SideSeeker: Contention-Based Distributed Relay Finding for Sidelink Mesh Networks

Sidelink relays are critical for enabling multi-hop peer-to-peer communications and ensuring connectivity of 6G sidelink mesh networks. To find proper sidelink relays without centralized coordination, a scheme of distributed relay discovery and selection named SideSeeker is designed with two key mechanisms. First, a two-dimensional contention scheme in time and frequency dimensions is designed based on short-term sensing, such that the collision of control signals is alleviated. Second, a mechanism of source-relay pair selection is developed, which prevents data congestion at a certain relay. With SideSeeker, the throughput over sidelinks outperforms those of baseline schemes by 19.4 – 36.9%.