16.9.6.3 Groupcast/Broadcast

For groupcast/broadcast, SL DRX is configured commonly among multiple UEs based on QoS profile and Destination L2 ID. Multiple SL DRX configurations can be supported for each of groupcast/broadcast.

SL on-duration timer, SL inactivity-timer, SL HARQ RTT and SL HARQ retransmission timers are supported for groupcast. Only SL on-duration timer is supported for broadcast. SL DRX cycle, SL on-duration, and SL inactivity timer (only for groupcast) are configured per QoS profile. The starting offset and slot offset of the SL DRX cycle is determined based on the destination L2 ID. The SL HARQ RTT timer (only for groupcast) and SL HARQ retransmission timer (only for groupcast) are not configured per QoS profile or per destination L2 ID. For groupcast, the RX UE maintains a SL inactivity timer for each destination L2 ID, and selects the largest SL inactivity timer value if multiple SL inactivity timer values associated with different QoS profiles are configured for that L2 ID. For groupcast and broadcast, the RX UE maintains a single SL DRX cycle (selected as the smallest SL DRX cycle of any QoS profile of that L2 ID) and single SL on-duration (selected as the largest SL on-duration of any QoS profile of that L2 ID) for each destination L2 ID when multiple QoS profiles are configured for that L2 ID.

For groupcast, SL HARQ RTT timer and SL HARQ retransmission timer are maintained per SL process at the RX UE. SL HARQ RTT timer can be set to different values to support both HARQ enabled and HARQ disabled transmissions.

A default SL DRX configuration, common between groupcast and broadcast, can be used for a QoS profile which is not mapped onto any non-default SL DRX configuration(s). The default SL DRX configuration for groupcast and broadcast can also be used for discovery message in sidelink discovery in clause 16.9.5 and relay discovery messages in clause 16.12.3, for ProSe Direct Link Establishment Request message as specified in TS 24.554 [55], and for Direct Link Establishment Request message as specified in TS 24.587 [53].

In-coverage TX and RX UEs in RRC_IDLE/RRC_INACTIVE obtain their SL DRX configuration from SIB. UEs (TX or RX) in RRC_CONNECTED can obtain the SL DRX configuration from SIB, or from dedicated RRC signalling during handover. For the out of coverage case, the SL DRX configuration is obtained from pre-configuration.

For groupcast, the TX UE restarts its timer corresponding to the SL inactivity timer for the destination L2 ID (used for determining the allowable transmission time) upon reception of new data with the same destination L2 ID.

TX profile is introduced to ensure compatibility for groupcast and broadcast communication between UEs supporting/not-supporting SL DRX functionality. A TX profile is provided by upper layers to AS layer and identifies one or more sidelink feature group(s). Multiple TX profiles with the support of SL DRX and without the support of SL DRX can be associated to a destination L2 ID. For a given destination L2 ID, all TX and RX UEs should be configured with the same set of TX profile(s). A UE only assumes SL DRX for the given destination L2 ID when all the associated TX profiles correspond to support of SL DRX. A UE assumes no SL DRX for the given destination L2 ID if there is no associated TX profile. An RX UE determines that SL DRX is used if all destination L2 IDs of interest are assumed to support SL DRX. For groupcast, when the UE is in RRC_CONNECTED and using mode 1 resource allocation, the UE reports each destination L2 ID and associated SL DRX on/off indication to the gNB supporting SL DRX.