Patent Description:
The present disclosure relates to the communications field, and in particular, to a resource request method and apparatus, a resource allocation method and apparatus, an equipment, and a medium.

Long term evolution (LTE) systems support a sidelink from Release <NUM>, and the sidelink is used for direct data transmission between user equipments (UEs) without going through a network device (e.g., a base station). <FIG> is a schematic diagram of direct data transmission between UEs through a sidelink.

Currently, the LTE supports sidelink relay, and "relay" means that a base station or a user does not send a signal to each other directly, but forwards the signal after signal amplification or regeneration processing through a relay node. A simple two-hop relay system, for example, is to divide a "base station to mobile station" link into two links: "base station to relay node" and "relay node - mobile station", so that a poor-quality link can be replaced with two high-quality links, to achieve a higher link capacity and better coverage.

In the related art, remote UE and relay UE can perform direct data transmission. However, before the remote UE and the relay UE perform direct data transmission, the remote UE and the relay UE need to acquire resources for the data transmission. However, in existing communication systems, it is inflexible for the remote UE and the relay UE to acquire resources for data transmission.

<CIT> discloses triggering a scheduling request to request allocation of the PUSCH resources for the transmission of the BSR, and sending the BSR to request allocation of resources for D2D transmissions and/or resources for LTE uplink transmissions.

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a resource request method and apparatus, a resource allocation method and apparatus, an equipment, and a medium, to resolve the problem of inflexible resource acquisition.

To resolve the foregoing technical problems, the present disclosure is implemented as follows.

According to a first aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a resource request method which is defined in claim <NUM>.

According to a second aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a resource allocation method which is defined in claim <NUM>.

According to a third aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a UE which is defined in claim <NUM>.

According to a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a network device which is defined in claim <NUM>.

According to a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a computer-readable storage medium which is defined in claim <NUM>.

For better understanding of the present disclosure, specific implementations of the present disclosure are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, and the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar features.

The following clearly and completely describes embodiments of the present disclosure with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present disclosure. Apparently, the described embodiments are some rather than all of the embodiments of the present disclosure. All other embodiments obtained by a person of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the present disclosure without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present disclosure.

<FIG> shows a time sequence diagram of a resource request method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in <FIG>, the resource request method includes the following steps.

S102: A network device sends information about a scheduling request (SR) resource to a remote user equipment (UE), and the remote UE receives the information about the SR resource. The SR resource may be a dedicated SR resource, and the dedicated SR resource is a resource for the remote UE to transmit an SR.

S104: The remote UE sends a first SR on the SR resource in a case that an uplink resource of the remote UE is insufficient to send a first buffer status report (BSR), and the network device receives the first SR. The first SR is used for requesting the network device to allocate a resource used for sending the first BSR to the remote UE, the first BSR is used for requesting the network device to allocate a first resource and a second resource, the first resource is a resource used for data transmission from the remote UE to a relay UE, and the second resource is a resource used for data transmission from the relay UE to the network device.

An example in which the uplink resource of the remote UE is insufficient to send the first BSR may include: the maximum number of transmittable bits of the uplink resource of the remote UE is less than the number of bits required to send the first BSR.

The first BSR is an uplink BSR, and the uplink BSR is used for requesting a base station to allocate a sidelink resource (i.e., the first resource) used for transmitting pending uplink data from the remote UE to the relay UE and an uplink resource (i.e., the second resource) used for transmitting the pending uplink data from the relay UE to the base station.

The resource request method further includes the following steps.

S106: The network device allocates, according to the first SR, a resource used for sending the first BSR.

S108: The network device sends information about the resource used for sending the first BSR to the remote UE, and the remote UE receives the information about the resource used for sending the first BSR.

In the present invention, in a case that an uplink resource of a remote UE is insufficient to send a first BSR, a first SR is sent to request a resource used for sending the first BSR, so that the first BSR is sent by using the resource. The first BSR is used for requesting a first resource for data transmission from the remote UE to a relay UE and a second resource for data transmission from the relay UE to a network device, that is, the remote UE can not only request the first resource required for data transmission thereof, but also request the second resource required for data transmission of the relay UE without requiring each of the remote UE and the relay UE to request a resource. Therefore, the resource acquisition becomes more flexible and the resource acquisition efficiency is improved.

<FIG> shows a time sequence diagram of a resource request method according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

As shown in <FIG>, the resource request method includes the following steps.

S202: A network device sends information about an SR resource to a remote UE, and the remote UE receives the information about the SR resource. The SR resource may be a dedicated SR resource.

S204: Send a second SR on the SR resource in a case that an uplink resource of the remote UE is insufficient to send a second BSR and/or a third BSR.

The second SR is used for requesting the network device to allocate a resource used for sending the second BSR and the third BSR to the remote UE, the second BSR is used for requesting the network device to allocate a first resource, the third BSR is used for requesting the network device to allocate a second resource, the first resource is a resource used for data transmission from the remote UE to a relay UE, and the second resource is a resource used for data transmission from the relay UE to the network device.

An example in which the uplink resource of the remote UE is insufficient to send the second BSR may include: the maximum number of transmittable bits of the uplink resource of the remote UE is less than the number of bits required to send the second BSR.

An example in which the uplink resource of the remote UE is insufficient to send the third BSR may include: the maximum number of transmittable bits of the uplink resource of the remote UE is less than the number of bits required to send the third BSR.

An example in which the uplink resource of the remote UE is insufficient to send the second BSR and the third BSR may include: the maximum number of transmittable bits of the uplink resource of the remote UE is less than a threshold, and the threshold is a sum of the number of bits required to send the second BSR and the number of bits required to send the third BSR.

The second BSR may be a sidelink BSR, the third BSR may be an uplink BSR, the first resource may be a sidelink resource, and the second resource may be an uplink resource.

S206: The network device allocates, according to the second SR, a resource used for sending the second BSR and the third BSR.

S208: The network device sends information about the resource used for sending the second BSR and the third BSR to the remote UE, and the remote UE receives the information about the resource used for sending the second BSR and the third BSR.

In the present invention, in a case that an uplink resource of a remote UE is insufficient to send at least one BSR of a second BSR or a third BSR, a second SR is sent to request a resource used for sending the second BSR and the third BSR, so that the second BSR and the third BSR are sent by using the resource. The second BSR and the third BSR are respectively used for requesting a first resource for data transmission from the remote UE to a relay UE and a second resource for data transmission from the relay UE to a network device, that is, the remote UE can not only request the first resource required for data transmission thereof, but also request the second resource required for data transmission of the relay UE without requiring each of the remote UE and the relay UE to request a resource. Therefore, the resource acquisition becomes more flexible and the resource acquisition efficiency is improved.

In the embodiment of <FIG>, the resource request method further includes:.

The relay UE re-selection includes at least one of the following: relay UE re-selection due to a sidelink measurement result being lower than a threshold, relay UE re-selection caused by an upper layer reason, or relay UE re-selection due to the relay UE stopping providing a service for the remote UE.

The relay stop operation includes: termination of communication with the network device, or direct communication with the network device without going through the relay UE.

For the embodiment of <FIG>, the all canceled pending SRs include the first SR in the embodiment of <FIG>. For the embodiment of <FIG>, the all canceled pending SRs include the second SR in the embodiment of <FIG>.

<FIG> shows a schematic diagram of a communication scenario according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, and the embodiment of <FIG> is applied to the communication scenario. As shown in <FIG>, a remote UE and a relay UE are within a signal coverage of a network device. The remote UE is connected to the relay UE through a PC5 radio interface (corresponding to a sidelink), and the relay UE is connected to the network device through a Uu radio interface (corresponding to an uplink plus a downlink). <NUM>) Both the remote UE and the relay UE are in a radio resource control (RRC) connection state. <NUM>) Uplink data of the remote UE is forwarded to a base station through the relay UE.

A lone term evolution (LTE) sidelink is designed for a specific public safety affair (e.g., emergency communication at a disaster site such as a fire or an earthquake), vehicle to everything (V2X) communication, or the like. The V2X communication includes various services, for example, basic security communication, advanced (autonomous) driving, formation, or sensor expansion. Because the LTE sidelink only supports broadcast communication, it is mainly used for basic security communication. Other advanced V2X services with a strict requirement for quality of service (QoS) in terms of delay, reliability, or the like are supported by a new radio (NR) sidelink.

<FIG> shows a schematic structural diagram of a resource request apparatus <NUM> according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

As shown in <FIG>, the resource request apparatus <NUM> includes:.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the resource request apparatus <NUM> may further include:
a first cancellation module, configured to cancel sending of all pending SRs and/or stop an SR prohibit timer in a case that the remote UE meets a condition for canceling SRs, the condition for canceling SRs including at least one of the following conditions: reselecting a relay UE, stopping a relay operation, or switching from a relay communication mode to a non-relay communication mode.

<FIG> shows a schematic structural diagram of a resource request apparatus <NUM> according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the resource request apparatus <NUM> may further include:
a second cancellation module, configured to cancel sending of all pending SRs and/or stop an SR prohibit timer in a case that the remote UE meets a condition for canceling SRs, the condition for canceling SRs including at least one of the following conditions: reselecting a relay UE, stopping a relay operation, or switching from a relay communication mode to a non-relay communication mode.

<FIG> shows a schematic structural diagram of a resource allocation apparatus <NUM> according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, and the resource allocation apparatus is applied to a network device.

As shown in <FIG>, the resource allocation apparatus <NUM> includes:.

<FIG> shows a schematic structural diagram of a resource allocation apparatus <NUM> according to another embodiment of the present disclosure, and the resource allocation apparatus is applied to a network device.

An embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a UE, including a processor, a memory, and a computer program stored in the memory and executable on the processor, where when the computer program is executed by the processor, various processes of the embodiments of the foregoing resource request method are implemented, and can achieve the same technical effects. To avoid repetition, details are not described herein again.

An example is used below for description of the UE provided by this embodiment of the present disclosure.

<FIG> shows a schematic structural diagram of hardware of a UE <NUM> according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The UE <NUM> includes, but is not limited to, components such as a radio frequency (RF) unit <NUM>, a network module <NUM>, an audio output unit <NUM>, an input unit <NUM>, a sensor <NUM>, a display unit <NUM>, a user input unit <NUM>, an interface unit <NUM>, a memory <NUM>, a processor <NUM>, and a power supply <NUM>. A person skilled in the art may understand that the structure of the UE shown in <FIG> does not constitute a limitation to the UE, and the UE may include more components or fewer components than those shown in the figure, or some components may be combined, or a different component deployment may be used. In this embodiment of the present disclosure, the UE includes, but is not limited to, a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a notebook computer, a palmtop computer, a vehicle-mounted terminal, a wearable device, a pedometer, and the like.

The RF unit <NUM> is configured to receive information about an SR resource configured by a network device; send a first SR on the SR resource in a case that an uplink resource of a remote UE is insufficient to send a first BSR, the first SR being used for requesting the network device to allocate a resource used for sending the first BSR to the remote UE, the first BSR being used for requesting the network device to allocate a first resource and a second resource, the first resource being a resource used for data transmission from the remote UE to a relay UE, and the second resource being a resource used for data transmission from the relay UE to the network device; and receive information about the resource used for sending the first BSR sent by the network device.

In this embodiment of the present disclosure, in a case that an uplink resource of a remote UE is insufficient to send a first BSR, a first SR is sent to request a resource used for sending the first BSR, so that the first BSR is sent by using the resource. Because the first BSR can be used for requesting a first resource for data transmission from the remote UE to a relay UE and a second resource for data transmission from the relay UE to a network device, that is, the remote UE can request the first resource and the second resource at one time, the resource acquisition becomes more flexible and the resource acquisition efficiency is improved.

It should be understood that, in this embodiment of the present disclosure, the RF unit <NUM> is configured to receive and send a signal during an information receiving and sending process or a call process. Specifically, the RF unit <NUM> is configured to receive downlink data from a base station, and then send the downlink data to the processor <NUM> for processing; and in addition, send uplink data to the base station. Generally, the RF unit <NUM> includes, but is not limited to, an antenna, at least one amplifier, a transceiver, a coupler, a low noise amplifier, a duplexer, and the like. In addition, the RF unit <NUM> may further communicate with a network device or another device through a wireless communications system.

The UE provides wireless broadband Internet access for a user by using the network module <NUM>. For example, the UE helps the user to receive and send an email, browse a webpage, and access stream media, and the like.

The audio output unit <NUM> may convert audio data received by the RF unit <NUM> or the network module <NUM>, or stored in the memory <NUM> into an audio signal and output the audio signal as a sound. In addition, the audio output unit <NUM> may further provide an audio output (for example, a call signal receiving sound or a message receiving sound) related to a specific function executed by the UE <NUM>. The audio output unit <NUM> includes a loudspeaker, a buzzer, a receiver, and the like.

The input unit <NUM> is configured to receive an audio signal or a video signal. The input unit <NUM> may include a graphics processing unit (GPU) <NUM> and a microphone <NUM>. The GPU <NUM> is configured to process image data of a static picture or a video obtained by an image capture apparatus (for example, a camera) in a video capture mode or an image capture mode. An image frame that has been processed may be displayed on the display unit <NUM>. The image frame that has been processed by the GPU <NUM> may be stored in the memory <NUM> (or another storage medium) or sent by using the RF unit <NUM> or the network module <NUM>. The microphone <NUM> may receive a sound, and can process the sound into audio data. The processed audio data may be converted, in a phone talk mode, into a format that may be sent to a mobile communication base station through the RF unit <NUM> for output.

The UE <NUM> may further include at least one sensor <NUM>, for example, an optical sensor, a motion sensor, and other sensors. Specifically, the optical sensor includes an ambient light sensor and a proximity sensor. The ambient light sensor may adjust luminance of a display panel <NUM> according to brightness of ambient light. The proximity sensor may switch off the display panel <NUM> and/or backlight when the UE <NUM> is moved to the ear. As one type of motion sensor, an accelerometer sensor may detect a magnitude of acceleration in various directions (generally, three axes), and may detect a magnitude and a direction of gravity when static, which may be configured to recognize UE gestures (for example, horizontal and vertical screen switching, related games, and magnetometer posture calibration), vibration recognition related functions (for example, pedometer and tap), and the like. The sensor <NUM> may further include a fingerprint sensor, a pressure sensor, an iris sensor, a molecular sensor, a gyroscope, a barometer, a hygrometer, a thermometer, and an infrared sensor.

The display unit <NUM> may include a display panel <NUM>, which may be configured by using a liquid crystal display (LCD), an organic light-emitting diode (OLED), or the like.

The user input unit <NUM> may be configured to receive inputted digital or character information, and generate a key signal input related to user settings and function control of the UE. Specifically, the user input unit <NUM> includes a touch panel <NUM> and another input device <NUM>. The touch panel <NUM>, also referred to as a touchscreen, may collect a touch operation of a user on or near the touch panel (for example, an operation of a user on the touch panel <NUM> or near the touch panel <NUM> by using any suitable object or accessory such as a finger or a stylus). The touch panel <NUM> may include a touch detection apparatus and a touch controller. The touch detection apparatus detects a touch orientation of the user, detects a signal brought by the touch operation, and transmits the signal to the touch controller. The touch controller receives touch information from the touch detection apparatus, converts the touch information into a contact coordinate, then sends the contact coordinate to the processor <NUM>, and receives and executes a command sent by the processor <NUM>. In addition, the touch panel <NUM> may be of a resistive type, a capacitive type, an infrared type, or a surface acoustic wave (SAW) type. In addition to the touch panel <NUM>, the user input unit <NUM> may further include the another input device <NUM>. Specifically, the another input device <NUM> includes, but is not limited to, a physical keyboard, a functional key (for example, a volume control key or a switch key), a trackball, a mouse, and a joystick.

Further, the touch panel <NUM> may cover the display panel <NUM>. After detecting a touch operation on or near the touch panel <NUM>, the touch panel transfers the touch operation to the processor <NUM>, so as to determine a type of the touch event. Then, the processor <NUM> provides corresponding visual output on the display panel <NUM> according to the type of the touch event. Although, in <FIG>, the touch panel <NUM> and the display panel <NUM> are used as two separate parts to implement input and output functions of the UE, in some embodiments, the touch panel <NUM> and the display panel <NUM> may be integrated to implement the input and output functions of the UE, which is not specifically limited herein.

The interface unit <NUM> is an interface used for connecting an external apparatus to the UE <NUM>. For example, the external apparatus may include a wired or wireless headset port, an external power supply (or a battery charger) port, a wired or wireless data port, a storage card port, a port used to for connecting an apparatus having an identification module, an audio input/output (I/O) port, a video I/O port, an earphone port, and the like. The interface unit <NUM> may be configured to receive an input (for example, data information or power) from the external apparatus, and transmit the received input to one or more elements in the UE <NUM>, or may be configured to transmit data between the UE <NUM> and the external apparatus.

The memory <NUM> may be configured to store a software program and various data. The memory <NUM> may mainly include a program storage area and a data storage area. The program storage area may store an operating system, an application program required by at least one function (for example, a sound playback function and an image playback function), or the like. The data storage area may store data (for example, audio data and a phone book) created according to use of the mobile phone. In addition, the memory <NUM> may include a high speed random access memory, and may further include a non-volatile memory, for example, at least one magnetic disk storage device, a flash memory device, or another non-volatile solid state storage device.

The processor <NUM> is the control center of the UE, and is connected to various parts of the UE by using various interfaces and lines. By running or executing the software program and/or module stored in the memory <NUM>, and invoking data stored in the memory <NUM>, the processor performs various functions and data processing of the UE, thereby performing overall monitoring on the UE. The processor <NUM> may include one or more processing units. Optionally, the processor <NUM> may integrate an application processor and a modem processor, where the application processor mainly processes an operating system, a user interface, an application program, and the like, and the modem processor mainly processes wireless communications. It may be understood that the foregoing modem may either not be integrated into the processor <NUM>.

The UE <NUM> may further include the power supply <NUM> (such as a battery) for supplying power to the components. Optionally, the power supply <NUM> may be logically connected to the processor <NUM> by using a power management system, thereby implementing functions such as charging, discharging, and power consumption management by using the power management system.

In addition, the UE <NUM> includes some functional modules that are not shown.

An embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a network device, including a processor, a memory, and a computer program stored in the memory and executable on the processor, where when the computer program is executed by the processor, various processes of the embodiments of the foregoing resource allocation method are implemented, and can achieve the same technical effects. To avoid repetition, details are not described herein again.

An embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a computer-readable storage medium, storing a computer program, where when the computer program is executed by a processor, various processes of the foregoing resource request method or the foregoing resource allocation method are implemented, and can achieve the same technical effects. To avoid repetition, details are not described herein again. An example of the computer-readable storage medium includes a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, for example, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disc.

It should be noted that, the terms "include", "comprise", and any variants thereof are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. Therefore, in the context of a process, method, object, or apparatus that includes a series of elements, the process, method, object, or apparatus not only includes such elements, but also includes other elements not specified expressly, or may include inherent elements of the process, method, object, or apparatus. Without more limitations, elements defined by the sentence "including one" does not exclude that there are still other same elements in the processes, methods, objects, or apparatuses. In addition, the relational terms such as "first" and "second" are only used to differentiate an entity or operation from another, and do not necessarily require or imply any actual relationship or sequence between these entities or operations.

According to the descriptions in the foregoing implementations, a person skilled in the art can clearly learn that the foregoing embodiment methods may be implemented by using software in combination with a necessary universal hardware platform. Certainly, the embodiment methods may also be implemented by using hardware, software, or a combination of the two, but the former is a preferred implementation in many cases. Based on such an understanding, the technical solutions of the present disclosure essentially or the part contributing to the existing technology may be implemented in a form of a software product. A computer software product is stored in a storage medium (for example, a ROM/RAM, a magnetic disk, or an optical disc) and includes several instructions for instructing a terminal (a mobile phone, a computer, a server, an air conditioner, or a network device) to perform the methods described in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

Claim 1:
A resource request method, performed by a remote user equipment, wherein the method comprises:
receiving information about a scheduling request, SR, resource configured by a network device;
sending (S104, S204) a SR on the SR resource in a case that an uplink resource of the remote user equipment is insufficient to send a buffer status report, BSR, the SR being used for requesting the network device to allocate a resource used for sending the BSR to the remote user equipment; and
receiving information about the resource used for sending the BSR sent by the network device;
wherein the BSR comprises a first BSR, or the BSR comprises at least one of a second BSR and a third BSR; the SR comprises a first SR or a second SR;
the first SR is used for requesting the network device to allocate a resource used for sending the first BSR to the remote user equipment, the second SR is used for requesting the network device to allocate a resource used for sending the second BSR and the third BSR to the remote user equipment, the first BSR is used for requesting the network device to allocate a first resource and a second resource, the second BSR is used for requesting the network device to allocate a first resource, and the third BSR is used for requesting the network device to allocate a second resource; and
the first resource is a resource used for data transmission from the remote user equipment to a relay user equipment, and the second resource is a resource used for data transmission from the relay user equipment to the network device;
characterized in that the method further comprises:
in a case that the remote user equipment meets a condition for canceling SRs, performing at least one of: canceling sending of all pending SRs; and stopping an SR prohibit timer; wherein
the condition for canceling SRs comprises at least one of:
reselecting a relay user equipment, stopping a relay operation, or switching from a relay communication mode to a non-relay communication mode.