WO2024207338A1

WO2024207338A1 - Enhanced determination of resource conflicts at a receiving device for beamformed sidelink communication

Info

Publication number: WO2024207338A1
Application number: PCT/CN2023/086676
Authority: WO
Inventors: Daniel Medina; Torsten WILDSCHEK; Thomas Haaning Jacobsen; Renato Barbosa ABREU; Nuno Manuel KIILERICH PRATAS; Yong 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: 2023-04-06
Filing date: 2023-04-06
Publication date: 2024-10-10
Anticipated expiration: 2025-10-06
Also published as: CN121040200A

Abstract

Example embodiments of the present disclosure relate to enhanced determination of resource conflicts at a receiving device for beamformed sidelink communication. A first device determines a first resource reserved for a first transmission from a second device to the first device and a first beam of the first device for communication with the second device; determines a second resource associated with a second transmission from a third device to the first device and a second beam of the first device for communication with the third device; and determines a resource conflict between the second resource and the first resource based on at least one of: whether the first beam differs from the second beam, a first measurement associated with the first beam and the third device, and a second measurement associated with the second beam and the second device.

Description

ENHANCED DETERMINATION OF RESOURCE CONFLICTS AT A RECEIVING DEVICE FOR BEAMFORMED SIDELINK COMMUNICATION

FIELDS

Various example embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of telecommunication and in particular, to methods, devices, apparatuses and computer readable storage media for enhanced determination of resource conflicts at a receiving device for beamformed sidelink (SL) communication.

BACKGROUND

Wireless communication networks are widely deployed and can support various types of service applications for terminal devices. Many communication schemes have been proposed to support the rapidly increasing data traffic. For example, an SL communication scheme has been proposed, where SL channels may be established between terminal devices in the wireless communication network and the terminal devices may exchange signaling and data with each other directly via the established SL channels.

When performing SL communication, the devices transmit SL control information associated with SL data on a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) , and transmit the SL data on a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) based on the SL control information. In some scenarios, one device may need to communicate with more than one other device. However, the other devices may be located within different areas with different communication directions, which causes that the communication resources/beams may conflict with each other. If so, the communication performance of the devices may be degraded. Thus, how to detect and handle such resource conflicts is desirable to be addressed.

SUMMARY

In a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a first device. The first device includes 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: determine a first resource reserved for a first transmission from a second device to the first device and a first beam of the first device for communication with the second device; determine a second resource associated with a second transmission from a third device to the first device and a second beam of the first device for communication with the third device; determine a resource conflict between the second resource and the first resource based on at least one of: whether the first beam differs from the second beam, a first measurement associated with the first beam and the third device, and a second measurement associated with the second beam and the second device.

In a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method. The method includes: at a first device, determining a first resource reserved for a first transmission from a second device to the first device and a first beam of the first device for communication with the second device; determining a second resource associated with a second transmission from a third device to the first device and a second beam of the first device for communication with the third device; determining a resource conflict between the second resource and the first resource based on at least one of: whether the first beam differs from the second beam, a first measurement associated with the first beam and the third device, and a second measurement associated with the second beam and the second device.

In a third aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a first apparatus. The first apparatus includes means for determining a first resource reserved for a first transmission from a second device to the first device and a first beam of the first device for communication with the second device; means for determining a second resource associated with a second transmission from a third device to the first device and a second beam of the first device for communication with the third device; means for determining a resource conflict between the second resource and the first resource based on at least one of: whether the first beam differs from the second beam, a first measurement associated with the first beam and the third device, and a second measurement associated with the second beam and the second device.

In a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium includes instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method according to the second aspect.

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

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

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

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

FIG. 2A illustrates an example communication scenario;

FIG. 2B illustrates of a block of an example of conflict between two resources (r1, r2) as a result of directional PSFCH transmission;

FIG. 2C illustrates an example of SL slot configuration including PSFCH resources for HARQ feedback;

FIG. 2D illustrates another example communication scenario;

FIG. 3 illustrates a signaling chart illustrating a process for communication according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 illustrates a signaling chart illustrating a process for communication according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 illustrates a signaling chart illustrating a process for communication according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a first device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a device that is suitable for implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 8 illustrates a block diagram of an example computer readable medium in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure.

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

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

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

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

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

It shall be understood that although the terms “first, ” “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) 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 term “network device” refers to a node in a communication network via which a terminal device accesses the network and receives services therefrom. The network device may refer to a base station (BS) or an access point (AP) , for example, a node B (NodeB or NB) , an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB) , 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) at an IAB donor node. An IAB node includes a Mobile Terminal (IAB-MT) part that behaves like a UE toward the parent node, and a DU part of an IAB node behaves like a base station toward the next-hop IAB node.

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.

In the present disclosure, the terms “beam” , “antenna panel” and “panel” may be used interchangeably.

As discussed above, the SL communication scheme has been proposed, where SL channels may be established between terminal devices in the wireless communication network and the terminal devices may exchange signaling and data with each other directly via the established SL channels.

In release 18, SL enhancements are being studied, especially including SL operation in FR2 spectrum. This includes support of sidelink beam management (including initial beam-pairing, beam maintenance, and beam failure recovery, etc. ) by reusing the existing sidelink CSI framework and reusing Uu beam management concepts wherever possible. Further, beam management in FR2 licensed spectrum considers sidelink unicast communication only.

A pending issue of SL communication is SL resource allocation in case of beamformed transmission/reception. In release 17, two inter-UE coordination (IUC) schemes were standardized, i.e., IUC scheme 1 (preferred resource set and non-preferred resource set) , and IUC scheme 2 (resource conflict indication) . In IUC scheme 1, the IUC information sent from a first UE to a second UE is a set of resources preferred or non-preferred for the transmission of the second UE. In IUC scheme 2, the IUC information is an indication of an expected/potential resource conflict.

As discussed above, in some scenarios, one device may need to communicate with more than one other device. However, the other devices may be located within different areas with different communication directions, which causes that the communication resources/beams may conflict with each other. If so, the communication performance of the devices may be degraded. Thus, how to detect and handle such resource conflicts is desirable to be addressed.

According to the present disclosure, the first device (which is a receiver UE) determines a first resource reserved for a first transmission from a second device (which is a transmitter UE) to the first device and a first beam of the first device for communication with the second device, and further determines a second resource associated with a second transmission from a third device (which is another transmitter UE) to the first device and a second beam of the first device for communication with the third device. Then, the first device determines a resource conflict between the second resource and the first resource based on at least one of: whether the first beam differs from the second beam, a first measurement associated with the first beam and the third device, and a second measurement associated with the second beam and the second device.

In this way, the first device (i.e., receiver UE) may better detect a resource conflict between the other devices (i.e., transmitter UEs) .

Example Environment

FIG. 1 illustrates an example communication environment 100 in which example embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented. The communication network 100 includes a first device 110, a second device 120, and a third device 130.

In the following, for the purpose of illustration, some example embodiments are described with the first device 110, the second device 120 and the third device 130 being terminal devices. In this case, the SL communication is supported in communication network 100.

In FIG. 1, the first device 110 may receive transmissions from the second device 120 and the third device 130. In view of this, the first device 110 may also be referred to as “the receiver UE” , the second device 120 may also be referred to as “the (first) transmitter UE” and the third device 130 may also be referred to as “the (second) transmitter UE” .

Communications in the communication environment 100 may be implemented according to any proper communication protocol (s) , including, 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, including 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.

Reference is now made to FIGS. 2A and 2B. FIG. 2A is an example communication scenario 200. In FIG. 2A, the second device 120 and the third device 130 are performing sidelink communication with a same first device 110.

FIG. 2B illustrates a block 220 of an example conflict between two resources as a result of directional or beamformed PSFCH transmission. Further, a resource reserved for a first transmission from the second device 120 to the first device 110 is referred to as the first resource and represented as r1, and a resource associated with a second transmission from the third device 130 to the first device is referred to as the second resource and represented as r2.

In FIG. 2A, data is received by the first device 110 from the second device 120 and the third device 130 using directional or beamformed reception (i.e., not omnidirectionally) . For example, as shown in FIG. 2A, the first device 110 may need to receive PSCCH/PSSCH from the second device 120 using a first antenna panel or beam (the beam (or panel) used by the first device 110 for communicating with the second device 120 is hereafter referred to as a first beam and represented as b1) and receive PSCCH/PSSCH from the third device 130 using a second antenna panel or beam (the beam (or panel) used by the first device 110 for communicating with the third device 130 is hereafter referred to as the second beam and represented as b2) . If both the second device 120 and the third device 130 select resources (r1, r2) for transmission to the same first device 110 that overlap in time, a first device 110 that is not capable of receiving simultaneously on multiple antenna panels or beams (b1, b2) may need to drop one of the PSCCH/PSSCH receptions (e.g., that which has lower priority) , with a a consequent degradation in performance.

Further, during SL communications, the receiver UE may need to provide HARQ feedback for the SL data transmissions. In some example embodiments, PSFCH for sidelink communication is specified to carry HARQ feedback over the sidelink (at physical layer) from a UE which is an intended recipient of a PSCCH/PSSCH transmission (henceforth a receiver UE) to the UE which performed the transmission (henceforth a transmitter UE) .

In some embodiments, PSFCH transmits a Zadoff-Chu sequence in one PRB repeated over two OFDM symbols (the first of which can be used for AGC) near the end of the sidelink resource in a slot.

FIG. 2C illustrates an example of a SL slot configuration 260 including PSFCH resources for HARQ feedback, where an example of a slot format of PSCCH, PSSCH, and PSFCH is provided. The Zadoff-Chu sequence as base sequence is (pre-) configured per sidelink resource pool.

Further, the time resources for PSFCH are (pre-) configured to occur once in every 1, 2, or 4 slots. The HARQ feedback resource (i.e., PSFCH) is derived from the resource location of PSCCH/PSSCH.

Still referring to FIG. 2A, the feedback from the first device 110 may be transmitted to the second device 120 or the third device 130 using directional or beamformed transmission (i.e., not omnidirectionally) . For example, the first device 110 may need to transmit PSFCH (carrying HARQ feedback) to the second device 120 on the first beam (b1) and transmit PSFCH to the third device 130 on the second beam (b2) .

As shown in FIG. 2B, the second device 120 and the third device 130 may select resources (r1, r2) for transmission to the same first device 110 in such a way that the associated PSFCH occasions (P1, P2) for transmission of feedback by the first device 110 to each of the second device 120 and the third device 130 are the same. If so, a first device 110 that is not capable of transmitting simultaneously on multiple antenna panels or beams (b1, b2) may need to drop one of the PSFCH transmissions (e.g., that which has lower priority) –with a consequent degradation in performance, e.g., due to unnecessary HARQ retransmissions as a result of missing feedback.

Reference is now made to FIG. 2D, which illustrates another example communication scenario 280. In FIG. 2D, there are overlapping beams (b1, b2) . In this case, under certain circumstances, one beam (b2) may be used to receive both PSCCH/PSSCHs (or transmit both PSFCHs) .

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2D, the PSCCH/PSSCH RX beams (or PSFCH TX beams) (b1, b2) may overlap in space. In such cases, even though the beams (b1, b2) may not be identical, it may be possible to use one of them (here, b2) to receive both PSCCH/PSSCHs (or transmit both PSFCHs) (albeit with some cost in terms of received signal strength for the PSCCH/PSSCH reception from, or PSFCH transmission to, the second device 120, in this example) .

Work Principle and Example Signaling for Communication

According to some example embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a solution for enhanced determination of resource conflicts at a receiving device for beamformed sidelink communication.

More specifically, the below example embodiments may at least address the problem of a receiver UE being unable to receive PSCCH/PSSCH (or transmit PSFCH) simultaneously on multiple antenna panels or beams (b1, b2) , by enabling the receiver UE to recommend PSCCH/PSSCH resources avoiding simultaneous PSCCH/PSSCH reception (or PSFCH transmission) on multiple antenna panels or beams of the receiver UE.

In particular, it is proposed to enhance how a receiver UE determines preferred or non-preferred resources for PSCCH/PSSCH transmission by a respective transmitter UE (IUC scheme 1) , or how it determines an expected/potential resource conflict (IUC scheme 2) on a PSCCH/PSSCH resource reserved by the respective transmitter UE.

In some embodiments, the receiver UE may expect to receive PSCCH/PSSCH from a first transmitter UE in a first radio resource (r1) using a first antenna panel or beam (b1) of the receiver UE. When determining preferred resources for PSCCH/PSSCH transmission by a second transmitter UE to the receiver UE, the receiver UE may exclude (or deprioritize) candidate resources overlapping in time with the first radio resource (r1) if a second antenna panel or beam (b2) of the receiver UE to be used for receiving PSCCH/PSSCH from the second transmitter UE) does not coincide with the first antenna panel or beam (b1) . Alternatively, the receiver UE may indicate such candidate resources as non-preferred.

Similarly, the receiver UE may expect to transmit PSFCH to a first transmitter UE on a first PSFCH occasion (P1) using a first antenna panel or beam (b1) of the receiver UE.When determining preferred resources for PSCCH/PSSCH transmission by a second transmitter UE to the receiver UE, the receiver UE may exclude (or deprioritize) candidate resources associated with said first PSFCH occasion (P1) if a second antenna panel or beam (b2) of the receiver UE to be used for transmitting PSFCH to the second transmitter UE does not coincide with the first antenna panel or beam (b1) . Alternatively, the receiver UE may indicate such candidate resources as non-preferred.

In some embodiments, in case the second transmitter UE has already reserved one or more of such non-preferred resources (i.e., it has performed a previous transmission indicating that reservation) , the receiver UE may indicate an expected/potential resource conflict to the transmitter UEs.

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

Reference is made to FIG. 3, which illustrates a signaling flow 300 of communication in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purposes of discussion, the signaling flow 300 will be discussed with reference to FIGS. 1, and 2A to 2D, for example, by using the first device 110, the second device 120 and the third device 130.

In the example of FIG. 3, the first device 110 is a receiving terminal device (i.e., a receiver UE) , the second device 120 is a first transmitting terminal device (i.e., the first transmitter UE) , and the third device 130 is a second transmitting terminal device (i.e., the second transmitter UE) .

In operation, the first device 110 determines 315 a first resource (r1) reserved for a first transmission from a second device 120 to the first device 110 and a first beam (b1) of the first device 110 for communication with the second device 120.

Optionally, in some embodiments, prior to determining the first resource (r1) , the first device 110 may receive 305 an indication of the first resource from the second device 120.

Further, the first device 110 determines 330 a second resource associated with a second transmission from a third device 130 to the first device 110 and a second beam (b2) of the first device 110 for communication with the third device 130. It is to be clarified that the second resource associated with the second transmission may refer to a resource reserved for the second transmission, or a candidate resource being considered for the second transmission.

Optionally, in some embodiments, prior to determining the second resource (r2) , the first device 110 may receive 320 an indication of the second resource from the third device 130, or may receive 320 a request from the third device 130 for a set of recommended resources for the second transmission (e.g., a preferred resource set) and determine the second resource at least based on the request from the third device 130.

Next, the first device 110 determines 335 a resource conflict between the second resource and the first resource based on at least one of: whether the first beam (b1) differs from the second beam (b2) , a first measurement associated with the first beam (b1) and the third device 130, and a second measurement associated with the second beam (b2) and the second device 120.

In this way, a resource conflict of the SL communication may be properly detected/determined.

In some example embodiments, in case of at least one of a determination that the first measurement is below a first threshold or a determination that the second measurement is below a second threshold, the first device 110 may determine that the second resource is in conflict with the first resource.

In some example embodiments, the first measurement includes at least one of a received power (e.g., RSRP) , a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) , or a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) , of a first signal from the third device 130 determined using the first beam (b1) . Additionally, in some example embodiments, the second measurement includes at least one of a received power (e.g., RSRP) , a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) , or a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) , of a second signal from the second device 120 determined using the second beam (b2) .

In some example embodiments, the resource conflict is determined at least in accordance with a determination that the second beam (b2) differs from (i.e., is not the same as) the first beam (b1) .

In some example embodiments, the resource conflict is determined further based on at least one of: overlap information of the first resource and the second resource, a first occasion for transmission of feedback to the second device 120 and a second occasion for transmission of feedback to the third device 130, and a maximum number of simultaneous beams of the first device, as will be described in detail below.

In some example embodiments, the first device 110 may determine whether the second resource overlaps in time with the first resource, and if the second resource overlaps in time with the first resource, the first device 110 may determine that the second resource is in conflict with the first resource if at least one of: the second beam (b2) differs from the first beam (b1) , the first measurement is below a first threshold, and the second measurement is below a second threshold.

Alternatively, in some example embodiments, the first device 110 may determine a first occasion for transmission of feedback to the second device 120 based on the first resource and a second occasion for transmission of feedback to the third device 130 based on the second resource, and if the first occasion is the same as the second occasion, the first device 110 may determine that the second resource is in conflict with the first resource if at least one of: the second beam (b2) differs from the first beam (b1) , the first measurement is below a first threshold, and the second measurement is below a second threshold.

Alternatively, in some example embodiments, the first device 110 may determine a number of devices that are communicating with the first device 110. If the determined number is equal to a maximum number of simultaneous beams of the first device 110, the first device 110 may determine that the second resource is in conflict with the first resource if at least one of: the second beam (b2) differs from the first beam (b1) , the first measurement is below a first threshold, and the second measurement is below a second threshold.

Optionally, as illustrated in FIG. 3, in some example embodiments, if the second resource is in conflict with the first resource, the first device may transmit 340 control information indicating the determined resource conflict to the second device 120 or the third device 130.

In some example embodiments, if the first resource has a higher priority than the second resource, the first device 110 may transmit control information indicating that the second resource is in conflict to the third device 130. Accordingly, if the second resource has a higher priority than the first resource, the first device 110 may transmit control information indicating that the first resource is in conflict to the second device 120.

Alternatively, in some example embodiments, if the second resource is in conflict with the first resource, the first device 110 may determine 360 a set of recommended resources for the second transmission at least by excluding the second resource from a set of candidate resources for the third device 130, and may transmit 365 coordination information indicating the set of recommended resources to the third device 130.

Alternatively, in some example embodiments, the first device 110 may determine, from a set of candidate resources for the third device 130, a set of non-recommended resources for the second transmission including candidate resources associated with a first occasion for transmission of feedback to the second device 120. Then the first device 110 may further determine 360 a set of recommended resources for the second transmission at least by excluding the set of non-recommended resources from the set of candidate resources for the third device 130; and transmit 365 coordination information indicating at least one of the set of recommended resources or the set of non-recommended resources to the third device 130.

Alternatively, in some example embodiments, if the second resource is in conflict with the first resource, the first device 110 may transmit coordination information to the second device 120 indicating the first resource is non-recommended for the first transmission. In some other example embodiments, if the second resource is in conflict with the first resource, the first device 110 may transmit coordination information to the third device 130 indicating that the second resource is non-recommended for the second transmission.

The above text mainly describes the perspective of the first device 110. Obviously, the second device 120 and the third device 130 should perform the corresponding operations. In the following, some example embodiments for the second device 120 and the third device 130 are described.

In some embodiments, the second device 120 transmits 305, to the first device 110, an indication of a first resource for a first transmission from the second device 120 to the first device 110.

Next, the second device 120 receives 355 conflict information indicating that the first resource is in conflict with a second resource associated with a second transmission from a third device 130 to the first device 110, wherein the second resource has a higher priority than the first resource.

As for the third device 130, the third device 130 may transmit 320 a request for a set of recommended resources for a second transmission from the third device 130 to the first device 110.

Next, the third device 130 receives 370 coordination information indicating the set of recommended resources from the first device 110, wherein the set of recommended resources are at least determined by excluding a second resource associated with the second transmission (e.g., a candidate resource determined for the second transmission based on the request) from a set of candidate resources for the third device 130, in accordance with a determination that the second resource is in conflict with a first resource for a first transmission from a second device 120 to the first device 110.

Alternatively, the third device 130 may receive 345, from the first device 110, conflict information indicating that the second resource is in conflict with a first resource associated with a first transmission from a second device 120 to the first device 110, wherein the first resource has a higher priority than the second resource.

Merely for better understanding, some example embodiments will be further described with reference to FIG. 4 and FIG. 5.

Reference is now made to FIG. 4, which illustrates a signaling flow 400 of communication in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purposes of discussion, the signaling flow 400 will be discussed with reference to FIG. 1 and FIGS. 2A to 2D, for example, by using the first device 110, the second device 120 and the third device 130.

In the example of FIG. 4, the first device 110 is a receiving terminal device, the second device 120 is a first transmitting terminal device, and the third device 130 is a second transmitting terminal device. Further, in the example of FIG. 4, the (non-) preferred resource set may be determined by the first device 110. Additionally, a preferred resource set is indicated excluding the determined conflicting resource.

In some embodiments, as illustrated in FIG. 4, a first device 110 (i.e., receiver UE) may determine a first resource (r1) as reserved for transmission by the second device 120 (the first transmitter device) to the first device 110. For example, the first device 110 may determine the first resource (r1) based on a first received SCI (e.g., 1st-stage and 2nd-stage SCI) transmitted 410 by the second device 120 indicating the first resource (r1) as reserved.

Then, the first device 110 may determine 420 a corresponding first PSFCH occasion (P1) and first antenna panel or beam (b1) of the first device 110 for transmission of feedback to the second device 120.

Subsequently, the first device 110 may receive 430 an explicit request for coordination information from the third device 130 (i.e., the second transmitter device) for requesting a preferred resource set for transmission to the first device 110.

Based on the received request, the first device 110 may determine 440 a set of candidate resources for transmission by the third device 130. As shown in FIG. 4, the first device 110 may determine candidate resources (e.g., r2) in slots associated with the first PSFCH occasion (P1) as being in conflict with the first resource (r1) if a corresponding second antenna panel or beam (b2) of the first device 110 to be used for transmission of feedback to the third device 130 differs from the first antenna panel or beam (b1) . Further, such conflicting candidate resources may be excluded or deprioritized from the preferred resource set determined by the first device 110.

The first device 110 may determine 450 preferred resources for receiving the transmission from the third device 130 excluding the determined conflicting resource from the set. Optionally, the first device 110 may indicate 460 the preferred resources to the third device 130.

In a further embodiment, the first device 110 may indicate the conflicting candidate resources as non-preferred resources for transmission by the third device 130.

Alternatively, e.g., if the transmission by the third device 130 has higher priority, the first device 110 may indicate to the second device 120 that the first resource (r1) is non-preferred.

Alternatively, or in addition, the first device 110 may further use one or more beam measurements (e.g., RSRP, SINR, etc. ) to determine whether a second resource (r2) is in conflict with the first resource (r1) as discussed below.

In some example embodiments, the first device 110 may determine a first beam measurement (e.g., RSRP1, 2 SINR1, 2, etc. ) associated with the first antenna panel or beam (b1) and the third device 130. If the first beam measurement (e.g., RSRP1, 2, SINR1, 2, etc. ) is above a threshold, the first device 110 may determine that the first antenna panel or beam (b1) is adequate for receiving PSCCH/PSSCH from, or transmitting PSFCH to, both the second device 120 and the third device 130. In such cases, the second resource (r2) may not be determined to be in conflict with the first resource (r1) .

Similarly, the first device 110 may determine a second beam measurement (e.g., RSRP2, 1 SINR2, 1, etc. ) associated with the second antenna panel or beam (b2) and the second device 120. If the second beam measurement (e.g., RSRP2, 1, SINR2, 1, etc. ) is above a threshold, the first device 110 may determine that the second antenna panel or beam (b2) is adequate for receiving PSCCH/PSSCH from, or transmitting PSFCH to, both the second device 120 and the third device 130 (refer to FIG. 2D) . In such cases, the second resource (r2) may not be determined to be in conflict with the first resource (r1) .

In some embodiments, the first device 110 may determine a maximum number of simultaneous antenna panels or beams (N) that may be used for simultaneous PSCCH/PSSCH reception or simultaneous PSFCH transmission. For example, the first device 110 may be capable of receiving or transmitting on N=2 antenna panels or beams (b1, b2) simultaneously, but not more. If the first device 110 expects to receive PSCCH/PSSCH, or transmit PSFCH, on N=2 antenna panels or beams (b1, b2) at the same time, then it may not be able to receive PSCCH/PSSCH from, or transmit PSFCH to, a third transmitter UE using a third antenna panel or beam (b3) simultaneously. Thus, the first device 110 may determine a third resource (r3) for transmission by the third transmitter UE as being in conflict with the first and/or second radio resources (r1, r2) .

Reference is now made to FIG. 5, which illustrates a signaling flow 500 of communication in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purposes of discussion, the signaling flow 300 will be discussed with reference to FIG. 1 and FIGS. 2A to 2D, for example, by using the first device 110, the second device 120 and the third device 130.

In the example of FIG. 5, the first device 110 is a receiving terminal device, the second device 120 is a first transmitting terminal device, and the third device 130 is a second transmitting terminal device. Further, in the example of FIG. 5, a resource conflict indication may be transmitted by the first device 110.

In operation, as illustrated in FIG. 5, a first device 110 (i.e., receiver UE) may determine a first resource (r1) as reserved for transmission by the second device 120 (the first transmitter device) to the first device 110. For example, the first device 110 may determine the first resource (r1) based on a first received SCI (e.g., 1st-stage and 2nd-stage SCI) transmitted 510 by the second device 120 indicating the first resource (r1) as reserved.

Then, the first device 110 may determine 520 a corresponding first PSFCH occasion (P1) and first antenna panel or beam (b1) of the first device 110 for transmission of feedback to the second device 120.

Further, a first device 110 (i.e., receiver UE) may determine a second resource (r2) as reserved for transmission by a third device 130 to the first device 110. For example, the first device 110 may determine the second resource (r2) based on a second received SCI (e.g., 1st-stage and 2nd-stage SCI) transmitted 530 by the third device 130 indicating the second resource (r2) as reserved. The first device 110 determines 540 a corresponding second PSFCH occasion (P2) and second antenna panel or beam (b2) of the first device 110 for transmission of feedback to the third device 130.

The first device 110 may further determine an expected/potential resource conflict if P1 coincides with P2 and b1 does not coincide with b2. Then, if r1 has a higher (or equal) priority than r2, the first device 110 may indicate the resource conflict to the third device 130. Accordingly, if r1 has a lower (or equal) priority than r2, the first device 110 may indicate the resource conflict to the second device 120.

In some embodiments, if the second PSFCH occasion (P2) is the same as the first PSFCH occasion (P1) and the second antenna panel or beam (b2) is different than the first antenna panel or beam (b1) , the first device 110 indicates 560-1, 560-2 an expected/potential resource conflict to the second device 120 or the third device 130 (e.g., whichever has lower priority) . Upon receiving the resource conflict indication, the second device 120 or the third device 130 may trigger resource reselection to prevent the conflict.

In some cases, a conflict between the first reserved resource (r1) and the second reserved resource (r2) may not exist initially (e.g., at the time of initial resource reservation for periodic transmission) but may arise subsequently as a result of beam re-alignment. For example, the first antenna panel or beam (b1) may initially coincide with the second antenna panel or beam (b2) , but at a later time (e.g., due to UE relative mobility) this may no longer be the case, thus causing a conflict.

In other cases, when the first device 110 is capable of receiving or transmitting simultaneously on multiple antenna panels or beams (b1, b2) , it may initially be able to perform PSCCH/PSSCH reception or PSFCH transmission in multiple directions. However, due to internal prioritization, one of the antenna panels or beams (b1, b2) may need to be used for communication over the Uu interface (e.g., in another carrier) and therefore the first device 110 may no longer be able to receive PSCCH/PSSCH from, or transmit PSFCH to, both the second device 120 and the third device 130. In this case, the first device 110 may indicate the resource conflict to either the second device 120 or the third device 130, e.g., depending on which one has lower priority.

In this way, the present disclosure is beneficial whenever PSCCH/PSSCH is received, or PSFCH is transmitted, directionally by UEs that are not capable of receiving (or transmitting) simultaneously on multiple antenna panels or beams. Specifically, by selecting resources for PSCCH/PSSCH transmission in such a way that simultaneous PSCCH/PSSCH reception, or PSFCH transmission, on multiple antenna panels or beams is avoided, fewer SL transmissions will be dropped or missed by the devices, thus enhancing link-level and system-level performance.

Example Methods

FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of an example method 600 implemented at a first device in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the method 600 will be described from the perspective of the first device 110 in FIG. 1.

At block 610, the first device 110 determines a first resource reserved for a first transmission from a second device 120 to the first device 110 and a first beam of the first device 110 for communication with the second device 120.

At block 620, the first device 110 determines a second resource associated with a second transmission from a third device 130 to the first device 110 and a second beam of the first device 110 for communication with the third device 130.

At block 630, the first device 110 determines a resource conflict between the second resource and the first resource based on at least one of: whether the first beam differs from the second beam, a first measurement associated with the first beam and the third device 130, and a second measurement associated with the second beam and the second device 120.

In some example embodiments, the resource conflict is determined at least in accordance with a determination that the second beam differs from the first beam.

In some example embodiments, the resource conflict is determined further based on at least one of: overlap information of the first resource and the second resource, a first occasion for transmission of feedback to the second device 120 and a second occasion for transmission of feedback to the third device 130, and a maximum number of simultaneous beams of the first device 110.

In some example embodiments, the method 600 further includes: determining whether the second resource overlaps in time with the first resource; and in accordance with a determination that the second resource overlaps in time with the first resource, determining that the second resource is in conflict with the first resource if at least one of: the second beam differs from the first beam, the first measurement is below a first threshold, and the second measurement is below a second threshold.

In some example embodiments, the method 600 further includes: determining a first occasion for transmission of feedback to the second device 120 based on the first resource and a second occasion for transmission of feedback to the third device 130 based on the second resource; in accordance with a determination that the first occasion is the same as the second occasion, determining that the second resource is in conflict with the first resource if at least one of: the second beam differs from the first beam, the first measurement is below a first threshold, and the second measurement is below a second threshold.

In some example embodiments, the method 600 further includes: determining a number of devices that are communicating with the first device 110; and in accordance with a determination that the determined number is equal to a maximum number of simultaneous beams of the first device 110, determining that the second resource is in conflict with the first resource if at least one of: the second beam differs from the first beam, the first measurement is below a first threshold, and the second measurement is below a second threshold.

In some example embodiments, the first measurement includes at least one of a received power, a signal-to-noise ratio, or a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio, of a first signal from the third device 130 determined using the first beam, and the second measurement includes at least one of a received power, a signal-to-noise ratio, or a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio, of a second signal from the second device 120 determined using the second beam.

In some example embodiments, the method 600 further includes: in accordance with a determination that the second resource is in conflict with the first resource, transmitting control information indicating the determined resource conflict to the second device 120 or the third device 130.

In some example embodiments, the method 600 further includes: in accordance with a determination that the first resource has a higher priority than the second resource, transmitting, to the third device 130, control information indicating that the second resource is in conflict; and in accordance with a determination that the second resource has a higher priority than the first resource, transmitting, to the second device 120, control information indicating that the first resource is in conflict.

In some example embodiments, the method 600 further includes: in accordance with a determination that the second resource is in conflict with the first resource, determining a set of recommended resources for the second transmission at least by excluding the second resource from a set of candidate resources for the third device 130; and transmitting, to the third device 130, coordination information indicating the set of recommended resources.

In some example embodiments, the method 600 further includes: in accordance with a determination that the second resource is in conflict with the first resource, transmitting, to the second device 120, coordination information indicating the first resource is non-recommended for the first transmission, or transmitting, to the third device 130, coordination information indicating that the second resource is non-recommended for the second transmission.

Example Apparatus, Device and Medium

In some example embodiments, a first apparatus capable of performing any of the method 600 (for example, the first device 110 in FIG. 1) may include means for performing the respective operations of the method 600. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module. The first apparatus may be implemented as or included in the first device 110 in FIG. 1.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus includes means for determining a first resource reserved for a first transmission from a second device 120 to the first device 110 and a first beam of the first device 110 for communication with the second device 120; means for determining a second resource associated with a second transmission from a third device 130 to the first device 110 and a second beam of the first device 110 for communication with the third device 130; means for determining a resource conflict between the second resource and the first resource based on at least one of: whether the first beam differs from the second beam, a first measurement associated with the first beam and the third device 130, and a second measurement associated with the second beam and the second device 120.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further includes: means for determining whether the second resource overlaps in time with the first resource; and means for in accordance with a determination that the second resource overlaps in time with the first resource, determining that the second resource is in conflict with the first resource if at least one of: the second beam differs from the first beam, the first measurement is below a first threshold, and the second measurement is below a second threshold.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further includes: means for determining a first occasion for transmission of feedback to the second device 120 based on the first resource and a second occasion for transmission of feedback to the third device 130 based on the second resource; means for in accordance with a determination that the first occasion is the same as the second occasion, determining that the second resource is in conflict with the first resource if at least one of: the second beam differs from the first beam, the first measurement is below a first threshold, and the second measurement is below a second threshold.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further includes: means for determining a number of devices that are communicating with the first device 110; and means for in accordance with a determination that the determined number is equal to a maximum number of simultaneous beams of the first device 110, determining that the second resource is in conflict with the first resource if at least one of: the second beam differs from the first beam, the first measurement is below a first threshold, and the second measurement is below a second threshold.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further includes: means for in accordance with a determination that the second resource is in conflict with the first resource, transmitting control information indicating the determined resource conflict to the second device 120 or the third device 130.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further includes: means for in accordance with a determination that the first resource has a higher priority than the second resource, transmitting, to the third device 130, control information indicating that the second resource is in conflict; and means for in accordance with a determination that the second resource has a higher priority than the first resource, transmitting (350) , to the second device 120, control information indicating that the first resource is in conflict.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further includes: means for in accordance with a determination that the second resource is in conflict with the first resource, determining a set of recommended resources for the second transmission at least by excluding the second resource from a set of candidate resources for the third device 130; and means for transmitting, to the third device 130, coordination information indicating the set of recommended resources.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further includes: in accordance with a determination that the second resource is in conflict with the first resource, means for transmitting, to the second device 120, coordination information indicating the first resource is non-recommended for the first transmission, or means for transmitting, to the third device 130, coordination information indicating that the second resource is non-recommended for the second transmission.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further includes means for performing other operations in some example embodiments of the method 600 or the first device 110. In some example embodiments, the means includes 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 first apparatus.

FIG. 7 is a simplified block diagram of a device 700 that is suitable for implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 700 may be provided to implement a communication device, for example, the first device 110 or the second device 120 as shown in FIG. 1. As shown, the device 700 includes one or more processors 710, one or more memories 720 coupled to the processor 710, and one or more communication modules 740 coupled to the processor 710.

The communication module 740 is for bidirectional communications. The communication module 740 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 740 may include at least one antenna.

The processor 710 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 700 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 720 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) 724, 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) 722 and other volatile memories that will not last in the power-down duration.

A computer program 730 includes computer executable instructions that are executed by the associated processor 710. The instructions of the program 730 may include instructions for performing operations/acts of some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The program 730 may be stored in the memory, e.g., the ROM 724. The processor 710 may perform any suitable actions and processing by loading the program 730 into the RAM 722.

The example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by means of the program 730 so that the device 700 may perform any process of the disclosure as discussed with reference to FIG. 1 to FIG. 6. 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 730 may be tangibly contained in a computer readable medium which may be included in the device 700 (such as in the memory 720) or other storage devices that are accessible by the device 700. The device 700 may load the program 730 from the computer readable medium to the RAM 722 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. 8 shows an example of the computer readable medium 800 which may be in form of CD, DVD or other optical storage disk. The computer readable medium 800 has the program 730 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 provide 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:

determine a first resource reserved for a first transmission from a second device to the first device and a first beam of the first device for communication with the second device;

determine a second resource associated with a second transmission from a third device to the first device and a second beam of the first device for communication with the third device;

determine a resource conflict between the second resource and the first resource based on at least one of:

whether the first beam differs from the second beam,

a first measurement associated with the first beam and the third device, and

a second measurement associated with the second beam and the second device.
The first device of claim 1, wherein the resource conflict is determined at least in accordance with a determination that the second beam differs from the first beam.
The first device of claim 1, wherein the resource conflict is determined further based on at least one of:

overlap information of the first resource and the second resource,

a first occasion for transmission of feedback to the second device and a second occasion for transmission of feedback to the third device, and

a maximum number of simultaneous beams of the first device.
The first device according to any one of claim 1 or 3, wherein the first device is further caused to:

determine whether the second resource overlaps in time with the first resource; and

in accordance with a determination that the second resource overlaps in time with the first resource, determine that the second resource is in conflict with the first resource if at least one of:

the second beam differs from the first beam,

the first measurement is below a first threshold, and

the second measurement is below a second threshold.
The first device according to any one of claim 1 or 3, wherein the first device is further caused to:

determine a first occasion for transmission of feedback to the second device based on the first resource and a second occasion for transmission of feedback to the third device based on the second resource;

in accordance with a determination that the first occasion is the same as the second occasion, determine that the second resource is in conflict with the first resource if at least one of:

the second beam differs from the first beam,

the first measurement is below a first threshold, and

the second measurement is below a second threshold.
The first device according to any one of claim 1 or 3, wherein the first device is further caused to:

determine a number of devices that are communicating with the first device; and

in accordance with a determination that the determined number is equal to a maximum number of simultaneous beams of the first device, determine that the second resource is in conflict with the first resource if at least one of:

the second beam differs from the first beam,

the first measurement is below a first threshold, and

the second measurement is below a second threshold.
The first device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein:

the first measurement comprises at least one of a received power, a signal-to-noise ratio, or a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio, of a first signal from the third device determined using the first beam, and

the second measurement comprises at least one of a received power, a signal-to-noise ratio, or a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio, of a second signal from the second device determined using the second beam.
The first device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the first device is further caused to:

in accordance with a determination that the second resource is in conflict with the first resource, transmit control information indicating the determined resource conflict to the second device or the third device.
The first device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the first device is further caused to:

in accordance with a determination that the first resource has a higher priority than the second resource, transmit, to the third device, control information indicating that the second resource is in conflict; and

in accordance with a determination that the second resource has a higher priority than the first resource, transmit, to the second device, control information indicating that the first resource is in conflict.
The first device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the first device is further caused to:

in accordance with a determination that the second resource is in conflict with the first resource, determine a set of recommended resources for the second transmission at least by excluding the second resource from a set of candidate resources for the third device; and

transmit, to the third device, coordination information indicating the set of recommended resources.
The first device according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the first device is further caused to:

in accordance with a determination that the second resource is in conflict with the first resource,

transmit, to the second device, coordination information indicating the first resource is non-recommended for the first transmission, or

transmit, to the third device, coordination information indicating that the second resource is non-recommended for the second transmission.
A method comprising:

determining a first resource reserved for a first transmission from a second device to a first device and a first beam of the first device for communication with the second device;

determining a second resource associated with a second transmission from a third device to the first device and a second beam of the first device for communication with the third device;

determining a resource conflict between the second resource and the first resource based on at least one of:

whether the first beam differs from the second beam,

a first measurement associated with the first beam and the third device, and

a second measurement associated with the second beam and the second device.
The method of claim 12, wherein the resource conflict is determined at least in accordance with a determination that the second beam differs from the first beam.
The method of claim 12, wherein the resource conflict is determined further based on at least one of:

overlap information of the first resource and the second resource,

a first occasion for transmission of feedback to the second device and a second occasion for transmission of feedback to the third device, and

a maximum number of simultaneous beams of the first device.
The method according to any one of claim 12 or 14, further comprising:

determining whether the second resource overlaps in time with the first resource; and

in accordance with a determination that the second resource overlaps in time with the first resource, determining that the second resource is in conflict with the first resource if at least one of:

the second beam differs from the first beam,

the first measurement is below a first threshold, and

the second measurement is below a second threshold.
The method according to any one of claim 12 or 14, further comprising:

determining a first occasion for transmission of feedback to the second device based on the first resource and a second occasion for transmission of feedback to the third device based on the second resource;

in accordance with a determination that the first occasion is the same as the second occasion, determining that the second resource is in conflict with the first resource if at least one of:

the second beam differs from the first beam,

the first measurement is below a first threshold, and

the second measurement is below a second threshold.
The method according to any one of claim 12 or 14, further comprising:

determining a number of devices that are communicating with the first device; and

in accordance with a determination that the determined number is equal to a maximum number of simultaneous beams of the first device, determining that the second resource is in conflict with the first resource if at least one of:

the second beam differs from the first beam,

the first measurement is below a first threshold, and

the second measurement is below a second threshold.
The method according to any one of claims 12 to 17, wherein:

the first measurement comprises at least one of a received power, a signal-to-noise ratio, or a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio, of a first signal from the third device determined using the first beam, and

the second measurement comprises at least one of a received power, a signal-to-noise ratio, or a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio, of a second signal from the second device determined using the second beam.
The method according to any one of claims 12 to 18, further comprising:

in accordance with a determination that the second resource is in conflict with the first resource, transmitting control information indicating the determined resource conflict to the second device or the third device.
The method according to any one of claims 12 to 19, further comprising:

in accordance with a determination that the first resource has a higher priority than the second resource, transmitting, to the third device, control information indicating that the second resource is in conflict; and

in accordance with a determination that the second resource has a higher priority than the first resource, transmitting, to the second device, control information indicating that the first resource is in conflict.
The method according to any one of claims 12 to 20, further comprising:

in accordance with a determination that the second resource is in conflict with the first resource, determining a set of recommended resources for the second transmission at least by excluding the second resource from a set of candidate resources for the third device; and

transmitting, to the third device, coordination information indicating the set of recommended resources.
The method according to any one of claims 12 to 21, further comprising:

in accordance with a determination that the second resource is in conflict with the first resource,

transmitting, to the second device, coordination information indicating the first resource is non-recommended for the first transmission, or

transmitting, to the third device, coordination information indicating that the second resource is non-recommended for the second transmission.
A first apparatus comprising:

means for determining a first resource reserved for a first transmission from a second device to a first device and a first beam of the first device for communication with the second device;

means for determining a second resource associated with a second transmission from a third device to the first device and a second beam of the first device for communication with the third device;

means for determining a resource conflict between the second resource and the first resource based on at least one of:

whether the first beam differs from the second beam,

a first measurement associated with the first beam and the third device, and

a second measurement associated with the second beam and the second device.
The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the resource conflict is determined at least in accordance with a determination that the second beam differs from the first beam.
The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the resource conflict is determined further based on at least one of:

overlap information of the first resource and the second resource,

a first occasion for transmission of feedback to the second device and a second occasion for transmission of feedback to the third device, and

a maximum number of simultaneous beams of the first device.
The apparatus according to any one of claim 23 or 25, further comprising:

means for determining whether the second resource overlaps in time with the first resource; and

means for, in accordance with a determination that the second resource overlaps in time with the first resource, determining that the second resource is in conflict with the first resource if at least one of:

the second beam differs from the first beam,

the first measurement is below a first threshold, and

the second measurement is below a second threshold.
The apparatus according to any one of claim 23 or 25, further comprising:

means for determining a first occasion for transmission of feedback to the second device based on the first resource and a second occasion for transmission of feedback to the third device based on the second resource;

means for, in accordance with a determination that the first occasion is the same as the second occasion, determining that the second resource is in conflict with the first resource if at least one of:

the second beam differs from the first beam,

the first measurement is below a first threshold, and

the second measurement is below a second threshold.
The apparatus according to any one of claim 23 or 25, further comprising:

means for determining a number of devices that are communicating with the first device; and

means for, in accordance with a determination that the determined number is equal to a maximum number of simultaneous beams of the first device, determining that the second resource is in conflict with the first resource if at least one of:

the second beam differs from the first beam,

the first measurement is below a first threshold, and

the second measurement is below a second threshold.
The apparatus according to any one of claims 23 to 28, wherein:

the first measurement comprises at least one of a received power, a signal-to-noise ratio, or a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio, of a first signal from the third device determined using the first beam, and

the second measurement comprises at least one of a received power, a signal-to-noise ratio, or a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio, of a second signal from the second device determined using the second beam.
The apparatus according to any one of claims 23 to 29, further comprising:

means for, in accordance with a determination that the second resource is in conflict with the first resource, transmitting control information indicating the determined resource conflict to the second device or the third device.
The apparatus according to any one of claims 23 to 30, further comprising:

means for, in accordance with a determination that the first resource has a higher priority than the second resource, transmitting, to the third device, control information indicating that the second resource is in conflict; and

means for, in accordance with a determination that the second resource has a higher priority than the first resource, transmitting, to the second device, control information indicating that the first resource is in conflict.
The apparatus according to any one of claims 23 to 31, further comprising:

means for, in accordance with a determination that the second resource is in conflict with the first resource, determining a set of recommended resources for the second transmission at least by excluding the second resource from a set of candidate resources for the third device; and

means for transmitting, to the third device, coordination information indicating the set of recommended resources.
The apparatus according to any one of claims 23 to 32, further comprising:

in accordance with a determination that the second resource is in conflict with the first resource,

means for transmitting, to the second device, coordination information indicating the first resource is non-recommended for the first transmission, or

means for transmitting, to the third device, coordination information indicating that the second resource is non-recommended for the second transmission.
A computer readable medium comprising instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus at least to perform the method of any of claims 12-22.