CN114391288A

CN114391288A - Mechanism for transmission prioritization

Info

Publication number: CN114391288A
Application number: CN202080014989.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: P-H·阔; 陶涛; 吴春丽
Original assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd; Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy
Current assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd; Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy
Priority date: 2020-08-19
Filing date: 2020-08-19
Publication date: 2022-04-22
Also published as: WO2022036590A1

Abstract

Example embodiments of the present disclosure relate to priority of transmissions. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a first device receives a plurality of transmission opportunities for transmission. The first device determines a probability of accessing multiple granted channels if resources of multiple transmission opportunities collide. The first device selects a transmission opportunity by considering the probability of accessing the channel. In this way, efficiency is improved by allowing the first device to prioritize the transmission opportunities with a higher probability of LBT success. Furthermore, this reduces the probability that the first device selects a transmission opportunity that will eventually fail to transmit due to an LBT failure, which results in a reduction of the benefits of intra-UE prioritization.

Description

Mechanism for transmission prioritization

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to the field of telecommunications, and more particularly, to methods, apparatuses, devices, and computer-readable storage media for transmission prioritization.

Background

With the development of technology, the demand for improved communication capability is rapidly increasing. For example, fifth generation (5G) communications have proposed enhanced capacity. In 5G communication systems, there are a variety of scenarios, such as enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC), and large-scale machine type communication (mtc). Furthermore, terminal devices and network devices may need to operate on unlicensed frequency bands. A terminal device may receive multiple transmission opportunities that overlap in time on an unlicensed frequency band. Therefore, how to select a suitable transmission opportunity is a very important aspect.

Disclosure of Invention

In general, example embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for transmission prioritization.

In a first aspect, a first device is provided. The first device comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code; the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the first apparatus to: a first configuration is received, the first configuration indicating a first set of resources for a first transmission to a second device. The first device is also caused to receive a second configuration from the second device, the second configuration indicating a second set of resources for a second transmission to the second device. The first device is further caused to determine a first probability of channel access or a first necessity of Listen Before Talk (LBT) for the first transmission and a second probability of channel access or a second necessity of LBT for the second transmission if it is determined that the first set of resources at least partially overlaps the second set of resources. The first device is further caused to determine whether to perform the first transmission or the second transmission based on the first probability or the first necessity and the second probability or the second necessity. The first device is also caused to perform the first transmission or the second transmission based on the determination.

In a second aspect, a second apparatus is provided. The second device comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code; the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the second device to transmit a first configuration to the first device, the first configuration indicating a first set of resources for a first transmission to the second device. The second device is also caused to send, to the first device, a second configuration indicating a second set of resources for a second transmission to the second device. The second device is also caused to receive the first transmission or the second transmission based on a first probability of channel access or a first necessity for Listen Before Talk (LBT) for the first grant and a second probability of channel access or a second necessity for LBT for the second grant.

In a third aspect, a method is provided. The method includes receiving, at a first device, a first configuration indicating a first set of resources for a first transmission to a second device. The method also includes receiving, at the first device, a second configuration indicating a second set of resources for a second transmission to the second device. The method also includes determining a first probability of channel access or a first necessity of Listen Before Talk (LBT) for the first transmission and a second probability of channel access or a second necessity of LBT for the second transmission if it is determined that the first set of resources at least partially overlaps the second set of resources. The method also includes determining whether to perform the first transmission or the second transmission based on the first probability or the first necessity and the second probability or the second necessity. The method further includes performing the first transmission or the second transmission based on the determination.

In a fourth aspect, a method is provided. The method includes sending, at the second device, to the first device, a first configuration indicating a first set of resources for a first transmission to the second device. The method also includes sending, to the first device, a second configuration indicating a second set of resources for a second transmission to the second device. The method further includes receiving a first transmission or a second transmission based on a first probability of channel access or a first necessity for Listen Before Talk (LBT) of the first transmission and a second probability of channel access or a second necessity for LBT of the second transmission.

In a fifth aspect, an apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes means for receiving, at a first device, a first configuration indicating a first set of resources for a first transmission to a second device; means for receiving, at a first device, a second configuration indicating a second set of resources for a second transmission to a second device; means for determining a first probability of channel access or a first necessity of Listen Before Talk (LBT) for a first transmission and a second probability of channel access or a second necessity of LBT for a second transmission if it is determined that the first set of resources at least partially overlaps the second set of resources; means for determining whether to perform the first transmission or the second transmission based on the first probability or the first necessity and the second probability or the second necessity; and means for performing the first transmission or the second transmission based on the determination.

In a sixth aspect, an apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes means for transmitting, at a second device, to a first device, a first configuration indicating a first set of resources for a first transmission to the second device; means for transmitting, to the first device, a second configuration indicating a second set of resources for a second transmission to the second device; and means for receiving the first transmission or the second transmission based on the first probability of first transmission channel access or a first necessity for Listen Before Talk (LBT) and the second probability of channel access or a second necessity for LBT.

In a seventh aspect, a computer-readable medium is provided. The computer readable medium comprises program instructions for causing an apparatus to at least perform the method according to any of the third and fourth aspects described above.

It should be understood that this summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of the embodiments of the disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become readily apparent from the following description.

Drawings

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

fig. 2 illustrates a signaling flow for applying uplink channel information to determine a data processing model deployed for downlink usage, in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 3 illustrates a flow chart of a method implemented at a first device in accordance with some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 4 shows a flow diagram of a method implemented at a second device, according to some other example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 shows a simplified block diagram of a device suitable for implementing an example embodiment of the present disclosure; and

fig. 6 illustrates a block diagram of an example computer-readable medium, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure.

Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numbers refer to the same or similar elements.

Detailed Description

The principles of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to a few exemplary embodiments. It is understood that these examples are described only to illustrate and assist those skilled in the art in understanding and practicing the present disclosure, and do not set forth any limitation on the scope of the present disclosure. The embodiments described herein may be implemented in a variety of ways other than those 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 skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

References in the present disclosure to "one embodiment," "an example embodiment," etc., indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but every embodiment may not necessarily include 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 will be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and, similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of example embodiments. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises," "comprising," "has," "having," "includes" and/or "including," when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, elements, and/or components, etc., but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components, and/or groups 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 in analog and/or digital circuitry only)

Now); and

(b) a combination of hardware circuitry and software, such as (as applicable):

(i) combinations of analog and/or digital hardware circuitry and software/firmware, and

(ii) hardware processor with software (including digital signal processor), software and any part of memory that work in conjunction to cause a device such as a mobile telephone

Or a server or the like to perform various functions; and

(c) hardware circuitry and/or a processor, such as a microprocessor or a portion of a microprocessor, that requires software (e.g., firmware) to operate (but may not be present when operation is not required).

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

As used herein, the term "communication network" refers to a network that conforms to any suitable communication standard, such as New Radio (NR), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-advanced (LTE-a), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), narrowband internet of things (NB-IoT), and so on. Further, communication between the terminal device and the network device in the communication network may be performed according to any suitable generation communication protocol, including, but not limited to, first generation (1G), second generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G), 4.5G, future fifth generation (5G) communication protocols, and/or any other protocol now known or later developed. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied to various communication systems. Given the rapid development of communications, there will of course also be future types of communication techniques and systems that may embody the present disclosure. The scope of the present disclosure should not be limited to the above-described systems.

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. Network equipment may refer to a Base Station (BS) or an Access Point (AP), e.g., a node B (NodeB or NB), an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB), an NR NB (also known as a gNB), a Remote Radio Unit (RRU), a Radio Header (RH), a Remote Radio Head (RRH), a relay, an Integrated and Access Backhaul (IAB) node, a low power node (such as femto, pico), a non-terrestrial network (NTN), or non-terrestrial network equipment (such as satellite network equipment, Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites, and Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) satellites), aircraft network equipment, and so forth, depending on the terminology and technology applied.

The term "terminal device" refers to any terminal device that may be capable of wireless communication. By way of example, and not limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, User Equipment (UE), Subscriber Station (SS), portable subscriber station, Mobile Station (MS), or Access Terminal (AT). The end devices may include, but are not limited to, mobile phones, cellular phones, smart phones, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, tablets, wearable end devices, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), portable computers, desktop computers, image capture end devices such as digital cameras, gaming end devices, music storage and playback devices, in-vehicle wireless end devices, wireless terminals, mobile stations, laptop embedded devices (LEEs), laptop installation devices (LMEs), USB dongles, smart devices, wireless Customer Premises Equipment (CPE), internet of things (loT) devices, watches or other wearable devices, Head Mounted Displays (HMDs), vehicles, drones, medical devices and applications (e.g., tele-surgery), industrial devices and applications (e.g., robots and/or other wireless devices operating in an industrial and/or automated processing chain environment), Consumer electronics devices, devices operating on commercial and/or industrial wireless networks, and the like. In the following description, the terms "terminal device", "communication device", "terminal", "user equipment" and "UE" may be used interchangeably.

As described above, one UE may receive multiple time-overlapping transmission opportunities on an unlicensed frequency band. Therefore, how to select a suitable transmission opportunity is a very important aspect. Most release 16 features introduced for industrial internet of things (IIoT)/URLLC use cases are developed under the assumption that licensed bands operate, and the feasibility of these features in unlicensed bands should be considered because their effectiveness should be re-evaluated due to potential listen-before-talk (LBT) failures in unlicensed bands.

Prioritization within user equipment has been extensively discussed in release 16, which deals with the case where the user equipment has two or more transmission opportunities and its resources (e.g. Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH)) overlap in time. Therefore, the user equipment should only handle one of the collision transmission opportunities, e.g., construct a MAC Protocol Data Unit (PDU) and instruct the Physical (PHY) layer to transmit it. According to the protocol agreed in release 16, the MAC layer should consider the following aspects in selecting a transmission opportunity.

For example, for collisions between multiple uplink grants, a decision should be made based on which colliding grant will carry data with higher Logical Channel (LCH) priority. Only grants for Transmission Blocks (TBs) that can be transmitted by the PHY should be considered. For example, if there is already an ongoing transmission at the PHY, even if the MAC PDU carries higher priority data, the MAC PDU may not be processed by the PHY due to feasibility issues. In this case, the MAC should avoid generating the grant corresponding to the MAC PDU, although its priority is higher.

In new radio unlicensed (NR-U) communication systems almost all transmissions are limited by the LBT mechanism, which means that a transmission can only take place if and only if the radio channel is detected as clear. Therefore, the sender may have to deal with a large amount of uncertainty as to whether or not the TB will be sent on the planned PUSCH. In this regard, since the MAC transmission opportunity selected based on LCH priority may eventually stop at the PHY due to LBT failure, an unexpected situation of UE internal priority may eventually result. It is also worth noting that since LCH limits are semi-statically configured and LBT failures are dynamically configured, it is not always possible to always send the highest priority data to data without LBT failures. Thus, there is no guarantee that higher priority data (e.g., URLLC) can be sent faster, while wasting resources to de-prioritized (unselected) transmission opportunities.

To address at least part of the above problems, a solution is proposed that assists a terminal device in appropriate transmission opportunity selection in an unlicensed frequency band. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a first device receives a plurality of transmission opportunities from a second device. The first device determines a probability of accessing a channel of multiple transmission opportunities if resources of the multiple transmissions collide. The first device selects a transmission opportunity by considering the probability of accessing the channel. In this way, the first device may consider prioritizing transmission opportunities with higher probability of LBT success, rather than just data priority, thereby improving efficiency. Furthermore, it reduces the probability that the first device selects a transmission opportunity that cannot be eventually transmitted due to an LBT failure, which results in a reduction of the benefits of intra-UE prioritization. A transmission opportunity may refer to a resource allocation for data transmission (e.g., a dynamic grant or a configured grant) or control signal transmission (e.g., PUCCH).

Fig. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of a communication environment 100 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. Communication environment 100, which is part of a communication network, also includes device 110-1, device 110-2, … …, device 110-N (which may be collectively referred to as "first device 110"). The communication environment 100 includes a second device 120. The first device 110 and the second device 120 may communicate with each other.

Communication environment 100 may include any suitable number of devices and cells. In the communication environment 100, the first device 110 and the second device 120 may communicate data and control information with each other. In the case where the first device 110 is a terminal device and the second device 120 is a network device, a link from the second device 120 to the first device 110 is referred to as a Downlink (DL), and a link from the first device 110 to the second device 120 is referred to as an Uplink (UL). The second device 120 and the first device 110 are interchangeable.

It will be understood that the first device and the number of units and their connections shown in fig. 1 are given for illustrative purposes and do not present any limitations. Communication environment 100 may include any suitable number of devices and networks suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure.

Communications in communication environment 100 may be implemented in accordance with any suitable communication protocol, including, but not limited to, first-generation (1G), second-generation (2G), third-generation (3G), fourth-generation (4G), and fifth-generation (5G), etc. cellular communication protocols, wireless local area network communication protocols such as Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)802.11, and/or any other protocol currently known or to be developed in the future. Further, the communication may use any suitable 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 Multiplexing (OFDM), discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM), and/or any other technique now known or later developed.

Referring now to fig. 2, a signaling flow 200 for training a downlink data processing model with uplink channel information is shown, according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure. For purposes of discussion, signaling flow 200 will be described with reference to fig. 1. The signaling flow 200 may involve the first device 110-1 and the second device.

The second device 120 sends 2005 the first configuration to the first device 110-1. The first configuration indicates at least a first set of resources for a first transmission to the second device 120. The second device 120 sends 2010 the second configuration to the first device 110-1. The second configuration indicates at least a second set of resources for a second transmission to the second device 120. It should be noted that the second device 120 may send any suitable number of configurations to the first device 110-1. For purposes of illustration only, embodiments of the present disclosure are described with reference to two configurations. In other embodiments, the first configuration and the second configuration may be transmitted by other devices than the second device 120. For example, the other device (e.g., network device) may send the first and/or second configuration to the first device 110-1. The first device 110-1 may perform a first transmission and/or a second transmission to the second device 120. If the first device 110-1 and the second device 120 are terminal devices, the first transmission and the second transmission may refer to device-to-device (D2D) transmissions. That is, the first transmission and the second configuration may include resource allocations for D2D communication. For illustration purposes only, embodiments are described with reference to the case where the first configuration and the second configuration are sent by the second device and the first transmission and the second transmission are to the second device.

In some embodiments, the configuration may be resource allocation information from the second device 120 to the first device 110-1, such as a dynamic authorization or a configured authorization. For example, the grant may be Downlink Control Information (DCI) format 0. For purposes of illustration, the first configuration may include a first authorization and the second configuration may include a second authorization. The grant may include a resource allocation, which may indicate a set of resources for the corresponding transmission. Additionally, authorization may include other transmission-related information and parameters, such as one or more of the following: modulation and Coding (MCS), cyclic shift, new data indicator, transmission power control, channel quality indicator request, etc.

In some embodiments, the second device 120 may send 2012 an indication of the LBT type of the first transmission. In some embodiments, the indication may include an LBT type of the first transmission. Alternatively, the indication may include an LBT type of the second transmission. In other embodiments, the indication may include an LBT type of the first transmission and an LBT type of the second transmission. For example, the type of LBT may be one of channel access type 2A, channel access type 2B, or channel access type 2C. The type of LBT may include any suitable type. The indication may be included in the configuration.

Alternatively or in addition, the second device 120 may also transmit 2015 Channel Occupancy Time (COT) information. The channel occupancy time may refer to a continuous transmission time after channel detection.

In other embodiments, the second device 120 may transmit 2020 an indication indicating at least an authorization priority to the first device 110-1. For example, the indication may include a first priority of the first grant and a second priority of the second grant. The indication may also indicate which priority is higher.

The first device 110-1 may compare the first set of resources to the second set of resources to determine whether the first set of resources and the second set of resources overlap each other. In some embodiments, the first set of resources may completely overlap with the second set of resources. Alternatively, the first set of resources may partially overlap with the second set of resources. For example, the first set of resources and the second set of resources may partially overlap in the time domain and completely overlap in the frequency domain. In other embodiments, the first set of resources and the second set of resources may partially overlap in the frequency domain and completely overlap in the time domain. In other embodiments, the first set of resources and the second set of resources may partially overlap in the frequency domain and the time domain. In yet another embodiment, the first set of resources and the second set of resources may not overlap in the frequency domain, but at least partially overlap in the time domain.

If the first set of resources at least partially overlaps the second set of resources, the first device 110-1 determines 2025 a first probability of first granted channel access and determines 2030 a second probability of second granted channel access. For example, the first device 110-1 may determine whether the first probability is higher or lower than the second probability. If the first probability is higher than the second probability, it means that the first grant has a high channel access probability. If the first probability is lower than the second probability, it means that the first grant has a low channel probability. Alternatively or additionally, for either or both of the first grant and the second grant, the first device may determine whether an LBT procedure is required to access the channel instead of comparing the first probability and the second probability. For example, first device 110-1 may determine a first necessity of LBT for a first transmission/grant and a second necessity of LBT for a second transmission/grant. If the LBT procedure for the first transmission is unnecessary based on the first necessity and the LBT procedure for the second transmission is necessary based on the second necessity, the first probability is higher than the second probability, which means that the first transmission will be performed. For example, if the first transmission does not require an LBT procedure, the probability of the first transmission is 100% because the first transmission can positively use the channel.

In some embodiments, the first device 110-1 may determine that the first probability belongs to a high channel access probability if the initiation shows that the LBT type of the first transmission is used for one of channel access type 2A, channel access type 2B, or channel access type 2C. In other words, the first transmission is prioritized if the LBT type of the first transmission is used for one of channel access type 2A, channel access type 2B, or channel access type 2C. Similarly, if the LBT type of the second transmission is for one of channel access type 2A, channel access type 2B, or channel access type 2C, the first device 110-1 may determine that the second probability belongs to a high channel access probability. In some embodiments, the first probability is higher than the second probability if the channel access type of the first transmission is channel access type 2C and the channel access type of the second transmission is any one of channel access type 2B, channel access type 2A, or channel access type 1. The first probability is lower than the second probability if the channel access type of the first transmission is channel access type 1 and the channel access type of the second transmission is any one of channel access type 2C, channel access type 2B, or channel access type 2A. The first probability is higher than the second probability if the channel access type of the first transmission is channel access type 2B and the channel access type of the second transmission is channel access type 2A.

Alternatively or additionally, the first device 110-1 may determine that the first probability belongs to a high channel access probability if the first transmission may be performed within the COT of the second device 120. Similarly, the first device 110-1 may determine that the second probability belongs to a high channel access probability if the second transmission may be performed within the COT of the second device 120. In some embodiments, the first probability is higher than the second probability if the first transmission can be performed within the COT and the second transmission cannot be performed within the COT. In this case, the first transmission takes precedence over the second transmission.

In other embodiments, the first device 110-1 may determine that the first probability belongs to a high probability of channel access if the first transmission is continuous, wherein the channel access has been successful for at least a portion of the continuous transmission. For example, for a continuous transmission after the first device 110-1 accesses the channel, a separate LBT is not needed. Similarly, if the second transmission is at least part of a continuous transmission where the channel access has been successful, the first device 110-1 may determine that the second probability belongs to a high channel access probability. Thus, the first device 110-1 may determine the first probability and/or the second probability based on whether the first transmission or the second transmission is part of a continuous transmission for which channel access has been successful. In some embodiments, the first device 110-1 may determine that the first probability is higher than the second probability if the first transmission is at least a portion of a continuous transmission for which channel access has been successful and the second transmission is a discontinuous transmission for which channel access has been successful.

In some embodiments, in the case of frame-based device (FBE) operation, transmissions within the COT of the second device 120 have a higher probability of channel access than UE-initiated frequent decision feedback (FFB), especially if the COT is detected. In other words, the first device 110-1 may be in a channel access procedure of semi-static channel occupancy. For example, when first device 110-1 is in FBE operation, first device 110-1 may determine whether the first transmission may be performed within the COT of second device 120. The first device 110-1 may determine that the first probability belongs to a high channel access probability if the first transmission may be performed within the COT. In some embodiments, if the first device 110-1 is in a channel access procedure of semi-static channel occupancy, the first device 110-1 may determine whether the first transmission and the second transmission can be performed within a channel occupancy time of the second device 120. The first probability is higher than the second probability if the first transmission can be performed within the channel occupancy time and the second transmission is to be performed outside the channel occupancy time.

The first device 110-1 determines 2033 whether to perform the first transmission or the second transmission based at least on the first probability or the first necessity and the second probability or the second necessity. For example, if the first probability is higher than the second probability, the first transmission may be performed. Alternatively, if the first transmission requires LBT and the second transmission does not, the second transmission may be performed.

The first device 110-1 performs 2035 the first transmission or the second transmission based on the first probability and the second probability. For example, if neither the first probability nor the second probability is a high channel access probability, the first device 110-1 may perform intra-UE prioritization based on conventional rules (e.g., based on LCH priorities).

In some embodiments, for two or more conflicting licenses involving a high channel access probability and a low channel access probability, the MAC layer at the first device 110-1 may first remove all conflicting licenses with a low channel access probability. The MAC layer may then perform intra-UE prioritization based on LCH priorities (and/or other mechanisms, such as L1 priorities) among the remaining conflicting grants with high channel access probability. For example, if there are three conflicting grants, where a first conflicting grant and a second conflicting grant each have a high channel access probability, and a third conflicting grant has a low channel access probability, the MAC layer may relinquish the third conflicting grant first. The MAC layer then further compares the highest priority of data that can and/or will be carried by each of the first and second conflicting grants to determine whether the first or second transmission should be performed.

Alternatively, the MAC layer may select a high priority LCH for grants with a high channel access probability and a low priority LCH for UL grants with a low channel access probability. For example, if the first probability is a high channel access probability and the second probability is a low channel access probability, the first device 110-1 may map data from the first LCH to the first transmission and map data from the second LCH to the second transmission. The first priority of the first LCH may be higher than the second priority of the second LCH.

In some embodiments, the first device 110-1 may generate a MAC PDU for grant with a high channel access probability regardless of the data it transmits. In this option, the MAC layer may generate MAC PDUs for grants with a high channel access probability, even if the MAC PDUs are considered deprioritized based on the LCH-based priority rules. Thus, even if an LBT failure occurs on a prioritized grant, the PHY layer at the first device 110-1 may transmit a TB for canceling the prioritized grant with lower latency. The PHY layer may start transmission with a high channel access probability if a grant with a high channel access probability starts before another higher priority grant, and then preamble if LBT succeeds for the higher priority grant. For example, if the first probability is a high channel access probability and the second probability is a low channel access probability, the first device 110-1 may generate a MAC PDU for the first grant and perform the first transmission regardless of the priority of the LCH corresponding to the first grant.

Alternatively or additionally, if the first probability is a high channel access probability and the second probability is also a high channel access probability, the first device 110-1 may compare a first data priority corresponding to the first transmission with a second data priority corresponding to the second transmission. First device 110-1 may perform the first transmission if the first data priority is higher than the second data priority.

In some embodiments, the LCH mapping limits may be changed if at least one conflicting grant has a higher channel access probability than at least one other conflicting grant. For the case where some LCHs are configured with LCH mapping limits (i.e. data from these LCHs are allowed to map to only certain grants), the MAC layer may temporarily modify some configured LCH mapping limits when collisions occur between grants that involve a higher probability of channel access than other colliding grants. Thus, high priority LCHs can be mapped to these grants with higher channel access probability, which is prohibited according to the original LCH mapping restriction configuration. In this sense, grants with high channel access probability may be selected according to release 16 rules based on data priority. In some embodiments, if at least one of the first probability and the second probability is a high channel access probability (which may be considered a high channel access probability if the probability exceeds a threshold probability in some embodiments), the first device 110-1 may modify at least one configured logical channel mapping restriction. The logical channel mapping restriction may be configured for each logical channel. For example, if the first probability is a high channel access probability and the second probability is a low channel access probability, the first device 110-1 may compare a first data priority corresponding to the first transmission with a second data priority corresponding to the second transmission according to the original LCH mapping restriction configuration. If the first data priority is lower than the second data priority, first device 110-1 may at least temporarily change the LCH mapping restriction configuration and map a third LCH to the first transmission and perform the first transmission. The third LCH can be restricted to the second transmission based on the original LCH mapping restriction. In other words, the third LCH may only be allowed to map to the second transmission and not to the first transmission, according to the original LCH mapping restriction configuration. Since the channel access probability of the first transmission is higher than the second transmission, the first device 110-1 changes the original LCH mapping restriction configuration and the first transmission can be performed to carry high priority data (from the third LCH), avoiding the situation where the transmission of high priority data is stopped in the second transmission with a lower channel access probability.

Alternatively, the MAC layer may start with the release 16 rule, selecting the grant according to the LCH priority. If the highest priority of data that can be carried by two or more conflicting grants is the same, the MAC layer should select data with a high probability of channel access. For example, if one LCH is allowed to obtain multiple overlapping (or non-overlapping) fundamentations, then grants that do not require LBT should be prioritized over grants that do. For example, the first device 110-1 may first compare a first data priority corresponding to a first transmission with a second data priority corresponding to a second transmission. If the first data priority is equal to the second data priority, the first device 110-1 may compare the first probability to the second probability. If the first probability is higher than the second probability, the first device 110-1 may perform the first transmission while abandoning the second transmission.

In yet another embodiment, the second device 120 may assign dynamic grants with different PHY priorities so that the first device can determine what transmission should be made when two or more colliding MAC PDUs are passed from the MAC to the PHY. In this case, a dynamic grant with a high channel access probability can be directly treated as a grant with a high PHY priority without explicitly indicating the PHY priority of the grant. Thus, the first device may determine the PHY priority of the transmission opportunity directly based on its channel access probability.

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, a new grant selection mechanism is proposed, where MAC intra-UE prioritization should take into account the likelihood of LBT success. Thus, in conflicting grants, the MAC should also consider which grants are more likely to be transmitted by the PHY in an unlicensed band scenario, rather than just data priority. In this way, it allows the first device to prioritize grants with a higher probability of LBT success, thereby improving efficiency. Furthermore, this reduces the probability that the first device selects a grant that will eventually fail to transmit due to an LBT failure, which results in a reduction of the benefit of intra-UE prioritization.

Fig. 3 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 300 implemented at the first device 110, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For purposes of discussion, the method 300 will be described from the perspective of the first device 110.

At block 310, the first device 110-1 receives a first configuration. The first grant indicates at least a first set of resources for a first transmission to the second device 120.

At block 320, the first device 110-1 receives a second configuration. The second grant indicates at least a second set of resources for a second transmission to the second device 120. In some embodiments, the first configuration and the second configuration may be received from a second device. In other embodiments, the first configuration and the second configuration may be received from other devices different from the second device 120. For example, the other device (e.g., network device) may send the first configuration and/or the second configuration to the first device 110-1. First device 110-1 may perform the first transmission and/or the second transmission to second device 120. If the first device 110-1 and the second device 120 are terminal devices, the first transmission and the second transmission may refer to device-to-device (D2D) transmissions. That is, the first configuration and the second configuration may include resource allocations for D2D communication. For illustration purposes only, the embodiments are described with reference to the case where the first configuration and the second configuration are sent by the second device and the first transmission and the second transmission are to the second device 120.

In some embodiments, the configuration may be resource allocation information from the second device 120 to the first device 110-1, such as a dynamic authorization or a configured authorization. For example, the grant may be DCI format 0. For purposes of illustration, the first configuration may include a first authorization and the second configuration may include a second authorization. The grant may include a resource allocation, which may indicate a set of resources for the corresponding transmission. Additionally, the grant may include other transmission-related information and parameters, such as one or more of Modulation and Coding (MCS), cyclic shift, new data indicator, transmission power control, channel quality indicator request, and the like.

In some embodiments, first device 110-1 may receive an indication of an LBT type for the first transmission. In some embodiments, the indication may include an LBT type of the first transmission. Alternatively, the indication may include an LBT type of the second transmission. In other embodiments, the indication may include an LBT type of the first transmission and an LBT type of the second transmission. For example, the type of LBT may be: one of channel access type 2A, channel access type 2B, or channel access type 2C. The type of LBT may include any suitable type. The indication may be included in the configuration.

Alternatively or additionally, the first device 110-1 may also receive information of a Channel Occupancy Time (COT). The channel occupancy time may refer to a continuous transmission time after channel detection.

In other embodiments, the first device 110-1 may receive an indication indicating at least an authorization priority. For example, the indication may include a first priority of the first grant and a second priority of the second grant. The indication may also indicate which priority is higher.

In some embodiments, the first device 110-1 may compare the first set of resources to the second set of resources to determine whether the first set of resources and the second set of resources overlap each other. In some embodiments, the first set of resources may completely overlap with the second set of resources. Alternatively, the first set of resources may partially overlap with the second set of resources. For example, the first set of resources and the second set of resources may partially overlap in the time domain and completely overlap in the frequency domain. In other embodiments, the first set of resources and the second set of resources may partially overlap in the frequency domain and completely overlap in the time domain. In a further embodiment, the first set of resources and the second set of resources may partially overlap in the frequency domain and the time domain. In yet another embodiment, the first set of resources and the second set of resources may not overlap in the frequency domain, but at least partially overlap in the time domain.

At block 330, the first device 110-1 determines a first probability of first authorized channel access and determines a second probability of second authorized channel access. For example, the first device 110-1 may determine whether the first probability is higher or lower than the second probability. If the first probability is higher than the second probability, it means that the first grant has a high channel access probability. If the first probability is lower than the second probability, it means that the first grant has a low channel probability. Alternatively or additionally, for either or both of the first grant and the second grant, the first device may determine whether an LBT procedure is required to access the channel instead of comparing the first probability and the second probability. For example, first device 110-1 may determine a first necessity for LBT for a first transmission/grant and a second necessity for LBT for a second transmission/grant. If the LBT of the first transmission is not necessary and the LBT of the second transmission is necessary, the first probability is higher than the second probability, which means that the first transmission will be performed. For example, if the first transmission does not require an LBT procedure, the probability of the first transmission is 100% because the first transmission may positively use the channel.

In some embodiments, the first device 110-1 may determine that the first probability belongs to a high channel access probability if the initiation shows that the LBT type of the first transmission is used for one of channel access type 2A, channel access type 2B, or channel access type 2C. In other words, the first transmission is prioritized if the channel access type of the first transmission is one of channel access type 2A, channel access type 2B, or channel access type 2C. Similarly, if the LBT type of the second transmission is for one of channel access type 2A, channel access type 2B, or channel access type 2C, the first device 110-1 may determine that the second probability belongs to a high channel access probability. In some embodiments, the first probability is higher than the second probability if the channel access type of the first transmission is channel access type 2C and the channel access type of the second transmission is any one of channel access type 2B, channel access type 2A, or channel access type 1. The first probability is lower than the second probability if the channel access type of the first transmission is channel access type 1 and the channel access type of the second transmission is any one of channel access type 2C, channel access type 2B, or channel access type 2A. The first probability is higher than the second probability if the channel access type of the first transmission is channel access type 2B and the channel access type of the second transmission is channel access type 2A.

In other embodiments, the first device 110-1 may determine that the first probability belongs to a high probability of channel access if the first transmission is continuous, wherein the channel access has been successful for at least a portion of the continuous transmission. Similarly, if the second transmission is at least part of a continuous transmission where the channel access has been successful, the first device 110-1 may determine that the second probability belongs to a high channel access probability. Thus, the first device 110-1 may determine the first probability and/or the second probability based on whether the first transmission or the second transmission is part of a continuous transmission for which channel access has been successful. In some embodiments, the first device 110-1 may determine that the first probability is higher than the second probability if the first transmission is at least a portion of a continuous transmission for which channel access has been successful and the second transmission is a discontinuous transmission for which channel access has been successful.

Two Listen Before Talk (LBT) principles are introduced, namely Load Based Equipment (LBE) and Frame Based Equipment (FBE). LBT may not have a random backoff. The duration for which the channel is detected as idle before transmission by the transmitting entity is determined. The FBE protocol can be viewed as a variant of a Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) based protocol and adds listen-before-talk behavior. In some embodiments, with FBE operation, transmissions within the COT of the second device 120 have a higher probability of channel access than a UE-initiated fixed frame period (FFB), especially if a COT is detected. In other words, the first device 110-1 may be in a channel access procedure of semi-static channel occupancy. For example, when first device 110-1 is in FBE operation, first device 110-1 may determine whether the first transmission may be performed within the COT of second device 120. The first device 110-1 may determine that the first probability belongs to a high channel access probability if the first transmission may be performed within the COT.

At block 340, the first device 110-1 determines whether to perform the first transmission or the second transmission based at least on the first probability or the first necessity and the second probability or the second necessity. For example, if the first probability is higher than the second probability, the first transmission may be performed. Alternatively, if LBT of the first transmission is needed based on the first necessity and LBT of the second transmission is not needed based on the second necessity, the second transmission may be performed. The first transmission may be performed if the first transmission does not require LBT and the second transmission requires LBT.

At block 350, the first device 110-1 performs the first transmission or the second transmission based on the first probability and the second probability. For example, if neither the first probability nor the second probability belong to a high channel access probability, the first device 110-1 may perform intra-UE prioritization based on conventional rules (e.g., based on LCH priorities).

In some embodiments, for two or more conflicting licenses involving a high channel access probability and a low channel access probability, the MAC layer at the first device 110-1 may first remove all conflicting licenses with a low channel access probability. The MAC layer may then perform intra-UE prioritization based on the LCH priorities (and/or other mechanisms, such as L1 priorities) in the remaining conflicting grants with high channel access probability. For example, if there are three conflicting grants, where a first conflicting grant and a second conflicting grant each have a high channel access probability, and a third conflicting grant has a low channel access probability, the MAC layer may relinquish the third conflicting grant first. The MAC layer then further compares the highest priority of data that can and/or will be carried by each of the first and second conflicting grants to determine whether the first or second transmission should be performed.

In some embodiments, the first device 110-1 may generate a MAC PDU for grant with a high channel access probability regardless of the data it transmits. In this option, the MAC layer may generate MAC PDUs for grants with a high channel access probability, even if the MAC PDUs are considered deprioritized based on the LCH-based priority rules. Thus, even if an LBT failure occurs on the prioritized grant, the PHY layer at the first device 110-1 may transmit the granted TBs with high channel access probability with low latency. If a grant with a high channel access probability starts before another higher priority grant, the PHY layer may start transmitting and preamble if LBT is successful for the higher priority grant. For example, if the first probability is a high channel access probability and the second probability is a low channel access probability, the first device 110-1 may generate a MAC PDU for the first grant and perform the first transmission regardless of the priority of the LCH corresponding to the first grant.

In some embodiments, the LCH mapping limits may be changed if at least one conflicting grant has a higher channel access probability than at least one other conflicting grant. For the case where some LCHs are configured with LCH mapping limits (i.e. data from these LCHs are allowed to map to only certain grants), the MAC layer may temporarily modify some configured LCH mapping limits when collisions occur between grants that involve a higher probability of channel access than other colliding grants. Thus, high priority LCHs can be mapped to these grants with higher channel access probability, which is prohibited according to the original LCH mapping restriction configuration. In this sense, grants with high channel access probability may be selected according to release 16 rules based on data priority. In some embodiments, the first device 110-1 may modify at least one configured logical channel mapping restriction if at least one of the first probability and the second probability is a high channel access probability (in some embodiments, exceeding a threshold probability). The logical channel mapping restriction may be configured for each logical channel. For example, if the first probability is a high channel access probability and the second probability is a low channel access probability, the first device 110-1 may compare a first data priority corresponding to the first transmission with a second data priority corresponding to the second transmission according to the original LCH mapping restriction configuration. If the first data priority is lower than the second data priority, first device 110-1 may at least temporarily change the LCH mapping restriction configuration and map a third LCH to the first transmission and perform the first transmission. The third LCH can be restricted to the second transmission based on the original LCH mapping restriction. In other words, the third channel may only be allowed to map to the second transmission and not to the first transmission according to the original LCH mapping restriction configuration. Since the channel access probability of the first transmission is higher than the second transmission, the first device 110-1 changes the original LCH mapping restriction configuration and the first transmission can be performed to carry high priority data (from the third LCH), avoiding the situation where the transmission of high priority data is stopped in the second transmission with a lower channel access probability.

In yet another embodiment, the second device 120 may assign dynamic grants with different grant priorities so that the PHY can determine what transmission should be made when two or more colliding MAC PDUs are passed from the MAC to the PHY. In this case, dynamic grants with high channel access probability can be directly treated as high priority grants without explicit indication of grant priority. Thus, the first device may determine the physical layer priority of the transmission opportunity directly based on its channel access probability.

Fig. 4 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 400 implemented at the second device 120, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For purposes of discussion, the method 400 will be described from the perspective of the second device 120. It should be noted that the dashed box is optional.

At block 410, the second device 120 sends the first configuration to the first device 110-1. The first grant indicates at least a first set of resources for a first transmission to the second device 120.

At block 420, the second device 120 sends the second configuration to the first device 110-1. The second grant indicates at least a second set of resources for a second transmission to the second device 120. It should be noted that the second device 120 may send any suitable number of authorizations to the first device 110-1. For purposes of illustration only, embodiments of the disclosure are described with reference to two grants.

In some embodiments, the second device 120 may send an indication of the LBT type of the first transmission. In some embodiments, the indication may include an LBT type of the first transmission. Alternatively, the indication may include an LBT type of the second transmission. In other embodiments, the indication may include an LBT type of the first transmission and an LBT type of the second transmission. For example, the type of LBT may be: one of channel access type 2A, channel access type 2B, or channel access type 2C. The type of LBT may include any suitable type. The indication may be included in the configuration.

Or, additionally, the second device may also transmit 2015 Channel Occupancy Time (COT) information. The channel occupancy time may refer to a continuous transmission time after channel detection.

In other embodiments, second device 120 may send an indication to first device 110-1 indicating at least an authorization priority. For example, the indication may include a first priority of the first grant and a second priority of the second grant. The indication may also indicate which priority is higher.

At block 430, the second device 120 receives the first transmission or the second transmission based on the first probability and the second probability.

In some example embodiments, a first apparatus (e.g., first device 110) capable of performing any of method 300 may include means for performing the respective operations of method 300. The component may be embodied in any suitable form. For example, the components may be implemented in a circuit or a software module. The first apparatus may be implemented as the first device 110 or comprised in the first device 110. In some example embodiments, the apparatus may include at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code. The at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, implement the capabilities of the apparatus.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus includes means for receiving, at a first device, a first configuration indicating a first set of resources for a first transmission to a second device; means for receiving, at the first device, a second configuration indicating a second set of resources for a second transmission to the second device; means for determining a first probability of channel access or a first necessity of Listen Before Talk (LBT) for a first transmission and a second probability of channel access or a second necessity of LBT for a second transmission if it is determined that the first set of resources at least partially overlaps the second set of resources; means for determining whether to perform the first transmission or the second transmission based on the first probability or the first necessity and the second probability or the second necessity; and means for performing the first transmission or the second transmission based on the determination.

In some example embodiments, the means for determining the first probability of the first transmission comprises: means for receiving an indication from the second device regarding a type of listen before talk for the first transmission; and means for determining the first probability based on the type of listen before talk.

In some example embodiments, the means for determining the first probability of the first transmission comprises: means for receiving information from a second device indicating a channel occupancy time of the second device; and means for determining that the first probability is higher than the second probability if it is determined that the first transmission can be performed within the channel occupancy time and the second transmission is to be performed outside the channel occupancy time.

In some example embodiments, the means for determining the first probability of the first transmission comprises: means for determining that the first probability is higher than the second probability if it is determined that the first transmission is at least a portion of a continuous transmission for which channel access has been successful and the second transmission is a discontinuous transmission for which channel access has been successful.

In some example embodiments, the means for determining the first probability of the first transmission comprises: means for determining whether the first transmission can be performed within a channel occupancy time of the second device if it is determined that the first device is in a channel access procedure for semi-static channel occupancy; and means for determining that the first probability is higher than the second probability if it is determined that the first transmission can be performed within the channel occupancy time and the second transmission is to be performed outside the channel occupancy time.

In some example embodiments, an apparatus for performing a first transmission or a second transmission comprises: means for performing a first transmission if it is determined that the first probability is higher than the second probability.

In some example embodiments, the means for performing the first transmission or the second transmission comprises: means for comparing a first data priority corresponding to the first transmission with a second data priority corresponding to the second transmission if the first probability is determined to be equal to the second probability; and means for performing the first transmission if the first data priority is determined to be higher than the second data priority.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for modifying the at least one configured logical channel mapping restriction if it is determined that the first probability is higher than the second probability.

In some example embodiments, the means for performing the first transmission or the second transmission comprises: means for comparing a first data priority corresponding to a first transmission with a second data priority corresponding to a second transmission; means for comparing the first probability to the second probability if it is determined that the first data priority is equal to the second data priority; and means for performing the first transmission if it is determined that the first probability is higher than the second probability.

In some example embodiments, the means for determining whether the first transmission or the second transmission is to be performed comprises means for determining that the first transmission is to be performed if it is determined that LBT for the first transmission is unnecessary and LBT for the second transmission is necessary.

In some example embodiments, a second apparatus (e.g., second device 120) capable of performing any of method 400 may include means for performing the respective operations of method 400. The component may be embodied in any suitable form. For example, the components may be implemented in a circuit or a software module. The second apparatus may be implemented as the second device 120 or included in the second device 120. In some example embodiments, the apparatus may include at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code. The at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, implement the capabilities of the apparatus.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus includes means for transmitting, at a second device, a first configuration to a first device, the first configuration indicating a first set of resources for a first transmission to the second device; means for transmitting a second configuration to the first device, the second configuration indicating a second set of resources for a second transmission to the second device; and means for receiving the first transmission or the second transmission based on the first probability of channel access or the first necessity of a Listen Before Talk (LBT) procedure for the first transmission and the second probability of channel access or the second necessity of a LBT procedure for the second transmission.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for sending an indication to the first device of a type of listen-before-talk for the first transmission.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for transmitting, to the first device, information indicative of a channel occupancy time of the second device.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for transmitting, to the first device, an indication of a first priority of the first transmission and a second priority of the second transmission.

Fig. 5 is a simplified block diagram of a device 500 suitable for implementing an example embodiment of the present disclosure. The device 500 may be used to implement a communication device, such as the first device 110 or the second device 120 shown in fig. 1. As shown, the device 500 includes one or more processors 510, one or more memories 520 coupled to the processors 510, and one or more communication modules 540 coupled to the processors 510.

The communication module 540 is used for bidirectional communication. The communication module 540 has one or more communication interfaces to facilitate communication with one or more other modules or devices. A communication interface may represent any interface required to communicate with other network elements. In some example embodiments, the communication module 540 may include at least one antenna.

Processor 510 may be of any type suitable for a local technology network, and may include one or more of the following: one or more of a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a microprocessor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), and a processor based on a multi-core processor architecture. Device 600 may have multiple processors, such as application specific integrated circuit chips that are time-dependent from a clock synchronized to the main processor.

Memory 520 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of non-volatile memory include, but are not limited to, Read Only Memory (ROM)524, Electrically Programmable Read Only Memory (EPROM), flash memory, a hard disk, a Compact Disk (CD), a Digital Video Disk (DVD), an optical disk, a laser disk, and other magnetic and/or optical storage. Examples of volatile memory include, but are not limited to, Random Access Memory (RAM)522 and other volatile memory that does not persist for the duration of the power down.

The computer programs 530 include computer-executable instructions that are executed by the associated processor 510. The program 530 may be stored in a memory (e.g., ROM 524). Processor 510 may perform any suitable actions and processes by loading programs 530 into RAM 522.

Example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by way of program 530, such that device 600 may perform any of the processes of the present disclosure as discussed with reference to fig. 2-4. Example embodiments of the present disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or a combination of software and hardware.

In some example embodiments, the program 530 may be tangibly embodied in a computer-readable medium, which may be included in the device 500 (such as in the memory 520) or in other storage accessible to the device 500. Device 600 may load program 530 from the computer-readable medium into RAM 522 for execution. The computer-readable medium may include any type of tangible, non-volatile storage, such as ROM, EPROM, flash memory, a hard disk, a CD, DVD, and other magnetic and/or optical storage. Fig. 6 shows an example of a computer readable medium 600 in the form of an optical storage disc. The program 530 is stored on a computer readable medium.

In general, the various embodiments of the 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 the embodiments of the disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flow charts, or using some other pictorial representation, it is well understood that the block diagrams, apparatus, systems, techniques or methods described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The computer program product comprises computer-executable instructions, such as those included in program modules, that execute in a device on a target physical or virtual processor to perform any of the methods described above with reference to fig. 2-4. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data types, etc. 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 local or distributed devices. In a distributed facility, program modules may be located in both local and remote memory storage media.

Program code for performing the methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. These program codes may be provided to a processor or controller of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that the execution of the program codes by the processor or controller causes the functions/operations specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram to be performed. The program code may execute entirely on the 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, computer program code or related data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable a device, apparatus or processor to perform various processes and operations as described above. Examples of a 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 is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination thereof. More specific examples of a computer-readable storage medium 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 thereof.

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 some cases, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Also, while the above discussion contains several specific implementation details, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Certain features that are described in the context of separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination.

Although the disclosure has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the 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

1. A first device, comprising:

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 the first apparatus to:

receiving a first configuration from a second device, the first configuration indicating a first set of resources for a first transmission to the second device;

receiving a second configuration from the second device, the second configuration indicating a second set of resources for a second transmission to the second device;

determining a first probability of channel access or a first necessity of Listen Before Talk (LBT) for the first transmission and a second probability of channel access or a second necessity of LBT for the second transmission if it is determined that the first set of resources at least partially overlaps the second set of resources;

determining whether to perform the first transmission or the second transmission based at least on the first probability or the first necessity and the second probability or the second necessity; and

performing the first transmission or the second transmission based on the determination.

2. The first device of claim 1, wherein the first device is further caused to determine the first probability of the first transmission by:

receiving, from the second device, an indication of a type of listen-before-talk for the first transmission; and

determining the first probability based on the type of listen before talk.

3. The first device of claim 1, wherein the first device is caused to determine the first probability of the first transmission by:

receiving, from the second device, information indicating a channel occupancy time of the second device; and

determining that the first probability is higher than the second probability if it is determined that the first transmission can be performed within the channel occupancy time and the second transmission will be performed outside the channel occupancy time.

4. The first device of claim 1, wherein the first device is caused to determine the first probability of the first transmission by:

determining that the first probability is higher than the second probability if it is determined that the first transmission is at least a portion of a continuous transmission for which channel access has been successful and the second transmission is a discontinuous transmission for which channel access has been successful.

5. The first device of claim 1, wherein the first device is caused to determine the first probability of the first transmission by:

determining whether the first transmission and the second transmission can be performed within a channel occupancy time of the second device if it is determined that the first device is in a channel access procedure for semi-static channel occupancy; and

6. The first device of claim 1, wherein the first device is further caused to perform the first transmission or the second transmission by:

performing the first transmission if it is determined that the first probability is higher than the second probability.

7. The first device of claim 1, wherein the first device is further caused to perform the first transmission or the second transmission by:

comparing a first data priority corresponding to the first transmission to a second data priority corresponding to the second transmission if it is determined that the first probability is equal to the second probability; and

performing the first transmission if it is determined that the first data priority is higher than the second data priority.

8. The first device of claim 1, wherein the first device is further caused to:

modifying at least one configured logical channel mapping restriction if it is determined that the first probability is higher than the second probability.

9. The first device of claim 1, wherein the first device is further caused to perform the first transmission or the second transmission by:

comparing a first data priority corresponding to the first transmission to a second data priority corresponding to the second transmission;

comparing the first probability to the second probability if it is determined that the first data priority is equal to the second data priority; and

10. The first device of claim 1, wherein the first device is caused to determine whether the first transmission or the second transmission is to be performed by:

determining that the first transmission is to be performed if it is determined that the LBT procedure for the first transmission is unnecessary and the LBT procedure for the second transmission is necessary.

11. The first device of any of claims 1-10, wherein the first device comprises a terminal device and the second device comprises a network device.

12. A second device, comprising:

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 the second apparatus to:

transmitting a first configuration to a first device, the first configuration indicating a first set of resources for a first transmission to the second device;

transmitting a second configuration to the first device, the second configuration indicating a second set of resources for a second transmission to the second device; and

receiving the first transmission or the second transmission based on a first probability of channel access or a first necessity of a Listen Before Talk (LBT) procedure for a first grant and a second probability of channel access or a second necessity of an LBT procedure for a second grant.

13. The second device of claim 12, wherein the second device is further caused to:

sending an indication to the first device regarding a type of listen-before-talk for the first transmission.

14. The second device of claim 12, wherein the second device is further caused to:

and sending information indicating the channel occupation time of the second equipment to the first equipment.

15. The second device of claim 12, wherein the second device is further caused to:

sending, to the first device, an indication of a first priority of the first transmission and a second priority of the second transmission.

16. The second device of any of claims 12-15, wherein the first device comprises a terminal device and the second device comprises a network device.

17. A method, comprising:

receiving, at a first device, a first configuration indicating a first set of resources for a first transmission to a second device;

receiving, at the first device, a second configuration indicating a second set of resources for a second transmission to the second device;

determining whether to perform the first transmission or the second transmission based on the first probability or the first necessity and the second probability or the second necessity; and

18. The method of claim 17, wherein determining the first probability of the first transmission comprises:

determining the first probability based on the type of listen before talk.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein determining a first probability of a first transmission comprises:

20. The method of claim 17, wherein determining the first probability of the first transmission comprises:

21. The method of claim 17, wherein determining the first probability of the first transmission comprises:

22. The method of claim 17, wherein performing the first transmission or the second transmission comprises:

23. The method of claim 17, wherein performing the first transmission or the second transmission comprises:

24. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

25. The method of claim 17, wherein performing the first transmission or the second transmission comprises:

26. The method of claim 17, wherein determining whether the first transmission or the second transmission is to be performed:

27. The method of any of claims 17-26, wherein the first device comprises a terminal device and the second device comprises a network device.

28. A method, comprising:

transmitting, at a second device, a first configuration to a first device, the first configuration indicating a first set of resources for a first transmission to the second device;

receiving a first transmission or a second transmission based on a first probability of channel access or a first necessity of a Listen Before Talk (LBT) procedure for the first transmission and a second probability of channel access or a second necessity of an LBT procedure for the second transmission.

29. The method of claim 28, further comprising:

30. The method of claim 28, further comprising:

31. The method of claim 28, further comprising:

32. The method of any of claims 28-31, wherein the first device comprises a terminal device and the second device comprises a network device.

33. An apparatus, comprising:

means for performing at least the method of any of claims 17-27 or the method of any of claims 28-32.

34. A computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform the method of any of claims 17 to 27 or the method of any of claims 28 to 32.