NR-U wideband enhancements

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12101806-B2
Application number	US-202117491130-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 30, 2021
Priority date	Apr 5, 2019
Publication date	Sep 24, 2024
Grant date	Sep 24, 2024

Abstract

An apparatus, for wideband communication with one or more transceivers in a wireless communication system using one or more subbands of a predefined wideband, is configured to perform initial Listen-Before-Talk, LBT, for each subband of the predefined wideband so as to determine from the predefined wideband one or more non-occupied subbands on which the wideband communication is allowed during a certain transmission time, and during the certain transmission time, transmit to and/or receive from the transceiver using the non-occupied subbands. During the certain transmission time and in case the initial LBT indicted that one or more of the subbands are occupied, the apparatus is configured to perform a further LBT for the one or more occupied subbands so as to determine one or more of the initially occupied subbands being no longer occupied, and transmit to and/or receive from the transceiver using, in addition to the initially non-occupied subbands, the one or more no longer occupied subbands.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An apparatus, comprising:
an antenna circuit; and
a processing circuit operatively connected to the antenna circuit,
wherein, for a wideband communication with at least one transceiver in a the wireless communication system using one or more subbands of a predefined wideband, the processing circuit is arranged to:
perform an initial Listen-Before-Talk (LBT) for each subband of the predefined wideband so as to determine from the predefined wideband at least one initially non-occupied subband on which the wideband communication is allowed during a Channel Occupancy Time (COT), and
during the COT, transmit to and/or receive from the transceiver using the at least one initially non-occupied sub-band, and
wherein the processing circuit is arranged to, during the COT, when the initial LBT indicates that at least one of the subbands is initially occupied:
perform a further LBT for the at least one initially occupied subband so as to determine that the at least one initially occupied subband is no longer occupied, and
transmit to and/or receive from the transceiver using, in addition to the at least one initially non-occupied subband, the at least one no longer occupied subband,
wherein the processing circuit is arranged to:
continue performing the LBT on the at least one initially occupied subband while transmitting/receiving using the at least one initially non-occupied subband,
signal to the at least one transceiver that the at least one no longer occupied subband is available, and
provide a control message to the at least one transceiver, wherein the control message indicates the at least one no longer occupied subband.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a transmission time of the at least one no longer occupied subband is substantially aligned with an ending of the Channel Occupancy Time.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuit is arranged to signal to the at least one transceiver the at least one no longer occupied subband using the at least one initially non-occupied subband and/or the at least one no longer occupied subband, wherein the control message indicates the at least one no longer occupied subband.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuit provides the control message using RRC signaling, or L1 signaling, or over the top signaling by the core network.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the control message comprises a subband field, wherein the subband field indicates which of the subbands of the predefined wideband are available.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the processing circuit indicates which of the subbands of the predefined wideband are available by setting respective bits of the subband field associated with the subbands to a first value or to a second value, wherein the first value indicates a non-occupied state, and wherein the second value indicates an occupied state.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein
wherein the apparatus is a base station of the wireless communication system, wherein the processing circuit is arranged to signal to at least one user device of the wireless communication system the at least one no longer occupied subband in a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), wherein the PDCCH comprises Downlink Control Information, or
wherein the apparatus is a user device of the wireless communication system, wherein the processing circuit is arranged to signal to at least one base station of the wireless communication system the at least one no longer occupied subband in a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), wherein the PUCCH comprises Uplink Control Information, or
the apparatus is a user device of the wireless communication system, wherein the processing circuit is arranged to signal to at least one other user device of the wireless communication system the at least one no longer occupied subband in a Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH), wherein the PSCCH comprises Sidelink Control Information.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the signaling indicates a frequency and/or bandwidth for the at least one no longer occupied subband.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuit is arranged to wait for a first time before transmitting using the at least one no longer occupied subband.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , further comprising a timer wherein the timer sets the first time after which the apparatus transmits on the at least one no longer occupied subband, wherein the timer starts directly after an indication of an existence of the at least one no longer occupied subband.

11. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the processing circuit is arranged to wait for preparing a transmission on the at least one no longer occupied subband.

12. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the processing circuit is arranged to perform a rate-matching procedure.

13. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuit is arranged to transmit a reservation signaling at the beginning of a transmission time associated with the at least one no longer occupied subband so as to reserve the subband.

14. The apparatus of claim 1 ,
wherein the apparatus comprises a user equipment, wherein the user equipment (UE) comprises at least one a mobile terminal, or stationary terminal, or cellular Internet-of-Things user equipment (IoT-UE), or vehicular UE, or vehicular group leader UE, an IoT or narrowband IoT, device, or a ground based vehicle, or an aerial vehicle, or a drone, or a moving base station, or road side unit, or a building, or any other item or device provided with network connectivity enabling the item/device to communicate using the wireless communication network, or
wherein the apparatus comprises a base station, wherein the base station comprises at least one of a macro cell base station, or a small cell base station, or a central unit of a base station, or a distributed unit of a base station, or a road side unit, or a UE, or a group leader, or a relay, or a remote radio head, or an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), or a Session Management Function, or a core network entity, or mobile edge computing entity, or a network slice, or any transmission/reception point enabling an item or a device to communicate using the wireless communication network, the item or device being provided with network connectivity to communicate using the wireless communication network.

15. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a transmission time of the at least one no longer occupied subband is not-aligned with an ending of the Channel Occupancy Time.

16. A method for a wideband communication in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:
for a wideband communication with at least one transceiver in the wireless communication system using at least one subband of a predefined wideband,
performing an initial Listen-Before-Talk (LBT) for each subband of the predefined wideband so as to determine from the predefined wideband at least one initially non-occupied subband on which the wideband communication is allowed during a Channel Occupancy Time (COT), and
during the COT, transmitting to and/or receiving from the transceiver using the at least one initially non-occupied sub-band;
during the COT, when the initial LBT indicates that at least one of the subbands is initially are occupied;
performing a further LBT for the at least one initially occupied subband so as to determine that the at least one initially occupied subband is no longer occupied, and
transmitting to and/or receive from the transceiver using, in addition to the at least one initially non-occ

Assignees

• Koninkilijke Philips N V
• Koninklijke Philips Nv

Inventors

• Fehrenbach Thomas
• Goektepe Baris
• Hellge Cornelius
• Wirth Thomas
• Schierl Thomas
• Hassan Hussein Khaled Shawky
• Leyh Martin
• Heyn Thomas
• Niemann Bernhard
• Popp Julian

Classifications

• H04W74/002

  Transmission of channel access control information · CPC title

• H04W72/20

  Control channels or signalling for resource management · CPC title

• H04W72/21

  in the uplink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards the network · CPC title

• H04W74/006

  in the downlink, i.e. towards the terminal · CPC title

• H04W72/23

  in the downlink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards a terminal · CPC title