Aligned sidelink communications

1 . A method of wireless communication, the method comprising:

receiving a configured grant (CG) configuration data at a first UE from a second UE, the CG configuration data comprising bi-directional CG information for a communication session between the first UE and the second UE;

monitoring for receipt of a first transmission of the communication session from the second UE at the first UE;

on the basis of the monitoring, acquiring a channel for sidelink communication session at the first UE,

wherein the method further comprises:

performing a first channel access process, to enable access to the channel for a channel occupancy time; and

transmitting a feedback message to the second UE indicating acquisition of the channel for the channel occupancy time.

2 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the feedback message is transmitted using a physical sidelink feedback channel specified in the CG configuration data.

3 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the feedback message is transmitted using a physical sidelink control channel or a physical sidelink shared channel.

4 . The method as claimed in claim 3 , further comprising transmitting the feedback message in a CG configuration data message.

5 . The method as claimed in claim 3 , further comprising transmitting the feedback message in a resource allocation message.

6 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein performing the channel access process comprises performing listen before talk (LBT) radio protocol.

7 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:

performing a second channel access process at the second UE.

8 . A user equipment comprising:

a radio frequency (RF) circuitry component configured to transmit or receive communication signals on an unlicensed spectrum; and

a processor coupled to the RF circuitry component, configured to:

receive a configured grant (CG) configuration data comprising bi-directional CG information for an aligned sidelink communication session within the unlicensed spectrum with a second UE;

monitor for receipt of a first transmission of the aligned sidelink communication session; and

acquire a channel for the aligned sidelink communication session,

wherein the processor is further configured to:

generate a first listen before talk (LBT) protocol to determine a sidelink channel state; and

in response to determining an idle sidelink channel state, communicate a feedback message indicating acquisition of the channel.

9 . The user equipment as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

trigger a second LBT protocol at the second UE.

10 . A computer-readable storage medium storing executable instructions that, in response to execution, cause a processor of a user equipment to perform operations to aid the acquisition of a communication session, the operations comprising:

receiving a configured grant (CG) configuration data comprising bi-directional CG information for an aligned sidelink communication session;

monitoring for receipt of a first transmission of the aligned sidelink communication session; and

on the basis of the monitoring, acquiring a channel for the aligned sidelink communication session,

wherein the processor is further caused to perform operations comprising:

triggering a second LBT protocol for the aligned sidelink communication session at a second UE.

11 . The computer-readable storage medium as claimed in claim 10 , further comprising instructions that, in response to execution, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

generating a first listen before talk (LBT) protocol to determine a sidelink channel state; and

in response to determining an idle sidelink channel state, communicating a feedback message indicating acquisition of the channel.