000. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module. The second apparatus may be implemented as or included in the second device 120 in FIG. 1.

The apparatus comprises means for receiving an indication indicative of a target slot structure to be applied for a multiple consecutive slots transmission within a channel occupancy time, the target slot structure being a first slot structure with a single starting symbol or a second slot structure with a plurality of starting symbols.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise means for performing the multiple consecutive slots transmission based on the target slot structure.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise means for in accordance with a determination that the indication indicates the first slot structure, performing the multiple consecutive slots transmission using the first slot structure. Alternatively, or in addition, in some example embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise means for in accordance with a determination that the indication indicates the second slot structure, performing the multiple consecutive slots transmission using the second slot structure based on a determination whether a guard period is enabled or disabled before a further starting symbol after the first starting symbol of the second slot structure.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise means for performing a listen before talk procedure based on the target slot structure.

In some example embodiments, the means for performing the listen before talk may comprise means for in accordance with a determination that the indication indicates the first slot structure, performing the listen before talk based on the first slot structure. Alternatively, or in addition, in some example embodiments, the means for performing the listen before talk may comprise means for in accordance with a determination that the indication indicates the second slot structure, performing the listen before talk based on the second slot structure.

In some example embodiments, the means for performing the listen before talk may comprise means for determining a gap configuration based on the target slot structure, the gap configuration indicating whether a guard period is enabled or disabled before a starting symbol of the target slot structure; and means for determining a type of the listen before talk procedure based on the gap configuration and a sharing condition of the channel occupancy time.

In some example embodiments, the means for receiving may comprise means for receiving the indication via sidelink control information.

In some example embodiments, the means for receiving may comprise means for receiving the indication from at least one of the first starting symbol or a further starting symbol after the first starting symbol in a slot.

In some example embodiments, the means for receiving may comprise means for receiving the indication from a first device initiating the channel occupancy time or a first device performing the multiple consecutive slots transmission.

In some example embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises means for performing other operations in some example embodiments of the method 1000 or the second device 120. In some example embodiments, the means comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the performance of the second apparatus.

FIG. 11 is a simplified block diagram of a device 1100 that is suitable for implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 1100 may be provided to implement a communication device, for example, the first device 110 or second device 120 as shown in FIG. 1. As shown, the device 1100 includes one or more processors 1110, one or more memories 1120 coupled to the processor 1110, and one or more communication modules 1140 coupled to the processor 1110.

The communication module 1140 is for bidirectional communications. The communication module 1140 has one or more communication interfaces to facilitate communication with one or more other modules or devices. The communication interfaces may represent any interface that is necessary for communication with other network elements. In some example embodiments, the communication module 1140 may include at least one antenna.

The processor 1110 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 1100 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 1120 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) 1124, an electrically programmable read only memory (EPROM) , a flash memory, a hard disk, a compact disc (CD) , a digital video disk (DVD) , an optical disk, a laser disk, and other magnetic storage and/or optical storage. Examples of the volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a random access memory (RAM) 1122 and other volatile memories that will not last in the power-down duration.

A computer program 1130 includes computer executable instructions that are executed by the associated processor 1110. The instructions of the program 1130 may include instructions for performing operations/acts of some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The program 1130 may be stored in the memory, e.g., the ROM 1124. The processor 1110 may perform any suitable actions and processing by loading the program 1130 into the RAM 1122.

The example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by means of the program 1130 so that the device 1100 may perform any process of the disclosure as discussed with reference to FIG. 3A to FIG. 10. The example 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 1130 may be tangibly contained in a computer readable medium which may be included in the device 1100 (such as in the memory 1120) or other storage devices that are accessible by the device 1100. The device 1100 may load the program 1130 from the computer readable medium to the RAM 1122 for execution. In some example embodiments, the computer readable medium may include any types of non-transitory storage medium, such as ROM, EPROM, a flash memory, a hard disk, CD, DVD, and the like. The term “non-transitory, ” as used herein, is a limitation of the medium itself (i.e., tangible, not a signal) as opposed to a limitation on data storage persistency (e.g., RAM vs. ROM) .

FIG. 12 shows an example of the computer readable medium 1200 which may be in form of CD, DVD or other optical storage disk. The computer readable medium 1200 has the program 1130 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.

Some example embodiments of the present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a computer readable medium, such as a non-transitory computer readable medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as those included in program modules, being executed in a device on a target physical or virtual processor, to carry out any of the methods as described above. 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. The program code 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 code, 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 code 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. Unless explicitly stated, certain features that are described in the context of separate embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, unless explicitly stated, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in a plurality of 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 storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first device at least to perform:

transmitting an indication indicative of a target slot structure to be applied for a multiple consecutive slots transmission within a channel occupancy time, the target slot structure being a first slot structure with a single starting symbol or a second slot structure with a plurality of starting symbols.
The first device of claim 1, wherein transmitting the indication comprises:

in accordance with a determination that the first slot structure is to be applied for the multiple consecutive slots transmission, transmitting the indication indicative of the first slot structure; or

in accordance with a determination that the second slot structure is to be applied for the multiple consecutive slots transmission, transmitting the indication indicative of the second slot structure in which a guard period is to be enabled or disabled before a further starting symbol of the second slot structure, the further starting symbol being after the first starting symbol of the second slot structure.
The first device of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein transmitting the indication comprises:

transmitting the indication via sidelink control information.
The first device of any of claims 1 to 3, wherein transmitting the indication comprises:

transmitting the indication from at least one of the first starting symbol or a further starting symbol after the first starting symbol in a slot.
The first device of any of claims 1 to 4, wherein transmitting the indication comprises:

in accordance with the determination that the multiple consecutive slots transmission starts from the further starting symbol in the slot,

transmitting the indication from the further starting symbol, or

transmitting the indication from the first starting symbol in a next slot based on a configuration that the indication is only received from the first starting symbol, and

wherein the first device is configured to transmit the indication from the first starting symbol, and transmitting the indication comprises:

in accordance with the determination that the multiple consecutive slots transmission starts from the further starting symbol in a slot, transmitting the indication from the first starting symbol in a next slot.
The first device of any of claims 1 to 5, wherein the first device is further caused to perform:

determining the target slot structure to be applied for the multiple consecutive slots transmission.
The first device of any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the first device is further caused to perform:

causing the target slot structure to be used in the multiple consecutive slots transmission within the channel occupancy time.
The first device of any of claims 1-7, wherein the first device is further caused to perform:

initiating the channel occupancy time by applying an initial slot structure with a plurality of starting symbols.
The first device of claim 8, wherein the initial slot structure is applied by the first device to a slot when the first device initiates the channel occupancy time or before a channel occupancy time where the multiple consecutive slots transmission is initiated.
The first device of any of claims 1-5, wherein the first device is further caused to perform:

receiving, from a device initiating the channel occupancy time, information related to the initiated channel occupancy time.
The first device of claim 10, wherein receiving the information related to the initiated channel occupancy time comprises:

receiving a further indication indicative of the target slot structure, and

wherein transmitting the indication comprises: transmitting the received further indication.
The first device of claim 10, wherein receiving the information related to the channel occupancy time comprises: receiving information that the channel occupancy time is successfully initiated from the device initiating the channel occupancy time, and

wherein transmitting the indication comprises:

determining whether the first slot structure or the second slot structure is to be applied for the multiple consecutive slots transmission within the channel occupancy time; and

transmitting the indication indicative of the target slot structure.
The first device of any of claims 10 to 12, wherein the first device is further caused to perform:

performing the multiple consecutive slots transmission within the channel occupancy time using the target slot structure.
The first device of any of claims 10 to 13, wherein transmitting the indication comprises:

transmitting the indication to a second device performing the multiple consecutive slots transmission.
A second device comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second device at least to perform:

receiving an indication indicative of a target slot structure to be applied for a multiple consecutive slots transmission within a channel occupancy time, the target slot structure being a first slot structure with a single starting symbol or a second slot structure with a plurality of starting symbols.
The second device of claim 15, wherein the second device is further caused to perform:

performing the multiple consecutive slots transmission based on the target slot structure.
The second device of claim 15 or claim 16, wherein the second device is further caused to perform:

in accordance with a determination that the indication indicates the first slot structure, performing the multiple consecutive slots transmission using the first slot structure; or

in accordance with a determination that the indication indicates the second slot structure, performing the multiple consecutive slots transmission using the second slot structure based on a determination whether a guard period is enabled or disabled before a further starting symbol after the first starting symbol of the second slot structure.
The second device of claim 15, wherein the second device is further caused to perform:

performing a listen before talk procedure based on the target slot structure.
The second device of claim 18, wherein performing the listen before talk procedure comprises:

in accordance with a determination that the indication indicates the first slot structure, performing the listen before talk based on the first slot structure; or

in accordance with a determination that the indication indicates the second slot structure, performing the listen before talk based on the second slot structure.
The second device of claim 18 or claim 19, wherein performing the listen before talk procedure comprises:

determining a gap configuration based on the target slot structure, the gap configuration indicating whether a guard period is enabled or disabled before a starting symbol of the target slot structure; and

determining a type of the listen before talk procedure based on the gap configuration and a sharing condition of the channel occupancy time.
The second device of any of claims 15 to 20, wherein receiving the indication comprises:

receiving the indication via sidelink control information.
The second device of any of claims 15 to 21, wherein receiving the indication comprises:

receiving the indication from at least one of the first starting symbol or a further starting symbol after the first starting symbol in a slot.
The second device of any of claims 15 to 22, wherein receiving the indication comprises:

receiving the indication from a first device initiating the channel occupancy time or a first device performing the multiple consecutive slots transmission.
A method comprising:

transmitting, at a first device, an indication indicative of a target slot structure to be applied for a multiple consecutive slots transmission within a channel occupancy time, the target slot structure being a first slot structure with a single starting symbol or a second slot structure with a plurality of starting symbols.
A method comprising:

receiving, at a second device, an indication indicative of a target slot structure to be applied for a multiple consecutive slots transmission within a channel occupancy time, the target slot structure being a first slot structure with a single starting symbol or a second slot structure with a plurality of starting symbols.
An apparatus comprising:

means for transmitting an indication indicative of a target slot structure to be applied for a multiple consecutive slots transmission within a channel occupancy time, the target slot structure being a first slot structure with a single starting symbol or a second slot structure with a plurality of starting symbols.
An apparatus comprising:

means for receiving an indication indicative of a target slot structure to be applied for a multiple consecutive slots transmission within a channel occupancy time, the target slot structure being a first slot structure with a single starting symbol or a second slot structure with a plurality of starting symbols.
A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method of claim 24 or the method of claim 25.