CN-115696580-B - Allocating resources for direct user equipment communications

CN115696580BCN 115696580 BCN115696580 BCN 115696580BCN-115696580-B

Abstract

A transmitting user equipment is disclosed comprising means for generating assistance information for a network node. The network node provides resource grants for side-link communications between the transmitting and at least one receiving user equipment. The receiving user equipment is configured to operate in a discontinuous reception mode comprising a discontinuous reception cycle having an active time and an inactive time. The assistance information includes a plurality of elements indicating side link communication characteristics, and at least one of the plurality of elements includes an indication of a discontinuous reception mode of the receiving user equipment.

Inventors

YU LING
V. Fan Pan
N. M. killerich platas
P. Koshawamurti

Assignees

诺基亚技术有限公司

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20220707
Priority Date: 20210727

Claims (13)

1. An apparatus for communication, comprising: Means for generating assistance information for a network node providing an grant of resources for a side link communication between the apparatus and at least one receiving user equipment, the at least one receiving user equipment configured to operate in a discontinuous reception mode comprising a discontinuous reception period with an active time and an inactive time, the assistance information comprising a plurality of elements indicating characteristics of the side link communication; wherein at least one element of the plurality of elements comprises an indication of the discontinuous reception mode of the receiving user equipment, and The apparatus further comprises means for comparing a traffic periodicity of the side-chain communication with a periodicity of the discontinuous reception period, the means for generating the assistance information updating the at least one of the plurality of elements to provide the indication of the discontinuous reception mode in response to the means for comparing indicating that the periodicity of the discontinuous reception period is different from the traffic periodicity; The at least one element of the plurality of elements includes at least one of: An element configured to indicate periodic data, the element being updated with an indication of a period of the discontinuous reception period; An element configured to indicate a message size, the element being updated by multiplying the element by a factor derived from a ratio of the discontinuous reception period to the traffic periodicity; An element configured to indicate a timing offset, the apparatus comprising means for looking at a timing offset value for the side link communication, the timing offset value indicating an arrival time of data to be transmitted at the apparatus, and wherein the timing offset value provides an arrival time outside the active time to trigger the means for generating to update to a value indicating an arrival time of the data within the active time, and The means for comparing is configured to compare a duration of the active time with an allowable delay time for the side-link communication, and wherein the allowable delay time is longer than the duration of the active time to instruct the means for generating to update one of the elements in the auxiliary information, the auxiliary information being configured to provide the allowable delay time with a value equal to or shorter than the active time duration.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the assistance information comprises at least one of user equipment assistance information and user equipment side link information.
3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the means for comparing is configured to compare an allowed delay time of the side link communication with the discontinuous reception period in response to the period of the discontinuous reception period being shorter than the traffic period, and to only instruct the means for generating to update the message size element if the allowed delay time is longer than the discontinuous reception period.
4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the means for viewing the timing offset value is further configured to trigger the means for generating to generate at least one timing offset value that provides an arrival time within at least one of a plurality of activity times of the receiving user device that falls within the allowed delay time.
5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the means for comparing is configured to compare an allowed delay time of the side link communication with the discontinuous reception period in response to determining that the period of the discontinuous reception period is longer than the period, and wherein the allowed delay time is shorter to indicate that the means for generating derives the factor from a ratio of the discontinuous reception period to the traffic period, the ratio being rounded to an integer value.
6. The apparatus of claim 1 or 2, further comprising means for transmitting the assistance information to the network node, and Means for receiving an authorization for the resource from the network node.
7. The apparatus of claim 6, the means for transmitting is further configured to transmit side-chain communications to the receiving user equipment using resources indicated in an grant of the resources.
8. The apparatus of claim 1 or 2, wherein the means for generating generates updated assistance information in response to an update of the discontinuous reception period of the receiving user equipment.
9. The apparatus of claim 1 or 2, wherein the means comprises at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause execution of the apparatus.
10. The apparatus of claim 1 or 2, wherein the means comprises at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause performance of the apparatus.
11. A method of communication, comprising generating assistance information for a network node providing authorization of resources for side link communication between an apparatus and at least one receiving user equipment, the at least one receiving user equipment configured to operate in a discontinuous reception mode comprising a discontinuous reception period with active time and inactive time, the assistance information comprising a plurality of elements indicative of characteristics of the side link communication; Wherein at least one element of the plurality of elements comprises an indication of the discontinuous reception mode of the receiving user device; the method further comprises the steps of: Comparing a traffic periodicity of the side-chain communication with a periodicity of the discontinuous reception period, and generating the assistance information for the network node by updating the at least one of the plurality of elements in the assistance information to provide the indication of the discontinuous reception mode in response to the periodicity of the discontinuous reception period being different from the traffic periodicity; The at least one element of the plurality of elements includes at least one of: an element configured to indicate periodic data, the method comprising updating the element configured to indicate periodic data with an indication of a period of the discontinuous reception period; An element configured to indicate a message size, the method comprising updating the element by multiplying the element by a factor derived from a ratio of the discontinuous reception period to the traffic periodicity; An element configured to indicate a timing offset, the method comprising looking at a timing offset value for the side link communication, the timing offset value indicating an arrival time of data to be transmitted at the device, and wherein the timing offset value provides an arrival time outside the active time, thereby generating an updated timing offset value indicating an arrival time of the data within the active time, and An element configured to provide an allowable delay time, the method comprising comparing a duration of the active time with an allowable delay time for the side-link communication, and wherein the allowable delay time is longer than the duration of the active time, thereby updating one of the elements in the auxiliary information, the auxiliary information being configured to provide the allowable delay time with a value equal to or shorter than the active time duration.
12. A computer program product comprising computer readable code which, when executed by a processor, is operable to control the processor to perform the method of claim 11.
13. An apparatus for communication, comprising: at least one processor, and At least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform the method of claim 11.

Description

Allocating resources for direct user equipment communications Technical Field Various example embodiments relate to allocating resources for direct communication between user equipment, and in particular for side-link communication between user equipment. Background User Equipment (UE) may communicate directly with each other, in some cases using a Side Link (SL) channel. The allocation of the side link channels may be done under control of the network node. There may be semi-persistent scheduling of authorized side-link resources using side-link configuration. In order for the allocation to reflect the UE's needs, information about the sidelink transmission may be sent to the network node as SL-UE-AssistanceInformationNR and/or SidelinkUEInformation. This information provides the network node with information that may include periodicity of the sidelink transmission, message size, any timing offset, and quality of service requirements such as packet delay budget. The network node uses this information in generating the authorization for the side link configuration. Aspects of power saving have been introduced in user equipment so that Discontinuous Reception (DRX) of SL signals may exist on the UE. In case that the SL DRX is operable, in order for the transmission to be reliably received, it should be transmitted during an active time of the SL DRX of the receiving UE (Rx UE). This may not be simple because, although the network may have some degree of SL DRX cycle visibility, this cycle of the Rx UE may sometimes change in a way that the network is not visible. It is desirable to provide a way to allocate resources for side link transmissions to increase the probability that the transmission is successfully received. Disclosure of Invention The scope of protection sought for the embodiments of the invention is as set forth in the independent claims. The embodiments and features (if any) described in this specification that do not fall within the scope of the independent claims should be construed as examples of the various embodiments that facilitate an understanding of the invention. According to various, but not all, embodiments of the present invention, according to a first aspect there is provided an apparatus comprising means for generating assistance information for a network node providing an authorization of resources for side link communication between the apparatus and at least one receiving user equipment, the at least one receiving user equipment being configured to operate in a discontinuous reception mode comprising a discontinuous reception period with an active time and a non-active time, the assistance information comprising a plurality of elements indicating characteristics of the side link communication, wherein at least one element of the plurality of elements comprises an indication of the discontinuous reception mode of the receiving user equipment. In some example embodiments, the characteristics of the side link communication include at least one of side link traffic characteristics and side link quality of service characteristics. In some example embodiments, the assistance information includes at least one of UE assistance information and UE side link information. In some example embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for comparing a traffic periodicity of the side-link communication with a periodicity of the discontinuous reception period, the means for generating the assistance information updating the at least one element of the plurality of elements to provide the indication of the discontinuous reception mode in response to the means for comparing indicating that the periodicity of the discontinuous reception period is different from the traffic periodicity. In some example embodiments, the at least one element of the plurality of elements comprises an element configured to indicate periodic data, the element being updated with an indication of a period of the discontinuous reception period. In some example embodiments, the at least one element of the plurality of elements comprises an element configured to indicate a message size, the element being updated by multiplying the element by a factor derived from a ratio of the discontinuous reception period and the traffic period. In some example embodiments, the means for comparing is configured to compare an allowed delay time of the side-chain communication with the discontinuous reception period before the means for generating updates the message size in response to the period of the discontinuous reception period being shorter than the traffic period, and to only instruct the means for generating to update the message size if the allowed delay time is longer than the discontinuous reception period. In some example embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for looking at a timing offset value for the side link communication, the timing offset value indicating a time of arrival of data to be transmitted a