Handling of radio resources between terminal devices

文档序号：1967191 发布日期：2021-12-14 浏览：11次中文

阅读说明：本技术 终端装置之间的无线电资源的处置 (Handling of radio resources between terminal devices ) 是由 S·万斯泰特 P·奥奎斯特 I·林格斯特罗姆于 2019-05-13 设计创作，主要内容包括：提供用于从第二终端装置请求无线电资源的机制。一种方法由第一终端装置执行。该方法包括标识无线电资源的使用的增加的需求。该方法包括经由到第二终端装置的侧链路传送使用分配给第二终端装置的无线电资源的请求。该方法包括经由侧链路从第二终端装置接收响应。该响应关于第二终端装置是否已经授予第一终端装置使用至少一些请求的无线电资源。该方法包括向服务于第一终端装置的网络节点提供第一终端装置已经从第二终端装置请求无线电资源的通知和/或第二终端装置已经授予第一终端装置使用至少一些所请求的无线电资源的通知。(A mechanism is provided for requesting radio resources from a second terminal device. A method is performed by a first terminal device. The method includes identifying an increased demand for use of radio resources. The method comprises transmitting a request to use the radio resource allocated to the second terminal device via a sidelink to the second terminal device. The method includes receiving a response from the second terminal device via the sidelink. The response relates to whether the second terminal device has granted the first terminal device use at least some of the requested radio resources. The method comprises providing a network node serving the first terminal device with a notification that the first terminal device has requested radio resources from the second terminal device and/or a notification that the second terminal device has granted the first terminal device to use at least some of the requested radio resources.)

1. A method for requesting radio resources from a second terminal device (200 b), the method being performed by a first terminal device (200 a), the method comprising:

identifying (S102) an increased demand for use of radio resources;

transmitting (S110) a request to the second terminal device (200 b) via a side link (160) for using radio resources allocated to the second terminal device (200 b);

receiving (S112) a response from the second terminal device (200 b) via the sidelink (160), the response regarding whether the second terminal device (200 b) has granted the first terminal device (200 a) to use at least some of the requested radio resources; and

providing (S116), to a network node (300) serving the first terminal device (200 a), a notification that the first terminal device (200 a) has requested the radio resources from the second terminal device (200 b) and/or a notification that the second terminal device (200 b) has granted the first terminal device (200 a) to use at least some of the requested radio resources.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving (S118) a decision from the network node (300) as to whether the network node (300) has accepted granting of the at least some of the requested radio resources to the first terminal device (200 a); and

consuming (S120) the at least some of the requested radio resources in accordance with the decision.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the request comprises an offer to use radio resources allocated to the second terminal device (200 b), the method further comprising:

transmitting (S114) a response to the second terminal device (200 b) via the sidelink (160), the response comprising at least a partial acceptance of the offer.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the notification provided to the network node (300) comprises the at least partial acceptance of the offer.

5. The method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the response from the second terminal device (200 b) comprises information of the amount of radio resources granted to the first terminal device (200 a) and/or information of how long the radio resources are granted to the first terminal device (200 a).

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the notification provided to the network node (300) comprises the information.

7. The method of any of the preceding claims, further comprising:

transmitting (S104) a request to establish the side link (160) to the network node (300).

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the request to establish the sidelink (160) comprises an indication of which network service the increased demand for use of radio resources originates from.

9. The method of claim 7 or 8, further comprising:

receiving (S106) from the network node (300) an identifier of a set of candidate terminal devices from which the sidelink (160) may be established, and wherein the second terminal device (200 b) is selected from the set of candidate terminal devices.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

storing (S108) the identifiers of the set of candidate terminal devices.

11. The method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the notification is provided to the network node (300) by direct transmission from the first terminal device (200 a) to the network node (300).

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the response from the second terminal device (200 b) comprises a protected secret shared by the network node (300) and the second terminal device (200 b) but unknown to the first terminal device (200 a), and wherein the notification comprises the protected secret.

13. The method of any of claims 1 to 10, wherein the notification is provided to the network node (300) by being transmitted to the second terminal device (200 b) for forwarding thereby to the network node (300).

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the notification comprises a protected secret shared by the network node (300) and the first terminal device (200 a) but unknown to the second terminal device (200 b).

15. The method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the side link (160) is established through an interface PC 5.

16. The method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the radio resources are for cellular communication with the network node (300) serving the first terminal device (200 a).

17. A method for granting radio resources to a first terminal device (200 a), the method being performed by a second terminal device (200 b), the method comprising:

receiving (S204), via a sidelink (160) to the first terminal device (200 a), a request by the first terminal device (200 a) to use radio resources allocated to the second terminal device (200 b);

transmitting (S206) a response to the first terminal device (200 a) via the sidelink (160), the response regarding whether the second terminal device (200 b) has been granted the first terminal device (200 a) to use at least some of the requested radio resources; and

providing (S210), to a network node (300) serving the second terminal device (200 a), a notification that the first terminal device (200 a) has requested the radio resources from the second terminal device (200 b) and/or a notification that the second terminal device (200 b) has granted the first terminal device (200 a) to use at least some of the requested radio resources.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

receiving (S212), from the network node (300), a decision as to whether the network node (300) accepts to grant the at least some of the requested radio resources to the first terminal device (200 a); and

refraining (S214) from consuming the at least some of the requested radio resources according to the decision.

19. The method of claim 17 or 18, wherein the request comprises an offer to use radio resources allocated to the second terminal device (200 b), the method further comprising:

receiving (S208) a response from the first terminal device (200 a) via the side link (160), the response comprising at least a partial acceptance of the offer.

20. The method of any of claims 17 to 19, wherein the notification provided to the network node (300) comprises the at least partial acceptance of the offer.

21. The method according to any of claims 17 to 20, wherein the response to the first terminal device (200 a) comprises information of an amount of the radio resources granted to the first terminal device (200 a) and/or information of how long the radio resources are granted to the first terminal device (200 a).

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the notification provided to the network node (300) comprises the information.

23. The method of any of claims 17 to 22, further comprising:

receiving (S202) a request to establish the side link (160) from the network node (300).

24. The method according to any of claims 17 to 23, wherein the notification is provided to the network node (300) by direct transmission from the second terminal device (200 b) to the network node (300).

25. The method according to claim 19 in combination with claim 24, wherein the response from the first terminal device (200 a) comprises a protected secret shared by the network node (300) and the first terminal device (200 a) but unknown to the second terminal device (200 b), and wherein the notification comprises the protected secret.

26. The method according to any of claims 17 to 23, wherein the notification is provided to the network node (300) by being transmitted to the first terminal device (200 a) for forwarding thereby to the network node (300).

27. The method according to claim 26, wherein the notification comprises a protected secret shared by the network node (300) and the second terminal device (200 b) but unknown to the first terminal device (200 a).

28. The method according to any of claims 17 to 27, wherein the side link (160) is established through an interface PC 5.

29. A method for handling radio resources between a first terminal device (200 a) and a second terminal device (200 b), the method being performed by a network node (300), the method comprising:

obtaining (S308), from at least one of the first terminal device (200 a) served by the network node (300) and the second terminal device (200 b) served by the network node (300), a notification of: the first terminal device (200 a) having requested radio resources from the second terminal device (200 b), wherein the radio resources have been allocated to the second terminal device (200 b); and/or the second terminal device (200 b) has granted the first terminal device (200 a) use of at least some of the requested radio resources; and

transmitting (S314), to at least one of the first terminal device (200 a) and the second terminal device (200 b), a decision as to whether the network node (300) has accepted granting of the at least some of the requested radio resources to the first terminal device (200 a).

30. The method of claim 29, further comprising:

receiving (S302) a request from the first terminal device (200 a) to establish the sidelink (160); and in response thereto,

transmitting (S304) a request to establish the side link (160) at least to the second terminal device (200 b).

31. The method of claim 30, wherein the request to establish the sidelink (160) comprises an indication of from which network service an increased demand for use of radio resources originates.

32. The method of claim 30 or 31, wherein the request to establish the sidelink (160) is transmitted to a set of candidate terminal devices, the method further comprising:

transmitting (S306) identifiers of the set of candidate terminal devices to the first terminal device (200 a).

33. The method of claim 32, wherein the set of candidate terminal devices is selected based on at least one of: their radio conditions, their capabilities, and for which network service the first terminal device (200 a) is to use the requested radio resources.

34. The method of any of claims 29 to 33, wherein the notification comprises at least partial acceptance by the first terminal device (200 a) of an offer using radio resources allocated to the second terminal device (200 b).

35. The method according to any of claims 29 to 34, wherein the notification comprises information of an amount of the radio resources granted to the first terminal device (200 a) and/or information of how long the radio resources are granted to the first terminal device (200 a).

36. The method of any of claims 29 to 35, further comprising:

accepting (S310) granting the at least some of the requested radio resources to the first terminal device (200 a); or

Denying (S312) the grant of the at least some of the requested radio resources to the first terminal device (200 a).

37. The method according to claim 36, wherein the notification is received from the first terminal device (200 a), the at least some of the requested radio resources being denied to the first terminal device (200 a) when the notification fails to contain a protected secret shared by the network node (300) and the second terminal device (200 b) but unknown to the first terminal device (200 a).

38. The method according to claim 36, wherein the notification is received from the second terminal device (200 b), and wherein the grant of at least some of the requested radio resources to the first terminal device (200 a) is denied when the notification fails to contain a protected secret shared by the network node (300) and the first terminal device (200 a) but unknown to the second terminal device (200 b).

39. The method of claim 36, wherein a separate instance of the notification is received from each of the first and second terminal devices (200 a, 200 b), and the granting of the at least some of the requested radio resources to the first terminal device (200 a) is denied when the instances of the notification match each other.

40. A first terminal device (200 a) for requesting radio resources from a second terminal device (200 b), the first terminal device (200 a) comprising processing circuitry (210), the processing circuitry being configured to cause the first terminal device (200 a) to:

identifying an increased demand for use of radio resources;

transmitting a request to use radio resources allocated to the second terminal device (200 b) via a sidelink (160) to the second terminal device (200 b);

receiving a response from the second terminal device (200 b) via the sidelink (160), the response regarding whether the second terminal device (200 b) has been granted to the first terminal device (200 a) to use at least some of the requested radio resources; and

providing a notification to a network node (300) serving the first terminal device (200 a) that the first terminal device (200 a) has requested the radio resources from the second terminal device (200 b) and/or that the second terminal device (200 b) has granted the first terminal device (200 a) to use at least some of the requested radio resources.

41. A second terminal device (200 b) for granting radio resources to a first terminal device (200 a), the second terminal device (200 b) comprising processing circuitry (310), the processing circuitry being configured to cause the second terminal device (200 b) to:

receiving, via a sidelink (160) to the first terminal device (200 a), a request by the first terminal device (200 a) to use radio resources allocated to the second terminal device (200 b);

transmitting a response to the first terminal device (200 a) via the sidelink (160), the response regarding whether the second terminal device (200 b) has been granted the first terminal device (200 a) to use at least some of the requested radio resources; and

providing a notification to a network node (300) serving the second terminal device (200 b) that the first terminal device (200 a) has requested the radio resources from the second terminal device (200 b) and/or that the second terminal device (200 b) has granted the first terminal device (200 a) to use at least some of the requested radio resources.

42. A network node (300) for handling radio resources between a first terminal device (200 a) and a second terminal device (200 b), the network node (300) comprising processing circuitry (410), the processing circuitry being configured to cause the network node (300) to:

obtaining, from at least one of the first terminal device (200 a) served by the network node (300) and the second terminal device (200 b) served by the network node (300), a notification of: the first terminal device (200 a) having requested radio resources from the second terminal device (200 b), wherein the radio resources have been allocated to the second terminal device (200 b); and/or the second terminal device (200 b) has granted the first terminal device (200 a) use at least some of the requested radio resources; and

transmitting a decision to at least one of the first terminal device (200 a) and the second terminal device (200 b) as to whether the network node (300) accepts the granting of the at least some of the requested radio resources to the first terminal device (200 a).

43. A computer program (1120 a) for requesting radio resources from a second terminal device (200 b), the computer program comprising computer code which, when run on processing circuitry (210) of a first terminal device (200 a), causes the first terminal device (200 a) to:

identifying (S102) an increased demand for use of radio resources;

transmitting (S110), via a side link (160) to the second terminal device (200 b), a request to use radio resources allocated to the second terminal device (200 b);

44. A computer program (1120 b) for granting radio resources to a first terminal device (200 a), the computer program comprising computer code which, when run on processing circuitry (310) of a second terminal device (200 b), causes the second terminal device (200 b) to:

receiving (S204), via a sidelink (160) to the first terminal device (200 a), a request by the first terminal device (200 a) to use radio resources allocated to the second terminal device (200 b);

providing (S210), to a network node (300) serving the second terminal device (200 b), a notification that the first terminal device (200 a) has requested the radio resources from the second terminal device (200 b) and/or a notification that the second terminal device (200 b) has granted the first terminal device (200 a) to use at least some of the requested radio resources.

45. A computer program (1120 c) for handling radio resources between a first terminal device (200 a) and a second terminal device (200 b), the computer program comprising computer code which, when run on processing circuitry (410) of a network node (300), causes the network node (300) to:

obtaining, from at least one of the first terminal device (200 a) served by the network node (300) and the second terminal device (200 b) served by the network node (300), a notification of: the first terminal device (200 a) having requested radio resources from the second terminal device (200 b), wherein the radio resources have been allocated to the second terminal device (200 b); and/or the second terminal device (200 b) has granted the first terminal device (200 a) use of at least some of the requested radio resources; and

46. A computer program product (1110 a, 1110b, 1110 c) comprising a computer program (1120 a, 1120b, 1120 c) according to at least one of claims 43, 44 and 45 and a computer readable storage medium (1130) on which the computer program is stored.

Technical Field

Embodiments provided herein relate to a method, a first terminal device, a computer program and a computer program product for requesting radio resources from a second terminal device. Further embodiments provided herein relate to a method, a second terminal device, a computer program and a computer program product for granting radio resources to a first terminal device. Further embodiments provided herein relate to a method, a network node, a computer program and a computer program product for handling radio resources between a first terminal device and a second terminal device.

Background

In a communication network, achieving good performance and capacity may present challenges for a given communication protocol, its parameters, and the physical environment in which the communication network is deployed.

For example, one parameter that provides good performance and capacity for a given communication protocol in a communication network is resource scheduling.

The resource handling is typically handled by a scheduler located in the radio access network node on the network side. The scheduler is configured to apply certain principles to divide radio resources (bandwidth, time slots, etc.) between terminal devices in a cell served by the radio access network node. The scheduler may be further configured to apply a multi-cell scheduling strategy in order to balance and mitigate interference and load variations within a larger area than a single cell and in case a terminal device not only within its own cell benefits from a jointly optimized resource allocation method.

One scheduling principle is round-robin scheduling, in which served terminal devices are scheduled according to a given queue order under the constraint that each individual terminal device in the queue is scheduled the same time and resources. Other scheduling mechanisms may take into account the weight factors and/or different priority levels assigned to the individual terminal devices as well as the amount of data and/or radio conditions in the transmission buffer of each individual terminal device when allocating resources in the terminal devices.

Nevertheless, for each terminal device, there is little way to influence the degree to which the scheduler assigns resources to it.

Therefore, there is still a need to improve the scheduling of terminal devices in a communication network.

Disclosure of Invention

It is an object of embodiments herein to provide mechanisms that enable efficient scheduling of terminal devices in a communication network.

According to a first aspect, a method for requesting radio resources from a second terminal device is provided. The method is performed by a first terminal device. The method includes identifying an increased demand for use of radio resources. The method comprises transmitting a request to use the radio resource allocated to the second terminal device via a sidelink to the second terminal device. The method includes receiving a response from the second terminal device via the sidelink. The response is to whether the second terminal device has granted the first terminal device use at least some of the requested radio resources. The method comprises providing a network node serving the first terminal device with a notification that the first terminal device has requested radio resources from the second terminal device and/or that the second terminal device has granted the first terminal device to use at least some of the requested radio resources.

According to a second aspect, there is provided a first terminal device for requesting radio resources from a second terminal device. The first terminal device includes a processing circuit. The processing circuitry is configured to cause the first terminal device to identify an increased demand for use of radio resources. The processing circuitry is configured to cause the first terminal device to transmit a request to use the radio resource allocated to the second terminal device via a sidelink to the second terminal device. The processing circuit is configured to cause the first terminal device to receive a response from the second terminal device via the sidelink. The response is to whether the second terminal device has granted the first terminal device use at least some of the requested radio resources. The processing circuitry is configured to cause the first terminal device to provide a notification to a network node serving the first terminal device that the first terminal device has requested radio resources from the second terminal device and/or that the second terminal device has granted the first terminal device use at least some of the requested radio resources.

According to a third aspect, there is provided a computer program for requesting radio resources from a second terminal device. The computer program comprises computer program code which, when run on processing circuitry of the first terminal device, causes the first terminal device to perform the method according to the first aspect.

According to a fourth aspect, a method for granting radio resources to a first terminal device is provided. The method is performed by the second terminal device. The method comprises receiving a request by the first terminal device to use radio resources allocated to the second terminal device via a sidelink to the first terminal device. The method includes transmitting a response to the first terminal device via the sidelink. The response is to whether the second terminal device has granted the first terminal device use at least some of the requested radio resources. The method comprises providing a notification to a network node serving the second terminal device that the first terminal device has requested radio resources from the second terminal device and/or that the second terminal device has granted the first terminal device to use at least some of the requested radio resources.

According to a fifth aspect, there is provided a second terminal device for granting radio resources to a first terminal device. The second terminal device includes a processing circuit. The processing circuitry is configured to cause the second terminal device to receive, via a side link to the first terminal device, a request by the first terminal device to use the radio resources allocated to the second terminal device. The processing circuit is configured to cause the second terminal device to transmit a response to the first terminal device via the sidechain. The response is to whether the second terminal device has granted the first terminal device use at least some of the requested radio resources. The processing circuitry is configured to cause the second terminal device to provide a notification to a network node serving the second terminal device that the first terminal device has requested radio resources from the second terminal device and/or that the second terminal device has granted the first terminal device use at least some of the requested radio resources.

According to a sixth aspect, there is provided a computer program for granting radio resources to a first terminal device. The computer program comprises computer program code which, when run on processing circuitry of the second terminal device, causes the second terminal device to perform the method according to the fourth aspect.

According to a seventh aspect, a method for handling radio resources between a first terminal device and a second terminal device is provided. The method is performed by a network node. The method comprises obtaining, from at least one of a first terminal device served by a network node and a second terminal device served by the network node, a notification of: the first terminal device has requested radio resources to the second terminal device, wherein the radio resources have been allocated to the second terminal device; and/or the second terminal device has granted the first terminal device use at least some of the requested radio resources. The method comprises transmitting a decision to at least one of the first and second terminal devices as to whether the network node accepts to grant at least some requested radio resources to the first terminal device.

According to an eighth aspect, a network node for handling radio resources between a first terminal device and a second terminal device is provided. The network node comprises processing circuitry. The processing circuitry is configured to cause the network node to obtain, from at least one of a first terminal device served by the network node and a second terminal device served by the network node, a notification of: the first terminal device has requested radio resources from the second terminal device, wherein the radio resources have been allocated to the second terminal device; and/or the second terminal device has granted the first terminal device use at least some of the requested radio resources. The processing circuitry is configured to cause the network node to transmit a decision to at least one of the first and second terminal devices as to whether the network node accepts to grant at least some of the requested radio resources to the first terminal device.

According to a tenth aspect, there is provided a computer program for handling radio resources between a first terminal device and a second terminal device, the computer program comprising computer program code which, when run on processing circuitry of a network node, causes the network node to perform the method according to the seventh aspect.

According to an eleventh aspect, there is provided a computer program product comprising a computer program according to at least one of the third, sixth and tenth aspects and a computer readable storage medium storing the computer program. The computer readable storage medium may be a non-transitory computer readable storage medium.

Advantageously, the methods, the first terminal devices, the second terminal devices, the network nodes, the computer programs and the computer program product enable an efficient scheduling of terminal devices in a communication network.

Advantageously, the methods, the first terminal devices, the second terminal devices, the network nodes, the computer programs and the computer program product enable trading of cell capacity granted by radio resources between different terminal devices in a communication network.

This in turn enables efficient utilization of available radio resources in the communication network.

This in turn enables the terminal device to obtain more radio resources than are granted by the scheduling policy followed by the network node.

Advantageously, the methods, the first terminal devices, the second terminal devices, the network nodes, the computer programs and the computer program product enable adapting the scheduling of radio resources to terminal devices faster than when updating the scheduling by means of quality of service (QoS) policy updates and/or subscription policy changes.

Other objects, features and advantages of the appended embodiments will be apparent from the following detailed disclosure, from the appended dependent claims and from the drawings.

In general, all terms used in the claims are to be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the technical field, unless explicitly defined otherwise herein. All references to "a/an/the element, device, component, means, module, step, etc" are to be interpreted openly as referring to at least one instance of the element, device, component, means, step, etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise. The steps of any method disclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless explicitly stated.

Drawings

The inventive concept will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

fig. 1 and 2 are schematic diagrams illustrating a communication network according to an embodiment;

fig. 3, 4 and 5 are flow diagrams of methods according to embodiments;

fig. 6 is a signaling diagram of a method according to an embodiment;

fig. 7 is a schematic diagram showing functional units of a terminal apparatus according to the embodiment;

fig. 8 is a schematic diagram showing functional modules of a terminal apparatus according to the embodiment;

fig. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating functional elements of a network node according to an embodiment;

fig. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating functional modules of a network node according to an embodiment; and

FIG. 11 illustrates one example of a computer program product comprising computer-readable components according to an embodiment.

Detailed Description

The present inventive concept will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which certain embodiments of the inventive concept are shown. The inventive concept may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the inventive concept to those skilled in the art. Throughout this description, like numbers refer to like elements. Any steps or features shown in dashed lines should be considered optional.

As disclosed above, there is a need to improve the scheduling of terminal devices in a communication network.

In more detail, there is currently no way for terminal devices to initiate a transaction or reallocation of their scheduled radio resources. In a scenario where one terminal device requires additional radio resources within a certain few hours or the like, while another terminal device in the same cell has arranged radio resources free within the few hours, there is currently no way to trade or reallocate radio resources (optionally exchanging some payment/reward) between the two terminal devices.

Although QoS schemes seem to be designed for such scenarios and how such problems should therefore be solved, i.e. where there are QoS models that assign different scheduling weights and priorities to different terminal devices depending on their current buffer status and radio environment, the scheduling in the above scenario is not easy to perform given a certain subscription.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a communication network 100a to which embodiments provided herein may be applied. Communication network 100a may be a third generation (3G) telecommunications network, a fourth generation (4G) telecommunications network, or a fifth generation (5G) telecommunications network, or any combination thereof, and supports any 3GPP telecommunications standard, where applicable.

The communication network 100a comprises a radio access network 110, a core network 120 and a service network 130, which are interconnected with each other. The radio access network 110 in turn comprises a radio access network node 140 configured to provide network access for terminal devices 200a, 200b located within a cell served by the radio access network node 140, thereby enabling the terminal devices 200a, 200b to communicate over wireless links 150a, 150 b. Thereby enabling the terminal devices 200a, 200b to access services of the serving network 130 and to exchange data with the serving network 130 via the radio access network node 140.

The operation of the radio access network node 140 is controlled by the network node 300. The network node 300 may be part of, integrated with, co-located with or physically separate from the radio access network node 140. The terminal devices 200a, 200b are further configured to communicate directly with each other over the wireless side link 160. As will be further disclosed below, wireless sidelink 160 is facilitated by proximity-based services (ProSe) provided by ProSe server 170.

Examples of radio access network nodes 140 are radio base stations, base transceiver stations, node bs (nbs), evolved node bs (enbs), gnbs, access points, access nodes and backhaul nodes. Examples of terminal devices 200a, 200b are wireless devices, mobile stations, mobile phones, handheld devices, wireless local loop phones, User Equipment (UE), smart phones, laptops, tablets, network-equipped sensors, network-equipped vehicles, Machine Type Communication (MTC) devices, and so-called internet of things (IoT) devices. As known to those skilled in the art, the communication network 100a may comprise a plurality of radio access network nodes 140 for providing network access for a plurality of terminal devices 200a, 200 b.

Hereinafter, the terminal apparatus 200a is denoted as a first terminal apparatus, and the terminal apparatus 200b is denoted as a second terminal apparatus. However, this representation is for the sake of simplifying the present description, and does not necessarily impose a hierarchical relationship between these terminal apparatuses 200a, 200 b.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a communication network 100b, in which communication interfaces between entities of the communication network 100a of fig. 1 are shown. The first terminal device 200a and the second terminal device 200b communicate with each other through a communication interface PC5, the first terminal device 200a and the second terminal device 200b communicate with a radio access network (including the radio access network node 140 and possibly the network node 300) through a communication interface Uu, and the first terminal device 200a and the second terminal device 200b communicate with the ProSe server 170 through a communication interface PC 3. That is, the sidelink 160 is established over the PC5 interface and the wireless links 150a, 150b are established over the Uu interface. For 3GPP release 12 and beyond, the PC5 interface is a one-to-many communication interface, i.e., it is designated for group communication. From the perspective of higher protocol layers (e.g. higher layers than protocol layer 1; physical layer), this is reflected in the assignment of destination Identities (IDs), which are always group IDs according to ProSe functionality. The Internet Protocol (IP) address of the ProSe server 170 may be pre-configured (hard-coded) in the terminal devices 200a, 200 b. Alternatively, the terminal devices 200a, 200b identify the IP address of the ProSe server 170 via a Domain Name Server (DNS) lookup. In order to establish contact with the ProSe server 170, the terminal devices 200a, 200b have to establish a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection with the network node over the Uu interface. The radio access network (including radio access network node 140 and possibly network node 300) communicates with the core network 120 (possibly including network node 300) over communication interface S1, and the core network 120 (possibly including network node 300) communicates with the ProSe server 170 over communication interface PC 4. As understood by those skilled in the art, these are merely examples of communication interfaces, and the entities of fig. 1 and 2 may be configured to communicate with each other using other communication interfaces, depending on the actual implementation of the communication network 100a, 100b with respect to, for example, which telecommunication standard (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE), new air interface (NR), etc.) is to be supported.

In a group of terminal devices 200a, 200b served by the network node 300, although the network node 300 does not take into account other needs of the respective terminal device 200a, 200b except for satisfying the configured scheduling policy, it may be necessary to have some served terminal devices 200a, 200b that require the terminal device to use more than its scheduled radio resources.

In order to make this possible in the group of terminal devices 200a, 200b, it is proposed according to the present disclosure that at least two terminal devices 200a, 200b perform a negotiation of radio resources on the sidelink 160.

Communication on the sidelink 160 is an example of device-to-device (D2D) communication. D2D communication may be used to support ProSe. Typical applications range from public safety, traffic control/security to commercial services such as proximity-based social networking, gaming, and road advertising. Network node 300 supports sidelink communications in the presence of system information block 18 (SIB 18).

ProSe may be provided when terminal devices supporting such services are within direct communication capability of each other. Examples of ProSe services are ProSe direct discovery (whereby terminal devices 200a, 200b within proximity of each other are identified; it can also be used for other business purposes for both terminal devices 200a, 200b within cellular coverage) and ProSe direct communication between both terminal devices. Radio resources from cellular traffic are reserved and used for this type of communication or enable communication in areas without cellular coverage.

In this context, ProSe direct communication between ProSe direct discovery and terminal devices 200a, 200b is performed with a sidelink 160, and sidelink 160 corresponds to communication between two ProSe-enabled terminal devices 200a, 200 b. Sidelink communication describes a channel structure consisting of logical, transport and physical channels over the air interface in order to implement ProSe applications (see interface PC5 in fig. 2).

Embodiments disclosed herein relate to a mechanism for handling radio resources between a first terminal device 200a and a second terminal device 200 b. To obtain such a mechanism, a first terminal device 200a, a method performed by the first terminal device 200a, a computer program product comprising code, e.g. in the form of a computer program, is provided, which when run on processing circuitry of the first terminal device 200a causes the first terminal device 200a to perform the method. To obtain such a mechanism, a second terminal device 200b, a method performed by the second terminal device 200b and a computer program product comprising code, e.g. in the form of a computer program, which when run on processing circuitry of the second terminal device 200b causes the second terminal device 200b to perform the method are further provided. To obtain such a mechanism, a network node 300, a method performed by the network node 300 and a computer program product comprising code, e.g. in the form of a computer program, which when run on processing circuitry of the network node 300 causes the network node 300 to perform the method are further provided.

Referring now to fig. 3, fig. 3 illustrates a method performed by a first terminal device 200a of requesting radio resources from a second terminal device 200b according to an embodiment.

S102: the first terminal device 200a identifies an increased demand for use of radio resources.

In this regard, the actual allocation or scheduling of radio resources for each terminal device 200a, 200b is handled by the scheduler of the network node 300 serving the terminal device 200a, 200b, although the terminal device itself, such as the first terminal device 200a, may identify an increased need for the use of radio resources. Examples of reasons for the increased demand for use of radio resources will be given below. Then, the first terminal apparatus 200a requests additional radio resources to the peer terminal apparatus exemplified by the second terminal apparatus 200 b.

S110: the first terminal device 200a transmits a request to use the radio resource allocated to the second terminal device 200b via the sidelink 160 to the second terminal device 200 b.

It is assumed that the second terminal apparatus 200b responds to the first terminal apparatus 200 a.

S112: the first terminal device 200a receives a response from the second terminal device 200b via the sidelink 160, the response regarding whether the second terminal device 200b has granted the first terminal device 200a to use at least some of the requested radio resources.

Then, the notification is provided to the network node 300 serving the first terminal device 200 a.

S116: the first terminal device 200a provides a notification to the network node 300 serving the first terminal device 200a that the first terminal device 200a has requested radio resources from the second terminal device 200b and/or that the second terminal device 200b has granted the first terminal device 200a to use at least some of the requested radio resources.

Different examples of how the notification might be provided to the network node 300 will be provided below.

Embodiments will now be disclosed relating to further details of requesting radio resources from the second terminal device 200b performed by the first terminal device 200 a.

In some examples, the sidelink 160 is established on the interface PC 5.

In some examples, the first terminal device 200a will consume these radio resources to enable cellular communication with the network node 300 serving the first terminal device 200 a.

The increased demand for use of radio resources may have different causes. In some examples, the increased demand is due to the first terminal device 200a being to transmit a substantial amount of uplink data to the network node 300. In some examples, the increased demand is due to a relatively large amount of downlink data to be transmitted from the network node 300 to the first terminal device 200 a. In some examples, the increased demand is due to the need for a relatively high quality of service level for a certain network service to be used by the first terminal apparatus 200 a. There may be different network services where a large amount of data (uplink or downlink) and a high quality of service level are required. One example of such network services is Mission Critical (MC) services or other types of emergency, rescue or survey services.

In some examples, the increased demand for use of radio resources relates to a certain amount of radio resources and/or a certain amount of time when these radio resources are needed for consumption by the first terminal device 200 a. For example, the requirements may be specified in terms of specific amounts of physical resource blocks, symbols, bits, bandwidth, and so forth.

In some aspects, when the first terminal device 200a identifies an increased demand for use of radio resources, the sidelink 160 has not been established. Thus, the sidelink 160 needs to be established first, and then the request is transmitted in S110. According to an embodiment, the first terminal device 200a is thus configured to perform (optional) step S104:

s104: the first terminal device 200a transmits a request to establish the side link 160 to the network node 300.

The first terminal device 200a will then receive a response from the network node 300 to establish the sidelink 160.

In some aspects, the request to establish the sidelink 160 includes information of a network service for which the terminal device 200 is to use radio resources. In particular, according to an embodiment, the request to establish the sidelink 160 in S104 comprises an indication of from which network service an increased need for use of radio resources originates.

In some aspects, the first terminal device 200a stores information of its previous sessions (e.g., deemed successful enough) so that a reliable and fair second terminal device 200b may be addressed first when trying to establish a sidelink 160.

The first terminal device 200a may then include in its request for sidelink transmission to the serving network node 300 a request for the network node 300 to contact the list of preferred second terminal devices 200b for establishing the sidelink 160. In particular, according to an embodiment, the first terminal device 200a is configured to perform (optional) step S106:

s106: the first terminal device 200a receives from the network node 300 identifiers of a set of candidate terminal devices with which the sidelink 160 may be established. Then, the second terminal apparatus 200b is selected from the set of candidate terminal apparatuses.

Identifiers of the set of candidate terminal devices may be stored for use, for example, in the future to identify the need for further radio resources. In particular, according to an embodiment, the first terminal device 200a is configured to perform (optional) step S108:

s108: the first terminal device 200a stores identifiers of the set of candidate terminal devices.

In other aspects, the request includes a list of non-preferred second terminal devices 200b with which establishment of a sidelink is to be avoided (if possible). The first terminal device 200a may also store the list such that establishment of a sidelink 160 to any of these non-preferred second terminal devices 200b is avoided when a need for further radio resources is identified.

In some aspects, the response from the second terminal device 200b in S112 includes information of the amount of radio resources to be offered and/or the duration of time that the radio resources to be offered are likely to be used by the first terminal device 200 a. In particular, according to an embodiment, the response from the second terminal device 200b comprises information of the amount of radio resources granted to the first terminal device 200a and/or how long the radio resources are granted to the first terminal device 200 a.

Then, the notification to the network node 300 in S116 may comprise information of the amount of radio resources to offer (offer) and/or the duration of time the radio resources to offer are likely to be used by the first terminal device 200 a. In particular, according to an embodiment, the notification provided to the network node 300 in S116 comprises this information.

In some aspects, the offer includes details of a payment/reward between the first terminal device 200a and the second terminal device 200 b. Then, the terminal apparatuses 200a, 200b can agree on the payment/reward with respect to the over-the-top application or the peer-to-peer application of the payment/reward to be transferred from the second terminal apparatus 200b to the first terminal apparatus 200 a. In particular, according to an embodiment, the request in S110 comprises a bid using radio resources allocated to the second terminal device 200b, and the first terminal device 200a is configured to perform (optional) step S114:

s114: the first terminal device 200a transmits a response to the second terminal device 200b via the sidelink 160. The response includes at least partial acceptance of the offer.

The notification to the network node 300 in S116 may then include information to accept the offer. In particular, according to an embodiment, the notification provided to the network node 300 in S116 comprises at least a partial acceptance of the offer.

In some aspects, the payment/reward between the first terminal device 200a and the second terminal device 200b is additionally or alternatively handled or supervised via a network node 300 and/or an Operations Support System (OSS) or a Business Support System (BSS) in the communication network 100a, 100 b.

In S116, the first terminal apparatus 200a may provide the notification in different manners. Various aspects related thereto will now be disclosed in detail.

According to the first aspect, in S116, the notification is provided by directly transmitting to the network node 300 without transmitting via the second terminal device 200 b. That is, according to an embodiment, in S116, the notification is provided to the network node 300 by direct transmission from the first terminal device 200a to the network node 300.

In this case, the notification may contain an encrypted or otherwise protected secret (e.g. a key) which is shared by the network node 300 and the second terminal device 200b but is not known to the first terminal device 200a, thereby ensuring to the network node 300 that the second terminal device 200b has agreed to offer the requested radio resources to the first terminal device 200 a. That is, according to an embodiment, the response from the second terminal device 200b comprises a protected secret shared by the network node 300 and the second terminal device 200b but unknown to the first terminal device 200a, and the notification in S116 comprises the protected secret.

According to the second aspect, in S116, the notification is provided by transmission to the network node 300 via the second terminal device 200 b. That is, according to an embodiment, in S116, the notification is provided to the network node 300 by being transmitted to the second terminal device 200b for forwarding thereby to the network node 300.

In this case, the notification may contain an encrypted or otherwise protected secret (e.g. a key) which is shared by the network node 300 and the first terminal device 200a but is not known to the second terminal device 200b, thereby ensuring to the network node 300 that the first terminal device 200a has agreed to the offer of the requested radio resources granted by the second terminal device 200 b. That is, according to an embodiment, the notification in S116 comprises a protected secret shared by the network node 300 and the first terminal device 200a but unknown to the second terminal device 200 b.

As will be further disclosed below, the network node 300 determines whether to accept or reject the grant of at least some of the requested radio resources to the first terminal device 200 a. In particular, according to an embodiment, the first terminal device 200a is configured to perform (optional) step S118:

s118: the first terminal device 200a receives a decision from the network node 300 as to whether the network node 300 accepts to grant at least some requested radio resources to the first terminal device 200 a.

The first terminal device 200a is then configured to act accordingly. In particular, according to an embodiment, the first terminal device 200a is configured to perform (optional) step S120:

s120: the first terminal device 200a consumes at least some of the requested radio resources depending on the decision.

Referring now to fig. 4, fig. 4 illustrates a method performed by the second terminal device 200b for granting radio resources to the first terminal device 200a according to an embodiment.

As disclosed above, the first terminal device 200a requests additional radio resources from the peer terminal device exemplified by the second terminal device 200 b.

S204: the second terminal apparatus 200b receives a request for the first terminal apparatus 200a to use the radio resource allocated to the second terminal apparatus 200b via the sidelink 160 to the first terminal apparatus 200 a.

It is assumed that the second terminal apparatus 200b responds to the first terminal apparatus 200 a.

S206: the second terminal device 200b transmits a response to the first terminal device 200a via the sidelink 160. In response to whether the second terminal device 200b has granted the first terminal device 200a use at least some of the requested radio resources.

Then, the notification is provided to the network node 300 serving the second terminal apparatus 200 b.

S210: the second terminal device 200b provides a notification to the network node 300 serving the second terminal device 200b that the first terminal device 200a has requested radio resources from the second terminal device 200b and/or that the second terminal device 200b has granted the first terminal device 200a to use at least some of the requested radio resources.

Different examples of how the notification might be provided to the network node 300 will be provided below.

Embodiments will now be disclosed relating to further details of the granting of radio resources to the first terminal device 200a performed by the second terminal device 200 b.

In some examples, the sidelink 160 is established on the interface PC 5.

As disclosed above, in some aspects, when the first terminal device 200a identifies an increased demand for use of radio resources, the sidelink 160 has not yet been established. Then, the sidelink 160 needs to be established first, and then the request is received in S204. According to an embodiment, the second terminal device 200b is thus configured to perform (optional) step S202:

s202: the second terminal device 200b receives a request to establish the side link 160 from the network node 300.

As disclosed above, in some aspects the response from the second terminal device 200b in S206 comprises information of the amount of radio resources to be offered and/or the duration of time that the radio resources to be offered are likely to be used by the first terminal device 200 a. In particular, according to an embodiment, the response to the first terminal apparatus 200a includes information of the amount of radio resources granted to the first terminal apparatus 200a and/or how long the radio resources are granted to the first terminal apparatus 200 a.

Furthermore, information of the amount of radio resources to be offered and/or the duration of time during which the radio resources to be offered are likely to be available to the first terminal device 200a may be comprised in the notification provided to the network node 300 in S210. That is, according to an embodiment, the notification provided to the network node 300 in S210 contains this information.

As disclosed above, in some aspects, the offer includes details of a payment/reward between the first terminal device 200a and the second terminal device 200 b. In particular, according to an embodiment, the request in S204 comprises a bid using radio resources allocated to the second terminal device 200b, and the second terminal device 200b is configured to perform (optional) step S208:

s208: the second terminal device 200b receives the response from the first terminal device 200a via the sidelink 160. The response includes at least partial acceptance of the offer.

The notification to the network node 300 in S210 may then comprise information to accept the offer. In particular, according to an embodiment, the notification provided to the network node 300 in S210 comprises at least partial acceptance of the offer.

In S210, the second terminal apparatus 200b may provide the notification in different manners. Various aspects related thereto will now be disclosed in detail.

According to the first aspect, in S210, the notification is provided by direct transmission to the network node 300 without transmission via the first terminal device 200 a. That is, according to an embodiment, in S210, the notification is provided to the network node 300 by direct transmission from the second terminal device 200b to the network node 300.

In this case, the notification may contain an encrypted or otherwise protected secret (e.g. a key) which is shared by the network node 300 and the first terminal device 200a but is not known to the second terminal device 200b, thereby ensuring to the network node 300 that the first terminal device 200a has agreed to the offer of requested radio resources given by the second terminal device 200 b. That is, according to an embodiment, the response from the first terminal device 200a in S206 comprises a protected secret shared by the network node 300 and the first terminal device 200a but unknown to the second terminal device 200b, and the notification in S210 comprises the protected secret.

According to the second aspect, in S210, the notification is provided by transmission to the network node 300 via the first terminal device 200 a. That is, according to an embodiment, in S210, the notification is provided to the network node 300 by being transmitted to the first terminal device 200a for forwarding thereby to the network node 300.

In this case, the notification may contain an encrypted or otherwise protected secret (e.g. a key) which is shared by the network node 300 and the second terminal device 200b but is not known to the first terminal device 200a, thereby ensuring to the network node 300 that the second terminal device 200b has agreed to offer the requested radio resources to the first terminal device 200 a. That is, according to an embodiment, the notification in S210 comprises a protected secret shared by the network node 300 and the second terminal device 200b but not known to the first terminal device 200 a.

As will be further disclosed below, the network node 300 determines whether to accept or reject the grant of at least some of the requested radio resources to the first terminal device 200 a. In particular, according to an embodiment, the second terminal device 200b is configured to perform (optional) step S212:

s212: the second terminal device 200b receives a decision from the network node 300 as to whether the network node 300 accepts to grant at least some requested radio resources to the first terminal device 200 a.

The second terminal device 200b is then configured to act accordingly. In particular, according to an embodiment, the second terminal device 200b is configured to perform (optional) step S214:

s214: the second terminal device 200b refrains from consuming at least some of the requested radio resources according to the decision.

Referring now to fig. 5, fig. 5 illustrates a method of handling radio resources between a first terminal device 200a and a second terminal device 200b performed by a network node 300 according to an embodiment.

As disclosed above, a notification is provided to the network node 300 as to whether the second terminal device 200b has granted the first terminal device 200a to use at least some of the requested radio resources.

S308: the network node 300 obtains the following notification from at least one of the first terminal device 200a served by the network node 300 and the second terminal device 200b served by the network node 300: the first terminal device 200a has requested radio resources to the second terminal device 200b, which have been allocated to the second terminal device 200 b; and/or the second terminal device 200b has granted the first terminal device 200a use at least some of the requested radio resources.

The network node 300 then responds with a decision as to whether to accept or reject the grant of at least some of the requested radio resources to the first terminal device 200 a.

S314: the network node 300 transmits a decision to at least one of the first terminal device 200a and the second terminal device 200b as to whether the network node 300 accepts to grant at least some requested radio resources to the first terminal device 200 a.

Embodiments will now be disclosed regarding further details of handling radio resources between a first terminal device 200a and a second terminal device 200b performed by the network node 300.

As disclosed above, in some aspects, the notification in S308 may include information to accept the offer. In particular, according to an embodiment, the notification in S308 comprises at least partial acceptance of the offer by the first terminal device 200a using the radio resources allocated to the second terminal device 200 b.

As further disclosed above, in some aspects the notification in S308 may comprise information of the amount of radio resources to be offered and/or the duration of time that the radio resources to be offered are likely to be used by the first terminal device 200 a. In particular, according to an embodiment, the notification in S308 comprises information of the amount of radio resources granted to the first terminal device 200a and/or how long the radio resources are granted to the first terminal device 200 a.

As further disclosed above, in some aspects, when the first terminal device 200a identifies an increased demand for use of radio resources, the sidelink 160 has not been established. In particular, according to an embodiment, the network node 300 is configured to perform (optional) steps S302, S304:

s302: the network node 300 receives a request to establish a side link 160 from the first terminal device 200 a; and in response thereto:

s304: the network node 300 transmits at least a request to establish the side link 160 to the second terminal device 200 b.

It is therefore assumed that a request, or even an indication or command, is made to both the first terminal device 200a and the second terminal device 200b to establish the sidelink 160. The request may further comprise instructions to cause the first terminal device 200a and the second terminal device 200b not to use uplink resources when a transmission is expected to be received over the sidelink 160.

As further disclosed above, in some aspects the request to establish the sidelink 160 in S302 includes information of the network service for which the terminal device 200 is to use radio resources. In particular, according to an embodiment, the request to establish the sidelink 160 comprises an indication of from which network service an increased demand for use of radio resources originates.

In some aspects, the request to establish the sidelink 160 in S304 is transmitted to more than one potential second terminal device. In particular, according to an embodiment, a request to establish a sidelink 160 is transmitted to the set of candidate terminal devices, and the network node 300 is configured to perform (optional) step S306:

s306: the network node 300 transmits to the first terminal device 200a identifiers of the set of candidate terminal devices.

The network node 300 may have different methods to determine which terminal devices to include in the set of candidate terminal devices. As will be further disclosed below, in some aspects the set of candidate terminal devices is based on their radio conditions, capabilities, network services to be used by the first terminal device 200a, etc. In particular, according to an embodiment, the set of candidate terminal devices is selected based on at least one of the following information: their radio conditions, their capabilities, and for which network service the first terminal device 200a will use the requested radio resources. Further examples thereof will now be disclosed.

In some aspects, the network node 300 considers which second terminal device 200b is told to make the incoming sidelink transmission over the PC5 interface by considering its corresponding weight in the scheduling process.

For example, the network node 300 may indicate the allocation of radio resources of the terminal devices under consideration by creating a list of potential second terminal devices 200b with respect to radio metrics related to scheduling bandwidth prioritization, which may be measurements such as Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR), Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS), Channel Quality Indicator (CQI), transmission rank, etc. The network node 300 may then select a set of potential second terminal devices 200b among the terminal devices 200b present in the scheduling evaluation of the network node 300, such that the potential second terminal devices 200b will have an opportunity to provide radio resources to the first terminal device 200 a. This may reduce the risk of selecting a second terminal device 200b with less or no priority in the ongoing scheduling evaluation.

In some aspects, the network node 300 considers to which device class (e.g. UE class) the potential second terminal device 200b belongs. For example, the network node 300 may consider their respective capabilities in terms of number of transmit/receive antennas, MCS, Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) and transmission rank capabilities, QoS capabilities, maximum uplink/downlink throughput, etc. As an example, if the first terminal device 200a has a lower device class and/or has a lower capability than the second terminal device 200b, it may be possible to grant only the requested radio resources corresponding to the class and/or capability of the first terminal device 200a to the first terminal device 200a, which may enable the remaining radio resources to be granted from the second terminal device 200b to still further terminal devices (if required).

In some aspects, the request from the first terminal device 200a to establish the sidelink 160 includes information on whether the requested radio resource is to be used for uplink or downlink communication. In some aspects, the network node 300 thus considers which link direction (i.e. uplink or downlink) the first terminal device 200a is to use the requested radio resources for. The network node 300 may then select the set of potential second terminal devices 200b by considering those potential second terminal devices 200b present in the scheduling evaluation of the network node 300, such that the potential second terminal devices 200b will have an opportunity to provide radio resources to the first terminal device 200a in the link direction requested by the first terminal device 200 a. This may reduce the risk of selecting a second terminal device 200b having little or no radio resources available in the link direction requested by the first terminal device 200 a.

In some aspects, the request from the first terminal device 200a to establish the sidelink 160 comprises an indication of which network service (e.g., mobile broadband, voice, streaming media, etc.) the increased demand for use of radio resources originates from. In some aspects, the network node 300 thus considers what type of network service the first terminal device 200a is to use the requested radio resources for. The network node 300 may then select the set of potential second terminal devices 200b by considering those potential second terminal devices 200b present in the scheduling evaluation of the network node 300, such that the potential second terminal devices 200b will have an opportunity to provide radio resources to the first terminal device 200a capable of supporting the requested network service. This may reduce the risk of selecting a second terminal device 200b that does not have a sufficient amount of radio resources available for the network service to be used by the first terminal device 200 a.

As understood by those skilled in the art, the request from the first terminal device 200a may comprise an indication of two or more network services from which an increased demand for use of radio resources originates and accordingly where to select the set of potential second terminal devices 200 b.

As further appreciated by those skilled in the art, the above examples of selecting a set of potential second terminal devices 200b may be combined by the network node 300 taking into account two or more pieces of information (such as weight, category, link direction, network service, etc.).

In some aspects, the network node 300 determines whether to accept or reject the grant of radio resources to the first terminal device 200 a. In particular, according to the first embodiment, the network node 300 is configured to perform (optional) step S310:

s310: the network node 300 accepts granting of at least some requested radio resources to the first terminal device 200 a; or

In particular, according to the second embodiment, the network node 300 is configured to perform (optional) step S312:

s312: the network node 300 refuses to grant at least some of the requested radio resources to the first terminal device 200 a.

Then, the decision is transmitted as in S314 above.

The network node 300 may have different methods to determine whether to accept (as in S310) or reject (as in S312) the grant of at least some requested radio resources to the first terminal device 200 a.

When the notification is received from the first terminal device 200a (only) in S308, the grant of at least some requested radio resources to the first terminal device 200a is denied when the notification fails to contain a protected secret shared by the network node 300 and the second terminal device 200b but not known to the first terminal device 200 a. When the notification contains a protected secret, the request may be granted, or at least considered for further evaluation.

When the notification is received from the second terminal device 200b (only) in S308, the grant of at least some requested radio resources to the first terminal device 200a is denied when the notification fails to contain a protected secret shared by the network node 300 and the first terminal device 200a but not known to the second terminal device 200 b. When the notification contains a protected secret, the request may be granted, or at least considered for further evaluation.

When a separate instance of the notification is received from each of the first and second terminal apparatuses 200a and 200b in S308, it is denied that at least some of the requested radio resources are granted to the first terminal apparatus 200a when the instances of the notification fail to match each other. When the notified instances match each other, the request may be granted, or at least considered for further evaluation.

The further evaluation may relate to policy decisions of the first and/or second terminal device 200a, 200b that may or may not allow accepting or sharing radio resources from or to the other terminal device, properties of network subscriptions of the first and/or second terminal device 200a, 200b, etc.

One particular embodiment for handling radio resources between a first terminal device 200a and a second terminal device 200b based on at least some of the embodiments disclosed above will now be disclosed in detail with reference to the signaling diagram of fig. 6. According to this embodiment, the first terminal device 200a sends via the D2D application (via the PC5 interface) requests to other D2D-enabled terminal devices in its vicinity (symbolized by the second terminal device 200 b) to use a portion of the radio resources (specified in duration, bandwidth, throughput, etc.) of these other terminal devices. The other part accepts or rejects the request and sends this information to the first terminal device 200a and its serving network node 300.

S401: the first terminal device 200a considers its current cellular performance to be insufficient (considered to have sufficient radio quality but still poor throughput, i.e. due to high cell load) and decides to request potential other terminal devices in its vicinity in order to request a specified share of their radio resources described in terms of e.g. a specified duration, bandwidth, application throughput, number of delivered bits, etc.

S402: the first terminal device 200a requests its serving network node 300 to contact other terminal devices 200b for sidelink transmission in order to request them for additional radio resources.

S403a, S403 b: the first terminal device 200a indicates the considered announcement and monitoring of the resource allocation of the terminal device.

S404: the first terminal device 200a requests resources via a sidelink to the listening terminal device (implicitly selected by the serving network node 300). For example, the first terminal device 200a may offer an offer for a request to provide radio resources corresponding to a specified duration, bandwidth, application throughput, number of delivery bits, and the like, and optionally a price for remuneration for the radio resources.

S405a, S405 b: the second terminal device 200b responds to the first terminal device 200a with an Acknowledgement (ACK) or Negative Acknowledgement (NACK) to the request, whereby the first terminal device 200a is then prompted with a partial agreement (in terms of radio resources to offer, reward requirements, etc.) potentially including an offer, an ACK/NACK potentially including an alternative to the offer (in terms of radio resources to offer, reward requirements, etc.).

S406: the first terminal device 200a selects an offer and replies with an agreement to the second terminal device 200 b.

S407: the first terminal device 200a transmits a requester payment agreement message (R-PAM) including information of the second terminal device 200b and terms of the contract (e.g., a term), etc. to the service network node 300.

S408: the second terminal device 200b transmits provider payment agreement information (P-PAM) including information of the second terminal device 200b, the term of the contract, and the like to the serving network node 300.

S409: the network node 300 checks for the presence and validity of R-PAM and P-PAM. If both are found to be valid, the network node 300 reallocates the scheduled radio resources of the second terminal device 200b to the first terminal device 200a for a time period agreed in the contract. If at least one is found to be invalid, network node 300 disregards the request. In case of frequent mismatch observed between R-PAM and P-PAM, the first terminal device 200a or the second terminal device 200b may be masked/tabulated/blacklisted/monitored for further consideration.

S410: the network node 300 releases the second terminal device 200b from the contract after the end of the contract period (possibly in combination with some usage measure of the used radio resources).

S411a, S411 b: the network node 300 informs the first terminal apparatus 200a and the second terminal apparatus 200b of the termination of the contract.

Fig. 7 schematically shows the components of the terminal devices 200a, 200b according to an embodiment with a number of functional units. The processing circuit 210 is provided using any combination of one or more suitable Central Processing Units (CPUs), multiprocessors, microcontrollers, Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), etc., capable of executing software instructions stored in, for example, a computer program product 1110a (as in fig. 11) in the form of storage medium 230. The processing circuit 210 may further be provided as at least one Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) or Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA).

In particular, the processing circuit 210 is configured to cause the terminal devices 200a, 200b to perform a set of operations or steps as disclosed above. For example, the storage medium 230 may store the set of operations, and the processing circuit 210 may be configured to retrieve the set of operations from the storage medium 230 to cause the terminal devices 200a, 200b to perform the set of operations. The set of operations may be provided as a set of executable instructions. Thus, the processing circuit 210 is thus arranged to perform a method as disclosed herein.

The storage medium 230 may also include a persistent storage device, which may be, for example, any single memory or combination of magnetic, optical, solid state, or even remotely mounted memory.

The terminal device 200a, 200b may further comprise a communication interface 220 for communicating with the network node 300, the ProSe server 170, other terminal devices 200a, 200b, etc. in the communication network 100a, 100 b. Thus, communication interface 220 may include one or more transmitters and receivers, including analog and digital components.

The processing circuit 210 controls the general operation of the terminal devices 200a, 200b, for example by sending data and control signals to the communication interface 220 and the storage medium 230, by receiving data and reports from the communication interface 220, and by retrieving data and instructions from the storage medium 230. Other components of the terminal devices 200a, 200b and related functionality are omitted so as not to obscure the concepts provided herein.

Fig. 8 schematically shows the components of the terminal devices 200a, 200b according to an embodiment with a plurality of functional modules.

When acting as the first terminal device 200a, the terminal device 200a comprises an identification module 210a configured to perform step S102, a transmission module 210e configured to perform step S110, a reception module 310f configured to perform step S112, and a providing module 310h configured to perform step S116. When acting as the first terminal apparatus 200a, the terminal apparatus 200a may further include a plurality of optional functional modules, such as any one of the transmitting module 210b configured to perform step S104, the receiving module 210c configured to perform step S106, the storing module 210d configured to perform step S108, the transmitting module 210g configured to perform step S114, the receiving module 210i configured to perform step S118, and the consuming module 210j configured to perform step S120.

When acting as the second terminal apparatus 200b, the terminal apparatus 200b includes a receiving module 210l configured to perform step S204, a transmitting module 210m configured to perform step S206, and a providing module 210o configured to perform step S210. When acting as the second terminal apparatus 200b, the terminal apparatus 200b may further include a plurality of optional functional modules, such as a receiving module 210k configured to perform step S202, a receiving module 210n configured to perform step S208, a receiving module 210p configured to perform step S212, and a suppressing module 210q configured to perform step S214.

Generally, each of the functional modules 210a-210q may be implemented in hardware or software. Preferably, one or more or all of the functional modules 210a-210q may be implemented by the processing circuit 210, possibly in cooperation with the communication interface 220 and the storage medium 230. Thus, the processing circuit 210 may be arranged to extract instructions provided by the functional modules 210a-210q from the storage medium 230 and execute these instructions, thereby performing any steps of the terminal devices 200a, 200b as disclosed herein.

Fig. 9 schematically shows the components of a network node 300 according to an embodiment with a number of functional units. The processing circuit 410 is provided using any combination of one or more suitable Central Processing Units (CPUs), multi-processors, micro-controllers, Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), etc., capable of executing software instructions stored in a computer program product 1110c (as in fig. 11), for example, in the form of a storage medium 430. The processing circuit 410 may further be provided as at least one Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) or Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA).

In particular, the processing circuit 410 is configured to cause the network node 300 to perform a set of operations or steps as disclosed above. For example, the storage medium 430 may store the set of operations, and the processing circuit 410 may be configured to retrieve the set of operations from the storage medium 430 to cause the network node 300 to perform the set of operations. The set of operations may be provided as a set of executable instructions. Thus, the processing circuit 410 is thus arranged to perform a method as disclosed herein.

The storage medium 330 may also include a persistent storage device, which may be, for example, any single memory or combination of magnetic memory, optical memory, solid state memory, or even remotely mounted memory.

The network node 300 may further comprise a communication interface 420 for communicating with other entities, functions, nodes, servers and devices of the communication network 100a, 100 b. Accordingly, communication interface 420 may include one or more transmitters and receivers, including analog and digital components.

Processing circuit 410 controls the general operation of network node 300, for example, by sending data and control signals to communication interface 420 and storage medium 430, by receiving data and reports from communication interface 420, and by retrieving data and instructions from storage medium 430. Other components of network node 300 and related functionality are omitted so as not to obscure the concepts provided herein.

Fig. 10 schematically shows the components of a network node 300 according to an embodiment with a number of functional modules. The network node 300 of fig. 10 comprises a number of functional modules: an obtaining module 310d configured to perform step S308 and a transmitting module 310g configured to perform step S314. The network node 300 of fig. 10 may further comprise a plurality of optional functional modules, such as any one of a receiving module 310a configured to perform step S302, a transmitting module 310b configured to perform step S304, a transmitting module 310c configured to perform step S306, an accepting module 310e configured to perform step S310, and a rejecting module 310f configured to perform step S312.

Generally, each of the functional modules 310a-310g may be implemented in hardware or software. Preferably, one or more or all of the functional modules 310a-310g may be implemented by the processing circuit 410, possibly in cooperation with the communication interface 420 and the storage medium 430. Thus, the processing circuit 410 may be arranged to extract instructions provided by the functional modules 310a-310g from the storage medium 430 and execute these instructions, thereby performing any steps of the network node 300 as disclosed herein.

The network node 300 may be provided as a stand-alone device or as part of at least one further device. For example, the network node 300 may be provided in a node of a radio access network or a node of a core network. Alternatively, the functionality of the first terminal device 200a may be distributed between at least two devices or nodes. The at least two nodes or devices may be part of the same network part, such as a radio access network or a core network, or may be interspersed between at least two such network parts. In general, instructions that need to be executed in real time may be executed in a device or node that is operatively closer to the cell than instructions that do not need to be executed in real time. In this regard, at least a portion of the network node 300 may reside in a radio access network, such as a radio access network node.

Thus, a first part of the instructions executed by the network node 300 may be executed in a first device, while a second part of the instructions executed by the network node 300 may be executed in a second device; embodiments disclosed herein are not limited to any particular number of devices on which instructions executed by network node 300 may be executed. Thus, the method according to embodiments disclosed herein is suitable for execution by a network node 300 residing in a cloud computing environment. Thus, although a single processing circuit 310 is shown in fig. 9, the processing circuit 310 may be distributed among multiple devices or nodes. The same applies to the functional modules 310a-310g of fig. 10 and the computer program 1120c of fig. 11.

Fig. 11 shows one example of a computer program product 1110a, 1110b, 1110c comprising a computer readable means 1130. On the computer readable component 1130, a computer program 1120a may be stored, which computer program 1120a may cause the processing circuit 210 and the entities and devices operatively coupled thereto, such as the communication interface 220 and the storage medium 230, to perform a method according to embodiments described herein. Thus, the computer program 1120a and/or the computer program product 1110a may provide means for performing any of the steps of the first terminal device 200a as disclosed herein. On the computer readable component 1130, a computer program 1120b may be stored, which computer program 1120b may cause the processing circuit 310 and the entities and devices operatively coupled thereto, such as the communication interface 320 and the storage medium 330, to perform a method according to embodiments described herein. Thus, the computer program 1120b and/or the computer program product 1110b may provide a method for performing any steps of the second terminal device 200b as disclosed herein. On the computer-readable component 1130, a computer program 1120c may be stored, which computer program 1120c may cause the processing circuit 410 and the entities and devices operatively coupled thereto, such as the communication interface 420 and the storage medium 430, to perform a method according to embodiments described herein. Thus, the computer program 1120c and/or the computer program product 1110c may provide means for performing any steps of the network node 300 as disclosed herein.

In the example of fig. 11, the computer program products 1110a, 1110b, 1110c are shown as optical discs such as CDs (compact discs) or DVDs (digital versatile discs) or blu-ray discs. The computer program product 1110a, 1110b, 1110c may also be implemented as a memory, which may be a non-volatile storage medium of a device, such as a Random Access Memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), or an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), and more particularly as a device located in an external memory, such as a USB (universal serial bus) memory or a flash memory, like a compact flash memory. Thus, although the computer programs 1120a, 1120b, 1120c are here schematically shown as tracks on the depicted optical disc, the computer programs 1120a, 1120b, 1120c may be stored in any way suitable for the computer program products 1110a, 1110b, 1110 c.

The inventive concept has mainly been described above with reference to a few embodiments. However, a person skilled in the art realizes that other embodiments than the ones disclosed above are equally possible within the scope of the inventive concept defined by the appended patent claims.

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Handling of radio resources between terminal devices

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