Devices and methods for cloud-based sidelink scheduling and base station interface therefor

Abstract

The present invention relates to a network entity (110), in particular a cloud server (110), comprising a processor (110a) being configured to control radio resources, in particular sidelink radio resources, on behalf of one or more, in particular two, mobile networks (PLMNs) (120, 130). Moreover, the invention relates to a base station (BS) (123, 133) of a PLMN (120, 130), comprising a processor (133a) configured to process control plane information related to control of radio resources, in particular sidelink radio resources, and a communication interface (133b) configured to transmit and/or receive to/from the network entity (110) said control plane information.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A network entity, in particular a cloud server, comprising a processor being configured to control radio resources, in particular sidelink radio resources, on behalf of one or more, in particular two, mobile networks (PLMNs). 
     
     
         2 . The network entity of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to control sidelink radio resources for transmission by at least one of a first user equipment (UE) of a first PLMN and a second UE of a second PLMN. 
     
     
         3 . The network entity of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to at least one of:
 perform at least one of dynamic and semi-persistent scheduling of sidelink transmissions by allocating one or more sidelink radio resources to at least one of a first UE of the first PLMN and a second UE of the second PLMN; and   set the value of one or more sidelink radio interface configuration parameters for at least one of the first UE of the first PLMN and the second UE of the second PLMN.   
     
     
         4 . The network entity of  claim 1 , wherein the radio resources are located on a same carrier. 
     
     
         5 . The network entity of  claim 1 , comprising a communication interface for communication with at least one of a first base station (BS) of the first PLMN and a second BS of the second PLMN. 
     
     
         6 . The network entity according to  claim 1 , wherein the communication interface is configured to at least one of:
 transmit scheduling information to the first BS, wherein the scheduling information specifies one or more sidelink radio resources allocated to the first UE for transmission of at least one of sidelink control information and sidelink user data; and   transmit scheduling information to the second BS, wherein the scheduling information specifies one or more sidelink radio resources allocated to the second UE for transmission of at least one of sidelink control information and sidelink user data.   
     
     
         7 . The network entity of  claim 1 , wherein the scheduling information comprises one or more of the following:
 a carrier indicator;   a location of the one or more sidelink radio resources in the time domain;   a location of the one or more sidelink radio resources in the frequency domain;   a retransmission related parameter;   a semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) related parameter.   
     
     
         8 . The network entity of  claim 5 , wherein the communication interface is configured to at least one of:
 transmit the one or more sidelink radio interface configuration parameters for the first UE to the first BS; and   transmit the one or more sidelink radio interface configuration parameters for the second UE to the second BS.   
     
     
         9 . The network entity of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more sidelink radio interface configuration parameters comprise one or more radio resource control (RRC) parameters controlling the operation of at least one of the medium access control (MAC) layer and the physical (PHY) layer for sidelink communication. 
     
     
         10 . The network entity of  claim 9 , wherein the one or more radio resource control (RRC) parameters controlling the operation of at least one of the medium access control (MAC) layer and the physical (PHY) layer for sidelink communication comprise one or more of the following:
 a radio resource pool configuration parameter;   a zone configuration parameter;   a radio resource selection configuration parameter;   a semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) configuration parameter;   a measurement configuration parameter.   
     
     
         11 . The network entity of  claim 5 , wherein the communication interface is further configured to receive from at least one of the first BS and the second BS at least one of one or more sidelink radio resource request parameters and one or more measurements. 
     
     
         12 . The network entity of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more sidelink radio resource request parameters comprise one or more of the following:
 a carrier frequency for at least one of transmitting and receiving by a UE;   a destination ID;   a parameter for semi-persistent scheduling (SPS), in particular periodicity, timing offset, at least one of priority and message size;   and/or wherein the one or more measurements comprise one or more of the following:
 a geographic location of a UE; 
 a received signal strength in one or more radio resources; 
 a sidelink buffer status. 
   
     
     
         13 . A base station (BS) of a PLMN, comprising a processor configured to process control plane information related to control of radio resources, in particular sidelink radio resources, and a communication interface configured to at least one of transmit and receive to/from a network entity, in particular a cloud server, said control plane information. 
     
     
         14 . The base station of  claim 13 , wherein the communication interface is configured to transmit to the network entity at least one of one or more sidelink radio resource request parameters and one or more measurements. 
     
     
         15 . The base station of  claim 13 , wherein the one or more sidelink radio resource request parameters comprise one or more of the following:
 a carrier frequency for at least one of transmitting and receiving by a UE;   a destination ID;   a parameter for semi-persistent scheduling, in particular periodicity, timing offset, at least one of priority and message size;   and/or wherein the one or more measurements comprise one or more of the following:
 a geographic location of a UE; 
 a received signal strength in one or more radio resources; 
 a sidelink buffer status. 
   
     
     
         16 . The base station of  claim 13 , wherein the communication interface is configured to receive from the network entity scheduling information, wherein the scheduling information specifies one or more sidelink radio resources allocated to a UE for transmission of at least one of sidelink control information and sidelink user data. 
     
     
         17 . The base station of  claim 13 , wherein the scheduling information comprises one or more of the following:
 a carrier indicator;   a location of the one or more sidelink radio resources in the time domain;   a location of the one or more sidelink radio resources in the frequency domain;   a retransmission related parameter;   a semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) related parameter.   
     
     
         18 . The base station of  claim 13 , wherein the communication interface is configured to receive from the network entity one or more sidelink radio interface configuration parameters for a UE. 
     
     
         19 . The base station of  claim 13 , wherein the one or more sidelink radio interface configuration parameters comprise one or more radio resource control (RRC) parameters controlling the operation of at least one of the medium access control (MAC) layer and the physical (PHY) layer for sidelink communication. 
     
     
         20 . The base station of  claim 13 , wherein the one or more radio resource control (RRC) parameters controlling the operation of at least one of the medium access control (MAC) layer and the physical (PHY) layer for sidelink communication comprise one or more of the following:
 a radio resource pool configuration parameter;   a zone configuration parameter;   a radio resource selection configuration parameter;   a semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) configuration parameter;   a measurement configuration parameter.