Methods for efficient use of unlicensed spectrum

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10932293-B2
Application number	US-201816330807-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 19, 2018
Priority date	Jan 10, 2018
Publication date	Feb 23, 2021
Grant date	Feb 23, 2021

Abstract

Systems and methods for efficient use of unlicensed spectrum are disclosed. In some embodiments, a method performed by a transmitter comprises performing a Listen-Before-Talk (LBT) procedure for a channels within a transmit bandwidth of the transmit node, where the transmit bandwidth is divided into a bandwidth parts that correspond to the channels. The method further comprises transmitting a transmission in a subset of the bandwidth parts that correspond to a subset of the channels determined, based on a result of the LBT procedure, to be available. Transmitting the transmission comprises transmitting the transmission in accordance with a transmit scheme that uses carrier aggregation and/or carrier merging to transmit the transmission on the subset of the bandwidth parts and uses resources in one or more guard bands between two or more adjacent bandwidth parts from among the subset of the bandwidth parts.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method performed by a transmit node to perform a transmission in a frequency spectrum requiring Listen-Before-Talk, LBT, comprising:
performing an LBT procedure for a plurality of channels within a transmit bandwidth of the transmit node, the transmit bandwidth being divided into a plurality of bandwidth parts that correspond to the plurality of channels; and
transmitting a transmission in a subset of the plurality of bandwidth parts that correspond to a subset of the plurality of channels determined, based on a result of the LBT procedure performed for the plurality of channels, to be available, wherein transmitting the transmission comprises transmitting the transmission in accordance with a transmit scheme that:
uses carrier aggregation and/or carrier merging to transmit the transmission on the subset of the plurality of bandwidth parts; and
uses resources in one or more guard bands between two or more adjacent bandwidth parts from among the subset of the plurality of bandwidth parts.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the subset of the plurality of channels comprises at least two channels, and transmitting the transmission in the subset of the plurality of bandwidth parts comprises transmitting the transmission in the subset of the plurality of bandwidth parts in accordance with a carrier aggregation scheme.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the subset of the plurality of channels comprises at least two adjacent channels from the plurality of channels, and transmitting the transmission in the subset of the plurality of bandwidth parts comprises transmitting the transmission in at least two adjacent bandwidth parts that correspond to the at least two adjacent channels in accordance with a carrier merging scheme that merges the at least two adjacent bandwidth parts and utilizes at least some resources in at least one guard band between the at least two adjacent bandwidth parts.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein:
resources in the plurality of bandwidth parts are logically divided into a plurality of interlaces;
the subset of the plurality of channels comprises at least two adjacent channels from the plurality of channels; and
transmitting the transmission in the subset of the plurality of bandwidth parts comprises transmitting the transmission using one or more of the plurality of interlaces in at least two adjacent bandwidth parts that correspond to the at least two adjacent channels in accordance with a carrier merging scheme that:
merges the at least two adjacent bandwidth parts; and
utilizes at least some resources in at least one guard band between the at least two adjacent bandwidth parts, the at least some resources in the at least one guard band comprising resources that are allocated to at least one of the one or more of the plurality of interlaces on which the transmission is transmitted.

5. The method of claim 3 wherein the subset of the plurality of channels further comprises at least one channel from the plurality of channels that is not adjacent to the at least two adjacent channels, and transmitting the transmission in the subset of the plurality of bandwidth parts further comprises transmitting the transmission in: (a) at least two adjacent bandwidth parts that correspond to the at least two adjacent channels which are merged in accordance with a carrier merging scheme and (b) at least one bandwidth part that corresponds to the at least one channel that is not adjacent to the at least two adjacent bandwidth parts, in accordance with a carrier aggregation scheme.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the subset of the plurality of channels comprises at least two adjacent channels from the plurality of channels, and transmitting the transmission in the subset of the plurality of bandwidth parts comprises transmitting the transmission in at least two adjacent bandwidth parts that correspond to the at least two adjacent channels in accordance with a carrier aggregation scheme that utilizes at least some resources in one or more guard bands between the at least two adjacent bandwidth parts.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein:
resources in the plurality of bandwidth parts are logically divided into a plurality of interlaces;
the subset of the plurality of channels comprises at least two adjacent channels from the plurality of channels; and
transmitting the transmission in the subset of the plurality of bandwidth parts comprises transmitting the transmission using one or more of the plurality of interlaces in at least two adjacent bandwidth parts that correspond to the at least two adjacent channels in accordance with a carrier aggregation scheme that utilizes at least some resources in one or more guard bands between the at least two adjacent bandwidth parts that are allocated to at least one of the one or more interlaces on which the transmission is transmitted.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the transmit scheme utilizes an interlace design that defines multiple interlaces in each of the plurality of bandwidth parts, and resources in at least one of the guard bands allocated for a particular interlace are assigned to the same wireless device that is occupying the corresponding interlace within the plurality of bandwidth parts.

9. A method performed by a transmit node to perform transmission in a frequency spectrum requiring Listen-Before-Talk, LBT, comprising:
performing an LBT procedure for a plurality of channels within a transmit bandwidth of the transmit node, the transmit bandwidth being divided into a plurality of bandwidth parts that correspond to the plurality of channels;
transmitting during a first part of a Transmit Opportunity, TxOP, in a subset of the plurality of bandwidth parts that correspond to a subset of the plurality of channels determined, based on a result of the LBT procedure performed for the plurality of channels, to be available, wherein transmitting during the first part of the TxOP comprises transmitting during the first part of the TxOP in accordance with a first transmit scheme that does not utilize resources within guard bands between adjacent bandwidth parts; and
transmitting during a second part of the TxOP in the subset of the plurality of bandwidth parts, wherein transmitting during the second part of the TxOP comprises transmitting during the second part of the TxOP in accordance with a second transmit scheme that utilizes resources within one or more guard bands between two or more of the subset of the plurality of bandwidth parts that are adjacent to one another.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the first transmit scheme and the second transmit scheme utilize interlace designs that define a plurality of interlaces in each of the plurality of bandwidth parts.

11. The method of claim 9 wherein the first transmit scheme is a carrier aggregation scheme utilized to transmit during the first part of the TxOP in the subset of the plurality of bandwidth parts that correspond to the subset of the plurality of channels determined to be available.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the second transmit scheme is a combination of a carrier aggregation scheme and a carrier merging scheme utilized to transmit during the second part of the TxOP in the subset of the plurality of bandwidth parts that correspond to the subset of the plurality of channels determined to be available and the resources within the one or more guard bands between the two or more of the subset of the plurality of bandwidth parts that are adjacent to one another.

13. The method of claim 11 wherein the second transmit scheme is a carrier aggregation scheme utilized to transmit during the second part of the TxOP in

Assignees

• Ericsson Telefon Ab L M

Inventors

• Do Tai
• Alriksson Peter
• Nilsson Thomas

Classifications

• H04W74/04

  Scheduled access (hybrid access H04W74/02) · CPC title

• H04L5/0094

  Indication of how sub-channels of the path are allocated · CPC title

• H04L5/0092 Primary

  Indication of how the channel is divided · CPC title

• H04W72/02

  Selection of wireless resources by user or terminal · CPC title

• H04L5/001

  the frequencies being arranged in component carriers · CPC title