Granted Patent B2

US 12,471,062 · App. 17/437,323 · Granted Nov 11, 2025

Inventors: Chunxuan Ye (San Diego, CA); Chunhai Yao (Beijing, CN); Dawei Zhang (Saratoga, CA); Haijing Hu (Beijing, CN); Haitong Sun (Irvine, CA); Hong He (Cupertino, CA); Oghenekome Oteri (San Diego, CA); Sigen Ye (Whitehouse Station, NJ); Wei Zeng (San Diego, CA); Weidong Yang (San Diego, CA); Yushu Zhang (Beijing, CN); Zhibin Wu (Los Altos, CA)

Assignee: Apple Inc.

H04W72/02H04L5/0053H04W72/0446H04W72/0453H04W72/20H04W72/23

Abstract

Claims (75)

1 . A baseband processor configured to cause a wireless device to:

receive control information through a sidelink control channel, wherein the control information specifies a plurality of first time slots for the wireless device to transmit a sidelink acknowledgment message over a sidelink feedback channel, wherein the sidelink acknowledgment message is related to a sidelink data packet received by the wireless device;

receive a resource grant through a downlink control channel, wherein the resource grant specifies one or more second time slots for the wireless device to transmit an uplink transmission over an uplink channel;

determine that one or more of the first time slots comprise overlapping time slots that coincide with one or more of the second time slots;

determine whether the sidelink data packet and the uplink transmission differ in priority by more than a predetermined threshold amount,

based at least in part on a determination that the sidelink data packet and the uplink transmission differ in priority by more than the predetermined threshold amount, transmit the sidelink acknowledgment message over the sidelink feedback channel or transmit the uplink transmission over the uplink channel during the overlapping time slots; and

based at least in part on a determination that the sidelink data packet and the uplink transmission differ in priority by less than the predetermined threshold amount or have a same priority, transmit the sidelink acknowledgment message over the sidelink feedback channel during a first subset of the overlapping time slots and transmit the uplink transmission over the uplink channel during a second subset of the overlapping time slots separate from the first subset.

2 . The apparatus of claim 1 ,

wherein a third subset of the first time slots do not coincide with the second time slots,

wherein the plurality of first time slots comprises an aggregate plurality of time slots,

wherein the overlapping time slots comprise a first portion of the aggregate plurality of time slots, and

wherein the third subset of the first time slots is disjoint from the first portion.

3 . The apparatus of claim 1 ,

wherein the plurality of first time slots comprises a plurality of aggregate time slots, and

wherein the control information comprises a sidelink control information (SCI) stage 2 indication, wherein the SCI stage 2 indication indicates an aggregation level of the plurality of time slots.

4 . The apparatus of claim 1 ,

wherein the uplink transmission comprises one of:

an uplink data packet; or

uplink control information.

5 . The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the baseband processor is further configured to cause the wireless device to:

transmit the sidelink acknowledgment message over at least two different frequency bands for two or more of the aggregate time slots.

6 . The apparatus of claim 3 ,

wherein the control information is received in a first frequency band, wherein the baseband processor is further configured to cause the wireless device to:

transmit the sidelink acknowledgment message in a second frequency band higher than the first frequency band during a first aggregate time slot of the plurality of aggregate time slots; and

transmit the sidelink acknowledgment message in a third frequency band lower than the first frequency band during a second aggregate time slot of the plurality of aggregate time slots.

7 . A wireless device, comprising:

at least one antenna for performing wireless communications;

a radio coupled to the at least one antenna; and

a processor coupled to the radio;

wherein the wireless device is configured to:

receive control information through a sidelink control channel, wherein the control information specifies a plurality of first time slots for the wireless device to transmit a sidelink acknowledgment message over a sidelink feedback channel, wherein the sidelink acknowledgment message is related to a sidelink data packet received by the wireless device;

receive a resource grant through a downlink control channel, wherein the resource grant specifies one or more second time slots for the wireless device to transmit an uplink transmission over an uplink channel;

determine that one or more of the first time slots comprise overlapping time slots that coincide with one or more of the second time slots;

determine whether the sidelink data packet and the uplink transmission differ in priority by more than a predetermined threshold amount;

based at least in part on a determination that the sidelink data packet and the uplink transmission differ in priority by more than the predetermined threshold amount, transmit the sidelink acknowledgment message over the sidelink feedback channel or transmit the uplink transmission over the uplink channel during the overlapping time slots; and

based at least in part on a determination that the sidelink data packet and the uplink transmission differ in priority by less than the predetermined threshold amount or have a same priority, transmit the sidelink acknowledgment message over the sidelink feedback channel during a first subset of the overlapping time slots and transmit the uplink transmission over the uplink channel during a second subset of the overlapping time slots separate from the first subset.

8 . The wireless device of claim 7 ,

wherein a third subset of the first time slots do not coincide with the second time slots,

wherein the plurality of first time slots comprises an aggregate plurality of time slots,

wherein the overlapping time slots comprise a first portion of the aggregate plurality of time slots, and

wherein the third subset of the first time slots is disjoint from the first portion.

9 . The wireless device of claim 7 ,

wherein the plurality of first time slots comprises a plurality of aggregate time slots, and

wherein the control information comprises a sidelink control information (SCI) stage 2 indication.

10 . The wireless device of claim 9 ,

wherein the SCI stage 2 indication indicates an aggregation level of the plurality of time slots.

11 . The wireless device of claim 9 , wherein the wireless device is further configured to:

transmit the sidelink acknowledgment message over at least two different frequency bands for two or more of the aggregate time slots.

12 . The wireless device of claim 9 ,

wherein the control information is received in a first frequency band, wherein the wireless device is further configured to:

transmit the sidelink acknowledgment message in a second frequency band higher than the first frequency band during a first aggregate time slot of the plurality of aggregate time slots; and

transmit the sidelink acknowledgment message in a third frequency band lower than the first frequency band during a second aggregate time slot of the plurality of aggregate time slots.

13 . A method for operating a wireless device, the method comprising:

receiving control information through a sidelink control channel, wherein the control information specifies a plurality of first time slots for the wireless device to transmit a sidelink acknowledgment message over a sidelink feedback channel, wherein the sidelink acknowledgment message is related to a sidelink data packet received by the wireless device;

receiving a resource grant through a downlink control channel, wherein the resource grant specifies one or more second time slots for the wireless device to transmit an uplink transmission over an uplink channel;

determining that one or more of the first time slots comprise overlapping time slots that coincide with one or more of the second time slots; and

transmitting the sidelink acknowledgment message over the sidelink feedback channel during a first subset of the overlapping time slots and transmitting the uplink transmission over the uplink channel during a second subset of the overlapping time slots separate from the first subset responsive to the sidelink data packet and the uplink transmission differing in priority by less than a predetermined threshold amount or having a same priority.

14 . The method of claim 13 ,

wherein a third subset of the first time slots do not coincide with the second time slots,

wherein the plurality of first time slots comprises an aggregate plurality of time slots,

wherein the overlapping time slots comprise a first portion of the aggregate plurality of time slots, and

wherein the third subset of the first time slots is disjoint from the first portion.

15 . The method of claim 13 ,

wherein the plurality of first time slots comprises a plurality of aggregate time slots, and

wherein the control information comprises a sidelink control information (SCI) stage 2 indication, wherein the SCI stage 2 indication indicates an aggregation level of the plurality of time slots.

16 . The method of claim 13 ,

wherein the uplink transmission comprises one of:

an uplink data packet; or

uplink control information.

17 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising:

transmitting the sidelink acknowledgment message over at least two different frequency bands for two or more of the aggregate time slots.

18 . The method of claim 15 ,

wherein the control information is received in a first frequency band, wherein the method further comprises:

transmitting the sidelink acknowledgment message in a second frequency band higher than the first frequency band during a first aggregate time slot of the plurality of aggregate time slots; and

transmitting the sidelink acknowledgment message in a third frequency band lower than the first frequency band during a second aggregate time slot of the plurality of aggregate time slots.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (22)