Collection and reporting of channel occupancy statistics for network tuning

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12452698-B2
Application number	US-202017599115-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 27, 2020
Priority date	Mar 28, 2019
Publication date	Oct 21, 2025
Grant date	Oct 21, 2025

Abstract

Systems and methods for collection and reporting of Channel Occupancy (CO) statistics for network tuning are provided. In some embodiments, a method performed by a wireless device for tuning one or more parameters of a network comprises obtaining a configuration for CO measurement and reporting. The method also includes obtaining a plurality of CO measurements based on the obtained configuration for CO measurement and reporting. One or more of the plurality of CO measurements are obtained when a Radio Resource Control (RRC) state of the wireless device is RRC_INACTIVE or RRC_IDLE. One or more of the plurality of CO measurements are obtained when the RRC state is RRC_CONNECTED. The method also includes reporting a result of one or more of the plurality of CO measurements to a network node. This might allow improved tuning of networks such as tuning of mechanisms that are used to compensate for potential CCA/LBT failures.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method performed by a wireless device for tuning one or more parameters of a network, the method comprising:
obtaining a configuration for Channel Occupancy, CO, measurement and reporting;
obtaining a plurality of CO measurements based on the obtained configuration for the CO measurement and reporting, where:
one or more of the plurality of CO measurements are obtained when a Radio Resource Control, RRC, state of the wireless device is one of the group consisting of: RRC_INACTIVE; and RRC_IDLE; and
one or more of the plurality of CO measurements are obtained when the RRC state of the wireless device is RRC_CONNECTED; and

reporting a result of the one or more of the plurality of CO measurements to a network node, where the result comprises a single report that includes one or more CO measurements obtained from each of:
the group consisting of: RRC_INACTIVE; and RRC_IDLE; and RRC_CONNECTED.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
adjusting one or more operational parameters of the wireless device based on the plurality of CO measurements.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the one or more operational parameters comprise one or more of the group consisting of:
selection of one or more bandwidth parts or sub-bands of bandwidth parts for subsequent uplink and/or downlink transmissions; and
prioritization of the one or more bandwidth parts or sub-bands of bandwidth parts for subsequent uplink and/or downlink transmissions.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein reporting the result of the one or more of the plurality of CO measurements to the network node comprises transmitting the result to the network node.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein obtaining the configuration for the CO measurement and reporting comprises obtaining the configuration via one or more of the group consisting of:
a System Information, SI, broadcast;
dedicated RRC signaling;
Non-Access Stratum, NAS, signaling;
Short Message Service, SMS, signaling; and
communication over a user plane.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the configuration for the CO measurement and reporting comprises one or more configuration parameters of the group consisting of:
a duration over which the one or more of the plurality of CO measurements should be taken;
one or more time restrictions regarding when the plurality of CO measurements should be taken;
a periodicity of when the one or more of the plurality of CO measurements should be taken;
one or more areas in which the one or more of the plurality of CO measurements should be taken;
one or more networks in which the one or more of the plurality of CO measurements should be taken;
one or more carrier frequencies, bands, and/or bandwidth parts in which the one or more of the plurality of CO measurements should be taken;
a bandwidth of channel monitoring used for the one or more of the plurality of CO measurements;
a duration over which each one of the plurality of CO measurements should be taken;
a period over which the one or more of the plurality of CO measurements should be taken before the report is provided to the network node;
one or more CO measurement types to be used for the one or more of the plurality of CO measurements;
one or more parameters to be included in the report about the one or more of the plurality of CO measurements; and
one or more rules and/or conditions for when the report should be sent to the network node.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the one or more configuration parameters are different for one or more of the group consisting of:
different bandwidth parts or sub-bands of bandwidth parts;
different carrier frequencies; and
different networks.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the different networks comprise one or more of the group consisting of: different public land mobile networks; and different neutral host networks.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the configuration for CO measurement and reporting indicates one or more times at which a nearby base station will not be transmitting, and the wireless device is configured to obtain the plurality of CO measurements when the nearby base station is not transmitting.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein obtaining the plurality of CO measurements comprises obtaining the plurality of CO measurements when the nearby base station is not transmitting.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more of the plurality of CO measurements are obtained in conjunction with a page monitoring function of the wireless device.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more of the plurality of CO measurements are obtained in conjunction with a serving cell quality measurement.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein:
the wireless device is configured to communicate with a base station via wireless signals provided at a first frequency; and
the one or more of the plurality of CO measurements occur at a second frequency that is different than the first frequency.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the wireless device is configured to switch a receiver from the first frequency to the second frequency to perform the one or more of the plurality of CO measurements.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein obtaining the plurality of CO measurements comprises obtaining the plurality of CO measurements only when the wireless device reselects to the second frequency.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein obtaining the plurality of CO measurements comprises one or more of the group consisting of:
measuring the energy within a channel frequency for a channel monitoring period and comparing the measured energy to an energy detection threshold;
measuring a Received Signal Strength Indication, RSSI, within the channel frequency for the channel monitoring period and comparing the measured RSSI to a threshold;
determining if a preamble has been detected during the channel monitoring period; and
determining an interference level within the channel frequency for the channel monitoring period.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein the network operates at least partially in an unlicensed spectrum.

18. The method of claim 1 wherein the network operates at least partially in a Listen Before Talk, LBT, mode of operation.

19. A method performed by a network node for tuning one or more parameters of a network, the method comprising:
transmitting, to a wireless device, a configuration for Channel Occupancy, CO, measurement and reporting;
receiving, from the wireless device, a result of a plurality of CO measurements based on the transmitted configuration for CO measurement and reporting, where:
one or more of the plurality of CO measurements are obtained when a Radio Resource Control, RRC, state of the wireless device is one of the group consisting of: RRC_INACTIVE; and RRC_IDLE; and
the one or more of the plurality of CO measurements are obtained when the RRC state of the wireless device is RRC_CONNECTED, where the result comprises a single report that includes one or more CO measurements obtained from each of:
the group consisting of: RRC_INACTIVE; and RRC_IDLE; and RRC_CONNECTED.

20. The method of claim 19 further comprising:
adjusting one or more operational parameters of the wireless device based on the plurality of CO measurements.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein the one or more operational parameters comprise one or more of the group consisting of:
selection of one or more bandwidth parts or sub-bands of bandwidth parts for subsequent uplink and/or downlink transmission

Assignees

• Ericsson Telefon Ab L M

Inventors

• Rune Johan
• Alriksson Peter
• Belleschi Marco
• Grant Stephen
• Karlsson Robert
• Richards Christopher
• Siomina Iana

Classifications

• H04W74/0808

  using carrier sensing, e.g. carrier sense multiple access [CSMA] · CPC title

• H04W24/10

  Scheduling measurement reports {; Arrangements for measurement reports} · CPC title

• H04W16/14

  Spectrum sharing arrangements {between different networks} · CPC title

• H04W76/27

  Transitions between radio resource control [RRC] states · CPC title

• H04W36/0085

  Hand-off measurements · CPC title