User equipment (UE) and method of sidelink data communication in fifth generation (5G) new radio (NR) things networks

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions for execution by one or more processors to perform operations for communication by a network User Equipment (nUE), the operations to configure the one or more processors to:

• allocate subframes of a frame as downlink frames or uplink frames for a sidelink communication between the nUE and one or more wearable User Equipment (wUE), the allocation on a per-subframe basis;
• during the subframes allocated as downlink subframes:
• contend for access to channel resources for data transmissions, the channel resources comprising multiple physical resource blocks (PRBs), the contention based on per-PRB transmissions of transmitter resources acquisition and sounding (TAS) channels and per-PRB detections of receiver resources acquisition and sounding (RAS) channels responsive to the TAS channels;
• and
• during the subframes allocated as uplink subframes:
• monitor one or more PRBs for TAS channels from one or more wUEs contending for access;
• when a first TAS channel from a first wUE is not detected in the PRB, refrain from encoding of the RAS channel for transmission to the first wUE;
• when a second TAS channel from a second wUE is detected in the PRB, decode data received from the second wUE during the PRB;
• and
• encode RAS channels for per-PRB transmission in response to detected TAS channels.

An apparatus of a wearable User Equipment (wUE), the apparatus comprising:

• a processor configured to cause the wUE to:
• decode a control channel received from a network User Equipment (nUE) during a subframe, wherein the control channel allocates the subframe as either a downlink subframe or an uplink subframe for a sidelink communication between the nUE and the wUE;
• when the control channel allocates the subframe as the uplink subframe:
• encode, for transmission in a physical resource block (PRB) of channel resources that comprises multiple PRBs, a transmitter resources acquisition and sounding (TAS) channel to the nUE to contend for access to the PRB;
• attempt to detect a receiver resources acquisition and sounding (RAS) channel from the nUE in the PRB;
• and
• determine, based at least partly on whether the RAS channel from the nUE is detected, whether to transmit data to the nUE in a physical resource allocation (PRA) of one or more PRBs, including the PRB used for the TAS channel;
• when the control channel allocates the subframe as the downlink subframe:
• attempt to detect a TAS channel from the nUE in the PRB;
• and
• when the TAS channel from the nUE is detected in the PRB, encode a RAS channel for transmission to the nUE in the PRB;
• wherein:
• the control channel is transmitted in a control physical resource allocation (PRA) that includes one or more PRBs,
• when the control channel allocates the subframe as the downlink subframe, the control PRA is based on the nUE and the control channel is scrambled by an identifier of the nUE, and
• when the control channel allocates the subframe as the uplink subframe, the control PRA is based on the wUE and the control channel is scrambled by an identifier of the wUE.