Method to enable wireless operation in license exempt spectrum

Abstract

Described herein are methods to enable wireless cellular operation in unlicensed and lightly licensed, (collectively referred to as license exempt spectrum. Cognitive methods are used to enable use of unlicensed bands and / or secondary use of lightly licensed bands. Wireless devices may use licensed exempt spectrum as new bands in addition to the existing bands to transmit to a wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) in the downlink direction, or to a base station in the uplink direction. The wireless devices may access license exempt spectrum for bandwidth aggregation or relaying using a carrier aggregation framework. In particular, a primary component carrier operating in a licensed spectrum is used for control and connection establishment and a second component carrier operating in a licensed exempt spectrum is used for bandwidth extension.

Description

[0001] Cross References to Related Applications [0002] This application claims the benefit of US Provisional Application No. 61 / 420,257, filed December 6, 2010, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. technical field [0003] This application relates to wireless communications. Background technique [0004] The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) originally envisioned unlicensed bands to provide free slices of spectrum with only two regulated public access spectrums. First, the transmitter must not cause harmful effects to any nearby licensed services, and second, any receivers in the band must be able to accept any interference that is present. An example of a license-exempt frequency band may be the Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) radio frequency band, which is reserved for the use of wireless spectrum for USM purposes rather than communication purposes. Allocation of ISM frequency bands may be different in each country based on differe...

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