WO2024092721A1

WO2024092721A1 - Multi-slot and multi-transport block resource allocation in sidelink unlicensed

Info

Publication number: WO2024092721A1
Application number: PCT/CN2022/129883
Authority: WO
Inventors: Giovanni Chisci; Chih-Hao Liu; Qing Li; Jing Sun; Stelios STEFANATOS; Xiaoxia Zhang; Shaozhen GUO
Original assignee: Qualcomm Incorporated
Priority date: 2022-11-04
Filing date: 2022-11-04
Publication date: 2024-05-10

Abstract

Various aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to wireless communication. In some aspects, a user equipment (UE) may trigger candidate resource selection for multiple sidelink processes associated with multiple transport blocks (TBs). The UE may perform the candidate resource selection to identify a set of multi-slot candidate resources for transmitting the multiple TBs over multiple consecutive slots. The UE may select, from the set of multi-slot candidate resources, a multi-slot resource to use to transmit the multiple TBs over the multiple consecutive slots. Numerous other aspects are described.

Description

MULTI-SLOT AND MULTI-TRANSPORT BLOCK RESOURCE ALLOCATION IN SIDELINK UNLICENSED

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

Aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to wireless communication and to techniques and apparatuses associated with multi-slot and multi-transport block resource allocation in sidelink unlicensed.

BACKGROUND

Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various telecommunication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, and broadcasts. Typical wireless communication systems may employ multiple-access technologies capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power, or the like) . Examples of such multiple-access technologies include code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems, single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) systems, time division synchronous code division multiple access (TD-SCDMA) systems, and Long Term Evolution (LTE) . LTE/LTE-Advanced is a set of enhancements to the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) mobile standard promulgated by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) .

A wireless network may include one or more network nodes that support communication for wireless communication devices, such as a user equipment (UE) or multiple UEs. A UE may communicate with a network node via downlink communications and uplink communications. “Downlink” (or “DL” ) refers to a communication link from the network node to the UE, and “uplink” (or “UL” ) refers to a communication link from the UE to the network node. Some wireless networks may support device-to-device communication, such as via a local link (e.g., a sidelink (SL) , a wireless local area network (WLAN) link, and/or a wireless personal area network (WPAN) link, among other examples) .

The above multiple access technologies have been adopted in various telecommunication standards to provide a common protocol that enables different UEs to communicate on a municipal, national, regional, and/or global level. New Radio (NR) , which may be referred to as 5G, is a set of enhancements to the LTE mobile standard promulgated by the 3GPP. NR is designed to better support mobile broadband internet access by improving spectral efficiency, lowering costs, improving services, making use of new spectrum, and better integrating with other open standards using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) with a cyclic prefix (CP) (CP-OFDM) on the downlink, using CP-OFDM and/or single-carrier frequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) (also known as discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) ) on the uplink, as well as supporting beamforming, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna technology, and carrier aggregation. As the demand for mobile broadband access continues to increase, further improvements in LTE, NR, and other radio access technologies remain useful.

SUMMARY

Some aspects described herein relate to a method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE) . The method may include triggering candidate resource selection for multiple sidelink processes associated with multiple transport blocks (TBs) . The method may include performing the candidate resource selection to identify a set of multi-slot candidate resources for transmitting the multiple TBs over multiple consecutive slots. The method may include selecting, from the set of multi-slot candidate resources, a multi-slot resource to use to transmit the multiple TBs over the multiple consecutive slots.

Some aspects described herein relate to a UE for wireless communication. The UE may include a memory and one or more processors coupled to the memory. The one or more processors may be configured to trigger candidate resource selection for multiple sidelink processes associated with multiple TBs. The one or more processors may be configured to perform the candidate resource selection to identify a set of multi-slot candidate resources for transmitting the multiple TBs over multiple consecutive slots. The one or more processors may be configured to select, from the set of multi-slot candidate resources, a multi-slot resource to use to transmit the multiple TBs over the multiple consecutive slots.

Some aspects described herein relate to a non-transitory computer-readable medium that stores a set of instructions for wireless communication by a UE. The set of instructions, when executed by one or more processors of the UE, may cause the UE to trigger candidate resource selection for multiple sidelink processes associated with multiple TBs. The set of instructions, when executed by one or more processors of the UE, may cause the UE to perform the candidate resource selection to identify a set of multi-slot candidate resources for transmitting the multiple TBs over multiple consecutive slots. The set of instructions, when executed by one or more processors of the UE, may cause the UE to select, from the set of multi-slot candidate resources, a multi-slot resource to use to transmit the multiple TBs over the multiple consecutive slots.

Some aspects described herein relate to an apparatus for wireless communication. The apparatus may include means for triggering candidate resource selection for multiple sidelink processes associated with multiple TBs. The apparatus may include means for performing the candidate resource selection to identify a set of multi-slot candidate resources for transmitting the multiple TBs over multiple consecutive slots. The apparatus may include means for selecting, from the set of multi-slot candidate resources, a multi-slot resource to use to transmit the multiple TBs over the multiple consecutive slots.

Aspects generally include a method, apparatus, system, computer program product, non-transitory computer-readable medium, user equipment, base station, network entity, network node, wireless communication device, and/or processing system as substantially described herein with reference to and as illustrated by the drawings and specification.

The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technical advantages of examples according to the disclosure in order that the detailed description that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages will be described hereinafter. The conception and specific examples disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present disclosure. Such equivalent constructions do not depart from the scope of the appended claims. Characteristics of the concepts disclosed herein, both their organization and method of operation, together with associated advantages, will be better understood from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying figures. Each of the figures is provided for the purposes of illustration and description, and not as a definition of the limits of the claims.

While aspects are described in the present disclosure by illustration to some examples, those skilled in the art will understand that such aspects may be implemented in many different arrangements and scenarios. Techniques described herein may be implemented using different platform types, devices, systems, shapes, sizes, and/or packaging arrangements. For example, some aspects may be implemented via integrated chip embodiments or other non-module-component based devices (e.g., end-user devices, vehicles, communication devices, computing devices, industrial equipment, retail/purchasing devices, medical devices, and/or artificial intelligence devices) . Aspects may be implemented in chip-level components, modular components, non-modular components, non-chip-level components, device-level components, and/or system-level components. Devices incorporating described aspects and features may include additional components and features for implementation and practice of claimed and described aspects. For example, transmission and reception of wireless signals may include one or more components for analog and digital purposes (e.g., hardware components including antennas, radio frequency (RF) chains, power amplifiers, modulators, buffers, processors, interleavers, adders, and/or summers) . It is intended that aspects described herein may be practiced in a wide variety of devices, components, systems, distributed arrangements, and/or end-user devices of varying size, shape, and constitution.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

So that the above-recited features of the present disclosure can be understood in detail, a more particular description, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to aspects, some of which are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only certain typical aspects of this disclosure and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the description may admit to other equally effective aspects. The same reference numbers in different drawings may identify the same or similar elements.

Fig. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a wireless network, in accordance with the present disclosure.

Fig. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a network node in communication with a user equipment (UE) in a wireless network, in accordance with the present disclosure.

Fig. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of sidelink communications, in accordance with the present disclosure.

Fig. 4 is a diagram illustrating examples of sidelink communications in different coverage scenarios, in accordance with the present disclosure.

Fig. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of sidelink resource selection and resource reservation, in accordance with the present disclosure.

Figs. 6A-6D are diagrams illustrating an example associated with multiple slot (multi-slot) and multiple transport block (multi-TB) resource allocation in sidelink unlicensed, in accordance with the present disclosure.

Fig. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example process associated with multi-slot and multi-TB resource allocation in sidelink unlicensed, in accordance with the present disclosure.

Fig. 8 is a diagram of an example apparatus for wireless communication, in accordance with the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various aspects of the disclosure are described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings. This disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to any specific structure or function presented throughout this disclosure. Rather, these aspects are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the disclosure to those skilled in the art. One skilled in the art should appreciate that the scope of the disclosure is intended to cover any aspect of the disclosure disclosed herein, whether implemented independently of or combined with any other aspect of the disclosure. For example, an apparatus may be implemented or a method may be practiced using any number of the aspects set forth herein. In addition, the scope of the disclosure is intended to cover such an apparatus or method which is practiced using other structure, functionality, or structure and functionality in addition to or other than the various aspects of the disclosure set forth herein. It should be understood that any aspect of the disclosure disclosed herein may be embodied by one or more elements of a claim.

Several aspects of telecommunication systems will now be presented with reference to various apparatuses and techniques. These apparatuses and techniques will be described in the following detailed description and illustrated in the accompanying drawings by various blocks, modules, components, circuits, steps, processes, algorithms, or the like (collectively referred to as “elements” ) . These elements may be implemented using hardware, software, or combinations thereof. Whether such elements are implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system.

While aspects may be described herein using terminology commonly associated with a 5G or New Radio (NR) radio access technology (RAT) , aspects of the present disclosure can be applied to other RATs, such as a 3G RAT, a 4G RAT, and/or a RAT subsequent to 5G (e.g., 6G) .

Fig. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a wireless network 100, in accordance with the present disclosure. The wireless network 100 may be or may include elements of a 5G (e.g., NR) network and/or a 4G (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE) ) network, among other examples. The wireless network 100 may include one or more network nodes 110 (shown as a network node 110a, a network node 110b, a network node 110c, and a network node 110d) , a user equipment (UE) 120 or multiple UEs 120 (shown as a UE 120a, a UE 120b, a UE 120c, a UE 120d, and a UE 120e) , and/or other entities. A network node 110 is a network node that communicates with UEs 120. As shown, a network node 110 may include one or more network nodes. For example, a network node 110 may be an aggregated network node, meaning that the aggregated network node is configured to utilize a radio protocol stack that is physically or logically integrated within a single radio access network (RAN) node (e.g., within a single device or unit) . As another example, a network node 110 may be a disaggregated network node (sometimes referred to as a disaggregated base station) , meaning that the network node 110 is configured to utilize a protocol stack that is physically or logically distributed among two or more nodes (such as one or more central units (CUs) , one or more distributed units (DUs) , or one or more radio units (RUs) ) .

In some examples, a network node 110 is or includes a network node that communicates with UEs 120 via a radio access link, such as an RU. In some examples, a network node 110 is or includes a network node that communicates with other network nodes 110 via a fronthaul link or a midhaul link, such as a DU. In some examples, a network node 110 is or includes a network node that communicates with other network nodes 110 via a midhaul link or a core network via a backhaul link, such as a CU. In some examples, a network node 110 (such as an aggregated network node 110 or a disaggregated network node 110) may include multiple network nodes, such as one or more RUs, one or more CUs, and/or one or more DUs. A network node 110 may include, for example, an NR base station, an LTE base station, a Node B, an eNB (e.g., in 4G) , a gNB (e.g., in 5G) , an access point, a transmission reception point (TRP) , a DU, an RU, a CU, a mobility element of a network, a core network node, a network element, a network equipment, a RAN node, or a combination thereof. In some examples, the network nodes 110 may be interconnected to one another or to one or more other network nodes 110 in the wireless network 100 through various types of fronthaul, midhaul, and/or backhaul interfaces, such as a direct physical connection, an air interface, or a virtual network, using any suitable transport network.

In some examples, a network node 110 may provide communication coverage for a particular geographic area. In the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) , the term “cell” can refer to a coverage area of a network node 110 and/or a network node subsystem serving this coverage area, depending on the context in which the term is used. A network node 110 may provide communication coverage for a macro cell, a pico cell, a femto cell, and/or another type of cell. A macro cell may cover a relatively large geographic area (e.g., several kilometers in radius) and may allow unrestricted access by UEs 120 with service subscriptions. A pico cell may cover a relatively small geographic area and may allow unrestricted access by UEs 120 with service subscriptions. A femto cell may cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a home) and may allow restricted access by UEs 120 having association with the femto cell (e.g., UEs 120 in a closed subscriber group (CSG) ) . A network node 110 for a macro cell may be referred to as a macro network node. A network node 110 for a pico cell may be referred to as a pico network node. A network node 110 for a femto cell may be referred to as a femto network node or an in-home network node. In the example shown in Fig. 1, the network node 110a may be a macro network node for a macro cell 102a, the network node 110b may be a pico network node for a pico cell 102b, and the network node 110c may be a femto network node for a femto cell 102c. A network node may support one or multiple (e.g., three) cells. In some examples, a cell may not necessarily be stationary, and the geographic area of the cell may move according to the location of a network node 110 that is mobile (e.g., a mobile network node) .

In some aspects, the terms “base station” or “network node” may refer to an aggregated base station, a disaggregated base station, an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node, a relay node, or one or more components thereof. For example, in some aspects, “base station” or “network node” may refer to a CU, a DU, an RU, a Near-Real Time (Near-RT) RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) , or a Non-Real Time (Non-RT) RIC, or a combination thereof. In some aspects, the terms “base station” or “network node” may refer to one device configured to perform one or more functions, such as those described herein in connection with the network node 110. In some aspects, the terms “base station” or “network node” may refer to a plurality of devices configured to perform the one or more functions. For example, in some distributed systems, each of a quantity of different devices (which may be located in the same geographic location or in different geographic locations) may be configured to perform at least a portion of a function, or to duplicate performance of at least a portion of the function, and the terms “base station” or “network node” may refer to any one or more of those different devices. In some aspects, the terms “base station” or “network node” may refer to one or more virtual base stations or one or more virtual base station functions. For example, in some aspects, two or more base station functions may be instantiated on a single device. In some aspects, the terms “base station” or “network node” may refer to one of the base station functions and not another. In this way, a single device may include more than one base station.

The wireless network 100 may include one or more relay stations. A relay station is a network node that can receive a transmission of data from an upstream node (e.g., a network node 110 or a UE 120) and send a transmission of the data to a downstream node (e.g., a UE 120 or a network node 110) . A relay station may be a UE 120 that can relay transmissions for other UEs 120. In the example shown in Fig. 1, the network node 110d (e.g., a relay network node) may communicate with the network node 110a (e.g., a macro network node) and the UE 120d in order to facilitate communication between the network node 110a and the UE 120d. A network node 110 that relays communications may be referred to as a relay station, a relay base station, a relay network node, a relay node, a relay, or the like.

The wireless network 100 may be a heterogeneous network that includes network nodes 110 of different types, such as macro network nodes, pico network nodes, femto network nodes, relay network nodes, or the like. These different types of network nodes 110 may have different transmit power levels, different coverage areas, and/or different impacts on interference in the wireless network 100. For example, macro network nodes may have a high transmit power level (e.g., 5 to 40 watts) whereas pico network nodes, femto network nodes, and relay network nodes may have lower transmit power levels (e.g., 0.1 to 2 watts) .

A network controller 130 may couple to or communicate with a set of network nodes 110 and may provide coordination and control for these network nodes 110. The network controller 130 may communicate with the network nodes 110 via a backhaul communication link or a midhaul communication link. The network nodes 110 may communicate with one another directly or indirectly via a wireless or wireline backhaul communication link. In some aspects, the network controller 130 may be a CU or a core network device, or may include a CU or a core network device.

The UEs 120 may be dispersed throughout the wireless network 100, and each UE 120 may be stationary or mobile. A UE 120 may include, for example, an access terminal, a terminal, a mobile station, and/or a subscriber unit. A UE 120 may be a cellular phone (e.g., a smart phone) , a personal digital assistant (PDA) , a wireless modem, a wireless communication device, a handheld device, a laptop computer, a cordless phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a tablet, a camera, a gaming device, a netbook, a smartbook, an ultrabook, a medical device, a biometric device, a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch, smart clothing, smart glasses, a smart wristband, smart jewelry (e.g., a smart ring or a smart bracelet) ) , an entertainment device (e.g., a music device, a video device, and/or a satellite radio) , a vehicular component or sensor, a smart meter/sensor, industrial manufacturing equipment, a global positioning system device, a UE function of a network node, and/or any other suitable device that is configured to communicate via a wireless or wired medium.

Some UEs 120 may be considered machine-type communication (MTC) or evolved or enhanced machine-type communication (eMTC) UEs. An MTC UE and/or an eMTC UE may include, for example, a robot, a drone, a remote device, a sensor, a meter, a monitor, and/or a location tag, that may communicate with a network node, another device (e.g., a remote device) , or some other entity. Some UEs 120 may be considered Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices, and/or may be implemented as NB-IoT (narrowband IoT) devices. Some UEs 120 may be considered a Customer Premises Equipment. A UE 120 may be included inside a housing that houses components of the UE 120, such as processor components and/or memory components. In some examples, the processor components and the memory components may be coupled together. For example, the processor components (e.g., one or more processors) and the memory components (e.g., a memory) may be operatively coupled, communicatively coupled, electronically coupled, and/or electrically coupled.

In general, any number of wireless networks 100 may be deployed in a given geographic area. Each wireless network 100 may support a particular RAT and may operate on one or more frequencies. A RAT may be referred to as a radio technology, an air interface, or the like. A frequency may be referred to as a carrier, a frequency channel, or the like. Each frequency may support a single RAT in a given geographic area in order to avoid interference between wireless networks of different RATs. In some cases, NR or 5G RAT networks may be deployed.

In some examples, two or more UEs 120 (e.g., shown as UE 120a and UE 120e) may communicate directly using one or more sidelink channels (e.g., without using a network node 110 as an intermediary to communicate with one another) . For example, the UEs 120 may communicate using peer-to-peer (P2P) communications, device-to-device (D2D) communications, a vehicle-to-everything (V2X) protocol (e.g., which may include a vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) protocol, a vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) protocol, or a vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P) protocol) , and/or a mesh network. In such examples, a UE 120 may perform scheduling operations, resource selection operations, and/or other operations described elsewhere herein as being performed by the network node 110.

Devices of the wireless network 100 may communicate using the electromagnetic spectrum, which may be subdivided by frequency or wavelength into various classes, bands, channels, or the like. For example, devices of the wireless network 100 may communicate using one or more operating bands. In 5G NR, two initial operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR1 (410 MHz –7.125 GHz) and FR2 (24.25 GHz –52.6 GHz) . It should be understood that although a portion of FR1 is greater than 6 GHz, FR1 is often referred to (interchangeably) as a “Sub-6 GHz” band in various documents and articles. A similar nomenclature issue sometimes occurs with regard to FR2, which is often referred to (interchangeably) as a “millimeter wave” band in documents and articles, despite being different from the extremely high frequency (EHF) band (30 GHz –300 GHz) which is identified by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) as a “millimeter wave” band.

The frequencies between FR1 and FR2 are often referred to as mid-band frequencies. Recent 5G NR studies have identified an operating band for these mid- band frequencies as frequency range designation FR3 (7.125 GHz –24.25 GHz) . Frequency bands falling within FR3 may inherit FR1 characteristics and/or FR2 characteristics, and thus may effectively extend features of FR1 and/or FR2 into mid-band frequencies. In addition, higher frequency bands are currently being explored to extend 5G NR operation beyond 52.6 GHz. For example, three higher operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR4a or FR4-1 (52.6 GHz –71 GHz) , FR4 (52.6 GHz –114.25 GHz) , and FR5 (114.25 GHz –300 GHz) . Each of these higher frequency bands falls within the EHF band.

With the above examples in mind, unless specifically stated otherwise, it should be understood that the term “sub-6 GHz” or the like, if used herein, may broadly represent frequencies that may be less than 6 GHz, may be within FR1, or may include mid-band frequencies. Further, unless specifically stated otherwise, it should be understood that the term “millimeter wave” or the like, if used herein, may broadly represent frequencies that may include mid-band frequencies, may be within FR2, FR4, FR4-a or FR4-1, and/or FR5, or may be within the EHF band. It is contemplated that the frequencies included in these operating bands (e.g., FR1, FR2, FR3, FR4, FR4-a, FR4-1, and/or FR5) may be modified, and techniques described herein are applicable to those modified frequency ranges.

In some aspects, the UE 120 may include a communication manager 140. As described in more detail elsewhere herein, the communication manager 140 may trigger candidate resource selection for multiple sidelink processes associated with multiple transport blocks (TBs) ; perform the candidate resource selection to identify a set of multi-slot candidate resources for transmitting the multiple TBs over multiple consecutive slots; and select, from the set of multi-slot candidate resources, a multi-slot resource to use to transmit the multiple TBs over the multiple consecutive slots. Additionally, or alternatively, the communication manager 140 may perform one or more other operations described herein.

As indicated above, Fig. 1 is provided as an example. Other examples may differ from what is described with regard to Fig. 1.

Fig. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example 200 of a network node 110 in communication with a UE 120 in a wireless network 100, in accordance with the present disclosure. The network node 110 may be equipped with a set of antennas 234a through 234t, such as T antennas (T ≥ 1) . The UE 120 may be equipped with a set of antennas 252a through 252r, such as R antennas (R ≥ 1) . The network node 110 of example 200 includes one or more radio frequency components, such as antennas 234 and a modem 232. In some examples, a network node 110 may include an interface, a communication component, or another component that facilitates communication with the UE 120 or another network node. Some network nodes 110 may not include radio frequency components that facilitate direct communication with the UE 120, such as one or more CUs, or one or more DUs.

At the network node 110, a transmit processor 220 may receive data, from a data source 212, intended for the UE 120 (or a set of UEs 120) . The transmit processor 220 may select one or more modulation and coding schemes (MCSs) for the UE 120 based at least in part on one or more channel quality indicators (CQIs) received from that UE 120. The network node 110 may process (e.g., encode and modulate) the data for the UE 120 based at least in part on the MCS (s) selected for the UE 120 and may provide data symbols for the UE 120. The transmit processor 220 may process system information (e.g., for semi-static resource partitioning information (SRPI) ) and control information (e.g., CQI requests, grants, and/or upper layer signaling) and provide overhead symbols and control symbols. The transmit processor 220 may generate reference symbols for reference signals (e.g., a cell-specific reference signal (CRS) or a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) ) and synchronization signals (e.g., a primary synchronization signal (PSS) or a secondary synchronization signal (SSS) ) . A transmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor 230 may perform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) on the data symbols, the control symbols, the overhead symbols, and/or the reference symbols, if applicable, and may provide a set of output symbol streams (e.g., T output symbol streams) to a corresponding set of modems 232 (e.g., T modems) , shown as modems 232a through 232t. For example, each output symbol stream may be provided to a modulator component (shown as MOD) of a modem 232. Each modem 232 may use a respective modulator component to process a respective output symbol stream (e.g., for OFDM) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modem 232 may further use a respective modulator component to process (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, and/or upconvert) the output sample stream to obtain a downlink signal. The modems 232a through 232t may transmit a set of downlink signals (e.g., T downlink signals) via a corresponding set of antennas 234 (e.g., T antennas) , shown as antennas 234a through 234t.

At the UE 120, a set of antennas 252 (shown as antennas 252a through 252r) may receive the downlink signals from the network node 110 and/or other network nodes 110 and may provide a set of received signals (e.g., R received signals) to a set of modems 254 (e.g., R modems) , shown as modems 254a through 254r. For example, each received signal may be provided to a demodulator component (shown as DEMOD) of a modem 254. Each modem 254 may use a respective demodulator component to condition (e.g., filter, amplify, downconvert, and/or digitize) a received signal to obtain input samples. Each modem 254 may use a demodulator component to further process the input samples (e.g., for OFDM) to obtain received symbols. A MIMO detector 256 may obtain received symbols from the modems 254, may perform MIMO detection on the received symbols if applicable, and may provide detected symbols. A receive processor 258 may process (e.g., demodulate and decode) the detected symbols, may provide decoded data for the UE 120 to a data sink 260, and may provide decoded control information and system information to a controller/processor 280. The term “controller/processor” may refer to one or more controllers, one or more processors, or a combination thereof. A channel processor may determine a reference signal received power (RSRP) parameter, a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) parameter, a reference signal received quality (RSRQ) parameter, and/or a CQI parameter, among other examples. In some examples, one or more components of the UE 120 may be included in a housing 284.

The network controller 130 may include a communication unit 294, a controller/processor 290, and a memory 292. The network controller 130 may include, for example, one or more devices in a core network. The network controller 130 may communicate with the network node 110 via the communication unit 294.

One or more antennas (e.g., antennas 234a through 234t and/or antennas 252a through 252r) may include, or may be included within, one or more antenna panels, one or more antenna groups, one or more sets of antenna elements, and/or one or more antenna arrays, among other examples. An antenna panel, an antenna group, a set of antenna elements, and/or an antenna array may include one or more antenna elements (within a single housing or multiple housings) , a set of coplanar antenna elements, a set of non-coplanar antenna elements, and/or one or more antenna elements coupled to one or more transmission and/or reception components, such as one or more components of Fig. 2.

On the uplink, at the UE 120, a transmit processor 264 may receive and process data from a data source 262 and control information (e.g., for reports that include RSRP, RSSI, RSRQ, and/or CQI) from the controller/processor 280. The transmit processor 264 may generate reference symbols for one or more reference signals. The symbols from the transmit processor 264 may be precoded by a TX MIMO processor 266 if applicable, further processed by the modems 254 (e.g., for DFT-s-OFDM or CP-OFDM) , and transmitted to the network node 110. In some examples, the modem 254 of the UE 120 may include a modulator and a demodulator. In some examples, the UE 120 includes a transceiver. The transceiver may include any combination of the antenna (s) 252, the modem (s) 254, the MIMO detector 256, the receive processor 258, the transmit processor 264, and/or the TX MIMO processor 266. The transceiver may be used by a processor (e.g., the controller/processor 280) and the memory 282 to perform aspects of any of the methods described herein (e.g., with reference to Figs. 6A-6D, Fig. 7, and/or Fig. 8) .

At the network node 110, the uplink signals from UE 120 and/or other UEs may be received by the antennas 234, processed by the modem 232 (e.g., a demodulator component, shown as DEMOD, of the modem 232) , detected by a MIMO detector 236 if applicable, and further processed by a receive processor 238 to obtain decoded data and control information sent by the UE 120. The receive processor 238 may provide the decoded data to a data sink 239 and provide the decoded control information to the controller/processor 240. The network node 110 may include a communication unit 244 and may communicate with the network controller 130 via the communication unit 244. The network node 110 may include a scheduler 246 to schedule one or more UEs 120 for downlink and/or uplink communications. In some examples, the modem 232 of the network node 110 may include a modulator and a demodulator. In some examples, the network node 110 includes a transceiver. The transceiver may include any combination of the antenna (s) 234, the modem (s) 232, the MIMO detector 236, the receive processor 238, the transmit processor 220, and/or the TX MIMO processor 230. The transceiver may be used by a processor (e.g., the controller/processor 240) and the memory 242 to perform aspects of any of the methods described herein (e.g., with reference to Figs. 6A-6D, Fig. 7, and/or Fig. 8) .

The controller/processor 240 of the network node 110, the controller/processor 280 of the UE 120, and/or any other component (s) of Fig. 2 may perform one or more techniques associated with multi-slot and multi-TB resource allocation in sidelink unlicensed, as described in more detail elsewhere herein. For example, the controller/processor 240 of the network node 110, the controller/processor 280 of the UE 120, and/or any other component (s) of Fig. 2 may perform or direct operations of, for example, process 700 of Fig. 7 and/or other processes as described herein. The memory 242 and the memory 282 may store data and program codes for the network node 110 and the UE 120, respectively. In some examples, the memory 242 and/or the memory 282 may include a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing one or more instructions (e.g., code and/or program code) for wireless communication. For example, the one or more instructions, when executed (e.g., directly, or after compiling, converting, and/or interpreting) by one or more processors of the network node 110 and/or the UE 120, may cause the one or more processors, the UE 120, and/or the network node 110 to perform or direct operations of, for example, process 700 of Fig. 7 and/or other processes as described herein. In some examples, executing instructions may include running the instructions, converting the instructions, compiling the instructions, and/or interpreting the instructions, among other examples.

In some aspects, the UE 120 includes means for triggering candidate resource selection for multiple sidelink processes associated with multiple TBs; means for performing the candidate resource selection to identify a set of multi-slot candidate resources for transmitting the multiple TBs over multiple consecutive slots; and/or means for selecting, from the set of multi-slot candidate resources, a multi-slot resource to use to transmit the multiple TBs over the multiple consecutive slots. The means for the UE 120 to perform operations described herein may include, for example, one or more of communication manager 140, antenna 252, modem 254, MIMO detector 256, receive processor 258, transmit processor 264, TX MIMO processor 266, controller/processor 280, or memory 282.

While blocks in Fig. 2 are illustrated as distinct components, the functions described above with respect to the blocks may be implemented in a single hardware, software, or combination component or in various combinations of components. For example, the functions described with respect to the transmit processor 264, the receive processor 258, and/or the TX MIMO processor 266 may be performed by or under the control of the controller/processor 280.

As indicated above, Fig. 2 is provided as an example. Other examples may differ from what is described with regard to Fig. 2.

Deployment of communication systems, such as 5G NR systems, may be arranged in multiple manners with various components or constituent parts. In a 5G NR system, or network, a network node, a network entity, a mobility element of a network, a RAN node, a core network node, a network element, a base station, or a network equipment may be implemented in an aggregated or disaggregated architecture. For example, a base station (such as a Node B (NB) , an evolved NB (eNB) , an NR base station, a 5G NB, an access point (AP) , a TRP, or a cell, among other examples) , or one or more units (or one or more components) performing base station functionality, may be implemented as an aggregated base station (also known as a standalone base station or a monolithic base station) or a disaggregated base station. “Network entity” or “network node” may refer to a disaggregated base station, or to one or more units of a disaggregated base station (such as one or more CUs, one or more DUs, one or more RUs, or a combination thereof) .

An aggregated base station (e.g., an aggregated network node) may be configured to utilize a radio protocol stack that is physically or logically integrated within a single RAN node (e.g., within a single device or unit) . A disaggregated base station (e.g., a disaggregated network node) may be configured to utilize a protocol stack that is physically or logically distributed among two or more units (such as one or more CUs, one or more DUs, or one or more RUs) . In some examples, a CU may be implemented within a network node, and one or more DUs may be co-located with the CU, or alternatively, may be geographically or virtually distributed throughout one or multiple other network nodes. The DUs may be implemented to communicate with one or more RUs. Each of the CU, DU, and RU also can be implemented as virtual units, such as a virtual central unit (VCU) , a virtual distributed unit (VDU) , or a virtual radio unit (VRU) , among other examples.

Base station-type operation or network design may consider aggregation characteristics of base station functionality. For example, disaggregated base stations may be utilized in an IAB network, an open radio access network (O-RAN (such as the network configuration sponsored by the O-RAN Alliance) ) , or a virtualized radio access network (vRAN, also known as a cloud radio access network (C-RAN) ) to facilitate scaling of communication systems by separating base station functionality into one or more units that can be individually deployed. A disaggregated base station may include functionality implemented across two or more units at various physical locations, as well as functionality implemented for at least one unit virtually, which can enable flexibility in network design. The various units of the disaggregated base station can be configured for wired or wireless communication with at least one other unit of the disaggregated base station.

Fig. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example 300 of sidelink communications, in accordance with the present disclosure.

As shown in Fig. 3, a first UE 305-1 may communicate with a second UE 305-2 (and one or more other UEs 305) via one or more sidelink channels 310. The UEs 305-1 and 305-2 may communicate using the one or more sidelink channels 310 for P2P communications, D2D communications, V2X communications (e.g., which may include V2V communications, V2I communications, and/or V2P communications) and/or mesh networking. In some aspects, the UEs 305 (e.g., UE 305-1 and/or UE 305-2) may correspond to one or more other UEs described elsewhere herein, such as UE 120. In some aspects, the one or more sidelink channels 310 may use a PC5 interface and/or may operate in a high frequency band (e.g., the 5.9 GHz band) . Additionally, or alternatively, the UEs 305 may synchronize timing of transmission time intervals (TTIs) (e.g., frames, subframes, slots, or symbols) using global navigation satellite system (GNSS) timing.

As further shown in Fig. 3, the one or more sidelink channels 310 may include a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) 315, a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) 320, and/or a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) 325. The PSCCH 315 may be used to communicate control information, similar to a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) and/or a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) used for cellular communications with a base station 110 via an access link or an access channel. The PSSCH 320 may be used to communicate data, similar to a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) and/or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) used for cellular communications with a base station 110 via an access link or an access channel. For example, the PSCCH 315 may carry sidelink control information (SCI) 330, which may indicate various control information used for sidelink communications, such as one or more resources (e.g., time resources, frequency resources, and/or spatial resources) where a transport block (TB) 335 may be carried on the PSSCH 320. The TB 335 may include data. The PSFCH 325 may be used to communicate sidelink feedback 340, such as hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback (e.g., acknowledgement or negative acknowledgement (ACK/NACK) information) , transmit power control (TPC) , and/or a scheduling request (SR) .

Although shown on the PSCCH 315, in some aspects, the SCI 330 may include multiple communications in different stages, such as a first stage SCI (SCI-1) and a second stage SCI (SCI-2) . The SCI-1 may be transmitted on the PSCCH 315. The SCI-2 may be transmitted on the PSSCH 320. The SCI-1 may include, for example, an indication of one or more resources (e.g., time resources, frequency resources, and/or spatial resources) on the PSSCH 320, information for decoding sidelink communications on the PSSCH, a quality of service (QoS) priority value, a resource reservation period, a PSSCH DMRS pattern, an SCI format for the SCI-2, a beta offset for the SCI-2, a quantity of PSSCH DMRS ports, and/or a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) . The SCI-2 may include information associated with data transmissions on the PSSCH 320, such as a HARQ process ID, a new data indicator (NDI) , a source identifier, a destination identifier, and/or a channel state information (CSI) report trigger.

In some aspects, the one or more sidelink channels 310 may use resource pools. For example, a scheduling assignment (e.g., included in SCI 330) may be transmitted in sub-channels using specific resource blocks (RBs) across time. In some aspects, data transmissions (e.g., on the PSSCH 320) associated with a scheduling assignment may occupy adjacent RBs in the same subframe as the scheduling assignment (e.g., using frequency division multiplexing) . In some aspects, a scheduling assignment and associated data transmissions are not transmitted on adjacent RBs.

In some aspects, a UE 305 may operate using a first sidelink transmission mode (e.g., mode 1, which may be referred to herein as a centralized scheduling mode or a network-controlled scheduling mode) in which resource selection and/or scheduling is performed by a base station 110. For example, in the centralized or network-controlled scheduling mode, the UE 305 may receive a grant (e.g., in downlink control information (DCI) or in a radio resource control (RRC) message, such as for configured grants) from the base station 110 for sidelink channel access and/or scheduling. In some aspects, a UE 305 may operate using a second sidelink transmission mode (e.g., mode 2, which may be referred to herein as a distributed scheduling mode or an autonomous scheduling mode) in which resource selection and/or scheduling is performed by the UE 305 (e.g., rather than a base station 110) . In some aspects, the UE 305 may perform resource selection and/or scheduling in the distributed or autonomous scheduling mode by sensing channel availability for transmissions. For example, the UE 305 may measure an RSSI parameter (e.g., a sidelink-RSSI (S-RSSI) parameter) associated with various sidelink channels, may measure an RSRP parameter (e.g., a PSSCH-RSRP parameter) associated with various sidelink channels, and/or may measure an RSRQ parameter (e.g., a PSSCH-RSRQ parameter) associated with various sidelink channels, and may select a channel for transmission of a sidelink communication based at least in part on the measurement (s) .

Additionally, or alternatively, the UE 305 may perform resource selection and/or scheduling in the distributed or autonomous scheduling mode using SCI 330 received in the PSCCH 315, which may indicate occupied resources and/or channel parameters. Additionally, or alternatively, the UE 305 may perform resource selection and/or scheduling by determining a channel busy rate (CBR) associated with various sidelink channels, which may be used for rate control (e.g., by indicating a maximum number of resource blocks that the UE 305 can use for a particular set of subframes) .

In the distributed or autonomous scheduling mode, where resource selection and/or scheduling is performed by a UE 305, the UE 305 may generate sidelink grants, and may transmit the grants in SCI 330. A sidelink grant may indicate, for example, one or more parameters (e.g., transmission parameters) to be used for an upcoming sidelink transmission, such as one or more resource blocks to be used for the upcoming sidelink transmission on the PSSCH 320 (e.g., for TBs 335) , one or more subframes to be used for the upcoming sidelink transmission, and/or an MCS to be used for the upcoming sidelink transmission. In some aspects, a UE 305 may generate a sidelink grant that indicates one or more parameters for semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) , such as a periodicity of a sidelink transmission. Additionally, or alternatively, the UE 305 may generate a sidelink grant for event-driven scheduling, such as for an on-demand sidelink message.

As indicated above, Fig. 3 is provided as an example. Other examples may differ from what is described with regard to Fig. 3.

Fig. 4 is a diagram illustrating examples of sidelink communications in

different coverage scenarios

400, 410, 420, in accordance with the present disclosure. For example, Fig. 4 illustrates an example of sidelink communications in an in-coverage scenario 400, an example of sidelink communications in a partial coverage scenario 410, and an example of sidelink communications in an out-of-coverage scenario 420.

As shown in Fig. 4, in the in-coverage scenario 400, a transmitter (Tx) /receiver (Rx) UE 402 and an Rx/Tx UE 404 may communicate with one another via a sidelink (e.g., a PC5 interface) , as described above in connection with Fig. 3, and a base station 110 may communicate with the Tx/Rx UE 402 via a first access link and with the Rx/Tx UE 404 via a second access link (e.g., respective Uu interfaces) . As shown, in the in-coverage scenario 400, the Tx/Rx UE 402 and the Rx/Tx UE 404 are both within the coverage of the base station 110, whereby sidelink communication between the Tx/Rx UE 402 and the Rx/Tx UE 404 may be performed in a centralized or network-controlled scheduling mode (e.g., mode 1) where sidelink resources are scheduled by the base station 110, or in a distributed or autonomous scheduling mode (e.g., mode 2) where the UEs 402/404 autonomously select sidelink resources from a configured sidelink resource pool based on a channel sensing mechanism.

As further shown in Fig. 4, in the in-coverage scenario 410, a Tx/Rx UE 402 is within the coverage area of a base station 110, and an Rx/Tx UE 404 is outside the coverage area of the base station. In the in-coverage scenario 410, the Tx/Rx UE 402 and the Rx/Tx UE 404 may communicate with one another via a sidelink (e.g., a PC5 interface) , and the base station 110 may communicate with the Tx/Rx UE 402 via an access link (e.g., a Uu interface) . Accordingly, in the in-coverage scenario 410, the base station 110 may enable either the centralized scheduling mode or the distributed scheduling mode for the Tx/Rx UE 402 within the coverage area of the base station 110, and the Rx/Tx UE 404 that is out-of-coverage may use only the distributed scheduling mode. Furthermore, in the out-of-coverage scenario 420, the Tx/Rx UE 402 and the Rx/Tx UE 404 are outside the coverage area of any base station. Accordingly, in the out-of-coverage scenario 420, only the distributed scheduling mode can be used to enable sidelink communication between the Tx/Rx UE 402 and the Rx/Tx UE 404.

As described herein, when a UE is to perform a sidelink transmission, the sidelink transmission may be performed according to one or more sidelink procedures and/or using one or more transmission parameters that are configured to streamline a channel access scheme that sidelink UEs follow either in the centralized or network-controlled scheduling mode or in the distributed or autonomous scheduling mode. In general, all communication parameters (e.g., transmission parameters such as transmit power and/or DMRS pattern, and procedural parameters indicating whether certain sidelink features and/or procedures are enabled or disabled) are centrally selected or otherwise controlled by the network in the centralized scheduling mode (e.g., mode 1) . For example, in the centralized scheduling mode, a base station is aware of congestion, traffic conditions, interference, load, and/or other factors that may impact performance of the base station and the UEs within the coverage area of the base station, and the base station configures the sidelink communication parameters accordingly to optimize overall sidelink and/or cellular performance and/or per-UE performance.

On the other hand, in the distributed scheduling mode, there are various sidelink communication parameters that are independently or autonomously selected by a transmitting UE. For example, in the distributed scheduling mode, sidelink communication parameters may include globally configured parameters that have fixed values (e.g., a number of subchannels, a bandwidth of the subchannels, and/or a slot duration, among other examples) and locally configured parameters whose selection is left to the transmitting UE. For example, the locally configured parameters may include an MCS, a DMRS pattern, a transmit power, a maximum number of retransmissions for a given TB, a groupcast option 1 NACK distance (e.g., a distance over which a receiving UE can send a NACK for a sidelink transmission) , and/or a beta parameter (e.g., related to coding associated with a transmitted waveform) , among other examples. In some cases, the transmitting UE may select the locally configured parameters independently, possibly restricted over a set of allowed or permitted values, with the locally configured parameters having values that are selected by the UE in order to optimize performance of the UE with respect to one or more metrics that are typically application-dependent. For example, a transmitting UE may select an MCS and a maximum number of HARQ retransmissions to maximize packet reliability, maximize throughput, and/or minimize latency, among other examples. Furthermore, the transmitting UE may select the locally configured parameters according to a preconfigured scheme (e.g., using a default value that may be application-dependent, such as a default value for a basic safety message (BSM) ) and/or using more sophisticated techniques based on on-the-fly (e.g., current or instantaneous) measurements such as a CBR or perceived congestion on a sidelink channel.

As indicated above, Fig. 4 is provided as an example. Other examples may differ from what is described with regard to Fig. 4.

Fig. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example 500 of sidelink resource selection and resource reservation, in accordance with the present disclosure. In some aspects, as described herein, example 500 relates to sidelink resource selection and resource reservation techniques that may be used in a resource allocation mode in which sidelink resource selection and/or scheduling is performed by a transmitting UE and/or a receiving UE (e.g., sidelink resource allocation mode 2) .

For example, in sidelink resource allocation mode 2, which may also be referred to as an autonomous resource selection mode, UEs that communicate on a sidelink may perform exhaustive sidelink monitoring using a resource selection procedure in which time and frequency resources used for sidelink communication are randomly selected from a candidate resource set that is identified by sensing and exclusion. For example, as described herein, the exhaustive sidelink monitoring may include decoding SCI for all potential transmissions in all slots and subchannels within a resource pool. The decoded SCI generally includes SCI-1 transmitted on a PSCCH, which is blindly decoded by all UEs, and the decoded SCI may further include SCI-2 transmitted on a PSSCH (e.g., if the SCI-1 is decoded) . Accordingly, for receiving purposes, a UE may perform exhaustive sidelink monitoring in all sidelink slots and subchannels to decode SCI for a potential transmission to be received by the UE. Additionally, or alternatively, for transmitting purposes, a UE may perform exhaustive sidelink monitoring and sensing in all slots and subchannels to identify resources that are available for a sidelink transmission.

For example, as shown in Fig. 5, and by reference number 510, a UE that performs a resource selection procedure in sidelink resource allocation mode 2 may exhaustively monitor all slots and subchannels associated with a PSCCH during a sensing window for one or more SCI transmissions that reserve resources for an upcoming sidelink transmission. Accordingly, the UE may decode any SCI transmissions that are detected during the sensing window to determine resources that other UEs are occupying in the future (e.g., in a resource selection window subsequent to the sensing window) , and the UE may be excluded from using resources that other UEs are occupying within the resource selection window. For example, in some aspects, the UE may measure an RSRP associated with one or more SCI transmissions that are decoded within the sensing window, and may further determine the resources that are reserved by the SCI transmission (s) within the resource selection window.

As further shown in Fig. 5, and by reference number 520, the measured RSRP associated with the decoded SCI within the sensing window may be projected onto the resources that the decoded SCI reserves within the resource selection window. For example, as shown in Fig. 5, a UE may decode and measure an RSRP associated with a first SCI transmission from a first UE (shown as UE ₁) , and the UE may further decode and measure an RSRP associated with a second SCI transmission from a second UE (shown as UE ₂) when performing PSSCH monitoring and RSRP measurement during the sensing window as part of a resource selection and reservation procedure. Accordingly, the UE may determine the time and frequency resources reserved by the first SCI transmission and the second SCI transmission, and may project the measured RSRPs associated with the first and second SCI transmissions onto the respective time and frequency resources that the first and second SCI transmissions reserve within the resource selection window (e.g., an SCI transmission and a PSSCH transmission scheduled by the SCI transmission may be expected to have the same or a similar RSRP) .

In some aspects, within the resource selection window, resources associated with an RSRP that fails to satisfy (e.g., is below) a threshold are considered available, where the threshold may be based at least in part on a transmit priority associated with the transmitting UE and a receive priority that is indicated in the decoded SCI. Accordingly, in cases where the proportion of available resources in the resource selection window fails to satisfy (e.g., is below) a threshold, such as 20%or another suitable value, the RSRP threshold may be increased (e.g., by three (3) decibels or another suitable value) and the candidate resource identification process may be repeated. Alternatively, in cases where the proportion of available resources in the resource selection window satisfies (e.g., equals or exceeds) the threshold, the available resources in the resource selection window form a candidate resource set, which the UE reports to higher layers for random resource selection. The UE may then perform the sidelink transmission using one or more available resources that are randomly selected from the candidate resource set.

As indicated above, Fig. 5 is provided as an example. Other examples may differ from what is described with regard to Fig. 5.

In some cases, UEs may communicate on a sidelink over unlicensed spectrum, where access to an unlicensed channel is subject to a channel access mechanism. For example, in a shared or unlicensed frequency band, a transmitting device (e.g., a Tx UE) may contend against other devices for channel access before transmitting on a shared or unlicensed channel (e.g., to an Rx UE) to reduce and/or prevent collisions on the shared or unlicensed channel. To contend for channel access, the transmitting device may perform a channel access procedure, such as a listen-before-talk (or listen-before-transmit) (LBT) procedure or another type of channel access procedure, for shared or unlicensed frequency band channel access. The channel access procedure may be performed to determine whether the physical channel (e.g., the radio resources of the channel) are free to use or are busy (e.g., in use by another wireless communication device such as a UE, an IoT device, or a wireless local area network (WLAN) device, among other examples) . The channel access procedure may include sensing or measuring the physical channel (e.g., performing an RSRP measurement, detecting an energy level, or performing another type of measurement) during a channel access gap (which may also be referred to as a contention window (CW) ) and determining whether the shared or unlicensed channel is free or busy based at least in part on the signals sensed or measured on the physical channel (e.g., based at least in part on whether the measurement satisfies a threshold) . If the transmitting device determines that the channel access procedure was successful, the transmitting device may perform one or more transmissions on the shared or unlicensed channel during a transmission opportunity, which may extend for a channel occupancy time (COT) .

In general, when a Tx UE acquires or otherwise obtains a COT that allows the Tx UE to transmit one or more sidelink communications over an unlicensed channel (e.g., after performing a successful LBT procedure) , the Tx UE may attempt to maximize usage of the COT and avoid intermittent sidelink transmissions that would otherwise require the Tx UE to perform another successful channel access procedure (e.g., by transmitting multiple TBs over multiple consecutive slots during the COT) . For example, sidelink throughput may worsen as the number of channel access procedures increases for a given number of transmissions because there is a risk that LBT completion may be delayed in cases where the medium is sensed to be busy (e.g., due to competition for channel access from other sidelink UEs, WLAN devices, or other devices attempting to communicate over the unlicensed channel) . Furthermore, an LBT delay may potentially result in LBT failure, which is reported to a medium access control (MAC) layer from a physical (PHY) layer that performs the LBT procedure, when the Tx UE is unable to fulfill a granted transmission (e.g., the Tx UE is unable to perform a granted transmission before a deadline due to the LBT delay) . In such cases, the Tx UE needs to obtain a new sidelink grant (e.g., by performing another resource selection) , which further reduces sidelink throughput.

Furthermore, in mode 2 sidelink communication, where sidelink resources are autonomously selected by a Tx UE (e.g., using the sidelink resource selection and resource reservation techniques described above with reference to Fig. 5) , the sidelink resource selection is generally performed per TB, which does not pair well with the requirement to perform a successful LBT procedure. For example, after the Tx UE has performed a successful LBT procedure and acquired a COT using resources that were selected to transmit a first TB, the Tx UE may not be ready to perform contiguous transmissions of additional TBs during the COT because the Tx UE has not selected resources for transmitting the additional TBs. Accordingly, some aspects described in further detail herein relate to techniques to enable mode 2 sidelink resource selection and resource reservation for multiple consecutive slots to enable transmission of multiple TBs over an unlicensed sidelink channel within a COT duration.

For example, in some aspects, a Tx UE communicating over a sidelink may support multiple consecutive slot transmissions (MCSt) over an unlicensed sidelink channel based on mode 2 sidelink resource selection and resource reservation. For example, in some aspects, the Tx UE may include a MAC layer, which may be referred to herein as a MAC entity, which may trigger a PHY layer of the UE to identify a set of candidate resources for MCSt (e.g., a set of multi-slot candidate resources) based on one or more sets of resource selection parameters. The PHY layer may then identify the set of multi-slot candidate resources (e.g., by adjusting an RSRP threshold used to identify available candidate resources based on the resource selection parameters) , where a multi-slot candidate resource may generally include multiple single-slot resources that are consecutive in time. Accordingly, the PHY layer may then report the set of multi-slot candidate resources to the MAC entity, which may select a multi-slot candidate resource from the set of multi-slot candidate resources reported by the PHY layer based on one or more policies. In this way, the Tx UE may transmit multiple TBs during a COT using the selected multi-slot candidate resource, which may reduce the number of LBT procedures that need to be performed to transmit the multiple TBs and improve throughput and/or latency over the unlicensed sidelink channel.

Figs. 6A-6D are diagrams illustrating an example 600 associated with multi-slot and multi-TB resource allocation in sidelink unlicensed, in accordance with the present disclosure. As shown in Fig. 6A, example 600 includes a Tx UE (e.g., UE 120, UE 305, UE 402, or UE 404) and an Rx UE (e.g., UE 120, UE 305, UE 402, or UE 404) that communicate with one another via a sidelink (e.g., a PC5 interface) channel. In some aspects, as described herein, the Tx UE and the Rx UE may communicate using mode 2 sidelink resource selection and resource reservation, and the sidelink channel may be an unlicensed channel subject to a channel access mechanism (e.g., LBT) . Furthermore, as shown in Fig. 6A, the Tx UE may include a MAC entity and a PHY layer that may perform a mode 2 sidelink resource selection and resource reservation procedure to support multi-slot and multi-TB sidelink communication.

As shown in Fig. 6A, and by reference number 605, the MAC entity of the UE may trigger the PHY layer to perform multi-slot resource selection for multiple sidelink processes. For example, in some aspects, the MAC entity of the Tx UE may include a sidelink HARQ entity for transmission on a sidelink shared channel (e.g., a PSSCH) , where the sidelink HARQ entity may maintain a set of parallel sidelink processes. In general, each sidelink process is associated with a HARQ buffer (e.g., that handles one TB at a time) , and the MAC entity may create a single-TB, single-slot grant via triggering the PHY layer to perform a per-sidelink process resource selection. For example, in cases where a sidelink process is configured for transmission of a single MAC protocol data unit (PDU) , the MAC entity may trigger the PHY layer to select single-slot resources (creating a sidelink grant) for one TB. Alternatively, in cases where a sidelink process is configured for transmission of multiple MAC PDUs, the MAC entity may trigger the PHY layer to select single-slot resources that are projected onto a given periodicity to serve different TBs that are sufficiently spaced apart in time. Accordingly, to enable resource selection for multiple TBs over multiple consecutive slots (e.g., within a COT duration) , the MAC entity may trigger the PHY layer to identify a set of suitable multi-slot candidate resources for multiple sidelink processes. For example, because the multiple sidelink processes can each handle one TB at a time (e.g., in a similar manner as uplink access link communication, where the MAC entity of the UE includes a HARQ entity that maintains a number of parallel HARQ processes, each of which supports a single TB at a time) , the resource selection that the PHY layer performs for multiple sidelink processes may support one or multiple TBs.

As further shown in Fig. 6A, and by reference number 610, the PHY layer may identify a set of multi-slot candidate resources based on multi-slot resource selection parameters provided by the MAC entity. For example, in some aspects, sidelink traffic may include content that is segmented into multiple MAC PDUs that may have the same or similar parameters (e.g., the same or a similar priority, remaining packet delay budget (PDB) , number of subchannels, and/or reservation period) . In such cases, multiple MAC PDUs with the same parameterization may be available at the MAC entity at a given time, and the MAC entity may provide the PHY layer with a single set of resource selection parameters that are used to identify the set of multi-slot candidate resources for the multiple sidelink processes. In addition, the resource selection parameters that the MAC entity provides to the PHY layer may indicate a number of TBs or a number of sidelink processes, N ₁, and/or a number of consecutive slots over which to identify available candidate resources, N ₂, where N ₂≥N ₁. Alternatively, in some aspects, the MAC entity may provide multiple sets of resource selection parameters to the PHY layer, where each set of resource selection parameters may indicate a transmission priority (prio _TX) , a remaining PDB, a number of subchannels (L _subCH) , a reservation period (P _{rsvp_TX}) , and/or a number of slots for the multi-slot resource, N ₂. In some aspects, in cases where the MAC entity provides multiple sets of resource selection parameters (e.g., for different sidelink processes or TBs) , the MAC entity may provide up to N ₁ sets of resource selection parameters (e.g., up to the number of sidelink processes or TBs associated with the multi-slot resource selection) .

In some aspects, in cases where the multi-slot resource selection triggered by the MAC entity is associated with multiple sets of resource selection parameters to the PHY layer (e.g., up to N ₁ sets of resource selection parameters) , the MAC entity may provide a subset of the multiple sets of resource selection parameters to the PHY layer. For example, in some aspects, the subset of the multiple sets of resource selection parameters may include a compressed or combined set of resource selection parameters. In such cases, one or more rules may be defined to indicate how the PHY layer is to interpret the compressed or combined set of resource selection parameters. For example, in some aspects, each resource selection parameter (e.g., transmission priority, remaining PDB, number of subchannels, reservation period, and/or number of slots) in the compressed or combined set of resource selection parameters may have a value that applies to all of the multiple sets of resource selection parameters, or a separate value may be provided for each TB. Additionally, or alternatively, the value of a resource selection parameter may define a condition or criterion for the multi-slot resource selection (e.g., a minimum or a maximum value) . For example, referring to Fig. 6B, reference number 615-1 depicts a first example in which multiple TBs share the same resource selection parameters. Accordingly, in the first example, the multi-slot resource selection is performed for four (4) slots (N ₂=4) , and the same number of subchannels are selected for each slot. In a second example, as depicted by reference number 615-2, each TB may be associated with a different number of subchannels (L _subCH, 1, L _subCH, 2, and L _subCH, 3) . For example, as shown by reference number 615-2, the resource selection may be performed for three (3) sidelink processes (N ₁=3) , each sidelink process is associated with one (1) slot (N _2, i=1) , and different numbers of subchannels are selected for the sidelink process associated with each respective slot. In a third example, as depicted by reference number 615-3, the resource selection is performed for three (3) sidelink processes (N ₁=3) , each sidelink process is associated with two (2) slots (N _2, i=2 for each i) , and different numbers of subchannels (L _subCH, 1, L _subCH, 2, and L _subCH, 3) are selected for the two slots associated with each respective sidelink process. In other examples, different sidelink processes may be associated with the same or different numbers of slots, the same or different priorities, or the like.

In some aspects, as described herein, the PHY layer may identify the set of multi-slot candidate resources by extending single-slot sidelink resource selection and resource reservation techniques in a time domain. For example, when the PHY layer performs single-slot sidelink resource selection and resource reservation, a partial overlap of single-slot resources with a reservation from another UE results in a test based on an RSRP threshold, which has a value that depends on the two priorities associated with the conflicting transmissions. Furthermore, an RSRP measurement associated with the overlapping reservation depends only on a PSCCH or PSSCH DMRS associated with the reserving transmission of the other UE. For example, referring to Fig. 6C, reference number 620-1 depicts a single-slot resource that includes two subchannels (shown by the gray shaded region) , which overlaps with a one subchannel reservation from another UE (shown by the white region within the gray shaded region) . In the example depicted by reference number 620-1, the PHY layer may determine the RSRP threshold based on the respective priorities of the transmission for which resources are being selected and the transmission associated with the overlapping reservation of the other UE, and may exclude the single-slot resource corresponding to the gray shaded region from the available (candidate) resources for the outgoing transmission if an RSRP measurement of the overlapping reservation satisfies (e.g., equals or exceeds) the RSRP threshold. Furthermore, in cases where there are multiple overlapping reservations, multiple tests may be triggered and independently performed for each overlapping reservation, and a single failure may result in the single-slot resource being excluded from the candidate resources for the outgoing transmission. For example, referring to Fig. 6C, reference number 620-2 depicts an example where two tests are triggered based on a potential single-slot candidate resource overlapping with two reservations of other UEs (shown by the white region and the cross-hatched region) .

In some aspects, to extend the single-slot sidelink resource selection and resource reservation techniques in the time domain, the PHY layer may identify a set of multi-slot candidate resources that includes multiple consecutive single-slot candidate resources, where a multi-slot candidate resource may be retained in the set of multi-slot candidate resources provided to the MAC entity based on retaining each single-slot resource included in the multi-slot candidate resource. Alternatively, a multi-slot candidate resource may be removed or excluded from the set of multi-slot candidate resources provided to the MAC entity based on excluding any single-slot resource included in the multi-slot candidate resource. In either case, the test (s) that the PHY layer performs to determine whether to exclude or retain a single-slot resource included in a multi-slot candidate resource may be the same as the test (s) that the PHY layer would perform to determine whether to exclude or retain a single-slot resource when performing single-slot sidelink resource selection and resource reservation. Furthermore, as described herein, the test (s) that are performed to determine whether to exclude or retain a multi-slot candidate resource may work in cases where different TBs to be transmitted using a multi-slot resource are associated with different priorities (e.g., the test (s) may be performed per single-slot resource) .

For example, referring to Fig. 6C, reference number 625-1 depicts a first scenario where a multi-slot candidate resource includes a first single-slot resource (the black shaded region) with a first priority and a second single-slot resource (the gray shaded region) with a second priority. As further shown, the first single-slot resource partially overlaps with a first reservation of another UE with the first priority (shown by a white region with p = 1) and a second reservation of another UE with the second priority (shown by a gradient shaded region with p = 2) , and the second single-slot resource partially overlaps with two reservations of other UEs with the second priority (shown by gradient shaded and cross-hatched regions with p = 2) .

In the example shown by reference number 625-1, the PHY layer may determine whether to retain or exclude the multi-slot candidate resource by looping across the single-slot resources included in the multi-slot candidate resource, then looping across the overlapping reservations in each single-slot resource, and determining whether to retain or exclude each single-slot resource. For example, as shown, the PHY layer may determine a first RSRP threshold for a first test (Test 1) based on the priorities of the TB associated with the first single-slot resource and the priority of the first overlapping reservation in the first single-slot resource, and may determine a second RSRP threshold for a second test (Test 2) based on the priorities of the TB associated with the first single-slot resource and the priority of the second overlapping reservation in the first single-slot resource. As further shown, the PHY layer may similarly determine RSRP thresholds to test each overlapping reservation in the second single-slot resource in a similar manner.

Accordingly, the PHY layer may test the first overlapping resource and the second overlapping resource in the first single-slot resource based on the respective RSRP thresholds, and may retain the first single-slot resource based on RSRP measurements of the first and second overlapping reservations failing to satisfy the respective RSRP thresholds. Alternatively, the PHY layer may exclude the first single-slot resource based on RSRP measurements of the first and/or second overlapping reservations satisfying the applicable RSRP threshold. Furthermore, a similar approach may be performed for the two overlapping reservations in the second single-slot resource. In this example, the multi-slot candidate resource may be retained in the set of multi-slot candidate resources only if the first and second single-slot resources are both retained, or may exclude the multi-slot candidate resource from the set of multi-slot candidate resources if the first single-slot resource is excluded and/or the second single-slot resource is excluded.

In another example, as shown by reference number 625-2, the techniques used to determine whether to retain or exclude a multi-slot candidate resource may be optimized by looping across the single-slot resources, looping across the priorities associated with the overlapping reservations, and identifying the overlapping reservation with the highest RSRP measurement for each priority within a single-slot resource. Accordingly, for each priority, the PHY layer may test only the overlapping reservation associated with the highest RSRP measurement, because the test for other reservations with lower RSRP measurements may always pass if the test associated with the overlapping reservation with the highest RSRP measurement passes. Furthermore, if the test associated with the overlapping reservation with the highest RSRP measurement fails, the single-slot resource is excluded regardless of whether the test associated with the overlapping reservation with the lower RSRP measurement passes or fails. In other words, for each priority within a single-slot resource, whether the single-slot resource is excluded or retained depends only on the test associated with the overlapping reservation having the highest RSRP measurement. For example, as shown by reference number 625-2, the two overlapping reservations in the first single-slot resource are associated with different priorities, whereby the PHY layer may independently test both overlapping reservations based on respective RSRP thresholds. However, in the second single-slot resource, the two overlapping reservations have the same priority. Accordingly, in an example where the overlapping reservation corresponding to the gradient shaded region has a higher RSRP measurement than the overlapping reservation corresponding to the cross-hatched region, the PHY layer only tests the overlapping reservation corresponding to the gradient shaded region (Test 3) .

In another example, as shown by reference number 625-3, the techniques used to determine whether to retain or exclude a multi-slot candidate resource may be further optimized in cases where the multi-slot resource is associated with a single priority value (e.g., the single-slot resources included in the multi-slot resource are all associated with the same priority value) . In this case, the PHY layer may determine whether to retain or exclude a multi-slot resource by looping across the priorities of the overlapping reservations, finding the overlapping reservation associated with the highest RSRP for each priority across the multi-slot resource, and testing only the overlapping reservation associated with the highest RSRP for each priority. For example, as shown, the first single-slot resource and the second single-slot resource each include an overlapping reservation associated with a first priority (p = 1) . In the illustrated example, the overlapping reservation in the second single-slot resource may have a higher RSRP measurement than the overlapping reservation in the first single-slot resource, whereby the PHY layer may test only the overlapping reservation in the second single-slot resource for the first priority (e.g., the PHY layer does not perform Test 1 for the overlapping reservation in the first single-slot resource with the first priority) . Accordingly, in the first single-slot resource, the PHY layer may only perform Test 2 for the second overlapping reservation with the second priority (p = 2) . If Test 2 fails, the first single-slot resource may be excluded, and therefore the multi-slot resource is excluded. However, if Test 2 passes, the first single-slot resource is retained, and the PHY layer may then loop to the second single-slot resource. In this case, the PHY layer performs Test 4 for the second overlapping reservation of the first priority with the highest RSRP measurement. Furthermore, the PHY layer may not perform Test 3 for the first overlapping reservation with the second priority because an equivalent overlapping reservation was already tested for the first single-slot resource.

Referring again to Fig. 6A, as shown by reference number 630, the PHY layer may indicate a set of multi-slot candidate resources to the MAC entity, where the set of multi-slot candidate resources may each include multiple single-slot resources that are consecutive in the time domain. For example, as described herein, the PHY layer may generally identify a set of multi-slot candidate resources that satisfy one or more sets of resource selection parameters that are provided for multiple sidelink processes, and may perform one or more RSRP exclusion tests to determine whether to retain or exclude any multi-slot candidate resources that are associated with one or more overlapping reservations by other UEs (e.g., retaining a multi-slot candidate resource associated with one or more overlapping reservations if each single-slot candidate resource included in the multi-slot candidate resource is retained, or excluding a multi-slot candidate resource associated with one or more overlapping reservations if one or more single-slot candidate resources included in the multi-slot candidate resource are excluded) . Accordingly, as shown by reference number 630, the PHY layer may provide a set of suitable multi-slot candidate resources to the MAC entity, and the MAC entity may then select one multi-slot candidate resource from the set of multi-slot candidate resources provided by the PHY layer, as shown by reference number 635.

In some aspects, the MAC entity may generally select a multi-slot candidate resource from the set of multi-slot candidate resources provided by the PHY layer based on one or more policies. For example, in some aspects, the MAC entity may select a multi-slot candidate resource from the set of multi-slot candidate resources at random. In some aspects, the MAC entity may randomly select the multi-slot candidate resource from the set of multi-slot candidate resources in cases where there is not an ongoing COT (e.g., because there may not be a strong reason or need to select a multi-slot resource earlier or later within a selection window in cases where the multi-slot resource is selected to satisfy a PDB requirement) . Additionally, or alternatively, the MAC entity may select an earliest available multi-slot resource within the set of multi-slot candidate resources, or the MAC entity may select the multi-slot resource based on a previously selected multi-slot resource (e.g., a previous multi-slot resource that is attached to or in a consecutive slot with a previously selected multi-slot resource in the same resource block (RB) set) . For example, in some aspects, the MAC entity may select the multi-slot resource based on a previously selected multi-slot resource in cases where there is an ongoing COT (e.g., a current multi-slot resource selection may be attached to a previously selected multi-slot resource when there are not enough sidelink transmissions to fill a maximum COT duration) . Additionally, or alternatively, the PHY layer may provide the set of multi-slot candidate resources in an ordered list based on a preference associated with each multi-slot candidate resource, where the preference may be based on one or more of the policies or criteria described above, a number of collisions that are experienced for each multi-slot candidate resource, and/or a number of overlapping reservations associated with each multi-slot candidate resource.

As further shown in Fig. 6A, and by reference number 640, the MAC entity may select one or more multi-slot resources for one or more TB retransmissions based on a retransmission type (e.g., based on whether a TB retransmission is a blind retransmission that is performed regardless of HARQ feedback for an initial transmission or a HARQ feedback retransmission that is performed based on HARQ feedback indicating a negative acknowledgment (NACK) for an initial transmission) . For example, referring to Fig. 6D, reference numbers 645-1 through 645-4 illustrate various examples of techniques that may be used by the MAC entity to select the multi-slot resources for the one or more TB retransmissions. In particular, as described herein, the MAC entity may generally select the multi-slot resources for retransmissions (e.g., over n ₂ LBT occasions) after selecting an initial multi-slot resource for an initial transmission of a first TB. For example, the multi-slot resources for the first and/or second retransmissions of a TB may be selected within the remaining PDB associated with the TB based on the retransmission type. For example, in Fig. 6D, reference number 645-1 depicts a first example in which the multi-slot resources for one or more blind retransmissions of each TB are located immediately after the multi-slot resource for an initial transmission of the respective TB. Alternatively, reference number 645-2 depicts a second example in which the multi-slot resources for one or more blind retransmissions are located immediately after the last multi-slot resource for an initial transmission of a last TB (e.g., immediately after the multi-slot resource for the initial transmission of TB _N2, which is the last TB in a set of N ₂ TBs) .

Alternatively, reference numbers 645-3 and 645-4 depict examples of techniques that the MAC entity may use to select multi-slot resources for one or more retransmissions that are based on HARQ feedback. For example, in some aspects, the MAC entity may select the multi-slot resources for the HARQ feedback retransmissions, and the multi-slot resources that are selected for the HARQ feedback retransmissions may be used for one or more retransmissions based on HARQ feedback carrying a NACK for an initial transmission of a TB. For example, referring to Fig. 6D, reference number 645-3 depicts an example in which the MAC entity selects multi-slot resources for HARQ feedback retransmissions that are located immediately after a minimum time gap from an initial transmission of a first TB in a set of multiple TBs (e.g., based on a HARQ feedback retransmission processing time and/or available HARQ feedback resources) . Alternatively, reference number 645-4 depicts an example in which the MAC entity selects multi-slot resources for HARQ feedback retransmissions that are located immediately after a last multi-slot resource for an initial transmission of a last TB in a set of TBs if the minimum time gap is satisfied.

Referring again to Fig. 6A, as shown by reference number 650, the MAC entity may provide a set of TBs to be transmitted using the selected multi-slot resource to the PHY layer. For example, if the sidelink HARQ entity associated with a sidelink process is requesting a new (initial) transmission of a TB, the sidelink process may store a MAC PDU corresponding to the TB in an associated HARQ buffer, store a sidelink grant received from the sidelink HARQ entity, and generate a transmission by instructing the PHY layer to transmit SCI according to the stored sidelink grant with the associated sidelink transmission information and instructing the PHY layer to generate a transmission according to the stored sidelink grant. Additionally, or alternatively, if the sidelink HARQ entity is requesting a retransmission of a TB, the sidelink process may store the sidelink grant received from the sidelink HARQ entity and generate a transmission by instructing the PHY layer to transmit SCI according to the stored sidelink grant with the associated sidelink transmission information and instructing the PHY layer to generate a transmission according to the stored sidelink grant. Accordingly, the MAC entity may use these techniques to generate a transmission for each TB to be transmitted using the selected multi-slot resource.

As further shown in Fig. 6A, and by reference number 655, the PHY layer may perform an LBT procedure to acquire a COT (e.g., in cases where there is no ongoing COT) . For example, the LBT procedure may include a clear channel assessment (CCA) procedure that the PHY layer performs to determine whether an unlicensed sidelink channel is available (e.g., unoccupied by other transmitters) . In particular, the PHY layer of the Tx UE may perform the CCA procedure by detecting an energy level on the unlicensed sidelink channel and determining whether the energy level satisfies (e.g., is less than or equal to) a threshold, sometimes referred to as an energy detection threshold (EDT) . When the energy level satisfies (e.g., is below) the threshold, the LBT procedure is deemed to be successful and the Tx UE may gain access to the unlicensed sidelink channel for a COT duration. During the COT, the Tx UE can perform one or more transmissions without having to perform any additional LBT operations. For example, as shown by reference number 660, the Tx UE may transmit one or more TBs to the Rx UE during a COT using the multi-slot resource selected by the MAC entity based on a successful LBT procedure. However, when the energy level fails to satisfy (e.g., equals or exceeds) the EDT, the LBT procedure fails and contention to access the unlicensed sidelink channel by the Tx UE is unsuccessful.

In cases where the LBT procedure fails because the CCA procedure results in a determination that the unlicensed channel band is unavailable (e.g., because the energy level detected on the unlicensed channel exceeds the EDT, indicating that another device is already using the channel) , the CCA procedure may be performed again at a later time. In environments in which the Tx UE may be starved of access to the unlicensed sidelink channel (e.g., due to WLAN activity or transmissions by other devices) , an extended CCA (eCCA) procedure may be employed to increase the likelihood that the Tx UE will successfully obtain access to the unlicensed sidelink channel. For example, to perform an eCCA procedure, the Tx UE may perform a random quantity of CCA procedures (from 1 to q) , in accordance with an eCCA counter. If and/or when the PHY layer senses that the channel has become clear, the Tx UE may start a random wait period based on the eCCA counter and start to transmit if the channel remains clear over the random wait period.

As further shown in Fig. 6A, and by reference number 665, the PHY layer may report an LBT failure to the MAC entity (or other higher layers) in cases where there is an LBT failure for a TB associated with the multi-slot resource selected by the MAC layer. For example, in cases where sidelink resource selection is performed per TB (e.g., selecting single-slot resources) , the PHY layer may report an LBT failure to the MAC entity (or other higher layers) when the LBT procedure is not completed in time to transmit a TB on a single-slot resource that was selected for that TB. However, in cases where the MAC entity selects a multi-slot resource for a number of slots that exceeds the number of TBs to be transmitted over an unlicensed sidelink channel, the LBT failure indication should not be triggered at each slot, but should instead be tied to a capability to transmit a given TB within the currently selected multi-slot resource (s) . For example, in some aspects, the PHY layer may report an LBT failure to the MAC entity for a TB associated with a multi-slot resource in cases where the PDB of the TB expires before a COT is acquired and/or based on a failure to transmit the TB during the associated multi-slot resource, whichever occurs first. In such cases, the MAC entity may then determine how to handle transmission of the TB that the PHY layer was unable to transmit due to the LBT failure (e.g., triggering a new transmission for the TB, changing resource selection parameters for the TB, or the like) .

As indicated above, Figs. 6A-6D are provided as an example. Other examples may differ from what is described with regard to Figs. 6A-6D.

Fig. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example process 700 performed, for example, by a UE, in accordance with the present disclosure. Example process 700 is an example where the UE (e.g., UE 120) performs operations associated with multi-slot and multi-TB resource allocation in sidelink unlicensed.

As shown in Fig. 7, in some aspects, process 700 may include triggering candidate resource selection for multiple sidelink processes associated with multiple TBs (block 710) . For example, the UE (e.g., using communication manager 140 and/or MAC component 808, depicted in Fig. 8) may trigger candidate resource selection for multiple sidelink processes associated with multiple TBs, as described above.

As further shown in Fig. 7, in some aspects, process 700 may include performing the candidate resource selection to identify a set of multi-slot candidate resources for transmitting the multiple TBs over multiple consecutive slots (block 720) . For example, the UE (e.g., using communication manager 140 and/or PHY component 810, depicted in Fig. 8) may perform the candidate resource selection to identify a set of multi-slot candidate resources for transmitting the multiple TBs over multiple consecutive slots, as described above.

As further shown in Fig. 7, in some aspects, process 700 may include selecting, from the set of multi-slot candidate resources, a multi-slot resource to use to transmit the multiple TBs over the multiple consecutive slots (block 730) . For example, the UE (e.g., using communication manager 140 and/or MAC component 808, depicted in Fig. 8) may select, from the set of multi-slot candidate resources, a multi-slot resource to use to transmit the multiple TBs over the multiple consecutive slots, as described above.

Process 700 may include additional aspects, such as any single aspect or any combination of aspects described below and/or in connection with one or more other processes described elsewhere herein.

In a first aspect, the UE includes a MAC entity that triggers the candidate resource selection and a PHY layer that performs the candidate resource selection.

In a second aspect, alone or in combination with the first aspect, a number of slots included in the multiple consecutive slots associated with the candidate resource selection equals or exceeds a number of TBs included in the multiple TBs.

In a third aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first and second aspects, the candidate resource selection is based at least in part on one or more sets of resource selection parameters, where a number of the one or more sets of resource selection parameters is less than or equal to a number of TBs included in the multiple TBs.

In a fourth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through third aspects, the one or more sets of resource selection parameters include a compressed combined set of resource selection parameters.

In a fifth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through fourth aspects, performing the candidate resource selection to identify the set of multi-slot candidate resources includes identifying a multi-slot candidate resource associated with one or more overlapping reservations in at least one slot, and performing, for each single-slot resource included in the multi-slot candidate resource, a test to determine whether an RSRP measurement associated with the one or more overlapping reservations satisfies a threshold, wherein the multi-slot candidate resource is retained in the set of multi-slot candidate resources based at least in part on the RSRP measurement satisfying the threshold for each single-slot resource included in the multi-slot candidate resource, or excluded from the set of multi-slot candidate resources based at least in part on the RSRP measurement failing to satisfy the threshold for at least one single-slot resource included in the multi-slot candidate resource.

In a sixth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through fifth aspects, performing the test includes independently testing each of the one or more overlapping reservations in each single-slot resource.

In a seventh aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through sixth aspects, performing the test includes testing, for each of the one or more overlapping reservations in a single-slot resource associated with a priority value, only an overlapping reservation with a highest RSRP measurement.

In an eighth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through seventh aspects, performing the test includes testing, for each of the one or more overlapping reservations associated with a priority value across the multi-slot candidate resource, only an overlapping reservation with a highest RSRP measurement based at least in part on the multi-slot candidate resource relating to a single priority value.

In a ninth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through eighth aspects, the multi-slot resource is randomly selected from the set of multi-slot candidate resources.

In a tenth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through ninth aspects, the multi-slot resource selected from the set of multi-slot candidate resources is an earliest available multi-slot candidate resource.

In an eleventh aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through tenth aspects, the multi-slot resource is selected from the set of multi-slot candidate resources based at least in part on a previous multi-slot resource selected for a previous slot that is consecutive with the multiple consecutive slots.

In a twelfth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through eleventh aspects, the multi-slot resource is selected from the set of multi-slot candidate resources based at least in part on a previous multi-slot resource selected for an ongoing channel occupancy time.

In a thirteenth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through twelfth aspects, the multi-slot resource is selected from the set of multi-slot candidate resources based at least in part on an ordered list associated with one or more preference criteria.

In a fourteenth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through thirteenth aspects, the multi-slot resource is selected for an initial transmission and one or more blind retransmissions of the multiple TBs.

In a fifteenth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through fourteenth aspects, for each of the multiple TBs, one or more single-slot resources for the one or more blind retransmissions of a respective TB are located after a single-slot resource for the initial transmission of the respective TB.

In a sixteenth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through fifteenth aspects, single-slot resources for the one or more blind retransmissions of the multiple TBs are located after single-slot resources for the initial transmissions of the multiple TBs.

In a seventeenth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through sixteenth aspects, the multi-slot resource is selected for an initial transmission and one or more HARQ feedback retransmissions of the multiple TBs.

In an eighteenth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through seventeenth aspects, single-slot resources for the one or more HARQ feedback retransmissions associated with a TB, of the multiple TBs, are located immediately after a minimum time gap from a latest single-slot resource for the TB.

In a nineteenth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through eighteenth aspects, a second multi-slot resource for the one or more HARQ feedback retransmissions is located a minimum time gap after a first multi-slot resource for the initial transmission or a latest retransmission.

In a twentieth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through nineteenth aspects, the second multi-slot resource is located immediately after the first multi-slot resource.

In a twenty-first aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through twentieth aspects, process 700 includes performing an LBT procedure to acquire a COT in which to transmit a TB associated with the multi-slot resource, and triggering an LBT failure for the TB based at least in part on a PDB of the TB expiring before the COT is acquired.

In a twenty-second aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through twenty-first aspects, process 700 includes performing an LBT procedure to acquire a COT in which to transmit a TB associated with the multi-slot resource, and triggering an LBT failure for the TB based at least in part on the TB not being transmitted during the multi-slot resource before the COT is acquired.

Although Fig. 7 shows example blocks of process 700, in some aspects, process 700 may include additional blocks, fewer blocks, different blocks, or differently arranged blocks than those depicted in Fig. 7. Additionally, or alternatively, two or more of the blocks of process 700 may be performed in parallel.

Fig. 8 is a diagram of an example apparatus 800 for wireless communication, in accordance with the present disclosure. The apparatus 800 may be a UE, or a UE may include the apparatus 800. In some aspects, the apparatus 800 includes a reception component 802 and a transmission component 804, which may be in communication with one another (for example, via one or more buses and/or one or more other components) . As shown, the apparatus 800 may communicate with another apparatus 806 (such as a UE, a base station, or another wireless communication device) using the reception component 802 and the transmission component 804. As further shown, the apparatus 800 may include the communication manager 140. The communication manager 140 may include one or more of a MAC component 808 or a PHY component 810, among other examples.

In some aspects, the apparatus 800 may be configured to perform one or more operations described herein in connection with Figs. 6A-6D. Additionally, or alternatively, the apparatus 800 may be configured to perform one or more processes described herein, such as process 700 of Fig. 7. In some aspects, the apparatus 800 and/or one or more components shown in Fig. 8 may include one or more components of the UE described in connection with Fig. 2. Additionally, or alternatively, one or more components shown in Fig. 8 may be implemented within one or more components described in connection with Fig. 2. Additionally, or alternatively, one or more components of the set of components may be implemented at least in part as software stored in a memory. For example, a component (or a portion of a component) may be implemented as instructions or code stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium and executable by a controller or a processor to perform the functions or operations of the component.

The reception component 802 may receive communications, such as reference signals, control information, data communications, or a combination thereof, from the apparatus 806. The reception component 802 may provide received communications to one or more other components of the apparatus 800. In some aspects, the reception component 802 may perform signal processing on the received communications (such as filtering, amplification, demodulation, analog-to-digital conversion, demultiplexing, deinterleaving, de-mapping, equalization, interference cancellation, or decoding, among other examples) , and may provide the processed signals to the one or more other components of the apparatus 800. In some aspects, the reception component 802 may include one or more antennas, a modem, a demodulator, a MIMO detector, a receive processor, a controller/processor, a memory, or a combination thereof, of the UE described in connection with Fig. 2.

The transmission component 804 may transmit communications, such as reference signals, control information, data communications, or a combination thereof, to the apparatus 806. In some aspects, one or more other components of the apparatus 800 may generate communications and may provide the generated communications to the transmission component 804 for transmission to the apparatus 806. In some aspects, the transmission component 804 may perform signal processing on the generated communications (such as filtering, amplification, modulation, digital-to-analog conversion, multiplexing, interleaving, mapping, or encoding, among other examples) , and may transmit the processed signals to the apparatus 806. In some aspects, the transmission component 804 may include one or more antennas, a modem, a modulator, a transmit MIMO processor, a transmit processor, a controller/processor, a memory, or a combination thereof, of the UE described in connection with Fig. 2. In some aspects, the transmission component 804 may be co-located with the reception component 802 in a transceiver.

The MAC component 808 may trigger candidate resource selection for multiple sidelink processes associated with multiple TBs. The PHY component 810 may perform the candidate resource selection to identify a set of multi-slot candidate resources for transmitting the multiple TBs over multiple consecutive slots. The MAC component 808 may select, from the set of multi-slot candidate resources, a multi-slot resource to use to transmit the multiple TBs over the multiple consecutive slots.

The PHY component 810 may perform an LBT procedure to acquire a COT in which to transmit a TB associated with the multi-slot resource. The PHY component 810 may trigger an LBT failure for the TB based at least in part on a PDB of the TB expiring before the COT is acquired.

The PHY component 810 may perform an LBT procedure to acquire a COT in which to transmit a TB associated with the multi-slot resource. The PHY component 810 may trigger an LBT failure for the TB based at least in part on the TB not being transmitted during the multi-slot resource before the COT is acquired.

The number and arrangement of components shown in Fig. 8 are provided as an example. In practice, there may be additional components, fewer components, different components, or differently arranged components than those shown in Fig. 8. Furthermore, two or more components shown in Fig. 8 may be implemented within a single component, or a single component shown in Fig. 8 may be implemented as multiple, distributed components. Additionally, or alternatively, a set of (one or more) components shown in Fig. 8 may perform one or more functions described as being performed by another set of components shown in Fig. 8.

The following provides an overview of some Aspects of the present disclosure:

Aspect 1: A method of wireless communication performed by a UE, comprising: triggering candidate resource selection for multiple sidelink processes associated with multiple TBs; performing the candidate resource selection to identify a set of multi-slot candidate resources for transmitting the multiple TBs over multiple consecutive slots; and selecting, from the set of multi-slot candidate resources, a multi-slot resource to use to transmit the multiple TBs over the multiple consecutive slots.

Aspect 2: The method of Aspect 1, wherein the UE includes a MAC entity that triggers the candidate resource selection and a PHY layer that performs the candidate resource selection.

Aspect 3: The method of any of Aspects 1-2, wherein a number of slots included in the multiple consecutive slots associated with the candidate resource selection equals or exceeds a number of TBs included in the multiple TBs.

Aspect 4: The method of any of Aspects 1-3, wherein the candidate resource selection is based at least in part on one or more sets of resource selection parameters, where a number of the one or more sets of resource selection parameters is less than or equal to a number of TBs included in the multiple TBs.

Aspect 5: The method of Aspect 4, wherein the one or more sets of resource selection parameters include a compressed combined set of resource selection parameters.

Aspect 6: The method of any of Aspects 1-5, wherein performing the candidate resource selection to identify the set of multi-slot candidate resources includes: identifying a multi-slot candidate resource associated with one or more overlapping reservations in at least one slot; and performing, for each single-slot resource included in the multi-slot candidate resource, a test to determine whether am RSRP measurement associated with the one or more overlapping reservations satisfies a threshold, wherein the multi-slot candidate resource is: retained in the set of multi-slot candidate resources based at least in part on the RSRP measurement satisfying the threshold for each single-slot resource included in the multi-slot candidate resource, or excluded from the set of multi-slot candidate resources based at least in part on the RSRP measurement failing to satisfy the threshold for at least one single-slot resource included in the multi-slot candidate resource.

Aspect 7: The method of Aspect 6, wherein performing the test includes independently testing each of the one or more overlapping reservations in each single-slot resource.

Aspect 8: The method of Aspect 6, wherein performing the test includes testing, for each of the one or more overlapping reservations in a single-slot resource associated with a priority value, only an overlapping reservation with a highest RSRP measurement.

Aspect 9: The method of Aspect 6, wherein performing the test includes testing, for each of the one or more overlapping reservations associated with a priority value across the multi-slot candidate resource, only an overlapping reservation with a highest RSRP measurement based at least in part on the multi-slot candidate resource relating to a single priority value.

Aspect 10: The method of any of Aspects 1-9, wherein the multi-slot resource is randomly selected from the set of multi-slot candidate resources.

Aspect 11: The method of any of Aspects 1-10, wherein the multi-slot resource selected from the set of multi-slot candidate resources is an earliest available multi-slot candidate resource.

Aspect 12: The method of any of Aspects 1-11, wherein the multi-slot resource is selected from the set of multi-slot candidate resources based at least in part on a previous multi-slot resource selected for a previous slot that is consecutive with the multiple consecutive slots.

Aspect 13: The method of any of Aspects 1-12, wherein the multi-slot resource is selected from the set of multi-slot candidate resources based at least in part on a previous multi-slot resource selected for an ongoing channel occupancy time.

Aspect 14: The method of any of Aspects 1-13, wherein the multi-slot resource is selected from the set of multi-slot candidate resources based at least in part on an ordered list associated with one or more preference criteria.

Aspect 15: The method of any of Aspects 1-14, wherein the multi-slot resource is selected for an initial transmission and one or more blind retransmissions of the multiple TBs.

Aspect 16: The method of Aspect 15, wherein, for each of the multiple TBs, one or more single-slot resources for the one or more blind retransmissions of a respective TB are located after a single-slot resource for the initial transmission of the respective TB.

Aspect 17: The method of Aspect 15, wherein single-slot resources for the one or more blind retransmissions of the multiple TBs are located after single-slot resources for the initial transmissions of the multiple TBs.

Aspect 18: The method of any of Aspects 1-17, wherein the multi-slot resource is selected for an initial transmission and one or more HARQ feedback retransmissions of the multiple TBs.

Aspect 19: The method of Aspect 18, wherein single-slot resources for the one or more HARQ feedback retransmissions associated with a TB, of the multiple TBs, are located immediately after a minimum time gap from a latest single-slot resource for the TB.

Aspect 20: The method of Aspect 18, wherein a second multi-slot resource for the one or more HARQ feedback retransmissions is located a minimum time gap after a first multi-slot resource for the initial transmission or a latest retransmission.

Aspect 21: The method of Aspect 20, wherein the second multi-slot resource is located immediately after the first multi-slot resource.

Aspect 22: The method of any of Aspects 1-21, further comprising: performing an LBT procedure to acquire a COT in which to transmit a TB associated with the multi-slot resource; and triggering an LBT failure for the TB based at least in part on a PDB of the TB expiring before the COT is acquired.

Aspect 23: The method of any of Aspects 1-22, further comprising: performing an LBT procedure to acquire a COT in which to transmit a TB associated with the multi-slot resource; and triggering an LBT failure for the TB based at least in part on the TB not being transmitted during the multi-slot resource before the COT is acquired.

Aspect 24: An apparatus for wireless communication at a device, comprising a processor; memory coupled with the processor; and instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to perform the method of one or more of Aspects 1-23.

Aspect 25: A device for wireless communication, comprising a memory and one or more processors coupled to the memory, the one or more processors configured to perform the method of one or more of Aspects 1-23.

Aspect 26: An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising at least one means for performing the method of one or more of Aspects 1-23.

Aspect 27: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication, the code comprising instructions executable by a processor to perform the method of one or more of Aspects 1-23.

Aspect 28: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a set of instructions for wireless communication, the set of instructions comprising one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a device, cause the device to perform the method of one or more of Aspects 1-23.

The foregoing disclosure provides illustration and description but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the aspects to the precise forms disclosed. Modifications and variations may be made in light of the above disclosure or may be acquired from practice of the aspects.

As used herein, the term “component” is intended to be broadly construed as hardware and/or a combination of hardware and software. “Software” shall be construed broadly to mean instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subprograms, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executables, threads of execution, procedures, and/or functions, among other examples, whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise. As used herein, a “processor” is implemented in hardware and/or a combination of hardware and software. It will be apparent that systems and/or methods described herein may be implemented in different forms of hardware and/or a combination of hardware and software. The actual specialized control hardware or software code used to implement these systems and/or methods is not limiting of the aspects. Thus, the operation and behavior of the systems and/or methods are described herein without reference to specific software code, since those skilled in the art will understand that software and hardware can be designed to implement the systems and/or methods based, at least in part, on the description herein.

As used herein, “satisfying a threshold” may, depending on the context, refer to a value being greater than the threshold, greater than or equal to the threshold, less than the threshold, less than or equal to the threshold, equal to the threshold, not equal to the threshold, or the like.

Even though particular combinations of features are recited in the claims and/or disclosed in the specification, these combinations are not intended to limit the disclosure of various aspects. Many of these features may be combined in ways not specifically recited in the claims and/or disclosed in the specification. The disclosure of various aspects includes each dependent claim in combination with every other claim in the claim set. As used herein, a phrase referring to “at least one of” a list of items refers to any combination of those items, including single members. As an example, “at least one of: a, b, or c” is intended to cover a, b, c, a + b, a + c, b + c, and a + b + c, as well as any combination with multiples of the same element (e.g., a + a, a + a + a, a + a + b, a +a + c, a + b + b, a + c + c, b + b, b + b + b, b + b + c, c + c, and c + c + c, or any other ordering of a, b, and c) .

No element, act, or instruction used herein should be construed as critical or essential unless explicitly described as such. Also, as used herein, the articles “a” and “an” are intended to include one or more items and may be used interchangeably with “one or more. ” Further, as used herein, the article “the” is intended to include one or more items referenced in connection with the article “the” and may be used interchangeably with “the one or more. ” Furthermore, as used herein, the terms “set” and “group” are intended to include one or more items and may be used interchangeably with “one or more. ” Where only one item is intended, the phrase “only one” or similar language is used. Also, as used herein, the terms “has, ” “have, ” “having, ” or the like are intended to be open-ended terms that do not limit an element that they modify (e.g., an element “having” A may also have B) . Further, the phrase “based on” is intended to mean “based, at least in part, on” unless explicitly stated otherwise. Also, as used herein, the term “or” is intended to be inclusive when used in a series and may be used interchangeably with “and/or, ” unless explicitly stated otherwise (e.g., if used in combination with “either” or “only one of” ) .

Claims

A method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE) , comprising:

triggering candidate resource selection for multiple sidelink processes associated with multiple transport blocks (TBs) ;

performing the candidate resource selection to identify a set of multi-slot candidate resources for transmitting the multiple TBs over multiple consecutive slots; and

selecting, from the set of multi-slot candidate resources, a multi-slot resource to use to transmit the multiple TBs over the multiple consecutive slots.
The method of claim 1, wherein the UE includes a medium access control (MAC) entity that triggers the candidate resource selection and a physical (PHY) layer that performs the candidate resource selection.
The method of claim 1, wherein a number of slots included in the multiple consecutive slots associated with the candidate resource selection equals or exceeds a number of TBs included in the multiple TBs.
The method of claim 1, wherein the candidate resource selection is based at least in part on one or more sets of resource selection parameters, where a number of the one or more sets of resource selection parameters is less than or equal to a number of TBs included in the multiple TBs.
The method of claim 4, wherein the one or more sets of resource selection parameters include a compressed combined set of resource selection parameters.
The method of claim 1, wherein performing the candidate resource selection to identify the set of multi-slot candidate resources includes:

identifying a multi-slot candidate resource associated with one or more overlapping reservations in at least one slot; and

performing, for each single-slot resource included in the multi-slot candidate resource, a test to determine whether a reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement associated with the one or more overlapping reservations satisfies a threshold, wherein the multi-slot candidate resource is:

retained in the set of multi-slot candidate resources based at least in part on the RSRP measurement satisfying the threshold for each single-slot resource included in the multi-slot candidate resource, or

excluded from the set of multi-slot candidate resources based at least in part on the RSRP measurement failing to satisfy the threshold for at least one single-slot resource included in the multi-slot candidate resource.
The method of claim 6, wherein performing the test includes independently testing each of the one or more overlapping reservations in each single-slot resource.
The method of claim 6, wherein performing the test includes testing, for each of the one or more overlapping reservations in a single-slot resource associated with a priority value, only an overlapping reservation with a highest RSRP measurement.
The method of claim 6, wherein performing the test includes testing, for each of the one or more overlapping reservations associated with a priority value across the multi-slot candidate resource, only an overlapping reservation with a highest RSRP measurement based at least in part on the multi-slot candidate resource relating to a single priority value.
The method of claim 1, wherein the multi-slot resource is randomly selected from the set of multi-slot candidate resources.
The method of claim 1, wherein the multi-slot resource selected from the set of multi-slot candidate resources is an earliest available multi-slot candidate resource.
The method of claim 1, wherein the multi-slot resource is selected from the set of multi-slot candidate resources based at least in part on a previous multi-slot resource selected for a previous slot that is consecutive with the multiple consecutive slots.
The method of claim 1, wherein the multi-slot resource is selected from the set of multi-slot candidate resources based at least in part on a previous multi-slot resource selected for an ongoing channel occupancy time.
The method of claim 1, wherein the multi-slot resource is selected from the set of multi-slot candidate resources based at least in part on an ordered list associated with one or more preference criteria.
The method of claim 1, wherein the multi-slot resource is selected for an initial transmission and one or more blind retransmissions of the multiple TBs.
The method of claim 15, wherein, for each of the multiple TBs, one or more single-slot resources for the one or more blind retransmissions of a respective TB are located after a single-slot resource for the initial transmission of the respective TB.
The method of claim 15, wherein single-slot resources for the one or more blind retransmissions of the multiple TBs are located after single-slot resources for the initial transmissions of the multiple TBs.
The method of claim 1, wherein the multi-slot resource is selected for an initial transmission and one or more hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback retransmissions of the multiple TBs.
The method of claim 18, wherein single-slot resources for the one or more HARQ feedback retransmissions associated with a TB, of the multiple TBs, are located immediately after a minimum time gap from a latest single-slot resource for the TB.
The method of claim 18, wherein a second multi-slot resource for the one or more HARQ feedback retransmissions is located a minimum time gap after a first multi-slot resource for the initial transmission or a latest retransmission.
The method of claim 20, wherein the second multi-slot resource is located immediately after the first multi-slot resource.
The method of claim 1, further comprising:

performing a listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure to acquire a channel occupancy time (COT) in which to transmit a TB associated with the multi-slot resource; and

triggering an LBT failure for the TB based at least in part on a packet delay budget of the TB expiring before the COT is acquired.
The method of claim 1, further comprising:

performing a listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure to acquire a channel occupancy time (COT) in which to transmit a TB associated with the multi-slot resource; and

triggering an LBT failure for the TB based at least in part on the TB not being transmitted during the multi-slot resource before the COT is acquired.
A user equipment (UE) for wireless communication, comprising:

a memory; and

one or more processors, coupled to the memory, configured to:

trigger candidate resource selection for multiple sidelink processes associated with multiple transport blocks (TBs) ;

perform the candidate resource selection to identify a set of multi-slot candidate resources for transmitting the multiple TBs over multiple consecutive slots; and

select, from the set of multi-slot candidate resources, a multi-slot resource to use to transmit the multiple TBs over the multiple consecutive slots.
The UE of claim 24, wherein the UE includes a medium access control (MAC) entity that triggers the candidate resource selection and a physical (PHY) layer that performs the candidate resource selection.
The UE of claim 24, wherein a number of slots included in the multiple consecutive slots associated with the candidate resource selection equals or exceeds a number of TBs included in the multiple TBs.
The UE of claim 24, wherein the candidate resource selection is based at least in part on one or more sets of resource selection parameters, where a number of the one or more sets of resource selection parameters is less than or equal to a number of TBs included in the multiple TBs.
The UE of claim 27, wherein the one or more sets of resource selection parameters include a compressed combined set of resource selection parameters.
The UE of claim 24, wherein the one or more processors, to perform the candidate resource selection to identify the set of multi-slot candidate resources, are configured to:

identify a multi-slot candidate resource associated with one or more overlapping reservations in at least one slot; and

perform, for each single-slot resource included in the multi-slot candidate resource, a test to determine whether a reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement associated with the one or more overlapping reservations satisfies a threshold, wherein the multi-slot candidate resource is:

retain in the set of multi-slot candidate resources based at least in part on the RSRP measurement satisfying the threshold for each single-slot resource included in the multi-slot candidate resource, or

exclude from the set of multi-slot candidate resources based at least in part on the RSRP measurement failing to satisfy the threshold for at least one single-slot resource included in the multi-slot candidate resource.
The UE of claim 29, wherein the one or more processors, to perform the test, are configured to independently test each of the one or more overlapping reservations in each single-slot resource.
The UE of claim 29, wherein the one or more processors, to perform the test, are configured to test, for each of the one or more overlapping reservations in a single-slot resource associated with a priority value, only an overlapping reservation with a highest RSRP measurement.
The UE of claim 29, wherein the one or more processors, to perform the test, are configured to test, for each of the one or more overlapping reservations associated with a priority value across the multi-slot candidate resource, only an overlapping reservation with a highest RSRP measurement based at least in part on the multi-slot candidate resource relating to a single priority value.
The UE of claim 24, wherein the multi-slot resource is randomly selected from the set of multi-slot candidate resources.
The UE of claim 24, wherein the multi-slot resource selected from the set of multi-slot candidate resources is an earliest available multi-slot candidate resource.
The UE of claim 24, wherein the multi-slot resource is selected from the set of multi-slot candidate resources based at least in part on a previous multi-slot resource selected for a previous slot that is consecutive with the multiple consecutive slots.
The UE of claim 24, wherein the multi-slot resource is selected from the set of multi-slot candidate resources based at least in part on a previous multi-slot resource selected for an ongoing channel occupancy time.
The UE of claim 24, wherein the multi-slot resource is selected from the set of multi-slot candidate resources based at least in part on an ordered list associated with one or more preference criteria.
The UE of claim 24, wherein the multi-slot resource is selected for an initial transmission and one or more blind retransmissions of the multiple TBs.
The UE of claim 38, wherein, for each of the multiple TBs, one or more single-slot resources for the one or more blind retransmissions of a respective TB are located after a single-slot resource for the initial transmission of the respective TB.
The UE of claim 38, wherein single-slot resources for the one or more blind retransmissions of the multiple TBs are located after single-slot resources for the initial transmissions of the multiple TBs.
The UE of claim 24, wherein the multi-slot resource is selected for an initial transmission and one or more hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback retransmissions of the multiple TBs.
The UE of claim 41, wherein single-slot resources for the one or more HARQ feedback retransmissions associated with a TB, of the multiple TBs, are located immediately after a minimum time gap from a latest single-slot resource for the TB.
The UE of claim 41, wherein a second multi-slot resource for the one or more HARQ feedback retransmissions is located a minimum time gap after a first multi-slot resource for the initial transmission or a latest retransmission.
The UE of claim 43, wherein the second multi-slot resource is located immediately after the first multi-slot resource.
The UE of claim 24, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

perform a listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure to acquire a channel occupancy time (COT) in which to transmit a TB associated with the multi-slot resource; and

trigger an LBT failure for the TB based at least in part on a packet delay budget of the TB expiring before the COT is acquired.
The UE of claim 24, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

perform a listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure to acquire a channel occupancy time (COT) in which to transmit a TB associated with the multi-slot resource; and

trigger an LBT failure for the TB based at least in part on the TB not being transmitted during the multi-slot resource before the COT is acquired.
A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a set of instructions for wireless communication, the set of instructions comprising:

one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a user equipment (UE) , cause the UE to:

trigger candidate resource selection for multiple sidelink processes associated with multiple transport blocks (TBs) ;

perform the candidate resource selection to identify a set of multi-slot candidate resources for transmitting the multiple TBs over multiple consecutive slots; and

select, from the set of multi-slot candidate resources, a multi-slot resource to use to transmit the multiple TBs over the multiple consecutive slots.
An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

means for triggering candidate resource selection for multiple sidelink processes associated with multiple transport blocks (TBs) ;

means for performing the candidate resource selection to identify a set of multi-slot candidate resources for transmitting the multiple TBs over multiple consecutive slots; and

means for selecting, from the set of multi-slot candidate resources, a multi-slot resource to use to transmit the multiple TBs over the multiple consecutive slots.
A method, device, apparatus, computer program product, non-transitory computer-readable medium, user equipment, base station, node, wireless communication device, and/or processing system as substantially described herein with reference to and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings and specification.