Patent Description:
The present disclosure relates to the field of communication technologies, and in particular, to a sidelink discontinuous transmission (DTX) method and apparatus, a sidelink discontinuous reception (DRX) method and apparatus, and a terminal device.

Existing long term evolution (Long Term Evolution, LTE) systems support sidelink (sidelink) communications, allowing direct data exchange between user terminals (User Equipment, UE) without going through a base station.

In existing solutions, when a user terminal communicates with a base station, only the user terminal is configured with a power saving mechanism. For communication between user terminals using a sidelink interface, both sides of the communication have power saving requirements. However, the existing power saving mechanisms are designed for Uu interfaces of user terminals for communication with base stations, and cannot be applied to the sidelink interface. Therefore, currently, when the user terminals communicate with each other through a sidelink, the power saving requirements of the user terminals cannot be satisfied.

The document <NPL>, discloses discontinuous reception (DRX) over sidelink (PC5) connections.

The scope of the present invention is determined only by the scope of the appended claims. More precisely, on the one hand, the present invention provides a sidelink discontinuous transmission (DTX) method, performed by a second user terminal according to claim <NUM> and further detailed in the dependent claims referring back to this claim. A corresponding sidelink discontinuous transmission (DTX) apparatus, performed by a second user terminal, and a terminal device are provided in claims <NUM> and <NUM>. On the other hand, the present invention provides a sidelink discontinuous reception (DRX) method, performed by a first user terminal according to claim <NUM> and further detailed in the dependent claims referring back to this claim. A corresponding sidelink discontinuous reception (DRX) apparatus, performed by a first user terminal, and a terminal device are provided in claims <NUM> and <NUM>. In addition, a readable storage medium corresponding to the sidelink discontinuous transmission (DTX) method performed by the second user terminal, and the sidelink discontinuous reception (DRX) method performed by the first user terminal is provided in claim <NUM>.

The foregoing at least one technical solution adopted in the embodiments of the present disclosure can achieve the following beneficial effects: When the user terminals communicate with each other through a sidelink, data scheduling/transmission is monitored, or data scheduling/transmission is received, or it is allowed to perform data scheduling/transmission to the first user terminal, or data scheduling/transmission to the first user terminal is performed under control of a timer based on a DRX mechanism only during running of a target receive timer in the timer, so that power saving requirements on both sides of communication can be satisfied.

The accompanying drawings described herein are used to provide further understanding of the present disclosure and construct a part of the present disclosure. Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure and descriptions thereof are used to explain the present disclosure, and do not constitute an improper limitation to the present disclosure. In the accompanying drawings:.

To clearly states the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the present disclosure, the technical solutions of the present disclosure will be clearly and completely described below with reference to specific embodiments of the present disclosure and the accompanying drawings. Apparently, the described embodiments are some embodiments rather than all 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.

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure can be applied to various communication systems such as a Global System for Mobile communications (Global System of Mobile communication, GSM)) system, a code division multiple access (Code Division Multiple Access, CDMA) system, a wideband code division multiple access (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access, WCDMA) system, a general packet radio service (General Packet Radio Service, GPRS), LTE advanced (Long Term Evolution Advanced, LTE-A), and NR (new radio).

UE, also referred to as a terminal device (Mobile Terminal), mobile user equipment, or the like, may communicate with one or more core networks through a radio access network ((Radio Access Network, RAN). The UE may be a terminal device, such as a mobile phone (or referred to as a "cellular" phone) or a computer with a terminal device, and for example, may be a portable, pocket-sized, handheld, computer built-in, or in-vehicle mobile apparatus exchanging language and/or data with the RAN.

A base station may be a base transceiver station (Base Transceiver Station, BTS) in the GSM or CDMA, or may be a NodeB (NodeB) in WCDMA, or may be an evolved NodeB (evolved Node B, eNB, or e-NodeB) in LTE, or may be a next-generation NodeB (gNB) in a future <NUM> network, which is not limited in the present disclosure. However, for the convenience of description, descriptions are provided by using a gNB as an example in the following embodiments.

A Long Term Evolution (Long Term Evolution, LTE) system supports sidelink communications, allowing direct data transmission between UEs without going through a base station. The current sidelink communication mainly includes transmission forms: broadcast (broadcast), groupcast (groupcast), and unicast (unicast).

Discontinuous reception (DRX): DRX is configured on a user terminal for power saving. A user terminal in a DRX state does not need to connect to or monitor a control channel, so as to save power. However, in a case that the user terminal does not monitor the control channel for a long time, once data arrives, a data transmission latency may be increased. To balance power saving and the transmission latency reduction, a time in which the user terminal monitors the channel may be divided into a long DRX cycle and a short DRX cycle according to the length of the time in which the user terminal monitors the channel. In a case that data arrives at the user terminal relatively frequently or a service is sensitive to a latency, a DRX short cycle can be configured. In a case that data on the user terminal is relatively sparse, and a service is insensitive to a latency, a DRX long cycle can be configured.

DRX on duration monitoring timer (OnDuration timer): During running of the DRX on duration monitoring timer, the user terminal needs to continuously monitor a physical downlink control channel (Physical Downlink Control Channel, PDCCH) of a network.

DRX on duration transmit timer (OnDuration timer): During running of a DRX on duration transmit timer, it is allowed to perform data scheduling/transmission.

DRX inactivity timer (Inactivity timer): After a user terminal receives the first symbol of PDCCH signaling for data scheduling, the DRX inactivity timer is started, and during running of the DRX inactivity timer, the user terminal needs to continuously monitor the control channel or allow performing data scheduling/transmission.

Hybrid automatic repeat request (Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request, HARQ) RTT timer (Round-Trip Time Timer): A length of the HARQ RTT timer is a minimum time interval between a HARQ feedback moment to a moment of receiving HARQ retransmission for the process. Only when data corresponding to a current process is not successfully decoded, the user terminal starts the timer at the first symbol after the HARQ NACK feedback of the process. In a case that only the HARQ RTT timer is run on the current terminal, the user terminal does not need to monitor the PDCCH or allow performing data scheduling/transmission.

Retransmission timer: After the HARQ RTT timer expires, the retransmission timer is started at a next symbol. When the retransmission timer is running, the user terminal monitors the control channel of the network or allows performing data scheduling/transmission. In a case that scheduling/data for the process is received, the retransmission timer is started.

The following describes in detail the technical solutions provided in the present disclosure with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The present disclosure provides a sidelink DRX method, applicable to a first user terminal <NUM>. In other words, the method may be performed by software or hardware installed on a terminal device. As shown in <FIG>, the first user terminal <NUM> and a second user terminal <NUM> communicate with each other through a sidelink (that is, the first user terminal <NUM> and the second user terminal <NUM> communicate with each other using a sidelink interface). The second user terminal <NUM> and a base station <NUM> communicate with each other using a <NUM>/<NUM>/<NUM> network. As shown in <FIG>, the method includes the following steps:
S21: Monitor data scheduling/transmission or receive data scheduling/transmission under control of a timer based on a DRX mechanism during running of a target receive timer in the timer.

Obviously, the foregoing monitoring data scheduling/transmission or receiving data scheduling/transmission is performed based on the sidelink. In DRX mechanism-based control, a plurality of target receive timers in the timer may be run simultaneously or one target receive timer is run individually. It may be understood that monitoring data scheduling/transmission or receiving data scheduling/transmission is stopped after the target receive timer in the timer is turned off.

In addition, a configuration method for the DRX mechanism may be that: The second user terminal <NUM> reports service parameters and power saving requirements to the base station <NUM>. The base station <NUM> generates DRX mechanism data according to the service parameters and the power saving requirements. Then, the second user terminal <NUM> receives and configures DRX mechanism data delivered by the base station <NUM>. Further, the first user terminal <NUM> receives, through the sidelink, and configures the DRX mechanism data sent by the second user terminal <NUM>. In addition, the configuration method for the DRX mechanism may alternatively be that: The second user terminal <NUM> directly generates, according to service parameters and power saving requirements, and configures DRX mechanism data, and then, sends the DRX mechanism data to the first user terminal <NUM>. Certainly, the configuration method of the DRX mechanism is not limited to only the foregoing two, which are merely examples for description herein.

In the sidelink DRX method provided in this embodiment of the present disclosure, when the user terminals communicate with each other through a sidelink, data scheduling/transmission is monitored or received under control of a timer based on a DRX mechanism only during running of a target receive timer in the timer, so that power saving requirements on both sides of communication can be satisfied.

Optionally, in an implementation, the target receive timer includes an on duration monitoring receive timer and an inactivity receive timer. As shown in <FIG>, S21 includes the following steps:.

It may be understood that when both the on duration monitoring receive timer and the inactivity receive timer expire, monitoring the data scheduling/transmission from the second user terminal <NUM> is stopped, to satisfy power saving requirements of the first user terminal.

For example, as shown in <FIG>, a protruding portion in a Y (vertical) direction in <FIG> represents that data scheduling/transmission from the second user terminal <NUM> is being monitored, a low flat portion in the Y direction represents a sleep state (that is, stopping monitoring data scheduling/transmission from the second user terminal <NUM>), and an X (horizontal) direction is a time axis. For example, a DRX cycle is set to <NUM>, a running duration of the on duration monitoring receive timer is set to <NUM>, and a running duration of the inactivity receive timer is set to <NUM>. According to starting moments of the target receive timer and on duration monitoring receive timer in the configured DRX mechanism, the on duration monitoring receive timer starts to be run, and in this case, the first user terminal <NUM> monitors and receives data scheduling/transmission. For example, assuming that a starting position of the on duration monitoring receive timer is <NUM>, data scheduling/transmission from the second user terminal <NUM> monitored by the first user terminal <NUM> within <NUM> to <NUM> is received. In a case that the data scheduling/transmission is not received, the sleep state is entered within <NUM> to <NUM>, and <NUM> to <NUM> is the second DRX cycle. In <NUM> to <NUM>, the on duration monitoring receive timer monitors data scheduling/transmission. In a case that the data scheduling/transmission is received at <NUM>, the inactivity receive timer is started at <NUM>, and the inactivity receive timer is effective within <NUM> to <NUM>. The first user terminal <NUM> continuously performs monitoring during this period. In a case that the data scheduling/transmission is received, the inactivity receive timer is restarted. Until the inactivity receive timer expires, the first user terminal <NUM> enters a sleep period. Until the next DRX cycle, the on duration monitoring receive timer wakes up again. The essence of the above is starting/restarting the on duration monitoring receive timer when the data scheduling/transmission is received, to prolong the time of monitoring the data scheduling/transmission.

It should be noted that the data scheduling/transmission causing the starting/restarting of the inactivity receive timer may refer to only newly transmitted data or may include both newly transmitted data and retransmitted data. The two can be configured/selected.

In another implementation, the first user terminal <NUM> is further configured with a HARQ feedback mechanism. The timer further includes a HARQ round-trip latency receive timer. The target receive timer further includes a retransmission receive timer. As shown in <FIG>, the method further includes S51 and S52.

S51: After data is received, in a case that a HARQ NACK is fed back to the second user terminal <NUM>, start the HARQ round-trip latency receive timer.

When the data is received, in a case that data packet loss is found, the HARQ NACK is fed back to the second user terminal <NUM> to inform the second user terminal <NUM> that the data scheduling/transmission needs to be performed again, to ensure the reliability of data transmission.

S52: After the HARQ round-trip latency receive timer expires, start the retransmission receive timer, to monitor retransmission data scheduling/data transmission from the second user terminal <NUM>.

When the HARQ round-trip latency receive timer is run, in a case that the target receive timer is run simultaneously, data scheduling/transmission is monitored. In a case that no target receive timer is run simultaneously, monitoring the data scheduling/transmission is stopped, so as to satisfy power saving requirements of the first user terminal <NUM>.

For example, as shown in <FIG>, a protruding portion in a Y (vertical) direction in <FIG> represents being in a state of monitoring data scheduling/transmission, a low flat portion in an X (horizontal) direction represents a sleep state, and the X (horizontal) direction is a time axis. In a case that the data scheduling/transmission is received at a moment t1, the inactivity receive timer is started. In a case that the second user terminal <NUM> feeds back a HARQ NACK at a moment t2, the HARQ round-trip latency receive timer is started, and the inactivity receive timer expires at a moment t3. It can be learned that between moments t3 and t4, because none of the target receive timers is effective, the first user terminal <NUM> may stop monitoring the data scheduling/transmission. In a case that the HARQ round-trip latency receive timer expires at the moment t4, the retransmission receive timer is started, for starting to monitor data retransmission/scheduling. The first retransmission/scheduling is received at a moment t5, and the retransmission receive timer is turned off. In a case that the HARQ NACK is still fed back for the first retransmission at a moment t6, the HARQ round-trip latency receive timer is restarted, and the first user terminal <NUM> may stop monitoring data scheduling/transmission. In a case that the HARQ round-trip latency receive timer expires at a moment t7, the retransmission receive timer is restarted, for starting to monitoring the data retransmission/scheduling. In a case that the second retransmission/scheduling is received at a moment t8, the retransmission receive timer is turned off, and the second user terminal <NUM> stops monitoring the data scheduling/transmission, and then, feeds back a reception success acknowledgment for the second retransmission, so that the HARQ process ends. Data scheduling/transmission is not monitored until an on duration monitoring receive timer of a next DRX cycle is run.

It may be understood that in this embodiment of the present disclosure, the foregoing first user terminal <NUM> is used as receive-end UE. In fact, any user terminal may be used as both receive-end UE and transmit-end UE in different stages. Therefore, when two user terminals interact with each other, receive-end UE and transmit-end UE need to be determined first. Optionally, the timer further includes a target transmit timer. Before S21, as shown in <FIG>, the method further includes S20.

S20: Turn off the target transmit timer according to the DRX mechanism in a case that it is detected that the target transmit timer and a target receive timer in the timer are both running. It is agreed in the DRX mechanism that a send priority of the second user terminal <NUM> is higher than a send priority of the first user terminal <NUM>.

It may be understood that, when the target receive timer of the first user terminal <NUM> is running, because the first user terminal <NUM> and the second user terminal <NUM> have the same DRX mechanism, correspondingly a target transmit timer of the second user terminal <NUM> is also running. In view of the above, when the target transmit timer and the target receive timer are both running, both the first user terminal <NUM> and the second user terminal <NUM> have demands for sending data. Because the user terminal is limited by factors such as hardware and interference, it is difficult to perform receiving and sending simultaneously. In this case, data scheduling/transmission needs to be performed on the first user terminal <NUM> and the second user terminal <NUM> for coordination, to ensure the data reception effect and the power saving property. Therefore, it is necessary to determine, using the send priorities, which user terminal sends data first.

According to the DRX mechanism, in one of the implementations, the send priority of the first user terminal <NUM> relative to the second user terminal <NUM> is determined according to a highest priority level of at least one to-be-processed service parameter of the first user terminal <NUM> and a highest priority level of at least one to-be-processed service parameter of the second user terminal <NUM> that are pre-configured.

For example, the first user terminal <NUM> includes three service parameters A, B, and C, and their send priorities are respectively <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>. The second user terminal <NUM> includes three service parameters D, E, and F, and their send priorities are respectively <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>. It can be seen that the highest priority level of the to-be-processed service parameters of the first user terminal <NUM> is <NUM>, and the highest priority level of the to-be-processed service parameters of the second user terminal <NUM> is <NUM>. In view of the above, the highest priority level of the second user terminal <NUM> is higher than the highest priority level of the first user terminal <NUM>. Therefore, it is determined that the second user terminal <NUM> preferentially sends data.

According to the DRX mechanism, in another implementation, the send priority of the first user terminal <NUM> relative to the second user terminal <NUM> is alternatively determined according to a type of the target transmit timer that is run on the first user terminal <NUM> and a type of the target receive timer that is run on the first user terminal <NUM>.

For example, it is agreed in the DRX mechanism that the priority of the retransmission transmit timer is higher than the priority of the on duration monitoring receive timer. When the on duration transmit timer and the retransmission receive timer of the first user terminal <NUM> are run simultaneously, the on duration monitoring receive timer and the retransmission transmit timer of the second user terminal <NUM> are also run simultaneously. In this case, the on duration transmit timer of the first user terminal <NUM> and the on duration monitoring receive timer of the second user terminal <NUM> are turned off. In this case, only the retransmission transmit timer of the second user terminal <NUM> and the retransmission receive timer of the first user terminal <NUM> are run, that is, the retransmission data is preferentially sent.

According to the DRX mechanism, in another implementation, the send priority of the first user terminal <NUM> relative to the second user terminal <NUM> is alternatively determined according to a moment at which the target transmit timer that is run on the first user terminal <NUM> is run and a moment at which the target receive timer that is run on the first user terminal <NUM> is run.

For example, in a case that the configured DRX cycle is <NUM>, and it is agreed in the DRX mechanism that: in <NUM> to <NUM> of the DRX cycle, the send priority of the first user terminal <NUM> is higher than the send priority of the second user terminal, and in <NUM> to <NUM>, the send priority of the second user terminal <NUM> is higher than the send priority of the first user terminal <NUM>, in <NUM> to <NUM> of the DRX cycle, the first user terminal <NUM> may start the target transmit timer according to the DRX mechanism, and the second user terminal <NUM> may start the target receive timer according to the DRX mechanism, to determine that the first user terminal <NUM> preferentially sends data, and in <NUM> to <NUM> of the DRX cycle, the second user terminal <NUM> may start the target transmit timer according to the DRX mechanism, and the first user terminal <NUM> may start the target receive timer according to the DRX mechanism, to determine that the second user terminal <NUM> preferentially sends data.

In another example, in a case that the configured DRX cycle is <NUM>, and it is agreed in the DRX mechanism that: a starting point of the on duration transmit timer of the first user terminal <NUM> is <NUM>, an on duration transmit timer of the second user terminal <NUM> is <NUM>, the send priority of the first user terminal <NUM> is higher than the send priority of the second user terminal <NUM> in <NUM> to <NUM>, and the send priority of the second user terminal <NUM> is higher than the send priority of the first user terminal <NUM> in <NUM> to <NUM>. It may be understood that in a period of from <NUM> to <NUM> in the DRX cycle, the first user terminal <NUM> may start, according to the DRX mechanism, the on duration transmit timer within a configured time period starting from <NUM> (for example, <NUM> to <NUM> or <NUM> to <NUM>) in the period of from <NUM> to <NUM>, and the second user terminal <NUM> may start, according to the DRX mechanism, the on duration monitoring timer within a configured time period starting from <NUM> for example, <NUM> to <NUM> or <NUM> to <NUM>) in the period of from <NUM> to <NUM>, to determine that the first user terminal <NUM> preferentially sends data. In a period of from <NUM> to <NUM> in the DRX cycle, the second user terminal <NUM> may start, according to the DRX mechanism, the on duration transmit timer within a configured time period starting from <NUM> (for example, <NUM> to <NUM> or <NUM> to <NUM>) in the period of from <NUM> to <NUM>, and the first user terminal <NUM> may start, according to the DRX mechanism, the on duration monitoring timer within a configured time period starting from <NUM> for example, <NUM> to <NUM> or <NUM> to <NUM>) in the period of from <NUM> to <NUM>, to determine that the second user terminal <NUM> preferentially sends data.

It may be understood that the foregoing method of determining the send priority of the first user terminal <NUM> relative to the second user terminal <NUM> is merely an example for description, which may be determined according to actual requirements in specific applications.

Referring to <FIG>, the present disclosure further provides a sidelink DRX apparatus <NUM>, applicable to a first user terminal <NUM>. It should be noted that the basic principle and the produced technical effects of the sidelink DRX apparatus <NUM> provided by the present disclosure are the same as those in the foregoing embodiment. For convenience and conciseness of description, for the parts not mentioned in this apparatus embodiment, refer to corresponding content in the embodiment of the sidelink DRX method provided above. As shown in <FIG>, the first user terminal <NUM> and a second user terminal <NUM> communicate with each other through a sidelink (that is, the first user terminal <NUM> and the second user terminal <NUM> communicate with each other using a sidelink interface). The first user terminal <NUM> and a base station <NUM> communicate with each other using a <NUM>/<NUM>/<NUM> network. As shown in <FIG>, the sidelink DRX apparatus <NUM> includes:
an information receiving unit <NUM>, configured to monitor data scheduling/transmission or receive data scheduling/transmission under control of a timer based on a DRX mechanism during running of a target receive timer in the timer.

In the sidelink DRX apparatus <NUM> provided in this embodiment of the present disclosure, when the user terminals communicate with each other through a sidelink, data scheduling/transmission is monitored or received under control of a timer based on a DRX mechanism only during running of a target receive timer in the timer, so that power saving requirements on both sides of communication can be satisfied.

Optionally, the target receive timer includes an on duration monitoring receive timer and an inactivity receive timer. Specifically, the information receiving unit <NUM> is configured to monitor data scheduling/transmission from the second user terminal <NUM> during running of the on duration monitoring receive timer.

As shown <FIG>, the apparatus <NUM> further includes a timer starting unit <NUM>, configured to start, in a case that the data scheduling/transmission from the second user terminal <NUM> is received, the inactivity receive timer to continuously monitor the data scheduling/transmission from the second user terminal <NUM>.

The timer starting unit <NUM> can be further configured to restart the inactivity receive timer during running of the inactivity receive timer in a case that the data scheduling/transmission transmitted by the second user terminal <NUM> is received again.

Optionally, the first user terminal <NUM> is further configured with a HARQ feedback mechanism. The timer further includes a HARQ round-trip latency receive timer. The target receive timer further includes a retransmission receive timer. As shown in <FIG>, the apparatus <NUM> further includes:
an information sending unit <NUM>, configured to start the HARQ round-trip latency receive timer after data is received in a case that a HARQ NACK is fed back to the second user terminal <NUM>.

The timer starting unit <NUM> may be further configured to start the retransmission receive timer after the HARQ round-trip latency receive timer expires, to monitor retransmission data scheduling/data transmission from the second user terminal <NUM>.

The timer further includes a target transmit timer. As shown in <FIG>, the apparatus <NUM> further includes:
a timer turn-off unit <NUM>, configured to turn off the target transmit timer according to the DRX mechanism in a case that it is detected that the target transmit timer and a target receive timer in the timer are both running, where it is agreed in the DRX mechanism that a send priority of the second user terminal <NUM> is higher than a send priority of the first user terminal <NUM>.

Specifically, according to the DRX mechanism, the send priority of the first user terminal <NUM> relative to the second user terminal <NUM> may be determined according to a highest priority level of at least one to-be-processed service parameter of the first user terminal <NUM> and a highest priority level of at least one to-be-processed service parameter of the second user terminal <NUM> that are pre-configured.

According to the DRX mechanism, the send priority of the first user terminal <NUM> relative to the second user terminal <NUM> is alternatively determined according to a type of the target transmit timer that is run on the first user terminal <NUM> and a type of the target receive timer that is run on the first user terminal <NUM>.

According to the DRX mechanism, the send priority of the first user terminal <NUM> relative to the second user terminal <NUM> is determined according to a moment at which the target transmit timer that is run on the first user terminal <NUM> is run and a moment at which the target receive timer that is run on the first user terminal <NUM> is run.

The present disclosure provides a sidelink DTX method, applicable to a second user terminal <NUM>. As shown in <FIG>, the second user terminal <NUM> and a first user terminal <NUM> communicate with each other through a sidelink (that is, the user terminals communicate with each other using a sidelink interface). The second user terminal <NUM> and a base station <NUM> communicate with each other using a <NUM>/<NUM>/<NUM> network. As shown in <FIG>, the sidelink DTX method includes the following steps:
S121: Allow performing data scheduling/transmission to the first user terminal <NUM>, or perform data scheduling/transmission to the first user terminal <NUM> under control of a timer based on a DRX mechanism during running of a target transmit timer in the timer.

Obviously, the foregoing allowing performing data scheduling/transmission to the first user terminal <NUM> or performing data scheduling/transmission to the first user terminal <NUM> is performed based on the sidelink. In DRX mechanism-based control, a plurality of target receive timers in the timer may be run simultaneously or one target receive timer is run individually. It may be understood that after the target transmit timer in the timer is turned off, allowing performing data scheduling/transmission to the first user terminal <NUM>, or performing data scheduling/transmission to the first user terminal <NUM> is stopped.

In the sidelink DTX method provided in this embodiment of the present disclosure, when the user terminals communicate with each other through a sidelink, it is allowed to perform data scheduling/transmission to the first user terminal <NUM> or data scheduling/transmission to the first user terminal <NUM> is performed under control of a timer based on a DRX mechanism only during running of a target receive timer in the timer, so that power saving requirements on both sides of communication can be satisfied.

The target transmit timer includes an on duration transmit timer and an inactivity transmit timer. As shown in <FIG>, S121 includes the following steps:.

When the on duration transmit timer and the inactivity transmit timer both expire, allowing performing data scheduling/transmission to the second user terminal <NUM> is stopped.

For example, as shown in <FIG>, a protruding portion in a Y (vertical) direction in <FIG> represents that data scheduling/transmission from the second user terminal <NUM> is being allowed, a low flat portion in the Y direction represents a sleep state (that is, stopping allowing data scheduling/transmission from the second user terminal <NUM>), and an X (horizontal) direction is a time axis. For example, a DRX cycle is set to <NUM>, a running duration of the on duration transmit timer is set to <NUM>, and a running duration of the inactivity transmit timer is set to <NUM>. According to starting moments of the target receive timer and on duration transmit timer in the configured DRX mechanism, the on duration transmit timer starts to be run, and in this case, the second user terminal <NUM> allows data scheduling/transmission. For example, assuming that a starting position of the on duration transmit timer is <NUM>, the second user terminal <NUM> allows data scheduling/transmission within <NUM> to <NUM>, and in a case that data scheduling/transmission is not performed, the second user terminal <NUM> enters a sleep state within <NUM> to <NUM>. <NUM> to <NUM> is the second DRX cycle, the on duration transmit timer allows data scheduling/transmission within <NUM> to <NUM>. In a case that data scheduling/transmission is performed at <NUM>, the inactivity transmit timer is started at <NUM>. The inactivity transmit timer is effective within <NUM> to <NUM>, and in this period, the second user terminal <NUM> continuously allows data scheduling/transmission. In a case that data scheduling/transmission is sent, the inactivity transmit timer is restarted. Until the inactivity transmit timer expires, the second user terminal <NUM> enters a sleep period. Until a next DRX cycle, the on duration transmit timer wakes up again. The essence of the above is starting/restarting the inactivity transmit timer when the data scheduling/transmission is sent, to prolong the time of allowing performing the data scheduling/transmission.

It should be noted that the starting/restarting of the inactivity transmit timer caused by performing the data scheduling/transmission may refer to only newly transmitted data or may include both newly transmitted data and retransmitted data. The two can be configured/selected.

Optionally, the second user terminal <NUM> is further configured with a HARQ retransmission mechanism. The timer further includes a HARQ round-trip latency transmit timer. The target transmit timer further includes a retransmission transmit timer. As shown in <FIG>, the method further includes S152 and S153.

S152: Start the HARQ round-trip latency transmit timer in a case that a HARQ NACK fed back by the first user terminal <NUM> is received.

S153: Start, after the HARQ round-trip latency transmit timer expires, the retransmission transmit timer to allow performing retransmission data scheduling/data transmission to the first user terminal <NUM>.

When data sent by the first user terminal <NUM> is received, a HARQ NACK fed back by the first user terminal <NUM> is received, indicating that data transmission fails. Therefore, data scheduling/transmission needs to be performed again.

For example, as shown in <FIG>, a protruding portion in a Y (vertical) direction in <FIG> represents being in a state of monitoring data scheduling/transmission, a low flat portion in an X (horizontal) direction represents a sleep state, and the X (horizontal) direction is a time axis. In a case that the data scheduling/transmission is sent at a moment t1, the inactivity transmit timer is started. In a case that a HARQ NACK fed back by the first user terminal <NUM> is received at a moment t2, the HARQ round-trip latency transmit timer is started, and the inactivity transmit timer expires at a moment t3. It can be learned that between moments t3 and t4, because none of the target transmit timers is effective, the second user terminal <NUM> may stop allowing the data scheduling/transmission. In a case that the HARQ round-trip latency transmit timer expires at the moment t4, the retransmission transmit timer is started, for starting to allow data retransmission/scheduling. The first retransmission/scheduling is performed at a moment t5, and the retransmission transmit timer is turned off. In a case that the HARQ NACK fed back by the first user terminal <NUM> for the first retransmission is received at a moment t6, the HARQ round-trip latency transmit timer is restarted, and the second user terminal <NUM> may stop allowing the data scheduling/transmission. In a case that the HARQ round-trip latency transmit timer expires at a moment t7, the retransmission transmit timer is restarted, for starting to allowing the data retransmission/scheduling. In a case that the second retransmission/scheduling is sent at a moment t8, the retransmission transmit timer is turned off, and the second user terminal <NUM> stops allowing the data scheduling/transmission, and then, feeds back a reception success acknowledgment for the second retransmission, so that the HARQ process ends. Data scheduling/transmission is not allowed until an on duration transmit timer of a next DRX cycle is run.

It may be understood that in this embodiment of the present disclosure, the foregoing second user terminal <NUM> is used as transmit-end UE. In fact, any user terminal may be used as both receive-end UE and transmit-end UE in different stages. Therefore, when two user terminals interact with each other, receive-end UE and transmit-end UE need to be determined first. Optionally, the timer further includes a target receive timer. Before S121, as shown in <FIG>, the method further includes:
S <NUM>: Turn off the target receive timer according to the DRX mechanism in a case that it is detected that a target transmit timer and the target receive timer in the timer are both running.

It is agreed in the DRX mechanism that a send priority of the second user terminal <NUM> is higher than a send priority of the first user terminal <NUM>. It may be understood that when the target receive timer of the second user terminal <NUM> is running, because the first user terminal <NUM> and the second user terminal <NUM> have the same DRX mechanism, correspondingly a target transmit timer of the first user terminal <NUM> is also running. In view of the above, when the target transmit timer and the target receive timer are both running, both the first user terminal <NUM> and the second user terminal <NUM> have demands for sending data. Because the user terminal is limited by factors such as hardware and interference, it is difficult to perform receiving and sending simultaneously. In this case, data scheduling/transmission needs to be performed on the first user terminal <NUM> and the second user terminal <NUM> for coordination, to ensure the data reception effect and the power saving property. Therefore, it is necessary to determine, using the send priorities, which user terminal sends data first.

Optionally, according to the DRX mechanism, in one of the implementations, the send priority of the first user terminal <NUM> relative to the second user terminal <NUM> is determined according to a highest priority level of at least one to-be-processed service parameter of the first user terminal <NUM> and a highest priority level of at least one to-be-processed service parameter of the second user terminal <NUM> that are pre-configured.

For example, the first user terminal <NUM> includes three service parameters A, B, and C, and their send priorities are respectively <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>. The second user terminal <NUM> includes three service parameters D, E, and F, and their send priorities are respectively <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>. It can be seen that the highest priority level of the to-be-processed service parameters of the first user terminal <NUM> is <NUM>, and the highest priority level of the to-be-processed service parameters of the second user terminal <NUM> is <NUM>. In view of the above, the highest priority level of the second user terminal <NUM> is higher than the highest priority level of the first user terminal <NUM>.

According to the DRX mechanism, in another implementation, the send priority of the first user terminal <NUM> relative to the second user terminal <NUM> is determined according to a type of the target transmit timer that is run and a type of the target receive timer that is run.

According to the DRX mechanism, in another implementation, the send priority of the first user terminal <NUM> relative to the second user terminal <NUM> is determined according to a moment at which the target transmit timer is running and a moment at which the running target receive timer is running.

Optionally, the method further includes: receiving HARQ feedback after a preset interval time in a case that data scheduling/transmission to the first user terminal <NUM> is performed.

Referring to <FIG>, the present disclosure further provides a sidelink DTX apparatus <NUM>, applicable to a second user terminal <NUM>. It should be noted that the basic principle and the produced technical effects of the sidelink DTX apparatus <NUM> provided by the present disclosure are the same as those in the embodiment of the sidelink DTX method provided above. For convenience and conciseness of description, for the parts not mentioned in this apparatus embodiment, refer to corresponding content in the embodiment of the sidelink DTX method provided above. The apparatus <NUM> includes:
an information sending unit <NUM>, configured to allow performing data scheduling/transmission to a first user terminal <NUM>, or performing data scheduling/transmission to the first user terminal <NUM> under control of a timer based on a DRX mechanism during running of a target transmit timer in the timer.

In the sidelink DTX apparatus <NUM> provided in this embodiment of the present disclosure, when the user terminals communicate with each other through a sidelink, it is allowed to perform data scheduling/transmission to the first user terminal <NUM> or data scheduling/transmission to the first user terminal <NUM> is performed under control of a timer based on a DRX mechanism only during running of a target receive timer in the timer, so that power saving requirements on both sides of communication can be satisfied.

The target transmit timer includes an on duration transmit timer and an inactivity transmit timer. The information sending unit <NUM> is further configured to allow performing data scheduling/transmission to the first user terminal <NUM> during running of the on duration transmit timer.

As shown <FIG>, the apparatus <NUM> further includes a timer starting unit <NUM>, configured to start, in a case that the data scheduling/transmission to the first user terminal <NUM> is performed, the inactivity transmit timer to continuously allow performing data scheduling/transmission to the first user terminal <NUM>.

The timer starting unit <NUM> is further configured to restart the inactivity transmit timer in a case that data scheduling/transmission to the first user terminal <NUM> is performed again during running of the inactivity transmit timer.

The second user terminal <NUM> is further configured with a HARQ retransmission mechanism. The timer further includes a HARQ round-trip latency transmit timer. The target transmit timer further includes a retransmission transmit timer.

The timer starting unit <NUM> is further configured to start the HARQ round-trip latency transmit timer in a case that a HARQ NACK fed back by the first user terminal <NUM> is received.

The timer starting unit <NUM> is further configured to start, after the HARQ round-trip latency transmit timer expires, the retransmission transmit timer to allow performing retransmission data scheduling/data transmission to the first user terminal <NUM>.

The timer further includes a target receive timer. As shown in <FIG>, the apparatus <NUM> further includes:
a timer turn-off unit <NUM>, configured to turn off a target receive timer according to the DRX mechanism in a case that it is detected that a target transmit timer and the target receive timer in the timer are both running, where it is agreed in the DRX mechanism that a send priority of the second user terminal <NUM> is higher than a send priority of the first user terminal <NUM>.

According to the DRX mechanism, in one of the implementations, the send priority of the first user terminal <NUM> relative to the second user terminal <NUM> is determined according to a type of the target transmit timer that is run and a type of the target receive timer that is run.

According to the DRX mechanism, in one of the implementations, the send priority of the first user terminal <NUM> relative to the second user terminal <NUM> is determined according to a moment at which the target transmit timer is running and a moment at which the running target receive timer is running.

As shown in <FIG>, the apparatus <NUM> further includes:
an information receiving unit <NUM>, configured to receive HARQ feedback after a preset interval time in a case that data scheduling/transmission to the first user terminal <NUM> is performed.

Embodiments of this specification are described above. Other embodiments fall within the scope of the appended claims. In some embodiments, the actions or steps recorded in the claims may be performed in sequences different from those in the embodiments and an expected result may still be achieved. In addition, the processes depicted in the accompanying drawings is not necessarily performed in the specific order or successively to achieve an expected result. In some implementations, multitasking and parallel processing may be feasible or beneficial.

The embodiments of the present disclosure further provide a terminal device, including a processor, a memory, and a computer program stored on the memory and executable on the processor, where the computer program is executed by the processor to implement the steps of any embodiment of the sidelink DRX method or the sidelink DTX method as stated above.

<FIG> is a block diagram of a terminal device <NUM> according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The terminal device <NUM> shown in <FIG> includes at least one processor <NUM>, a memory <NUM>, at least one network interface <NUM>, and a user interface <NUM>. All the components in the terminal device <NUM> are coupled together by a bus system <NUM>. It may be understood that the bus system <NUM> is configured to implement connection and communication between the components. In addition to a data bus, the bus system <NUM> further includes a power bus, a control bus, and a status signal bus. However, for ease of clear description, all types of buses are marked as the bus system <NUM> in <FIG>.

The user interface <NUM> may include a display, a keyboard, or a click/tap device (such as a mouse, a track ball, a touch panel, or a touchscreen).

It can be understood that, the memory <NUM> in the embodiments of the present disclosure may be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or may include both a volatile memory and a non-volatile memory. The non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable ROM (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically EPROM (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be a random access memory (RAM), used as an external cache. Through exemplary but not limitative description, many forms of RAMs may be used, for example, a static random access memory (Static RAM, SRAM), a dynamic random access memory (Dynamic RAM, DRAM), a synchronous dynamic random access memory (Synchronous DRAM, SDRAM), a double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (Double Data Rate SDRAM, DDRSDRAM), an enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (Enhanced SDRAM, ESDRAM), a synchlink dynamic random access memory (Synchlink DRAM, SLDRAM), and a direct rambus random access memory (Direct Rambus RAM, DRRAM). The memory <NUM> in the system and method described in the embodiments of the present disclosure is intended to include, but is not limited to, the memories and any other memory of a suitable type.

In some implementations, the memory <NUM> stores the following elements: an executable module or a data structure, or a subset thereof, or an extension set thereof: an operating system <NUM> and an application program <NUM>.

The operating system <NUM> includes various system programs, for example, a framework layer, a core library layer, a driver layer, and the like, which are used for implementing various basic services and processing a task based on hardware. The application program <NUM> may include various application programs such as a media player (Media Player), a browser (Browser), and the like, used for implementing various application services. A program for implementing the method in the embodiments of the present disclosure may be included in the application program <NUM>.

In this embodiment of the present disclosure, the terminal device <NUM> further includes: a computer program stored on the memory and executable by the processor, when executed by the processor <NUM>, the computer program implementing the following step:
monitoring data scheduling/transmission or receiving data scheduling/transmission under control of a timer based on a DRX mechanism during running of a target receive timer in the timer; or allowing performing data scheduling/transmission to a first user terminal, or performing data scheduling/transmission to the first user terminal under control of a timer based on a DRX mechanism during running of a target transmit timer in the timer.

The method disclosed in the embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied to the processor <NUM> or implemented by the processor <NUM>. The processor <NUM> may be an integrated circuit chip, having a capability of processing a signal. In an implementation process, steps in the foregoing methods can be implemented by using a hardware integrated logical circuit in the processor <NUM>, or by using instructions in a form of software. The foregoing processor <NUM> may be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (Digital Signal Processor, DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (Application Specific Integrated Circuit, ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (Field Programmable Gate Array, FPGA) or another programmable logic device, a discrete gate or a transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component, and may implement or perform the methods, the steps, and logic block diagrams that are disclosed in the embodiments of the present disclosure. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like. The steps of the methods disclosed with reference to the embodiments of the present disclosure may be directly performed and completed by using a hardware decoding processor, or may be performed and completed by using a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software module may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium that is mature in the art, such as a RAM, a flash memory, a ROM, a programmable ROM, an electrically erasable programmable memory, or a register. The computer-readable storage medium is located in the memory <NUM>, and the processor <NUM> reads information in the memory <NUM>, and completes the steps in the foregoing methods in combination with hardware thereof. Specifically, the computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program. The computer program, when executed by the processor <NUM>, causes the processor to perform the steps of the foregoing methods.

It may be understood that, the embodiments described in the embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by using software, hardware, firmware, middleware, microcode, or a combination thereof. For hardware implementation, the processing unit may be implemented by one or more application-specific integrated circuits (Application Specific Integrated Circuits, ASIC), digital signal processors (Digital Signal Processing, DSP), digital signal processor devices (DSP Device, DSPD), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays (Field-Programmable Gate Array, FPGA), general-purpose processors, controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, other electronic components configured to implement the functions of the present disclosure, or a combination thereof.

For software implementation, the technology described in the embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by using modules (for example, processes and functions) implementing the functions of the embodiments of the present disclosure. Software code may be stored in a memory and executed by a processor. The memory may be implemented inside or outside the processor.

Optionally, when executed by the processor <NUM>, the computer program may further perform the following steps: monitoring data scheduling/transmission or receiving data scheduling/transmission under control of a timer based on a DRX mechanism during running of a target receive timer in the timer; or allowing performing data scheduling/transmission to a first user terminal, or performing data scheduling/transmission to the first user terminal under control of a timer based on a DRX mechanism during running of a target transmit timer in the timer.

The terminal device <NUM> can implement the processes and effects implemented by the terminal device in the foregoing embodiments. To avoid repetition, details are not described herein again.

The embodiments of the present disclosure further provide a computer-readable storage medium storing one or more programs. The one or more programs include instructions. The instructions, when executed by a portable electronic device including a plurality of application programs, can cause the portable electronic device to perform the operations of any embodiment of the sidelink DRX method or the sidelink DTX method as stated above. In an embodiment, when executed by a portable electronic device, the instructions can cause the portable electronic device to perform the following operation:
monitoring data scheduling/transmission or receiving data scheduling/transmission under control of a timer based on a DRX mechanism during running of a target receive timer in the timer. In another embodiment, when executed by a portable electronic device, the instructions can cause the portable electronic device to perform following operation: allowing performing data scheduling/transmission to a first user terminal, or performing data scheduling/transmission to the first user terminal under control of a timer based on a DRX mechanism during running of a target transmit timer in the timer.

The system, the apparatus, the module or the unit described in the foregoing embodiments may be specifically implemented by a computer chip or an entity, or implemented by a product having a certain function. A typical implementation device is a computer. Specifically, the computer may be, for example, a personal computer, a laptop computer, a cellular phone, a camera phone, a smartphone, a personal digital assistant, a media player, a navigation device, an email device, a game console, a tablet computer, a wearable device, or a combination of any of these devices.

Flowcharts and block diagrams in the drawings illustrate architectures, functions, and operations that may be implemented by using the system, the method, and the computer program product according to the various embodiments of the present disclosure. In this regard, each box in a flowchart or a block diagram may represent a unit, a segment, or a part of code. The unit, the segment, or the part of code includes one or more executable instructions used for implementing (one or more) designated logic functions. It should also be noted that, each box in a block diagram and/or a flowchart and a combination of boxes in the block diagram and/or the flowchart may be implemented by using a dedicated hardware-based system configured to perform a specified function or operation, or may be implemented by using a combination of dedicated hardware and computer instructions.

The computer-readable medium includes a non-volatile medium and a volatile medium, a removable medium and a non-removable medium, which may implement storage of information by using any method or technology. The information may be a computer-readable instruction, a data structure, a program module, or other data. Examples of a computer storage medium include but are not limited to a phase-change memory (PRAM), a static random access memory (SRAM), a dynamic random access memory (DRAM), other type of random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a flash memory or other memory technology, a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disc (DVD) or other optical storage, a cassette tape, a magnetic tape, a magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage device, or any other non-transmission medium, which may be configured to store information accessible by a computing device. Based on the definition in this specification, the computer-readable medium may be a non-transient computer-readable medium, and therefore, does not include transitory computer-readable media (transitory media) such as a modulated data signal and a carrier.

It should be further noted that the terms "include", "comprise", or any variants thereof are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. Therefore, a process, method, article, or device that includes a series of elements not only includes such elements, but also includes other elements not specified expressly, or may include inherent elements of the process, method, article, or device. Unless otherwise specified, an element limited by "include a/an. " does not exclude other same elements existing in the process, the method, the article, or the device that includes the element.

Claim 1:
A sidelink discontinuous transmission (DTX) method, performed by a second user terminal (<NUM>), characterized in that the method comprises:
performing or allowing (S121) performing data scheduling/transmission to a first user terminal (<NUM>) under control of a timer based on a discontinuous reception (DRX) mechanism during running of a target transmit timer in the timer,
characterised by:
the target transmit timer comprises an on duration transmit timer and an inactivity transmit timer, and the performing or allowing performing data scheduling/transmission to a first user terminal (<NUM>) under control of a timer based on a DRX mechanism during running of a target transmit timer in the timer comprises:
allowing (S131) performing data scheduling/transmission to the first user terminal (<NUM>) during running of the on duration transmit timer; and
starting (S132), in a case that data scheduling/transmission to the first user terminal (<NUM>) is triggered, the inactivity transmit timer to continuously allow performing data scheduling/transmission to the first user terminal (<NUM>),
wherein after the starting, in a case that data scheduling/transmission to the first user terminal (<NUM>) is triggered, the inactivity transmit timer to continuously allow performing data scheduling/transmission to the first user terminal (<NUM>), the method further comprises:
restarting (S133) the inactivity transmit timer in a case that data scheduling/transmission to the first user terminal (<NUM>) is triggered again during running of the inactivity transmit timer.