Method and apparatus for resource slot configuration and assigning user equipment to resource slots to control channel access from user equipment

Abstract

Examples provide access nodes, network controllers, devices for mobile communications, mobile communication systems, methods for access nodes or network controllers, and computer programs. A control unit or a central controller in an access node can select a time slot configuration. According to the selected time slot configuration, a channel is divided into multiple time slots in the time domain. Wireless communication devices can be grouped into multiple groups based on the quality of service (QoS) requirements of the wireless communication devices. A group of wireless communication devices can be assigned to a time slot. The group of wireless communication devices can access the channel using a carrier sense multiple access / collision avoidance (CSMA / CA) mechanism. The control unit can monitor the occurrence of events at the wireless communication device and select a new time slot configuration based on the event.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Examples relate to access nodes, network controllers, apparatus for mobile communications, mobile communications systems, methods and computer programs for access nodes or network controllers, and particularly but not exclusively to concepts and mechanisms for selecting resource slot configurations and allocating user equipment (UE) to resource slots to control channel access from UEs and for interference mitigation. Background Art

[0002] The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has adopted rules for spectrum sharing technology, known as the Spectrum Access System (SAS), in the 3.55-3.70 GHz band (hereinafter referred to as the "3.5 GHz band"). The 3.55-3.65 GHz band is currently allocated for use by Department of Defense (DoD) radar systems. This band is suitable for small cell applications. It can be used as an alternative to existing mobile services, or it can be adopted from the main system to achieve higher coverage and data rates.

[0003] The FCC report and rules describe a mechanism for using the 3.5 GHz band to provide a service called Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS). Spectrum sharing technology in the 3.5 GHz band is based on a three-tier approach (existing licensees, priority access (PA) licensees, and general authorized access (GAA) operators). Opening up the 3.5 GHz band for sharing can improve data rates and coverage of existing systems such as Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE Advanced, MuLTEfire, Wi-Fi type systems (all of which need to be modified to connect to and coordinate with SAS entities).

[0004] The IEEE 802.11 channel access mechanism is based on a distributed coordination function (DCF) using carrier sense multiple access / collision avoidance (CSMA / CA). Figure 1 The IEEE 802.11 Medium Access Control (MAC) structure with different coordination functions is shown. The DCF provides a basic CSMA / CA mechanism for all devices to access the channel.

[0005] Obtain priority access to contention-free service through the Point Coordination Function (PCF). Figure 2 As shown, PCF divides the channel into two periods: Contention Free Period (CFP) and Contention Period (CP). In CFP, the access point polls specific stations to transmit, and these stations get their own time slots to use the channel. In CP, contention-based access is applied using CSMA / CA.

[0006] Hybrid Coordination Function (HCF) was added to the 802.11e version of the IEEE 802.11 standard. HCF includes two access methods for accessing channels: Enhanced Distributed Channel Access (EDCA) and HCF Controlled Channel Access (HCCA). In EDCA mode, high priority data can be sent more frequently, and a transmission opportunity (TXOP) can be provided to a station in which the station can send a message multiple times in succession. HCCA is similar to PCF and uses CFP and CP. In CFP, users are assigned to time slots with traffic classes (TCs). In CP, EDCA is applied.

[0007] The IEEE 802.11 channel access scheme uses the Inter-Frame Space (IFS) to prioritize channel access for different traffic classes or priorities. Figure 3 The relationship between IFS is shown. The shorter the IFS, the higher the priority. DCF uses Distributed Interframe Space (DIFS), Short Interframe Space (SIFS), and Extended Interframe Space (EIFS). SIFS is used when a device occupies the medium and needs to reserve the medium for the duration of performing a frame exchange sequence (for example, before an acknowledgment (ACK) and clear-to-send (CTS) frame). When a station wants to send a data frame in DCF mode, the station needs to wait for the duration of DIFS after the previous frame is completed. The EIFS value is used by a station that has received a frame containing an error.

[0008] PCF and HCF additionally use Priority Inter-Frame Space (PIFS) and Arbitration Inter-Frame Space (AIFS). Devices in PCF mode use PIFS during CFP. AIFS values ​​depend on Access Category (AC) and are used to prioritize one AC over another, for example, giving voice calls priority over email applications. A shorter AIFS period means a higher probability that a message will be sent with lower latency.

[0009] The basic time unit in the IEEE 802.11 system is the slot time (SlotTime). The slot time depends on the physical layer (e.g., propagation time, delay, etc.). IFS is measured in units of slot time. The SIFS value corresponds to the slot time. The values ​​of other IFS are derived from the specified value of SIFS and the slot time. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] Some examples of apparatus and / or methods will be described below, by way of example only, and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0011] Figure 1 The IEEE 802.11 MAC structure with different coordination functions is shown;

[0012] Figure 2 Switching between CFP and CP is shown;

[0013] Figure 3 The relationship between IFS is shown;

[0014] Figure 4 An example of a wireless communication system is shown;

[0015] Figure 5 An example control unit configured to adaptively set a time slot configuration and assign a UE or access node to a time slot is shown;

[0016] Figure 6 An example interaction between a group controller and an environment monitor is shown;

[0017] Figure 7 An example signaling diagram showing the process of assigning a UE to a time slot, updating a time slot configuration, and deallocating a UE; and

[0018] Figure 8 The architecture of a system of networks according to some embodiments is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0019] Various examples will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings showing some examples.In the accompanying drawings, the thickness of lines, layers and / or regions may be exaggerated for clarity.

[0020] Therefore, although other examples can have various modifications and alternative forms, some specific examples thereof are shown in the drawings and will be described in detail later. However, this detailed description does not limit other examples to the specific forms described. Other examples may encompass all modifications, equivalents, and substitutes that fall within the scope of this disclosure. Throughout the description of the drawings, like reference numerals refer to similar or similar elements, which, when compared to each other, may be implemented in an equivalent or modified manner while providing the same or similar functions.

[0021] It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being "connected" or "coupled" to another element, these elements may be directly connected or coupled or connected or coupled via one or more intermediate elements. If two elements A and B are combined using "or", it should be understood that all possible combinations are disclosed, i.e., only A, only B, and A and B. An alternative term for the same combination is "at least one of A and B". The same is true for combinations of more than 2 elements.

[0022] The terms used to describe specific examples herein are not intended to limit other examples. Whenever a singular form such as "one", "an" and "the" is used and only a single element is not explicitly or implicitly defined as mandatory, other examples may also use multiple elements to implement the same function. Similarly, when the function is subsequently described as being implemented using multiple elements, other examples may use a single element or processing entity to implement the same function. It will be further understood that the terms "include", "comprise", "have" and / or "contain" specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, processes, actions, elements and / or parts when used, but do not exclude the presence or increase of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, processes, actions, elements, parts, and / or any combination thereof.

[0023] Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein are used according to the ordinary meaning of the art to which their examples belong.

[0024] The present disclosure presents an example for providing the ability to learn and implement effective resource slot configurations in a wireless communication network to configure resource slots in which a channel access mechanism can be performed by a UE 410 and an access node 420. The resource slot configuration is a configuration selected by a network (or a device acting as or used as a network device) for dividing a channel into a plurality of resource slots, wherein a UE is assigned to a particular resource slot. The resource slot configuration is adapted to the QoS requirements of the UE 410 and / or the network.

[0025] The resource slots into which the channels are divided are defined as time slots, frequency slots, antenna polarization slots, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) slots (MIMO slots) (e.g., one of multiple independent transmission channels corresponding to the eigenmodes of the MIMO channel matrix), space slots, or any combination thereof (e.g., time / frequency slots, time / space slots, frequency / space slots, time / MIMO slots, time / frequency / MIMO slots, time / frequency / space slots, etc.). In the following, examples will be explained with reference to "time slots". However, it should be noted that the examples are not limited to time slots, but are equally applicable to different types of resource slots.

[0026] The channel access mechanism implemented by UE 410 and access node 420 may be a distributed channel access mechanism or any other type of channel access mechanism. For example, the channel access mechanism may be CSMA / CA. Hereinafter, examples will be explained with reference to CSMA / CA. However, it should be noted that these examples are not limited to CSMA / CA, but are equally applicable to different types of channel access mechanisms.

[0027] In the examples disclosed hereinafter, the term "QoS requirement" (and accordingly, the associated "QoS") will be used to include any requirement that a UE may request of a network, or any measure or criterion by which the performance or experience of a UE or a network can be estimated, and the term "QoS requirement" is not necessarily associated with the service itself. For example, a "QoS requirement" may be a throughput requirement, a delay requirement, an access rate requirement, a conflict requirement, an interference requirement, a power efficiency requirement, a requirement related to a subscription type (e.g., a requirement according to a more or less high-cost service contract, etc.), and the like.

[0028] Conventional end device grouping and allocation schemes (e.g., for the Internet of Things (IoT)) do not provide a self-organizing, runtime adaptive time slot allocation / configuration scheme in terms of QoS, where multiple CSMA / CA-based devices can be operated to meet certain conditions. In addition, conventional end device grouping schemes are implemented in an open loop and interfere with the channel access requirements of the end devices. According to the examples disclosed herein, the overall efficiency and flexibility of the network and user needs are greatly improved.

[0029] According to the examples disclosed herein, the packet controller is able to learn the environment and use the collected real-time knowledge and environmental behavior for decision making. The packet function is implemented to find the best end-device to time slot allocation mapping to perform fair coexistence between end-devices with different QoS requirements and achieve optimal interaction between end-devices using different operating modes (for example, IEEE 802.11EDCA mode affects DCF mode due to a shorter contention window). The packet controller with deep learning capabilities can provide the best end-device allocation for time slots to achieve fair coexistence between end-devices with different QoS requirements and different operating modes.

[0030] Figure 4 An example of a wireless communication system 400 is shown. An example provides a wireless communication system 400 that includes multiple user equipments (UEs) 410 and one or more access nodes 420. Another example is a wireless communication system 400 that includes multiple UEs 410, one or more access nodes 420, and a central controller 430 for controlling the access node(s) 420 and / or the UEs 410.

[0031] UE 410 is a wireless communication device used by a user. UE 410 implements CSMA / CA for accessing a channel in the wireless communication system 400. Since CSMA / CA can be used as an access scheme for UE 410, the wireless communication system 400 can implement, for example, WiFi, License Assisted Access (LAA), MuLTEfire, etc. UE 410 may be or may be included in a mobile terminal, a mobile transceiver, a smart phone, a cellular phone, a station, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, a personal computer, a tablet computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a universal serial bus (USB) stick, a car, or any other type of device with a wireless transmission / reception function.

[0032] The access node 420 is a network device operable to communicate with one or more UEs 410 in a coverage area (e.g., a cell) covered by the access node 420. The access node 420 can control channel access of the UE 410 in the coverage area of ​​the access node 420. The coverage area of ​​the access node 420 can be a macro cell or a small cell (e.g., a micro cell, a metropolitan cell, a femto cell, a micro cell, a nano cell, etc.). The access node 420 can be in or near the coverage area of ​​other access nodes (e.g., a small cell access node located in the coverage area of ​​the macro cell access node). The access node 420 can be located in a fixed or stationary part of the system 400. The access node 420 can belong to the same category or different categories. Different categories of access nodes 420 can have different priorities when accessing channels in the network. For example, the access node 420 can be a second layer (tier-2) device or a third layer (tier-3) device in a SAS system. The access node 420 can also implement CSMA / CA for accessing channels and controlling access from the UE 410. The access node 420 may be a base station, a base transceiver station, an (e)NodeB, a home (e)NodeB, an access point, a citizen broadband radio service device (CBSD), a remote radio head, a relay node, a transmission point, a SAS controller, etc., which may be further divided into a remote unit and a central unit. In some examples, the UE 410 may act as an access node 420 (e.g., a smart phone operating as an AP or CBSD, etc.) or operate as an access node 420, and the functions implemented in the access node 420 in the examples disclosed herein may also be implemented in the UE 410.

[0033] The central controller 430 is a network controller (i.e., a network entity) that can interact with one or more access nodes 420 (via a wireless connection or a wired connection) to manage the system. There can be more than one central controller in the system 400, and each central controller can interact with a different set of access nodes. The central controller 430 can perform functions for access control from the UE 410, or implement measures for mitigating interference in the coverage area, etc. The central controller 430 can be an independent controller, or can be incorporated into another network entity. The central controller 430 can be located in the core network of the macro area mobile network (e.g., a third generation (3G) or fourth generation (4G) core network), or can be outside the core network. The central controller 430 can be a SAS controller provided for existing protection and spectrum allocation in the SAS system.

[0034] Any radio link between entities / devices of the wireless communication system 400 may operate according to any one or more of the following radio communication technologies and / or standards, including but not limited to: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) radio communication technology, General Packet Radio Traffic (GPRS) radio communication technology, Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) radio communication technology, and / or Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) radio communication technology, such as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Freedom of Multimedia Access (FOMA), 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE), 3GPP Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-Advanced) Advanced), Code Division Multiple Access 2000 (CDMA2000), Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD), Mobitex, Third Generation (3G), Circuit Switched Data (CSD), High Speed ​​Circuit Switched Data (HSCSD), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (Third Generation) (UMTS (3G)), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) (W-CDMA (UMTS)), High Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA), High Speed ​​Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), High Speed ​​Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), High Speed ​​Packet Access Plus (HSPA+), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System Time Division Duplex (UMTS-TDD), Time Division Code Division Multiple Access (TD-CDMA), Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-CDMA), 3rd Generation Partnership Project Release 8 (Pre-4G) (3GPP Rel.8 (Pre-4G)), 3GPP Rel.9 (3rd Generation Partnership Project Release 9), 3GPP Rel.10 (3rd Generation Partnership Project Release 10), 3GPP Rel.11 (3rd Generation Partnership Project Release 11), 3GPP Rel.12 (3rd Generation Partnership Project Release 12), 3GPP Rel.13 (3rd Generation Partnership Project Release 13), 3GPP Rel.14 (3rd Generation Partnership Project Release 14), 3GPP Rel.15 (3rd Generation Partnership Project Release 15), 3GPP Rel.16 (3rd Generation Partnership Project Release 16), 3GPP Rel.17 (3rd Generation Partnership Project Release 17), 3GPP Rel.18 (3rd Generation Partnership Project Release 18), 3GPP 5G, 3GPP LTE Extra, LTE-AdvancedPro, LTE License Assisted Access (LAA), MuLTEfire, UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA), Long Term Evolution Advanced (4th Generation) (LTE Advanced (4G)), cdmaOne (2G), Code Division Multiple Access 2000 (3rd Generation) (CDMA2000 (3G)), Evolution Data Optimized or Evolution Data Only (EV-DO), Advanced Mobile Phone System (1st Generation) (AMPS (1G)), Total Access Communications System / Extended Total Access Communications System (TACS / ETACS), Digital AMPS (2nd Generation) (D-AMPS (2G)), Push to Talk (PTT), Mobile Telephone System (MTS), Improved Mobile Telephone System (IMTS), Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMTS), OLT (Norwegian, Offentlig Landmobil Telefoni, public land mobile phone), MTD (Swedish abbreviation for Mobiltelefoni System D or Mobile Phone System D), Public Automatic Land Mobile Phone (Autotel / PALM), ARP (Finnish, Autoradiopuhelin, "car radio telephone"), NMT (Nordic mobile phone), High Capacity Version (Hicap) of NTT (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone), Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD), Mobitex, DataTAC, Integrated Digital Enhanced Network (iDEN), Personal Digital Cellular (PDC), Circuit Switched Data (CSD), Personal Handyphone System (PHS), Broadband Integrated Digital Enhanced Network (WiDEN), iBurst, Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) (also known as the 3GPP General Access Network or GAN standard)), Zigbee, . Wireless Gigabit Alliance (WiGig) standard, general mmWave standard (wireless systems operating at 10-300 GHz and above, such as WiGig, IEEE 802.11ad, IEEE 802.11ay, etc.), generally speaking, IEEE 802.11 standards include 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n and 802.11ac, technologies operating at 300 GHz and THz bands (based on 3GPP / LTE or IEEE802.11p, etc.) Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) and Vehicle-to-X (V2X) communication technologies, DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Communication) communication systems (such as intelligent transportation systems, etc.).

[0035] In addition, the wireless communication system 400 can be used or operated in the context of any spectrum management scheme, including dedicated licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, (licensed) shared spectrum (e.g., Licensed Shared Access (LSA) in 2.3-2.4 GHz, 3.4-3.6 GHz, 3.6-3.8 GHz and Spectrum Access System (SAS) in 3.55-3.7 GHz and other frequencies). Applicable frequency bands include International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) spectrum (including 450-470 MHz, 790-960 MHz, 1710-2025 MHz, 2110-2200 MHz, 2300-2400 MHz, 2500-2690 MHz, 698-790 MHz, 610-790 MHz, 3400-3600 MHz, etc.). Please note that some frequency bands are restricted to specific (one or more) regions and / or countries, IMT-Advanced spectrum, IMT-2020 spectrum (expected to include 3600-3800 MHz, 3.5 GHz band, 700 MHz band, bands within 24.25-86 GHz, etc.), spectrum available under the FCC’s “Spectrum Frontier” 5G plan (including 27.5–28.35 GHz, 29.1–29.25 GHz, 31–31.3 GHz, 37–38.6 GHz, 38.6–40 GHz, 42–42.5 GHz, 57–64 GHz, 64–71 GHz, 71–76 GHz, 81–86 GHz and 92–94 GHz, etc.), 5.9 GHz z (usually 5.85-5.925GHz) and 63-64GHz ITS (Intelligent Transmission System) bands, bands currently allocated to WiGig (such as WiGig Band 1 (57.24-59.40GHz), WiGig Band 2 (59.40-61.56GHz) and WiGig Band 3 (61.56-63.72GHz) and WiGig Band 4 (63.72-65.88GHz)), 70.2GHz–71GHz band, any band between 65.88GHz and 71GHz, bands currently allocated to automotive radar applications (such as 76-81GHz), and in the future including 94-300GHz and above. In addition, the scheme can be used assisted on bands such as TV white space bands (usually below 790MHz), with the 400MHz and 700MHz bands in particular being promising candidates. In addition to cellular applications, specific applications in vertical markets can also be addressed, such as Programming Production and Special Events (PMSE), medical, healthcare, surgical, automotive, low latency, drones and more.Tiered applications of the scheme are possible, for example, by introducing tiered priorities for usage for different types of users (e.g., low / medium / high priority, etc.) based on prioritized access to spectrum (e.g., highest priority is Tier 1 users, then Tier 2 users, then Tier 3 users, etc.) Other tiered approaches are also possible in the disclosed examples.

[0036] Examples may also be applied to different single carrier or orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) flavors (cyclic prefix OFDM (CP-OFDM), single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA), single carrier OFDM (SC-OFDM), filter bank based multi-carrier (FBMC), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), etc.), in particular 3GPP NR (New Radio) by allocating OFDM carrier data bit vectors to corresponding symbol resources. In vehicular communications (such as IEEE 802.11p, LTE C-V2X, V2V (vehicle to vehicle), V2I (vehicle to infrastructure), V2P (vehicle to people) and other communications) or other safety-related scenarios, priority users may be associated with "safety-related application" users, while non-priority users may be associated with "non-safety-related applications". Some examples may provide protection for priority users to protect the correct operation of such safety-related applications. Non-safety applications are less important and therefore can tolerate failures. The same approach can be employed for any prioritization of "higher priority applications" relative to "lower priority applications" in a vehicle communication context or any other context.

[0037] In some examples, protection can be in three dimensions. For example, if the spectrum is shared with satellites, drones, or other objects moving above the ground, the sky above a certain altitude (including satellite special slots) will become a priority area or domain, and interference to satellites due to terrestrial communications may be reduced or even minimized. Here, in some examples it is sufficient to apply appropriate antenna patterns so that the transmission remains in the ground space and does not radiate into space. If the multipath / scattering environment becomes too challenging for some users (at least some of the transmit power may always be radiated to the satellite), the user may be forced to reduce its output power level, switch to another band or a similar band.

[0038] The examples disclosed herein can be applied to situations where there is a central entity (e.g., a SAS controller in CBRS / SAS, an LSA controller in LSA, etc.). If the central entity can be used to perform coordination tasks, the examples disclosed herein can be applied to systems other than spectrum sharing systems. The functionality of the access node 420 (e.g., a CBRS / SAS / LSA CBSD, an AP, an eNodeB, etc.) can be located in a dedicated component (e.g., a dedicated CBSD, an AP, an eNodeB, etc.), or can be part of any other device including a UE (e.g., a UE can play the role of a CBRS / SAS / LSA CBSD, an AP, an eNodeB, etc., such as in CBSD / SAS tier-3 mode, where the system operates similarly to an unlicensed system such as WiFi, MuLTEfire, etc.).

[0039] Figure 8 The architecture of a system 800 of a network is illustrated according to some embodiments. The system 800 is shown to include user equipment (UE) 801 and UE 802. UE 801 and 802 are shown as smart phones (e.g., handheld touch screen mobile computing devices that can connect to one or more cellular networks), but may also include any mobile or non-mobile computing devices, such as personal data assistants (PDAs), pagers, laptop computers, desktop computers, wireless handsets, or any computing device that includes a wireless communication interface.

[0040] In some embodiments, any one of UE 801 and 802 may include an Internet of Things (IoT) UE, which may include a network access layer designed for low-power IoT applications that utilize short-term UE connections. The IoT UE may utilize technologies such as machine-to-machine (M2M) or machine-type communications (MTC) to exchange data with an MTC server or device via a public land mobile network (PLMN), proximity-based services (ProSe) or device-to-device (D2D) communications, sensor networks, or IoT networks. M2M or MTC data exchanges may be machine-initiated data exchanges. The IoT network description utilizes short-term connections to interconnect IoT UEs, which may include uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices (within the Internet infrastructure). The IoT UE may execute background applications (e.g., keep-alive messages, status updates, etc.) to facilitate the connection of the IoT network.

[0041] UEs 801 and 802 may be configured to be connected (e.g., communicatively coupled) to a radio access network (RAN) 810—the RAN 810 may be, for example, an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), a Next Generation RAN (NG RAN), or some other type of RAN. UEs 801 and 802 utilize connections 803 and 804, respectively, each of which includes a physical communication interface or layer (discussed in more detail below); in this example, connections 803 and 804 are shown as air interfaces to enable communication coupling and may conform to cellular communication protocols, such as the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) protocol, code-division multiple access (CDMA) network protocol, Push-to-Talk (PTT) protocol, PTT over Cellular (POC) protocol, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) protocol, 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) protocol, fifth generation (5G) protocol, New Radio (NR) protocol, and the like.

[0042] In this embodiment, UE 801 and 802 may also directly exchange communication data via a ProSe interface 805. The ProSe interface 805 may also be referred to as a side interface including one or more logical channels, including but not limited to a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH), a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH), a physical sidelink discovery channel (PSDCH), and a physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH).

[0043] UE 802 is shown as being configured to access access point (AP) 806 via connection 807. Connection 807 may include a local wireless connection, such as a connection compliant with any IEEE 802.11 protocol, where AP 806 would include Wi-Fi. In this example, AP 806 is shown connected to the Internet, but not to the core network of the wireless system (described in more detail below).

[0044] The RAN 810 may include one or more access nodes that enable connections 803 and 804. These access nodes (AN) may be referred to as base stations (BS), NodeBs, evolved NodeBs (eNBs), next generation NodeBs (gNBs), RAN nodes, etc., and may include ground stations (e.g., ground access points) or satellite stations that provide coverage within a certain geographic area (e.g., a cell). The RAN 810 may include one or more RAN nodes for providing macro cells, such as a macro RAN node 811, and one or more RAN nodes for providing femto cells or pico cells (e.g., cells with smaller coverage areas, smaller user capacity, or higher bandwidth than macro cells), such as a low power (LP) RAN node 812.

[0045] Any one of the RAN nodes 811 and 812 may terminate the air interface protocol and may be the first point of contact for the UEs 801 and 802. In some embodiments, any one of the RAN nodes 811 and 812 may perform various logical functions for the RAN 810, including but not limited to radio network controller (RNC) functions, such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management and data packet scheduling, and mobility management.

[0046] According to some embodiments, UEs 801 and 802 may be configured to communicate with each other or with any of RAN nodes 811 and 812 using Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) communication signals over a multi-carrier communication channel according to various communication techniques, such as, but not limited to, Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) communication techniques (e.g., for downlink communications) or Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) communication techniques (e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidecar communications), although the scope of the embodiments is not limited thereto. OFDM signals may include multiple orthogonal subcarriers.

[0047] In some embodiments, a downlink resource grid may be used for downlink transmissions from either of the RAN nodes 811 and 812 to the UEs 801 and 802, while uplink transmissions may utilize similar techniques. The grid may be a time-frequency grid, referred to as a resource grid or a time-frequency resource grid, which is a physical resource in the downlink in each time slot. This time-frequency plane representation is a common practice for OFDM systems, which makes it intuitive for radio resource allocation. Each column and row of the resource grid corresponds to an OFDM symbol and an OFDM subcarrier, respectively. The duration of the resource grid in the time domain corresponds to a time slot in a radio frame. The smallest time-frequency unit in the resource grid is represented as a resource element. Each resource grid includes several resource blocks, which describe the mapping of a specific physical channel to a resource element. Each resource block includes a set of resource elements; in the frequency domain, this may represent the minimum number of resources that can currently be allocated. There are several different physical downlink channels that are transported using such resource blocks.

[0048] The physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) may carry user data and higher layer signaling to the UEs 801 and 802. The physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) may carry information about the transport format and resource allocation related to the PDSCH channel, among other things. It may also inform the UEs 801 and 802 about the transport format, resource allocation, and H-ARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request) information related to the uplink shared channel. Typically, downlink scheduling (assigning control and shared channel resource blocks to the UEs 802 within a cell) may be performed at any one of the RAN nodes 811 and 812 based on channel quality information fed back from any one of the UEs 801 and 802. Downlink resource assignment information may be sent on the PDCCH for (e.g., assigned to) each of the UEs 801 and 802.

[0049] PDCCH can use control channel elements (CCE) to carry control information. Before being mapped to resource elements, PDCCH complex symbols can first be organized into quaternions, which can then be transposed using a sub-block interleaver for rate matching. Each PDCCH can be sent using one or more of these CCEs, where each CCE can correspond to nine sets of physical resource elements called resource element groups (REGs), each set including four physical resource elements. Four quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) symbols can be mapped to each REG. Depending on the size of the downlink control information (DCI) and the channel conditions, one or more CCEs can be used to send PDCCH. Four or more different PDCCH formats can be defined in LTE, with different numbers of CCEs (e.g., aggregation levels L=1, 2, 4, or 8).

[0050] Some embodiments may use the concept of resource allocation for control channel information, which is an extension of the above concepts. For example, some embodiments may utilize an enhanced physical downlink control channel (EPDCCH) that uses PDSCH resources for control information transmission. EPDCCH may be transmitted using one or more enhanced control channel elements (ECCE). Similar to the above, each ECCE may correspond to nine sets of physical resource elements called enhanced resource element groups (EREGs), each set including four physical resource elements. ECCE may have other numbers of EREGs in some cases.

[0051] RAN 810 is shown as being communicatively coupled to a core network (CN) 820 via an S1 interface 813. In an embodiment, CN 820 may be an evolved packet core (EPC) network, a NextGen Packet Core (NPC) network, or some other type of CN. In this embodiment, S1 interface 813 is split into two parts: S1-U interface 814, which carries traffic data between RAN nodes 811 and 812 and serving gateway (S-GW) 822; and S1 mobility management entity (MME) interface 815, which is a signaling interface between RAN nodes 811 and 812 and MME 821.

[0052] In this embodiment, CN 820 includes MME 821, S-GW 822, Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway (P-GW) 823 and Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 824. MME 821 may be similar in function to the control plane of a conventional Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN). MME 821 may manage mobility aspects in access, such as gateway selection and tracking area list management. HSS 824 may include a database for network users, including subscription related information, to support network entities in handling communication sessions. CN 820 may include one or several HSS 824, depending on the number of mobile subscribers, the capacity of the equipment, the organization of the network, and the like. For example, HSS 824 may provide support for routing / roaming, authentication, authorization, naming / addressing resolution, location compliance, and the like.

[0053] The S-GW 822 may terminate the S1 interface 813 towards the RAN 810 and route data packets between the RAN 810 and the CN 820. In addition, the S-GW 822 may be a local mobility anchor point for handovers between RAN nodes and may also provide an anchor for inter-3GPP mobility. Other responsibilities may include lawful interception, charging, and some policy enforcement.

[0054] The P-GW 823 may terminate the SGi interface toward the PDN. The P-GW 823 may route data packets between the EPC network 823 and an external network via an Internet Protocol (IP) interface 825, such as a network including an application server 830 (or an application function (AF)). In general, the application server 830 may be an element that provides applications that use IP bearer resources with the core network (e.g., UMTS Packet Service (PS) domain, LTE PS data service, etc.). In this embodiment, the P-GW 823 is shown as being communicatively coupled to the application server 830 via an IP communication interface 825. The application server 830 may also be configured to support one or more communication services (e.g., Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) sessions, PTT sessions, group communication sessions, social network services, etc.) for UEs 801 and 802 via the CN 820.

[0055] P-GW 823 can also be a node for policy enforcement and charging data collection. Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCRF) 826 is the policy and charging control element of CN820. In a non-roaming scenario, there can be a single PCRF in the Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN) associated with the UE's Internet Protocol Connectivity Access Network (IP-CAN) session. In a roaming scenario with local routing of traffic, there can be two PCRFs associated with the UE's IP-CAN session: the Home PCRF (H-PCRF) within the HPLMN and the Visited PCRF (V-PCRF) within the Visited Public Land Mobile Network (VPLMN). PCRF 826 can be communicatively coupled to the application server 830 via P-GW 823. The application server 830 may signal the PCRF 826 to indicate the new service flow and select the appropriate quality of service (QoS) and charging parameters. The PCRF 826 may configure this rule into a policy and charging enforcement function (PCRF) (not shown) using the appropriate traffic flow template (TFT) and QoS class of identifier (QCI), which initiates the QoS and charging specified by the application server 830.

[0056] Reference again Figure 4In some examples, the access node 420 or the central controller 430 selects a time slot configuration (more generally, a resource slot configuration), wherein the channel is divided into a plurality of time slots in the time domain according to the selected time slot configuration. As described above, the examples will be explained with reference to time slots and time slot configurations, but the examples are equally applicable to any type of resource slot and resource slot configuration scheme. A channel may be defined in the time domain by a plurality of basic time units (e.g., slot times), and each time slot may include one or more basic time units. In a first time slot configuration, a communication channel is divided into time slots in a first manner, and in a second time slot configuration, a communication channel is divided into time slots in a different second manner. For example, in a first time slot configuration, a given time period corresponds to a first number of time slots, and in a second time slot configuration, the same time period corresponds to a different second number of time slots. In a first time slot configuration, a first time slot (in a sequence of time slots) may include a first number of basic time units, and in a second time slot configuration, a first time slot may include a different second number of basic time units.

[0057] The access node 420 (alone, or under the control of the central controller 430, or as an access node or as a UE 410 of a CBSD, etc.) can divide the UE 410 into multiple groups based on the QoS requirements of the UE 410, and allocate a group of UEs 410 to (one or more) time slots. The group of UEs 410 can use the CSMA / CA mechanism (more generally, any channel access mechanism) to access the channel. As described above, examples will be explained with reference to CSMA / CA, but these examples are equally applicable to any type of channel access mechanism. The group of UEs 410 can compete for channels in the allocated one or more time slots. If the UE 410 obtains access to the channel (e.g., by implementing the CSMA / CA mechanism), the UE 410 can initiate the transmission of the frame.

[0058] The access node 420 or the central controller 430 may be able to learn the environment and use it, for example, to make decisions about time slot configurations, to influence the duration of access to the spectrum by UEs (e.g., layer 3 users of a SAS system) based on predetermined criteria, and to reduce the level of channel access requests by access nodes or UEs using time slot allocations, thereby improving resource utilization and system efficiency. For example, channel access by UE 410 within an allocated time slot using a CSMA / CA mechanism may be adaptively controlled by the access node 420 or the central controller 430 based on requirements such as throughput, latency, access rate, collisions, interference, power efficiency, requirements associated with subscription types, and the like.

[0059] Figure 5An example control unit 510 is shown, which is configured to adaptively set the time slot configuration and assign the UE 410 or the access node 420 to the time slot. The control unit 510 may include a packet controller 610 and an environment monitor 620, which will be referred to as Figure 6 The control unit 510 interacts with the TDMA-CSMA / CA function 520 to adaptively configure the time slots and allocate the UE 410 or the access node 420 to the time slots in different network situations based on certain criteria. In this example, the control unit 510 first selects Figure 5 The time slot configuration (C1) shown on the left side of FIG. 1 is then changed to the time slot configuration (C1) shown on the left side of FIG. 1 based on the changed network scenario. Figure 5 The time slot configuration (C2) shown on the right side of . The control unit 510 can consider certain criteria when determining the time slot configuration and assigning the UE 410 or access node 420 to the time slot, such as the UE's QoS requirements (e.g., the UE's conflict requirements or delay requirements), the interference level experienced on the channel, the number of UEs or access nodes in the system, etc.

[0060] As is known to all, as the amount of channel traffic increases, the efficiency of the CSMA / CA mechanism will be greatly reduced. According to the exemplary channel allocation scheme disclosed in this article, since the number of competing participants is reduced, the provided channel traffic will be reduced, thus improving the efficiency of the CSMA / CA mechanism.

[0061] The control unit 510 may be a software module configured to perform functions according to the examples disclosed herein, including determining a time slot configuration based on certain criteria and assigning the UE 410 to a time slot to maximize performance in the wireless communication system 400. In an example, the control unit 510 may be implemented using one or more processing units, one or more processing devices, any means for processing, any means for determining, any means for calculating (such as a processor, a computer, or a programmable hardware component that can be operated by correspondingly modified software). In other words, the described functions of the control unit 510 may also be implemented in software, which is executed on one or more programmable hardware components. Such hardware components may include a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a microcontroller, etc.

[0062] In one example, the control unit 510 may be included in the access node 420, and the access node 420 may implement time slot configuration and UE allocation based on certain criteria, i.e., the control unit 510 is included in the access node 420, so that the access node 420 makes time slot configuration and allocation decisions for the UE 410 connected to or requesting to be connected to the access node 420. The control unit 510 in the access node 420 may select and reselect time slot configurations, and adaptively allocate the UE 410 to a time slot based on the QoS requirements of the UE 410 or the network. The criteria that the control unit 510 may consider include, but are not limited to, throughput, data rate, collision, delay, robustness, network topology, interference, etc.

[0063] The control unit 510 may also determine, for example, based on the number of UEs allocated to the time slot, whether the UE 410 allocated to the time slot can access the channel without contention or through contention. For example, if more UEs (e.g., the number of UEs is greater than a threshold) are allocated to the same time slot, the UEs may access the channel through contention, and if fewer UEs (e.g., the number of UEs is equal to or less than a threshold) are allocated to the same time slot, the UEs may access the channel without contention.

[0064] The duration of the time slot may depend on the QoS requirements of the UE 410 assigned to the time slot. For example, a UE 410 with a high QoS requirement may be assigned to a longer time slot (comprising more basic time units), while a UE 410 with a lower QoS requirement may be assigned to a shorter time slot (comprising fewer basic time units). A UE that is rejected (e.g., by a Reject Request to Send (RRTS) message of an access point) may be assigned to a UE 410 with a low QoS requirement. For example, different priorities may be given to UEs 410 based on their subscription status, and UEs 410 may be assigned to different time slots based on the subscription-based priorities.

[0065] In one example, time slots may be classified based on their QoS requirements, such as low QoS requirement slots and high QoS requirement slots. For example, UEs previously rejected by an access node may be distributed over low QoS requirement slots to avoid performance degradation over high QoS requirement slots.

[0066] In another example, to solve the hidden node problem, the UEs 410 may be assigned to time slots based on the spatial distribution between the UEs 410. For example, geographically separated UEs 410 may be further assigned to different time slots. With this solution, since contention in a time slot may be reduced, the size of the contention window may be reduced, thereby improving contention-based access.

[0067] In yet another example, UEs with a specific QoS requirement below a predetermined threshold and UEs with a specific QoS requirement equal to or above the predetermined threshold may be grouped separately and allocated to different time slots. In another example, UEs with specific QoS requirements are grouped separately and allocated to different time slots. For example, the specific QoS requirement may be a conflict requirement or a delay requirement.

[0068] According to another example, the control unit 510 may be included in the central controller 430, and the central controller 430 may implement time slot configuration and allocation. For example, the central controller 430 may set the time slot configuration and allocate the access node 420 to the time slot based on certain criteria. In this example, the access node 420 may access the channel in the allocated time slot. The central controller 430 (e.g., a SAS controller) may implement the method to mitigate interference between access nodes.

[0069] In determining the time slot configuration and the allocation of access nodes 420 to time slots, the control unit 510 may consider the spatial distribution of the access nodes 420, the coverage of the access nodes 420, the priority of the access nodes 420, etc. For example, the control unit 510 may allocate access nodes 420 that are in close proximity to each other to different time slots to avoid interference, and may allocate access nodes 420 that are close to each other but have a small coverage area or access nodes 420 that are far apart to the same time slot.

[0070] For some QoS requirements, there may be a number of appropriate configuration options C m In an example, the adaptation is constructed in a way that allows to allocate different time slots to certain groups of access nodes 420 or UEs 410.

[0071] As described above, the channel is divided into a plurality of time slots, wherein each time slot comprises one or more basic time units in the system. There may be several potential time slot configurations that can be used to meet a particular (one or more) QoS requirements. The time slot configuration may be selected or determined by adapting to different QoS requirements at run time. The time slot configuration (C) that provides the best or better result to meet a particular QoS standard may be selected from a plurality of possible time slot configurations (C). m According to one example, the time slot configuration C may be selected or determined. m , to find the optimal strategy that maximizes the reward As shown below:

[0072]

[0073] where state s describes the desired criteria (e.g., collision, delay, throughput, interference, access rate, etc.), and action a is to select a specific time slot configuration (C) from multiple possible time slot configurations (C). m ), and r is the reward. The action-value function Q outputs the reward that can be obtained for the action a selected for the state s. The action-value function Q can specify the long-term value of action a. The above maximization of the action-value function Q specifies the goal of finding the action with the best value (or gain).

[0074] In one example, the reward r can be evaluated as follows:

[0075]

[0076] The parameter β can be selected according to a specific QoS criterion. For example, the parameter β can be the number of collisions that occur, the delay time for channel access, the throughput experienced by the UE, the interference level, the access rate, etc. The parameter β1 is the maximum value of β, and β2 is the minimum value of β that can cover the entire dynamic range of the parameter β. The parameters β0 and β3 (β0 and β3 can be the same value or different values) represent the boundaries for evaluating β as good or bad. In the case where the dynamic range of the parameter β0 is unknown, the reward can be defined as follows:

[0077]

[0078] For example, for the conflict requirement, when the number of conflicts that occur is below a certain threshold, the reward will be +1; and when the number of conflicts that occur is above the threshold, the reward will be -1. The action (e.g., selecting a specific time slot configuration) can be performed in the action that results in the maximum reward.

[0079] According to another example, in order to be able to adapt to different QoS requirements and evaluate them, measurements can be made in a general manner that combine multiple quantities in one parameter. For example, the reward r can be measured based on the occurrence of an event (E). When the QoS requirement is not met at UE 410, an event is caused at UE 410. For example, an event occurs when UE 410 experiences a conflict when accessing a channel using CSMA / CA. Alternatively, an event may occur when the delay experienced by UE 410 when accessing a channel is greater than a predetermined threshold. It is also possible to cause events at UE 410 for different QoS requirements. When UE 410 cannot obtain the required QoS (e.g., conflict, delay, throughput, etc.), an event is caused, and events of all UE 410 are collected. In this way, several requirements can be combined in an abstract manner to make the evaluation more effective.

[0080] Depending on the state s and the action a, the reward r can be evaluated as follows:

[0081] rt =ΔE t , where ΔE t =E t-1 -E t .

[0082] Reward t Corresponds to a change in events relative to a previous evaluation. The best action (eg, time slot configuration) may be the one that results in the fewest events.

[0083] In order to reward r t To evaluate the actions, the following learning method can be used to accumulate the function Q output, i.e., the reward obtainable for the action a chosen for the state s (e.g., the monitored QoS at the UE).

[0084] Q t (a) = Q t-1 (a)+α[r t -Q t-1 (a)].

[0085] The parameter α is the learning rate which affects the learning speed and can be used to adjust the convergence and stability of the optimization process.

[0086] To simplify the search for the best policy among multiple potential time slot configurations, a lookup table obtained by the learning method can be used to evaluate actions. Table 1 is an example lookup table that can be used to evaluate actions based on Q t Value to evaluate action a t .

[0087]

[0088] Table 1

[0089] For example, suppose there are four actions a0=C0, a1=C1, a2=C2, a3=C3, where C k is the kth configuration, and its rewards are shown in Table 2.

[0090] action <![CDATA[a0 / C0]]> <![CDATA[a1 / C1]]> <![CDATA[a2 / C2]]> <![CDATA[a3 / C3]]> award 1 -1 -1 1

[0091] Table 2

[0092] For example, the optimization process can be carried out as follows (where for each iteration, the table is updated to illustrate the evolution of Q, where the learning rate is 0.5):

[0093] Iteration 1:

[0094] Action a t :a0

[0095] Q t (a0) = Q t-1 (a0)+α[r t-Q t-1 (a0)] = 0 + 0.5 · [1 - 0] = 0.5

[0096]

[0097] Iteration 2:

[0098] Action a t :a3

[0099] Q t (a3) = Q t-1 (a3)+α[r t -Q t-1 (a3)] = 0 + 0.5 · [1 - 0] = 0.5

[0100]

[0101] Iteration 3:

[0102] Action a t :a0

[0103] Q t (a0) = Q t-1 (a0)+α[r t -Q t-1 (a0)]=0.5+0.5·[1-0.5]=0.75

[0104]

[0105] Iteration 4:

[0106] Action a t :a2

[0107] Q t (a2) = Q t-1 (a2)+α[r t -Q t-1 (a2)] = 0 + 0.5 · [-1 - 0] = -0.5

[0108]

[0109] Iteration 5:

[0110] Action a t :a1

[0111] Q t (a1) = Q t-1 (a1)+α[r t -Q t-1 (a1)] = 0 + 0.5 · [-1 - 0] = -0.5

[0112]

[0113] Iteration 6:

[0114] Action a t :a2

[0115] Q t (a2) = Q t-1 (a2)+α[r t -Q t-1 (a2)]=-0.5+0.5·[-1-(-0.5)]=-0.75

[0116]

[0117] In this example, since configurations C0 and C3 will give the best rewards, they will dominate after some iterations and the static operation C of the system is determined as follows m ,

[0118]

[0119] in is the strategy to follow.

[0120] Control unit 510 may include packet controller 610 and environment monitor 620. Packet controller 610 investigates the performance of UE 410 (eg, monitors the QoS experienced by UE 410) and finds optimal time slot configuration and UE allocation based on QoS requirements of UE 410 or access node 420.

[0121] Figure 6 An example interaction between a packet controller 610 and an environment monitor 620 is shown. The packet controller 610 interacts with the environment monitor 620 to find the best time slot configuration and device allocation scheme. The environment monitor 620 monitors the channel environment and sends feedback to the packet controller 610.

[0122] exist Figure 6 In the conversion function Describes the actions performed based on a t , The transition function may be unknown initially and can be learned through reinforcement. t After that, the environment changes from z t-1 to z t For example, z t The value of the event that represents the environment or conflict, that is, z t represents the parameter to be observed. By perturbing the variable x tModel interference from other systems (e.g., access points outside of control). The disturbance variable x t May affect the environment conversion function Thus affecting the state change. The reward function is Definition. Reward by For example, as described above, rewards can be evaluated based on changes in events in response to actions. To perform the determination of the environment state s t Therefore, the environmental state z t represents the external state space description, where the packet controller 610 uses s t Use an internal state space representation.

[0123] The policy function π selects action a based on the reward t , and π can be defined as follows:

[0124] π(s t , r t )=a t .

[0125] Figure 7 An example signaling diagram of the process of allocating a UE 410 to a time slot, updating the time slot configuration, and deallocating the UE 410 is shown. Figure 7 Three phases are shown, namely the allocation / registration phase, the evaluation phase, and the deregistration phase. It should be noted that these three phases do not necessarily follow the same Figure 7 The steps are performed in the order shown, and one or more of these stages may be performed separately and independently, may be performed in a different order, or may be omitted. For example, the allocation stage for a specific UE may be performed during or after the evaluation stage.

[0126] During the allocation / registration phase, UE 410 may send an allocation request (712) to control unit 510 (e.g., to an access node that covers the area where UE 410 is located). Control unit 510 responds to UE 410 with an allocation response (714). The allocation response may confirm the allocation request, or may reject the allocation request for some reason (e.g., unreachable). If UE 410 is rejected, UE 410 may request again after a certain waiting time. In the case of a successful registration, UE 410 obtains an allocation for a specific time slot and may access the channel using CSMA / CA in the allocated time slot.

[0127] In a specific time slot configuration, there may be different possibilities for allocating UEs to time slots. The allocation of UEs to time slots may change from time to time. The control unit 510 may evaluate the time slot configuration (e.g., periodically or based on a trigger), for example, based on how the UEs in the time slot affect each other's performance. For example, in order to evaluate, the control unit 510 (i.e., the packet controller 610 in the control unit 510) may request the UE 410 to report the occurrence of an event at the UE 410 according to the UE's QoS requirements (716). As described above, when the required criteria are not met at the UE 410, an event is caused. The packet controller 610 may receive an event report from the UE 410 (718). The packet controller 610 may find the best time slot allocation based on the event reported by the UE, and may send an update allocation request to the UE 410 (720). The UE 410 may send an update confirmation message to the control unit 510 (722). The packet controller 610 may update the allocated time slots to evaluate different allocation schemes. The evaluation phase may require several iterations to find the best allocation.

[0128] When UE 410 no longer needs to be connected to the network, UE 410 may send a deallocation request to control unit 510 (724). Control unit 410 may then respond with a deallocation response (726).

[0129] Another example is a computer program having a program code for performing at least one of the methods described herein, wherein the computer program is executed on a computer, a processor, a programmable hardware component, etc. Another example is a machine-readable storage device, which includes machine-readable instructions, which when executed are used to implement the method or implement the device as described herein. Another example is a machine-readable medium, which includes code, which when executed causes the machine to perform any method described herein.

[0130] The computer program may include program code for selecting a time slot configuration, wherein, according to the selected time slot configuration, a channel is divided into multiple time slots in the time domain; wireless communication devices are grouped into multiple groups based on QoS requirements of the wireless communication devices; a group of wireless communication devices is assigned to the time slot, wherein the group of wireless communication devices access the channel using a CSMA / CA mechanism; the QoS at the wireless communication device is monitored; and a new time slot configuration is selected based on the monitored QoS.

[0131] The examples described in this article can be summarized as follows:

[0132] Example 1 is a method for controlling channel access of multiple wireless communication devices. The method includes: selecting a resource slot configuration, wherein a channel is divided into multiple resource slots according to the selected resource slot configuration; grouping the wireless communication devices into multiple groups based on QoS requirements of the wireless communication devices; allocating a group of wireless communication devices to a resource slot, wherein the group of wireless communication devices accesses the channel using a channel access mechanism; monitoring the QoS experienced by the wireless communication devices; and selecting a new resource slot configuration based on the monitored QoS.

[0133] Example 2 is the method of Example 1, wherein the new resource slot configuration is selected from a plurality of potential resource slot configurations.

[0134] Example 3 is the method of Example 1, wherein the monitored QoS is accumulated over time, and wherein a learning method is applied to accumulate the monitored QoS.

[0135] Example 4 is the method of Example 3, wherein a lookup table obtained according to the learning method is used to estimate the plurality of potential resource slot configurations.

[0136] Example 5 is the method of any of Examples 1-4, wherein the resource slot configuration is selected by an AP of a wireless local area network, and the wireless communication device is a user device associated with the AP.

[0137] Example 6 is the method of Example 5, wherein a user equipment operates as the AP.

[0138] Example 7 is the method of any of Examples 1-4, wherein wireless communication devices having specific QoS requirements below a predetermined threshold and wireless communication devices having specific QoS requirements equal to or above a predetermined threshold are grouped separately.

[0139] Example 8 is a method according to any one of Examples 1-4, wherein wireless communication devices with specific QoS requirements are grouped separately and allocated in separate resource slots, wherein the specific QoS requirements are contention requirements or delay requirements.

[0140] Example 9 is the method of any of Examples 1-4, wherein the resource slot configuration is selected by a network controller and the wireless communication device is an AP of a wireless local area network.

[0141] Example 10 is the method of Example 9, wherein the UE operates as an AP.

[0142] Example 11 is the method of Example 9, wherein the AP is assigned to the resource slot based on at least one of a geographic distance to a neighbor AP and a size of a coverage area of ​​the AP.

[0143] Example 12 is a method described in any one of Examples 1-4, wherein each of the wireless communication devices belongs to a specific layer according to the priority of accessing the channel in a spectrum sharing mechanism, and a group of wireless communication devices belonging to the specific layer is allocated to a specific resource slot to control the access duration of the group of wireless communication devices.

[0144] Example 13 is the method of any of Examples 1-4, wherein the resource slots into which the channel is divided are defined as time slots, frequency slots, antenna polarization slots, MIMO slots, space slots, or any combination thereof.

[0145] Example 14 is the method of any one of Examples 1-4, wherein the channel access mechanism is a distributed channel access mechanism.

[0146] Example 15 is the method of Example 14, wherein the channel access mechanism is CSMA / CA.

[0147] Example 16 is the method of any of Examples 1-4, wherein the QoS requirement comprises at least one of: a conflict requirement, a delay requirement, a power efficiency requirement, or a subscription type requirement.

[0148] Example 17 is a network device for controlling channel access of multiple wireless communication devices. The network device includes: an environment monitor configured to monitor the QoS experienced by the wireless communication devices; and a group controller configured to select a resource slot configuration, wherein a channel is divided into a plurality of resource slots according to the selected resource slot configuration, the wireless communication devices are grouped into a plurality of groups based on the QoS requirements of the wireless communication devices, a group of wireless communication devices are assigned to a resource slot, wherein the group of wireless communication devices access the channel using a channel access mechanism, and a new resource slot configuration is selected based on the QoS at the monitored wireless communication devices.

[0149] Example 18 is the network device of Example 17, wherein the new resource slot configuration is selected from a plurality of potential resource slot configurations.

[0150] Example 19 is the network device of Example 17, wherein the monitored QoS is accumulated over time, and wherein a learning method is applied to accumulate the monitored QoS.

[0151] Example 20 is the network device of Example 19, wherein the lookup table obtained according to the learning method is used to estimate the multiple potential resource slot configurations.

[0152] Example 21 is the network device of any one of Examples 17-20, wherein the network device is an AP of a wireless local area network, and the wireless communication device is a user device associated with the AP, and the resource slot configuration is selected by the AP.

[0153] Example 22 is the network device of Example 21, wherein a user device operates as the AP.

[0154] Example 23 is the network device of any of Examples 17-20, wherein wireless communication devices having specific QoS requirements below a predetermined threshold and wireless communication devices having specific QoS requirements equal to or above a predetermined threshold are grouped separately.

[0155] Example 24 is the network device of any of Examples 17-20, wherein wireless communication devices with specific QoS requirements are grouped separately and allocated in separate resource slots, wherein the specific QoS requirements are conflict requirements or delay requirements.

[0156] Example 25 is a network device described in any one of Examples 17-20, wherein the network device is a control entity in a network, the wireless communication device is an AP of a wireless local area network controlled by the control entity, and the resource slot configuration is selected by the control entity.

[0157] Example 26 is the network device of Example 25, wherein the user equipment operates as an AP.

[0158] Example 27 is the network device of Example 25, wherein the AP is assigned to the resource slot based on at least one of a geographic distance to a neighbor AP and a size of a coverage area of ​​the AP.

[0159] Example 28 is a network device described in any of Examples 17-20, wherein each of the wireless communication devices belongs to a specific layer according to the priority of accessing the channel in a spectrum sharing mechanism, and the group controller allocates a group of wireless communication devices belonging to the specific layer to a specific resource slot to control the access duration of the group of wireless communication devices.

[0160] Example 29 is the network device of any of Examples 17-20, wherein the resource slots into which the channel is divided are defined as time slots, frequency slots, antenna polarization slots, MIMO slots, space slots, or any combination thereof.

[0161] Example 30 is the network device of any one of Examples 17-20, wherein the channel access mechanism is a distributed channel access mechanism.

[0162] Example 31 is the network device of Example 30, wherein the channel access mechanism is CSMA / CA.

[0163] Example 32 is the network device of any of Examples 17-20, wherein the QoS requirement includes at least one of: a conflict requirement, a delay requirement, a power efficiency requirement, or a subscription type requirement.

[0164] Example 33 is an apparatus for controlling channel access of a plurality of wireless communication devices. The apparatus comprises: means for selecting a resource slot configuration, wherein a channel is divided into a plurality of resource slots according to the selected resource slot configuration; means for grouping the wireless communication devices into a plurality of groups based on their QoS requirements; means for assigning a group of wireless communication devices to a resource slot, wherein the group of wireless communication devices access the channel using a channel access mechanism; means for monitoring the QoS experienced by the wireless communication devices; and means for selecting a new resource slot configuration based on the monitored QoS.

[0165] Example 34 is the device of Example 33, wherein the device is an AP.

[0166] Example 35 is the device described in Example 33, wherein the device is a UE.

[0167] Example 36 is the apparatus of any of Examples 33-35, wherein the resource slots into which the channel is divided are defined as time slots, frequency slots, antenna polarization slots, MIMO slots, space slots, or any combination thereof.

[0168] Example 37 is the apparatus of any of Examples 33-35, wherein the channel access mechanism is a distributed channel access mechanism.

[0169] Example 38 is the apparatus of Example 37, wherein the channel access mechanism is CSMA / CA.

[0170] Example 39 is the device of Example 38, wherein the wireless communication device uses CSMA / CA to access the channel.

[0171] Example 40 is the apparatus of any of Examples 33-35, wherein the QoS requirement comprises at least one of: a conflict requirement, a delay requirement, a power efficiency requirement, or a subscription type requirement.

[0172] Example 41 is a computer program having a program code for performing the method of at least one of Examples 1 to 16 when the computer program is executed on a computer, a processor or a programmable hardware component.

[0173] Example 42 is a machine-readable storage device comprising machine-readable instructions, which when executed are used to implement the method of at least one of Examples 1-16.

[0174] Example 43 is a machine-readable medium comprising code, which when executed causes the machine to perform the method of any one of Examples 1 to 16.

[0175] Example 44 is a network controller configured to perform the method of any of Examples 1-16.

[0176] Example 45 is a machine-readable medium comprising code that, when executed, causes a machine to perform a method comprising: selecting a resource slot configuration, wherein a channel is divided into a plurality of resource slots according to the selected resource slot configuration; grouping the wireless communication devices into a plurality of groups based on QoS requirements of the wireless communication devices; allocating a group of wireless communication devices to a resource slot, wherein the group of wireless communication devices access the channel using a channel access mechanism; monitoring the QoS experienced by the wireless communication devices; and selecting a new resource slot configuration based on the monitored QoS.

[0177] Example 46 is an integrated circuit (IC) for controlling channel access of multiple wireless communication devices. The IC includes: means for selecting a resource slot configuration, wherein a channel is divided into multiple resource slots according to the selected resource slot configuration; means for grouping the wireless communication devices into multiple groups based on their QoS requirements; means for assigning a group of wireless communication devices to a resource slot, wherein the group of wireless communication devices access the channel using a channel access mechanism; means for monitoring the QoS experienced by the wireless communication devices; and means for selecting a new resource slot configuration based on the monitored QoS.

[0178] The aspects and features mentioned and described and one or more of the previously described detailed examples and figures may also be combined with one or more other examples, to replace similar features of another example or to otherwise introduce features into the other examples.

[0179] When the computer program is executed on a computer or processor, the example may further be or relate to a computer program with a program code for performing one or more of the above methods. The steps, operations or processes of various above methods may be performed by a programmed computer or processor. The example may also cover a program storage device, such as a digital data storage medium that is readable by a machine, a processor or a computer and encodes a machine executable program, a processor executable program or a computer executable program of an instruction. The instruction executes or causes some or all of the actions of the above method to be performed. The program storage device may include or may be, for example, a digital memory, a magnetic storage medium such as a disk and a tape, a hard drive or an optically readable digital data storage medium. Further examples may also cover a computer, a processor or a control unit programmed to perform the actions of the above method, or a (field) programmable logic array ((F)PLA) or a (field) programmable gate array ((F)PGA) programmed to perform the actions of the above method.

[0180] The description and drawings illustrate only the principles of the present disclosure. In addition, all examples listed herein are in principle explicitly intended only for teaching purposes to help readers understand the principles of the present disclosure and the contributions made by (one or more) inventors to further develop the art. All statements citing the principles, aspects and examples of the present disclosure and their specific examples herein are intended to cover their equivalents.

[0181] A functional block that performs a specific function as "means for..." may refer to a circuit configured to perform the specific function. Therefore, "means for..." may be implemented as "means configured for or suitable for something", such as a device or circuit configured for or suitable for a corresponding task.

[0182] The functions of the various elements shown in the drawings, including any functional blocks labeled as "means", "means for providing sensor signals", "means for generating transmission signals", etc., can be implemented in the form of dedicated hardware (such as "signal providers", "signal processing units", "processors", "controllers", etc.) and hardware capable of executing software in association with appropriate software. When provided by a processor, the functions can be provided by a single dedicated processor, a single shared processor, or multiple separate processors, some or all of which can be shared. However, the term "processor" or "controller" is not limited to hardware that is specifically capable of executing software, but can also include digital signal processor (DSP) hardware, network processors, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), read-only memories (ROMs) for storing software, random access memories (RAMs), and non-volatile storage devices. Other conventional and / or customized hardware may also be included.

[0183] Block diagrams may, for example, illustrate high-level circuit diagrams that implement the principles of the present disclosure. Similarly, flow charts, flow diagrams, state transition diagrams, pseudocodes, etc. may represent various processes, operations, or steps, which may be substantially represented in a computer-readable medium and thus executed by a computer or processor, whether or not such a computer or processor is explicitly shown. The methods disclosed in the specification or claims may be implemented by a device having means for performing the corresponding actions of these methods.

[0184] It should be understood that the disclosure of multiple actions, processes, operations, steps, or functions disclosed in the specification or claims may not be interpreted as being in a specific order, unless explicitly or implicitly indicated for example for technical reasons. Therefore, disclosing multiple actions or functions will not limit them to a specific order, unless these actions or functions are not interchangeable for technical reasons. In addition, in some examples, a single action, function, process, operation, or step may include or may be decomposed into multiple sub-actions, sub-functions, sub-processes, sub-operations, or sub-steps, respectively. Unless explicitly excluded, such sub-actions may be included in the disclosure of a single action and may be a part of the disclosure of the single action.

[0185] In addition, the attached claims are hereby incorporated into the detailed description, where each claim can stand alone as a separate example. Although each claim can stand alone as a separate example, it should be noted that although a dependent claim may refer to a specific combination with one or more other claims in a claim, other examples may also include a combination of the dependent right with the subject matter of each other independent or dependent claim. Unless it is stated that a specific combination is not intended, such a combination is explicitly proposed herein. In addition, it is intended that features of a claim are also included in any other independent claim, even if the claim is not directly dependent on the independent claim.

Claims

1. A method for controlling channel access of a plurality of wireless communication devices, the method comprising: selecting a resource slot configuration, wherein the channel is divided into a plurality of resource slots according to the selected resource slot configuration; grouping the wireless communication devices into a plurality of groups based on quality of service (QoS) requirements of the wireless communication devices; allocating a group of wireless communication devices to a resource slot, wherein the group of wireless communication devices access the channel using a channel access mechanism; monitoring the QoS experienced by the wireless communication device; and Based on the monitored QoS, a new resource slot configuration is selected.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The new resource slot configuration is selected from a plurality of potential resource slot configurations.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The monitored QoS is accumulated over time, wherein a learning method is applied to accumulate the monitored QoS.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein: The resource slot configuration is selected by an access point (AP) of a wireless local area network, and the wireless communication device is a user equipment associated with the AP.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein: The user equipment operates as the AP.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein: The resource slot configuration is selected by a network controller, and the wireless communication device is an access point (AP) of a wireless local area network.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein: A user equipment (UE) operates as an AP.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein: Each of the wireless communication devices belongs to a specific layer according to a priority of accessing the channel in a spectrum sharing mechanism, and a group of wireless communication devices belonging to the specific layer are allocated to a specific resource slot to control access duration of the group of wireless communication devices.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein: The resource slots into which the channels are divided are defined as time slots, frequency slots, antenna polarization slots, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) slots, space slots, or any combination thereof.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein: The channel access mechanism is Carrier Sense Multiple Access / Collision Avoidance (CSMA / CA).

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein: The QoS requirement includes at least one of the following: a conflict requirement, a delay requirement, a power efficiency requirement, or a subscription type requirement.

12. A network device for controlling channel access of a plurality of wireless communication devices, the network device comprising: an environmental monitor configured to monitor a quality of service (QoS) experienced by a wireless communication device; as well as A grouping controller is configured to select a resource slot configuration, wherein a channel is divided into a plurality of resource slots according to the selected resource slot configuration, group the wireless communication devices into a plurality of groups based on QoS requirements of the wireless communication devices, assign a group of wireless communication devices to a resource slot, wherein the group of wireless communication devices access the channel using a channel access mechanism, and select a new resource slot configuration based on the monitored QoS at the wireless communication devices.

13. The network device according to claim 12, wherein: The new resource slot configuration is selected from a plurality of potential resource slot configurations.

14. The network device according to claim 12, wherein: The monitored QoS is accumulated over time, wherein a learning method is applied to accumulate the monitored QoS.

15. The network device according to any one of claims 12 to 14, wherein: The network device is an access point (AP) of a wireless local area network, the wireless communication device is a user equipment associated with the AP, and the resource slot configuration is selected by the AP.

16. The network device according to claim 15, wherein: The user equipment operates as the AP.

17. The network device according to any one of claims 12 to 14, wherein: The network device is a control entity in a network, the wireless communication device is an access point (AP) of a wireless local area network controlled by the control entity, and the resource slot configuration is selected by the control entity.

18. The network device according to claim 17, wherein: The user equipment operates as an AP.

19. According to the network device described in any one of claims 12-14, each of the wireless communication devices belongs to a specific layer according to the priority of accessing the channel in the spectrum sharing mechanism, and the group controller allocates a group of wireless communication devices belonging to the specific layer to a specific resource slot to control the access duration of the group of wireless communication devices.

20. The network device according to any one of claims 12 to 14, wherein: The resource slots into which the channels are divided are defined as time slots, frequency slots, antenna polarization slots, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) slots, space slots, or any combination thereof.

21. The network device according to any one of claims 12 to 14, wherein: The channel access mechanism is Carrier Sense Multiple Access / Collision Avoidance (CSMA / CA).

22. The network device according to any one of claims 12 to 14, wherein: The QoS requirement includes at least one of the following: a conflict requirement, a delay requirement, a power efficiency requirement, or a subscription type requirement.

23. An apparatus for controlling channel access of a plurality of wireless communication devices, the apparatus comprising: means for selecting a resource slot configuration, wherein the channel is divided into a plurality of resource slots according to the selected resource slot configuration; means for grouping wireless communication devices into a plurality of groups based on quality of service (QoS) requirements of the wireless communication devices; means for allocating a group of wireless communication devices to a resource slot, wherein the group of wireless communication devices access the channel using a channel access mechanism; means for monitoring the QoS experienced by the wireless communication device; and Means for selecting a new resource slot configuration based on the monitored QoS.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein: The resource slots into which the channels are divided are defined as time slots, frequency slots, antenna polarization slots, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) slots, space slots, or any combination thereof.

25. The apparatus according to any one of claims 23-24, wherein: The QoS requirement includes at least one of the following: a conflict requirement, a delay requirement, a power efficiency requirement, or a subscription type requirement.

26. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions, which, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11.

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