Communications system, communications device and method

1. A communications device configured to communicate with another communications device using resources of a wireless interface provided by a wireless communications network in accordance with a device-to-device (D2D) communication protocol, the communications device comprising:

circuitry configured to

select resources from a plurality of pools of resources for transmitting D2D messages; and

transmit D2D broadcast messages and D2D unicast messages using the selected resources.

2. The communications device of claim 1 , wherein

the circuitry is configured to receive, from the wireless communications network, a message comprising an indication of positions of the plurality of pools of resources.

3. The communications device of claim 1 , wherein

the plurality of pools of resources comprise a pool of resources that is divided into at least a first sub-pool and a second sub-pool, the first sub-pool and the second sub-pool being separate from each other.

4. The communications device of claim 3 , wherein

the circuitry is configured to select resources from one of the at least first sub-pool and the second sub-pool for transmitting the unicast messages.

5. The communications device of claim 3 , wherein

the circuitry is configured to receive a message from the wireless communications network indicating a position of the first sub-pool and a position of the second sub-pool.

6. The communications device of claim 5 , wherein

the message further comprises an indication of one or more sub-pool selection criteria for use by communications devices to select a sub-pool for transmitting signals.

7. The communications device of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of pools of resources comprise:

a first pool of resources that corresponds to at least a first frequency subcarrier, and

a second pool of resources that corresponds to at least a second frequency subcarrier.

8. The communications device of claim 7 , wherein

the first frequency subcarrier is different from the second frequency subcarrier.

9. The communications device of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of pools of resources comprise:

a first pool of resources that corresponds to a first plurality of frequency subcarriers, and

a second pool of resources that corresponds to a second plurality of frequency subcarriers.

10. The communications device of claim 9 , wherein

the first plurality of frequency subcarriers is different from the second plurality of frequency subcarriers.

11. The communications device of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of pools of resources comprise:

a first pool of resources that corresponds at least a first group of resource blocks, and

a second pool of resources that corresponds to a second group of resource blocks.

12. The communications device of claim 11 , wherein

the first group of resource blocks is different from the second group of resource blocks.

13. The communications device of claim 1 , wherein the circuitry is configured to:

receive D2D broadcast messages and D2D unicast messages transmitted from another communications device in resources included in the plurality of pools of resources.

14. A user equipment configured to communicate with another communications device using resources of a wireless interface provided by a wireless communications network in accordance with a device-to-device (D2D) communication protocol, the user equipment comprising:

circuitry configured to

receive, from the wireless communications network, a message identifying a plurality of pools of resources for transmitting D2D messages;

select resources from the plurality of pools of resources; and

transmit D2D broadcast messages and D2d unicast messages using the selected resources.

15. The user equipment of claim 14 , wherein the plurality of pools of resources comprise:

a first pool of resources that corresponds to at least a first frequency subcarrier, and

a second pool of resources that corresponds to at least a second frequency subcarrier.

16. The user equipment of claim 14 , wherein the plurality of pools of resources comprise:

a first pool of resources that corresponds to a first plurality of frequency subcarriers, and

a second pool of resources that corresponds to a second plurality of frequency subcarriers.

17. The user equipment of claim 14 , wherein the plurality of pools of resources comprise:

a first pool of resources that corresponds to a first plurality of system resource blocks, and

a second pool of resources that corresponds to a second plurality of system resource blocks.

18. Circuitry configured for use in a user equipment configured to communicate with another communications device using resources of a wireless interface provided by a wireless communications network in accordance with a device-to-device (D2D) communication protocol, the circuitry configured to:

receive, from the wireless communications network, a message identifying a plurality of resources for transmitting D2D messages; and

transmit D2D broadcast messages and D2D unicast messages using resources selected from the plurality of resources.

19. The circuitry of claim 18 , wherein the plurality of pools of resources comprise:

a first pool of resources that corresponds to at least a first frequency subcarrier, and

a second pool of resources that corresponds to at least a second frequency subcarrier.

20. The circuitry of claim 18 , wherein the plurality of resources comprise:

first resources that correspond to a first plurality of system resource blocks, and

second resources that correspond to a second plurality of system resource blocks.