Telecommunications apparatus and methods
A method of operating a first terminal device to transmit data to a second terminal device by performing device-to-device communication includes selecting radio resources, on which to transmit the data based on a priority status associated with the data, whereby certain radio resource are reserved for use in association with data classified as high priority. A method of operating the second terminal device to receive data from the first terminal device includes: receiving data from the first terminal device using the selected radio resources; determining if another terminal device is transmitting data on a radio resource which is not selected for transmitting data by the first terminal device and which is reserved for transmitting data classified as having a high priority; and, if so, stopping reception of data from the first terminal device on the selected radio resources and instead seeking to receive further transmissions from the other terminal device.
1 . A method of operating a first terminal device to transmit data to a second terminal device by performing device-to-device (D2D) communication, the method comprising:
selecting radio resources on which to transmit the data to the second terminal device based on a priority status associated with the data; and
transmitting the data to the second terminal device using the selected radio resources, wherein
the radio resources on which to transmit the data are selected from a first set of radio resources if the data is associated with a first priority status and are selected from a second set of radio resources which includes the first set of radio resources and radio resources not included in the first set of radio resources if the data is associated with a second priority status.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein
the D2D communication is performed over a radio interface comprising radio resources divided into a plurality of time blocks and selecting radio resources on which to transmit the data to the second terminal device comprises selecting one or more time blocks in which to transmit the data to the second terminal device.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein
the D2D communication is performed over a radio interface comprising radio resources divided into a plurality of frequencies and selecting radio resources on which to transmit the data to the second terminal device comprises selecting one or more frequencies on which to transmit the data to the second terminal device.
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein
the radio resources on which to transmit the data are selected from a set of radio resources which excludes a predefined subset of radio resources if the data is associated with a first priority status and are selected from a set of radio resources which does not exclude the predefined subset of radio resources if the data is associated with a second priority status.
5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein
the first priority status indicates the data has a lower priority than data associated with the second priority status.
6 . The method of claim 4 , wherein
the predefined set of radio resources comprises a temporally repeating pattern of radio resources in which transmissions of the data associated with the first priority status are to be avoided.
7 . The method of claim 4 , wherein
the predefined set of radio resources is established based on an operating standard for the first terminal device and/or based on signaling received from a network entity of a wireless telecommunications system in which the first terminal device is operating.
8 . The method of claim 4 , wherein
the radio resources on which to transmit the data are selected from a set of radio resources which excludes both the predefined subset of radio resources and a further predefined subset of radio resources if the data is associated with a further priority status and are selected from a set of radio resources which does not exclude the further predefined set of radio resources if the data is associated with the first priority status or the second priority status, wherein the further priority status indicates the data has a lower priority than data associated with the first priority status and the second priority status.
9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein
the first priority status indicates the data has a lower priority than data associated with the second priority status.
10 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining if another terminal device is transmitting data using a radio resource which is not selected by the first terminal device for transmitting the data based on its priority status.
11 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
canceling transmissions of the data on one or more of the selected radio resources following a determination that another terminal device is transmitting data on a radio resource which is not selected by the first terminal device for transmitting the data based on its priority status.
12 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
receiving further transmissions from the another terminal device transmitting data in a radio resource which is not selected for transmitting data by the first terminal device on radio resources in which the first terminal device has cancelled its own transmissions.
13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the priority status associated with data is determined based on one or more of:
(i) a logical channel for the data;
(ii) a quality of service requirement for the data;
(iii) an indication of priority for the data received from a user of the first terminal device;
(iv) an application within the first terminal device with which the data is associated;
(v) the nature of any connection between the first terminal device and a core network of a wireless telecommunications system in which the first terminal device is operating;
(vi) a classification type for the terminal device;
(vii) a classification type for an application associated with the data; and
(viii) a classification type for a service associated with the data.
14 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
associating the data with an updated priority status; and
selecting one or more radio resources on which to transmit the data to the second terminal device based on the updated priority status if it is determined it would take longer than a predefined threshold duration to transmit the data to the second terminal device on radio resources selected based on the data's priority status prior to being updated.
15 . The method of claim 1 , wherein
a transmission characteristic for data transmitted by the first terminal device is selected based on the priority status for the data.
16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein
the transmission characteristic comprises a transmission power.
17 . The method of claim 1 , wherein
the data to be transmitted by the first terminal device comprises user-plane data and/or control data indicating radio resources the first terminal device intends to use to transmit other data.
18 . A terminal device configured to transmit data to a second terminal device by performing device-to-device communication, the terminal device comprising:
circuitry configured to
select radio resources on which to transmit the data to the second terminal device based on a priority status associated with the data; and
transmit the data to the second terminal device using the selected radio resources, wherein
the radio resources on which to transmit the data are selected from a first set of radio resources if the data is associated with a first priority status and are selected from a second set of radio resources which includes the first set of radio resources and radio resources not included in the first set of radio resources if the data is associated with a second priority status.
19 . A terminal device configured to transmit data to a second terminal device by performing device-to-device communication, the terminal device comprising:
circuitry configured to
associate the data with an updated priority status;
select one or more radio resources on which to transmit the data to the second terminal device based on the updated priority status if it is determined it would take longer than a predefined threshold duration to transmit the data to the second terminal device on radio resources selected based on the data's priority status prior to being updated; and
transmit the data to the second terminal device using the selected radio resources.