5G New Radio shared between priority access grant and general authorized access communications

Abstract

Sharing between Priority Access License (PAL) and General Authorized Access (GAA) communications in a 5G New Radio (NR) system in 3.5 GHz Spectrum Access System (SAS) / Licensed Shared Access (LSA) operation is disclosed. A resource configuration may be defined that identifies a plurality of Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) resources, the SRS resources comprising at least a sounding set of SRS resources and a coexistence set of SRS resources. When communication may occur between PAL entities, a base station sends a trigger signal to a served UE. The UE sends an SRS using the coexistence set of SRS resources in response to the trigger signal. The SRS on the resource coexistence set may be reserved for communication on a shared communication channel.

Description

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Patent Application No. 16 / 445,001, filed on June 18, 2019, and entitled “5G New Radio Shared Between Priority Access Grant and General Authorized Access Communications,” and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 687,510, filed on June 20, 2018, and entitled “5G NR at 3.5 GHz Shared Between PAL and GAA Communications,” the entire contents of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0003] Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless communication systems, and more particularly to 5G New Radio (NR) systems shared between Priority Access License (PAL) and General Authorized Access (GAA) communications. Background Art

[0004] Wireless communication networks are widely deployed to provide various communication services, such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcasting, etc. These wireless networks can be multiple access networks that support multiple users by sharing available network resources. Such networks, which are usually multiple access networks, support the communication of multiple users by sharing available network resources. An example of such a network is the Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN). UTRAN is a radio access network (RAN) defined as a part of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), and UMTS is a third generation (3G) mobile phone technology supported by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). Examples of multiple access network formats include code division multiple access (CDMA) networks, time division multiple access (TDMA) networks, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) networks, orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) networks, and single carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) networks.

[0005] A wireless communication network may include multiple base stations or Node Bs that can support communications for multiple user equipments (UEs). A UE may communicate with a base station via a downlink and an uplink. A downlink (or forward link) refers to the communication link from a base station to a UE, while an uplink (or reverse link) refers to the communication link from a UE to a base station.

[0006] The base station may send data and control information to the UE on the downlink and / or may receive data and control information from the UE on the uplink. On the downlink, the transmission from the base station may encounter interference caused by transmissions from neighboring base stations or from other wireless radio frequency (RF) transmitters. On the uplink, the transmission from the UE may encounter interference from uplink transmissions of other UEs communicating with neighboring base stations or from other wireless RF transmitters. This interference can reduce performance on the downlink and uplink.

[0007] As the demand for mobile broadband access continues to grow, the potential for interference and congested networks increases as more UEs access long-range wireless communication networks and more short-range wireless systems are deployed in communities. Research and development continues to advance wireless technologies to not only meet the growing demand for mobile broadband access, but also to improve and enhance the user's mobile communication experience.

[0008] As demand for mobile broadband access increases, additional spectrum has been opened up for shared communications at frequencies that were previously restricted to dedicated licensed uses, government uses, or military uses. In one example of such additional spectrum, the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) spectrum around 3.5 GHz has been opened up for shared access under new tiered access permissions and procedures. This sharing scheme may be referred to as a Spectrum Access System (SAS) or Licensed Shared Access (LSA). Other procedures and improvements may be implemented to enhance mobile communications using this shared spectrum. Summary of the invention

[0009] In one aspect of the present disclosure, a method for wireless communication includes: obtaining, by a UE, a resource configuration, wherein the resource configuration identifies a plurality of sounding reference signal (SRS) resources, the SRS resources including at least a sounding set of SRS resources and a coexistence set of SRS resources; receiving, by the UE, a trigger signal from a serving base station on a shared spectrum shared among at least one or more priority licensed users; in response to the trigger signal, sending, by the UE, the SRS using the coexistence set of SRS resources; and communicating, by the UE with the serving base station.

[0010] In another aspect of the present disclosure, a method for wireless communication includes: determining, by a base station, a communication operation between the base station and one or more served UEs; monitoring, by the base station, a radio frequency (RF) energy on a communication channel at the beginning of a listen-before-talk (LBT) window of a current frame in a shared spectrum shared between at least one or more opportunistic generally authorized users, wherein the monitoring occurs after the base station performs a backoff operation; sending, by the base station, an LBT trigger signal in response to not detecting RF energy above a minimum energy threshold at the beginning of the LBT window; receiving, by the base station, an LBT trigger response signal from one or more served UEs, wherein for the remainder of the LBT window, the RF energy on the communication channel remains above the minimum energy threshold, and communicating with the one or more UEs during a channel occupancy time (COT) of the current frame after the LBT window.

[0011] In another aspect of the present disclosure, an apparatus configured for wireless communication includes: a component for obtaining a resource configuration by a UE, wherein the resource configuration identifies a plurality of SRS resources, the SRS resources including at least a detection set of SRS resources and a coexistence set of SRS resources; a component for receiving a trigger signal by the UE from a serving base station on a shared spectrum shared between at least one or more priority licensed users; a component for sending an SRS by the UE using the coexistence set of SRS resources in response to the trigger signal; and a component for communicating by the UE with the serving base station.

[0012] In another aspect of the present disclosure, an apparatus configured for wireless communication includes: a component for determining, by a base station, communication operations between the base station and one or more served UEs; a component for monitoring, by the base station, RF energy on a communication channel at the beginning of an LBT window of a current frame in a shared spectrum shared between at least one or more opportunistic general authorized users, wherein the component for monitoring occurs after the base station performs a backoff operation; a component for sending, by the base station, an LBT trigger signal in response to not detecting RF energy above a minimum energy threshold at the beginning of the LBT window; a component for receiving, by the base station, an LBT trigger response signal from one or more served UEs, wherein the RF energy on the communication channel remains above the minimum energy threshold for the remainder of the LBT window; and a component for communicating, by the base station, with one or more UEs during a COT period of the current frame after the LBT window.

[0013] In another aspect of the present disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable medium having program code recorded thereon. The program code also includes: code for obtaining a resource configuration by a UE, wherein the resource configuration identifies a plurality of SRS resources, the SRS resources including at least a detection set of SRS resources and a coexistence set of SRS resources; code for receiving a trigger signal from a serving base station on a shared spectrum shared between at least one or more priority licensed users by the UE; code for sending an SRS by the UE using the coexistence set of SRS resources in response to the trigger signal; and code for communicating by the UE with the serving base station.

[0014] In another aspect of the present disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable medium having program code recorded thereon. The program code also includes: code for determining, by a base station, a communication operation between the base station and one or more served UEs; code for monitoring, by the base station, the RF energy on the communication channel at the beginning of the LBT window of the current frame in the shared spectrum shared between at least one or more opportunistic general authorized users, wherein the code for monitoring is executed after the base station performs a backoff operation; code for sending an LBT trigger signal by the base station in response to not detecting RF energy above a minimum energy threshold at the beginning of the LBT window; code for receiving an LBT trigger response signal by the base station from one or more served UEs, wherein the RF energy on the communication channel remains above the minimum energy threshold for the remainder of the LBT window; and code for communicating with one or more UEs by the base station during the COT of the current frame after the LBT window.

[0015] In another aspect of the present disclosure, a device configured for wireless communication is disclosed. The device includes at least one processor and a memory coupled to the processor. The processor is configured to: obtain a resource configuration by a UE, wherein the resource configuration identifies a plurality of SRS resources, the SRS resources at least including a detection set of SRS resources and a coexistence set of SRS resources; receive a trigger signal from a serving base station on a shared spectrum shared between at least one or more priority licensed users by the UE; send an SRS by the UE using the coexistence set of SRS resources in response to the trigger signal; and communicate by the UE with the serving base station.

[0016] In another aspect of the present disclosure, a device configured for wireless communication is disclosed. The device includes at least one processor and a memory coupled to the processor. The processor is configured to: determine, by a base station, a communication operation between the base station and one or more served UEs; monitor, by the base station, the RF energy on the communication channel at the beginning of the LBT window of the current frame in the shared spectrum shared between at least one or more opportunistic general authorized users, wherein the configuration for monitoring is performed after the base station performs a backoff operation; in response to not detecting RF energy above a minimum energy threshold at the beginning of the LBT window, send an LBT trigger signal by the base station; receive an LBT trigger response signal from one or more served UEs by the base station, wherein the RF energy on the communication channel remains above the minimum energy threshold for the remainder of the LBT window; and communicate with one or more UEs by the base station during the COT of the current frame after the LBT window.

[0017] The foregoing has broadly outlined the features and technical advantages of the examples according to the present disclosure in an effort to make the following detailed description better understood. Additional features and advantages will be described below. The disclosed concepts and specific examples can be easily used as the basis for modifying or designing other structures for implementing the same purpose of the present disclosure. Such equivalent constructions do not depart from the scope of the appended claims. In conjunction with the accompanying drawings, the following description will better understand the characteristics of the concepts disclosed herein in terms of their organization and operating methods and the related advantages. Each figure is provided for illustration and description purposes and does not define limitations on the claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] A further understanding of the nature and advantages of the present disclosure may be achieved by reference to the following drawings. In the drawings, similar components or features may have the same reference numerals. In addition, individual components of the same type may be distinguished by following the reference numeral with a dash and a second reference numeral that distinguishes between similar components. If only the first reference numeral is used in the specification, the description may apply to any of the similar components having the same first reference numeral, regardless of the second reference numeral.

[0019] Figure 1 is a block diagram illustrating details of a wireless communication system.

[0020] Figure 2 is a block diagram illustrating a design of a base station and a UE configured according to an aspect of the present disclosure.

[0021] Figure 3 is a block diagram illustrating a wireless communication system including a base station using directional wireless beams.

[0022] Figure 4is a block diagram illustrating shared communications between PAL users over the CBRS spectrum.

[0023] Figure 5 is a block diagram illustrating example blocks executed to implement an aspect of the present disclosure.

[0024] Figure 6 is a block diagram illustrating shared communications between network entities of two PAL operators, where the network entities are configured according to an aspect of the present disclosure.

[0025] Figure 7 is a block diagram illustrating time division multiplexing (TDM) sharing of a shared frequency band by a base station and a UE respectively operated by two different operators, and each is configured according to an aspect of the present disclosure.

[0026] Figure 8 is a block diagram illustrating shared communications between network entities of two PAL operators, the network entities being configured according to an aspect of the present disclosure.

[0027] Fig. 9 is a block diagram illustrating example blocks executed to implement an aspect of the present disclosure.

[0028] Fig.10 is a block diagram illustrating GAA users of Operator 1 and Operator 2 and shared access to a 3.5 GHz band communication network, each configured according to an aspect of the present disclosure.

[0029] Fig.11 is a block diagram illustrating a sharing scheme for sharing spectrum between multiple PAL users and multiple GAA users, each of which is configured according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0030] Fig.12 is a block diagram illustrating a UE configured according to an aspect of the present disclosure.

[0031] Fig.13 is a block diagram illustrating a base station configured according to an aspect of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] The detailed description set forth below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings is intended as a description of various configurations and is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Instead, this detailed description includes specific details in order to provide a thorough understanding of the subject matter of the present invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that these specific details are not required in every case, and in some instances, for clarity of presentation, well-known structures and components are shown in block diagram form.

[0033] The present disclosure generally relates to providing or participating in authorized shared access between two or more wireless communication systems (also referred to as wireless communication networks). In various embodiments, the techniques and devices can be used for wireless communication networks, such as code division multiple access (CDMA) networks, time division multiple access (TDMA) networks, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) networks, orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) networks, single carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) networks, LTE networks, GSM networks, fifth generation (5G) or new radio (NR) networks, and other communication networks. As described herein, the terms "network" and "system" can be used interchangeably.

[0034] OFDMA networks can implement radio technologies such as Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.16, IEEE802.20, Flash OFDM, etc. UTRA, E-UTRA, and Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) are part of Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). Specifically, Long Term Evolution (LTE) is a version of UMTS that uses E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, GSM, UMTS, and LTE are described in documents provided by an organization named "3rd Generation Partnership Project" (3GPP), while cdma2000 is described in documents from an organization named "3rd Generation Partnership Project 2" (3GPP2). These various radio technologies and standards are known or under development. For example, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is a collaboration between various telecommunications association groups that aims to define globally applicable third generation (3G) mobile phone specifications. 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) is a 3GPP project aimed at improving the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) mobile phone standard. 3GPP may define specifications for next generation mobile networks, mobile systems, and mobile devices. The present disclosure focuses on the evolution of wireless technologies from LTE, 4G, 5G, NR, and beyond with shared access to wireless spectrum between networks using a set of new and different radio access technologies or radio air interfaces.

[0035] Specifically, 5G networks envision a variety of deployments, a variety of spectrums, and a variety of services and devices that can be implemented using a unified OFDM-based air interface. To achieve these goals, in addition to developing new radio technologies for 5G NR networks, further enhancements to LTE and LTE-A are also considered. 5G NR will be able to scale to provide coverage for: (1) Ultra-high density (e.g., ~1M nodes / km) 2), ultra-low complexity (e.g., ~10s of bits / second), ultra-low energy (e.g., ~10+ years of battery life), and deep coverage capable of reaching challenging locations; (2) mission-critical control including strong security (to protect sensitive personal, financial, or classified information), ultra-high reliability (e.g., ~99.9999% reliability), ultra-low latency (e.g., ~1ms), and users with a wide range of mobility or lack of mobility; and (3) enhanced mobile broadband including extremely high capacity (e.g., ~10Tbps / km 2 ), extreme data rates (e.g., multi-Gbps rates, 100+Mbps user experience rates), and deep cognition with advanced discovery and optimization.

[0036] 5G NR can be implemented to: use an optimized OFDM-based waveform with scalable parameter sets and transmission time intervals (TTIs); have a common, flexible framework to efficiently multiplex services and features using dynamic, low-latency time division duplex (TDD) / frequency division duplex (FDD) designs; and have advanced wireless technologies such as massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), robust millimeter wave (mmWave) transmission, advanced channel coding, and device-centric mobility. The scalability of parameter sets in 5G NR (and the scaling of subcarrier spacing) can efficiently solve the problem of operating various services across various spectrums and various deployments. For example, in various outdoor and macro coverage deployments less than 3GHz FDD / TDD implementations, the subcarrier spacing can occur at 15kHz, such as on bandwidths of 1, 5, 10, 20MHz, etc. For other various outdoor and small cell coverage deployments of TDD greater than 3GHz, the subcarrier spacing can occur at 30kHz on a bandwidth of 80 / 100MHz. For various other indoor broadband implementations, this subcarrier spacing can occur at 60kHz over a 160MHz bandwidth using TDD on the unlicensed portion of the 5GHz band. Finally, for various deployments using mmWave components to transmit at 28GHz TDD, the subcarrier spacing can occur at 120kHz over a 500MHz bandwidth.

[0037] 5G NR's scalable parameter set facilitates scalable TTI to meet various latency and quality of service (QoS) requirements. For example, shorter TTIs can be used for low latency and high reliability, while longer TTIs can be used for higher spectral efficiency. Efficient multiplexing of long and short TTIs allows transmission to start on symbol boundaries. 5G NR also contemplates a self-contained integrated subframe design with uplink / downlink scheduling information, data, and acknowledgment in the same subframe. The self-contained integrated subframe supports communications in unlicensed or contention-based shared spectrum, adaptive uplink / downlink that can be flexibly configured on a per-cell basis to dynamically switch between uplink and downlink to meet current business needs.

[0038] Various other aspects and features of the present disclosure are further described below. It should be apparent that the teachings herein can be embodied in a variety of forms, and any specific structure, function, or both disclosed herein are only representative and not restrictive. Based on the teachings herein, it should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the aspects disclosed herein can be implemented independently of any other aspects and two or more of these aspects can be combined in various ways. For example, any number of aspects set forth herein can be used to implement a device or practice a method. In addition, other structures, functions, or structures and functions that supplement or replace one or more aspects set forth herein can be used to implement such a device or practice such a method. For example, the method can be implemented as a part of a system, device, device, and / or as an instruction stored on a computer-readable medium for execution on a processor or computer. In addition, an aspect can include at least one element of a claim.

[0039] Figure 1 1 is a block diagram illustrating a 5G network 100 including various base stations and UEs configured according to various aspects of the present disclosure. The 5G network 100 includes multiple base stations 105 and other network entities. A base station may be a station that communicates with a UE and may also be referred to as an evolved Node B (eNB), a next generation eNB (gNB), an access point, etc. Each base station 105 may provide communication coverage for a specific geographic area. In 3GPP, the term "cell" may refer to such a specific geographic coverage area of ​​a base station and / or a base station subsystem serving the coverage area, depending on the context in which the term is used.

[0040] A base station may provide communication coverage for a macro cell or a small cell (such as a pico cell or a femto cell) and / or other types of cells. A macro cell generally covers a relatively large geographic area (e.g., an area of ​​several kilometers in radius) and may allow unrestricted access by UEs that have a service subscription with a network provider. A small cell (such as a pico cell) generally covers a relatively small geographic area and may allow unrestricted access by UEs that have a service subscription with a network provider. A small cell (such as a femto cell) generally also covers a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a residence) and may provide restricted access to UEs associated with the femto cell (e.g., UEs in a closed subscriber group (CSG), UEs of users in the residence, etc.) in addition to unrestricted access. A base station for a macro cell may be referred to as a macro base station. A base station for a small cell may be referred to as a small cell base station, a pico base station, a femto base station, or a home base station. In Figure 1 In the example shown, base stations 105d and 105e are conventional macro base stations, while base stations 105a-105c are macro base stations with one of 3D, full dimensional (FD), or massive MIMO enabled. Base stations 105a-105c utilize their higher dimensional MIMO capabilities to increase coverage and capacity using 3D beamforming in elevation and azimuth beamforming. Base station 105f is a small cell base station, which can be a home node or a portable access point. The base station can support one or more (e.g., two, three, four, etc.) cells.

[0041] The 5G network 100 may support synchronous or asynchronous operation. For synchronous operation, each base station may have similar frame timing, and transmissions from different base stations may be approximately aligned in time. For asynchronous operation, each base station may have different frame timing, and transmissions from different base stations may not be aligned in time.

[0042] UE 115 is scattered throughout the wireless network 100, and each UE can be stationary or mobile. UE can also be referred to as a terminal, a mobile station, a subscriber unit, a station, etc. UE can be a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless modem, a wireless communication device, a handheld device, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a cordless phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, etc. In one aspect, the UE can be a device including a universal integrated circuit card (UICC). In another aspect, the UE can be a device that does not include a UICC. In some aspects, a UE that does not include a UICC can also be referred to as an Internet of Everything (IoE) or Internet of Things (IoT) device. UE 115a-115d is an example of a mobile smart phone type device that accesses the 5G network 100. UE can also be a machine that is specially configured for connected communications (including machine type communications (MTC), enhanced MTC (eMTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), etc.). UE 115e-115k is an example of various machines configured for accessing the 5G network 100 for communication. The UE may be able to communicate with any type of base station, whether macro base station, small cell, etc. Figure 1 In the present invention, a lightning bolt (e.g., a communication link) indicates a wireless transmission between a UE and a serving base station or an expected transmission between base stations, and a backhaul transmission between base stations, where the serving base station is a base station designated to serve the UE on a downlink and / or uplink.

[0043] In operation of the 5G network 100, base stations 105a-105c use 3D beamforming and coordinated spatial techniques such as coordinated multipoint (CoMP) or multi-connectivity to serve UEs 115a and 115b. Macro base station 105d performs backhaul communications with base stations 105a-105c and small cell base station 105f. Macro base station 105d also transmits multicast services that are subscribed to and received by UEs 115c and 115d. Such multicast services may include mobile TV or streaming video, or may include other services for providing community information such as weather emergencies or alerts, such as Amber Alerts or Gray Alerts.

[0044] The 5G network 100 also supports mission-critical communications with ultra-reliable and redundant links for mission-critical devices, such as UE 115e, which is a drone. Redundant communication links with UE 115e include from macro base stations 105d and 105e, and small cell base station 105f. Other machine-type devices, such as UE 115f (thermometer), UE 115g (smart meter), and UE 115h (wearable device), can communicate directly with base stations, such as small cell base station 105f and macro base station 105e, through the 5G network 100, or in a multi-hop configuration by communicating with another user device that relays its information to the network, such as UE 115f communicating temperature measurement information to smart meter UE 115g, which is then reported to the network through small cell base station 105f. The 5G network 100 may also provide additional network efficiencies through dynamic low latency TDD / FDD communications, such as in a vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) mesh network between UEs 115i-115k communicating with a macro base station 105e.

[0045] Figure 2 A block diagram shows a design of a base station 105 and a UE 115, which may be Figure 1 One of the base stations and one of the UEs in the base station 105. At the base station 105, the transmit processor 220 can receive data from the data source 212 and control information from the controller / processor 240. The control information can be used for PBCH, PCFICH, PHICH, PDCCH, EPDCCH, MPDCCH, etc. The data can be used for PDSCH, etc. The transmit processor 220 can process (e.g., encode and symbol map) the data and the control information to obtain data symbols and control symbols, respectively. The transmit processor 220 can also generate reference symbols (e.g., for PSS, SSS, and cell-specific reference signals). The transmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor 230 can perform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) on ​​data symbols, control symbols, and / or reference symbols where applicable, and can provide output symbol streams to modulators (MOD) 232a to 232t. Each modulator 232 can process a respective output symbol stream (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator 232 may further process (eg, convert to analog, amplify, filter, and upconvert) the output sample stream to obtain a downlink signal. The downlink signals from modulators 232a through 232t may be transmitted via antennas 234a through 234t, respectively.

[0046] At the UE 115, antennas 252a to 252r can receive downlink signals from the base station 105 and can provide received signals to demodulators (DEMOD) 254a to 254r, respectively. Each demodulator 254 can condition (e.g., filter, amplify, downconvert, and digitize) the respective received signals to obtain input samples. Each demodulator 254 can further process the input samples (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain received symbols. The MIMO detector 256 can obtain received symbols from all demodulators 254a to 254r, perform MIMO detection on these received symbols where applicable, and provide detected symbols. The receive processor 258 can process (e.g., demodulate, deinterleave, and decode) these detected symbols, provide decoded data to the UE 115 to the data receiver 260, and provide decoded control information to the controller / processor 280.

[0047] On the uplink, at the UE 115, a transmit processor 264 may receive and process data (e.g., for PUSCH) from a data source 262 and control information (e.g., for PUCCH) from a controller / processor 280. The transmit processor 264 may also generate reference symbols for a reference signal. The symbols from the transmit processor 264 may be precoded by a TX MIMO processor 266, if applicable, further processed by modulators 254a through 254r (e.g., for SC-FDM, etc.), and transmitted to the base station 105. At the base station 105, the uplink signal from the UE 115 may be received by the antenna 234, processed by the demodulator 232, detected by the MIMO detector 236, if applicable, and further processed by the receive processor 238 to obtain decoded data and control information transmitted by the UE 115. The processor 238 may provide the decoded data to the data receiver 239 and the decoded control information to the controller / processor 240.

[0048] The controller / processors 240 and 280 may direct the operation at the base station 105 and the UE 115, respectively. The controller / processor 240 and / or other processors and modules at the base station 105 may perform or direct the execution of various processes for the techniques described herein. The controller / processor 280 and / or other processors and modules at the UE 115 may also perform or direct the execution of various processes for the techniques described herein. Figure 5 and Fig. 9 , and / or other processes for the techniques described herein. Memories 242 and 282 may store data and program codes for base station 105 and UE 115, respectively. Scheduler 244 may schedule UEs for data transmission on the downlink and / or uplink.

[0049] Wireless communication systems operated by different network operating entities (e.g., network operators) may share spectrum. In some instances, a network operating entity may be configured to use the entire designated shared spectrum for at least one time period before another network operating entity uses the entire designated shared spectrum for a different time period. Thus, to allow network operating entities to use the entire designated shared spectrum, and to mitigate interfering communications between different network operating entities, certain resources (e.g., time) may be partitioned and allocated to different network operating entities for certain types of communications.

[0050] For example, a network operating entity may be allocated certain time resources that are reserved for exclusive communication by the network operating entity using the entire shared spectrum. Other time resources may also be allocated to a network operating entity where the entity is given priority over other network operating entities to communicate using the shared spectrum. If the preferred network operating entity does not utilize the time resources that are prioritized for use by the network operating entity, then these time resources may be utilized on an opportunistic basis by other network operating entities. Additional time resources may be allocated to any network operator for use on an opportunistic basis.

[0051] Access to the shared spectrum and arbitration of time resources between different network operating entities may be centrally controlled by a single entity, autonomously determined by a predefined arbitration scheme, or dynamically determined based on interactions between wireless nodes of the network operator.

[0052] In some cases, the UE 115 and base station 105 of the 5G network 100 may operate in a shared radio frequency spectrum band, which may include licensed or unlicensed (e.g., contention-based) spectrum. In the unlicensed frequency portion of the shared radio frequency spectrum band, the UE 115 or base station 105 may perform a medium sensing process in a conventional manner to compete for access to the spectrum. For example, the UE 115 or base station 105 may perform a listen before talk (LBT) process (such as a clear channel assessment (CCA)) before communication to determine whether the shared channel is available. CCA may include an energy detection process to determine whether there are any other active transmissions. For example, a device may infer that a change in the received signal strength indicator (RSSI) of a power meter indicates that the channel is occupied. Specifically, a signal power concentrated in a certain bandwidth and exceeding a predetermined noise floor may indicate another wireless transmitter. CCA may also include detection of a specific sequence indicating channel use. For example, another device may send a specific preamble before sending a data sequence. In some cases, the LBT process may include the wireless node acting as a proxy for the collision adjusting its own backoff window based on energy detected on the channel and / or acknowledgement / negative acknowledgement (ACK / NACK) feedback regarding its own transmitted packets.

[0053] Using the medium sensing process to compete for access to unlicensed shared spectrum may result in communication inefficiencies. This may be particularly evident when multiple network operating entities (e.g., network operators) attempt to access shared resources. In the 5G network 100, the base station 105 and the UE 115 may be operated by the same or different network operating entities. In some examples, a separate base station 105 or UE 115 may be operated by more than one network operating entity. In other examples, each base station 105 and UE 115 may be operated by a single network operating entity. If each base station 105 and UE 115 of different network operating entities is required to compete for shared resources, it may result in an increase in signaling overhead and an increase in communication delays.

[0054] Figure 3 An example of a timing diagram 300 for coordinating resource partitioning is illustrated. The timing diagram 300 includes a superframe 305, which may represent a fixed duration (e.g., 20 ms). The superframe 305 may be repeated for a given communication session and may be used by a wireless system (such as a reference Figure 1The 5G network 100 described herein uses a superframe 305. The superframe 305 can be divided into intervals (such as an acquisition interval (A-INT) 310 and an arbitration interval 315). As described in more detail below, the A-INT 310 and the arbitration interval 315 can be subdivided into sub-intervals designated for certain resource types and allocated to different network operating entities to facilitate coordinated communication between different network operating entities. For example, the arbitration interval 315 can be divided into a plurality of sub-intervals 320. In addition, the superframe 305 can be further divided into a plurality of subframes 325 having a fixed duration (e.g., 1 ms). Although the timing diagram 300 illustrates three different network operating entities (e.g., operator A, operator B, operator C), the number of network operating entities using the superframe 305 for coordinated communication can be greater or less than the number shown in the timing diagram 300.

[0055] A-INT 310 can be a dedicated interval of superframe 305, which is reserved for exclusive communication of network operating entities. In some examples, certain resources within A-INT 310 can be allocated to each network operating entity for exclusive communication. For example, resources 330-a can be reserved for exclusive communication of operator A (such as through base station 105a), resources 330-b can be reserved for exclusive communication of operator B (such as through base station 105b), and resources 330-c can be reserved for exclusive communication of operator C (such as through base station 105c). Since resources 330-a are reserved for exclusive communication of operator A, even if operator A chooses not to communicate during those resources, operator B and operator C cannot communicate during resources 330-a. That is, access to exclusive resources is limited to designated network operators. Similar restrictions apply to resources 330-b for operator B and resources 330-c for operator C. A wireless node of operator A (eg, UE 115 or base station 105) may communicate any desired information (such as control information or data) during its exclusive use of resource 330-a.

[0056] When communicating on exclusive resources, the network operating entity does not need to perform any medium sensing procedures (e.g., listen before talk (LBT) or clear channel assessment (CCA)) because the network operating entity knows that these resources are reserved. Because only designated network operating entities can communicate on exclusive resources, the possibility of interfering communications can be reduced compared to relying solely on medium sensing techniques (e.g., no hidden node problem). In some examples, A-INT 310 is used to send control information, such as synchronization signals (e.g., SYNC signals), system information (e.g., system information blocks (SIBs)), paging information (e.g., physical broadcast channel (PBCH) messages), or random access information (e.g., random access channel (RACH) signals). In some examples, all wireless nodes associated with the network operating entity can transmit simultaneously during their exclusive resources.

[0057] In some examples, resources can be classified as being preferentially used for certain network operation entities. Resources that are preferentially assigned to a certain network operation entity can be referred to as the guaranteed interval (G-INT) of the network operation entity. The resource interval used by the network operation entity during G-INT can be referred to as a prioritized sub-interval. For example, resource 335-a can be prioritized for use by operator A, and can therefore be referred to as operator A's G-INT (e.g., G-INT-OpA). Similarly, resource 335-b can be preferentially used for operator B (e.g., G-INT-OpB), resource 335-c can be preferentially used for operator C (e.g., G-INT-OpC), resource 335-d can be preferentially used for operator A, resource 335-e can be preferentially used for operator B, and resource 335-f can be preferentially used for operator C.

[0058] Figure 3 The various G-INT resources shown in the figure appear to be staggered in order to illustrate their association with their respective network operating entities, but these resources can all be located on the same frequency bandwidth. Therefore, if viewed along the time-frequency grid, the G-INT resources can appear as continuous lines within the superframe 305. This data partitioning can be an example of time division multiplexing (TDM). In addition, when resources appear in the same subinterval (e.g., resource 340-a and resource 335-b), these resources represent the same time resources relative to the superframe 305 (e.g., the resources occupy the same subinterval 320), but these resources are separately specified to illustrate that the same time resources can be classified differently for different operators.

[0059] When resources are preferentially assigned to a network operation entity (e.g., G-INT), the network operation entity can use those resources to communicate without having to wait or perform any medium sensing procedures (e.g., LBT or CCA). For example, the wireless node of operator A can freely communicate any data or control information during resource 335-a without interference from the wireless nodes of operator B or operator C.

[0060] The network operation entity may additionally signal to another operator that it intends to use a particular G-INT. For example, with reference to resource 335-a, operator A may signal to operator B and operator C that it intends to use resource 335-a. Such signaling may be referred to as an activity indication. In addition, since operator A has priority for resource 335-a, operator A may be considered to be an operator with a higher priority than operator B and operator C. However, as discussed above, operator A does not have to send signaling to other network operation entities to ensure interference-free transmission during resource 335-a because resource 335-a is preferentially assigned to operator A.

[0061] Similarly, a network operation entity may signal another network operation entity that it does not intend to use a specific G-INT. Such signaling notifications may also be referred to as activity indications. For example, with reference to resource 335-b, operator B may signal to operator A and operator C that it does not intend to use resource 335-b for communication, even if the resource is assigned to operator B in priority. With reference to resource 335-b, operator B may be considered to be a network operation entity with a higher priority than operator A and operator C. In this case, operators A and C may attempt to use the resources of subinterval 320 on an opportunistic basis. Therefore, from the perspective of operator A, subinterval 320 containing resource 335-b may be considered to be an opportunistic interval (O-INT) of operator A (e.g., O-INT-OpA). For illustration purposes, resource 340-a may represent the O-INT of operator A. In addition, from the perspective of operator C, the same subinterval 320 may represent the O-INT of operator C with corresponding resource 340-b. Resources 340-a, 335-b, and 340-b all represent the same time resource (eg, a particular subinterval 320), but are separately identified to indicate that the same resource may be considered a G-INT for some network operating entities and also an O-INT for other network operating entities.

[0062] In order to utilize resources on an opportunistic basis, operator A and operator C may perform a medium sensing process to check for communications on a particular channel before sending data. For example, if operator B decides not to use resource 335-b (e.g., G-INT-OpB), operator A may use those same resources (e.g., represented by resource 340-a) by first checking the channel for interference (e.g., LBT) and then sending data if the channel is clear. Similarly, if operator C wants to access resources on an opportunistic basis during subinterval 320 in response to an indication that operator B will not use its G-INT (e.g., resource 335-b), operator C may perform a medium sensing process and access the resource if available. In some cases, two operators (e.g., operator A and operator C) may attempt to access the same resource, in which case the two operators may employ a contention-based process to avoid interfering communications. Operators may also have sub-priorities assigned to them that are designed to determine which operator can gain access to a resource if more than one operator attempts access at the same time. For example, when operator B is not using resource 335-b (e.g., G-INT-OpB), operator A may have a higher priority than operator C during subinterval 320. Note that in another subinterval (not shown), when operator B is not using its G-INT, operator C may have a higher priority than operator A.

[0063] In some examples, a network operation entity may not intend to use a particular G-INT assigned to it, but may not send an activity indication outwardly that conveys the intention not to use the resource. In this case, for a particular subinterval 320, the lower priority operation entity may be configured to monitor the channel to determine whether the higher priority operation entity is using the resource. If the lower priority operation entity determines through LBT or similar methods that the higher priority operation entity will not use its G-INT resources, the lower priority operation entity may attempt to access the resource on an opportunistic basis, as described above.

[0064] In some examples, access to the G-INT or O-INT may be preceded by a reservation signal (e.g., request to send (RTS) / clear to send (CTS)), and a contention window (CW) may be randomly selected between one and a full number of operating entities.

[0065] In some examples, the operating entity may employ or be compatible with coordinated multi-point (CoMP) communications. For example, the operating entity may employ CoMP and dynamic time division duplexing (TDD) in G-INT as needed and employ opportunistic CoMP in O-INT.

[0066] exist Figure 3 In the example shown, each sub-interval 320 includes a G-INT for one of operators A, B, or C. However, in some cases, one or more sub-intervals 320 may include resources that are neither reserved for exclusive use nor reserved for priority use (e.g., unassigned resources). Such unassigned resources may be considered O-INTs for any network operating entity and may be accessed on an opportunistic basis as described above.

[0067] In some examples, each subframe 325 can contain 14 symbols (e.g., 250-μs for a 60 kHz frequency modulation interval). These subframes 325 can be self-contained, self-contained interval-C (ITC), or the subframe 325 can be part of a long ITC. The ITC can be a self-contained transmission that starts with a downlink transmission and ends with an uplink transmission. In some embodiments, the ITC can contain one or more subframes 325 that operate continuously while the medium is occupied. In some cases, assuming a 250-μs transmission opportunity, there can be up to eight network operators in the A-INT 310 (e.g., with a duration of 2 ms).

[0068] although Figure 3 Three operators are illustrated in the figure, but it should be understood that fewer or more network operating entities may be configured to operate in a coordinated manner as described above. In some cases, the position of each operator's G-INT, O-INT, or A-INT within the superframe 305 is determined autonomously based on the number of network operating entities active in the system. For example, if there is only one network operating entity, each sub-interval 320 may be occupied by a G-INT for that single network operating entity, or the sub-interval 320 may alternate between G-INT and O-INT for that network operating entity to allow other network operating entities to enter. If there are two network operating entities, the sub-interval 320 may alternate between G-INT for the first network operating entity and G-INT for the second network operating entity. If there are three network operating entities, the sub-interval 320 may alternate between G-INT for the first network operating entity and G-INT for the second network operating entity. Figure 3As shown, the G-INT and O-INT for each network operation entity are designed. If there are four network operation entities, the first four sub-intervals 320 may include continuous G-INT for these four network operation entities, and the remaining two sub-intervals 320 may contain O-INT. Similarly, if there are five network operation entities, the first five sub-intervals 320 may include continuous G-INT for these five network operation entities, and the remaining sub-intervals 320 may contain O-INT. If there are six network operation entities, all six sub-intervals 320 may include continuous G-INT for each network operation entity. It should be understood that these examples are for illustrative purposes only, and other autonomously determined interval allocations may be used.

[0069] It should be understood that Figure 3 The coordination framework described is for illustration purposes only. For example, the duration of superframe 305 may be more or less than 20 ms. Moreover, the number, duration, and location of subintervals 320 and subframes 325 may be different than the configuration shown. In addition, the type of resource designation (e.g., exclusive, prioritized, unallocated) may be different or may include more or fewer sub-designations.

[0070] Within spectrum sharing of the CBRS or 3.5 GHz spectrum, there may be three priority levels defined for access to the spectrum. The final priority for accessing the spectrum lies with incumbent users, such as government entities, U.S. Navy radar systems, the Department of Defense, fixed satellite systems (FSS), radiolocation services (e.g., Aeronautical Radio Navigation System (ARNS)), site-specific protection for registered sites, etc. When this spectrum is opened for shared use, a portion of the spectrum is designated to be shared with incumbent users. Following the incumbent users are priority access license (PAL) users, who typically pay to reserve a portion of the spectrum in a specific geographic location and have the next highest priority for a limited period of time. The lowest priority users are called general authorized access (GAA) users, which operate on the principle of opportunistic access. Therefore, if neither the incumbent nor the PAL users are occupying the available spectrum, the GAA users can attempt to access the shared spectrum.

[0071] In the PAL user group, the principle of spectrum sharing provides both exclusive or guaranteed resources and shared resources. Such exclusive or guaranteed resources are reserved for critical overhead signals and channels. The allocation of such exclusive resources can be coordinated by a spectrum allocation server, which manages access rights to the CBRS or 3.5GHz spectrum. PAL users can use such guaranteed resources to transmit synchronization signal blocks (SSBs), system information (SI), paging signals, random access resources (physical random access channel (PRACH)), etc. Since there may typically be a small number of operators sharing frequency bands at any given geographic location, relatively little overhead may be required to manage the shared spectrum.

[0072] The allocation and access to guaranteed resources can be coordinated in both the time and frequency domains. Due to the flexible configuration of guaranteed resources in NR, these resources can also be used as part of different operating modes. Such guaranteed resources can also be used for critical quality of service (QoS) applications. For example, resources can be allocated to each licensee, which are not shared and can be used for critical QoS services such as ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) and hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) and channel state information (CSI) feedback.

[0073] In addition to guaranteed resources, each PAL user can also access the shared resources of the spectrum. Each such PAL user can be assigned priority access in different time slots or frames of the shared resources. Therefore, in the context of sharing between PAL users, for each time slot or frame, there can be assigned priority PAL users and unassigned priority PAL users. When an assigned priority PAL user does not access the resource during its priority time slot / frame, the unassigned priority PAL user can use the shared resources. Access to shared resources is determined by a reservation process. If the reservation process fails, the unassigned priority user may cause interference to the assigned priority user. In fact, the unassigned priority user may block the medium from the assigned priority users until the channel occupation time (COT) boundary.

[0074] Figure 41 is a block diagram illustrating shared communications over the CBRS spectrum between PAL users, base stations 105a-105c, and UEs 115a-115c. The illustration of communication flows 40-42 visually depicts the flows as separate resources. However, this visual depiction is for clarity. Each of the communication flows 40-42 is a communication flow as seen by each communication pair of the same frequency resources. Thus, communication flow 40 represents a shared frequency resource as seen by base station 105a and UE 115a, communication flow 41 represents the same shared frequency resource as seen by base station 105b and UE 115b, and communication flow 42 represents the same shared frequency resource as seen by base station 105b and UE 115b. Each of base stations 105a-105c provides communications for a different operator.

[0075] In a process similar to frame-based equipment (FBE), shared resources are organized into a synchronized time slot structure. The shared access server will allocate exclusive resources 400 to each operator in a timely manner. Channel reservation time slots 401 are provided in each time slot or frame. Base stations 105a-105b send reservation signals according to the medium reservation order within the channel reservation time slot 401 (for example, base station 105a sends reservation signal 402, base station 105b sends reservation signal 403, and base station 105c sends reservation signal 404). The medium reservation order within the channel reservation time slot 401 determines the priority access. For example, in time slot 1, operator 1 has priority access. Therefore, base station 105a can use exclusive resources 400 for control or data signals, and has assigned priority to the shared spectrum of time slot 1 for communication with UE 115a. Similarly, operator 2 (base station 105b) has priority access to time slot 2 and can use exclusive resources 400 of time slot 2 and has assigned priority to the shared spectrum of time slot 2 to communicate with UE 115b. Operator 3 (base station 105c) has priority access to time slot 3 and can use exclusive resources 400 of time slot 3 and has assigned priority to the shared spectrum of time slot 3 to communicate with UE 115c.

[0076] Within the channel reservation slot 401 of each of time slots 1-3, the medium reservation order will determine which operator has priority access to the shared resources of the time slot. Therefore, within the channel reservation slot 401 of time slot 1, base station 105a sends a reservation signal 402 in the first position. Base stations 105b and 105c (of operators 2 and 3, respectively) are listening to the reservation signal 402 to identify whether the assigned priority user will access the shared resources. If not detected, base station 105b will send a reservation signal 403 to reserve the shared resources. Base station 105c, which is assigned the last position of the medium reservation order, further listens for the reservation signal 403. If not detected, base station 105c will send a reservation signal 404. During the assigned priority time slot of one operator, if the assigned priority user does not reserve access to the time slot, other operators can opportunistically access the shared resources.

[0077] Existing NR signals and channels can be used in the reservation process. For example, base station transmissions of downlink control information (DCI) with configured demodulation reference signals (DMRS) or channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS) can be used to reserve shared resources, thereby protecting the receiver. UE transmissions of sounding reference signals (SRS) triggered by the base station can additionally be used to provide protection for the UE to be scheduled. In one example aspect, the base station will monitor reservation signals from other operators. In such an aspect, secondary (unassigned) priority operators will be allowed to use shared resources for downlink traffic.

[0078] In various aspects of the present disclosure, neighboring base stations belonging to different operators will monitor each other's broadcast medium reservation signals (e.g., DMRS, CSI-RS, etc.). In the case where the medium reservation signal takes the form of a broadcast DMRS, the DMRS sequence and resources will be agreed upon to specify the medium reservation. DMRS is typically sent in symbol 0, which may provide more time for processing and scheduling for secondary operators. Alternatively, in the case where CSI-RS is used for the medium reservation signal, there may be less time for processing at the receiving base station. However, the CSI-RS-based measurement configuration can be reused, where the measurement can be performed by a neighboring base station instead of the UE. When operating in the 3.5 GHz spectrum, the measurement configuration can be exchanged through the CBRS shared access server instead of through air signaling when the base station configures the UE. In addition, although there may be no filtering, the presence and strength of the signal can be determined in a single short circuit detection operation.

[0079] On UE signaling, the base station can monitor the SRS of UEs served by base stations from other operators. SRS configurations can be exchanged between different operators through a CBRS shared access server. According to various aspects of the present disclosure, multiple SRS resources can be configured so that a first UE-specific SRS resource set can be configured for conventional detection operations, and at least a second SRS resource set can be configured for coexistence signaling. In addition, a separate power control reference signaling can be used to power control and configure each SRS resource set separately. SRS can be sent at full power or power controlled specifically for adjacent base stations. The SRS sent according to various aspects of this article can be pre-triggered so that the SRS from a UE belonging to an assigned priority operator that needs protection can be sent within a reserved time slot. Therefore, according to various aspects of the present disclosure, a sharing technology for sharing spectrum between multiple networks is provided, wherein some networks have priority over other networks.

[0080] It should be noted that although some exemplary aspects may be discussed in conjunction with the 3.5 GHz spectrum, various aspects of the present disclosure are not limited to a single use case. The general sharing techniques provided herein may be applicable to any spectrum sharing scenario where one network has a higher priority than another network.

[0081] Figure 5 is a block diagram illustrating example blocks executed to implement an aspect of the present disclosure. Fig.12 As shown, these example blocks will also be described in conjunction with UE 115. Fig.12 1 is a block diagram illustrating a UE 115 configured according to an aspect of the present disclosure. The UE 115 includes Figure 2 1. The structure, hardware, and components of the UE 115 shown in FIG. 1. For example, the UE 115 includes a controller / processor 280 that operates to execute logic or computer instructions stored in a memory 282 and controls components of the UE 115 that provide the features and functions of the UE 115. The UE 115 sends and receives signals via radios 1200a-r and antennas 252a-r under the control of the controller / processor 280. The radios 1200a-r include the following: Figure 2 1. The various components and hardware shown for UE 115 in FIG. 1 include modulators / demodulators 254a-r, MIMO detector 256, receive processor 258, transmit processor 264, and TX MIMO processor 266.

[0082] At block 500, the UE obtains a resource configuration, wherein the resource configuration identifies a plurality of SRS resources, the SRS resources comprising at least a detection set of SRS resources and a coexistence set of SRS resources. According to aspects of the present disclosure, different SRS resource sets are associated with the functions they serve. Therefore, for other nodes, the resources allocated to the coexistence set may be considered to be associated with a channel reservation signal. For example, a UE such as UE 115 obtains a resource configuration, which may be obtained via a transmission received from a serving base station via antennas 252a-r and radios 1200a-r, and which may be stored at SRS resource configuration 1201 in memory 282 or pre-stored at a manufacturer's SRS resource configuration 1201. Different configurations within the SRS resource configuration 1201 may identify many different types of SRS and their associated resources (e.g., a normal detection signal SRS or a coexistence SRS) to reserve access to a shared communication channel.

[0083] At box 501, the UE receives a trigger signal from a serving base station communicating with the UE on a shared spectrum shared between at least one or more priority licensed users. For example, the UE 115 can receive the trigger signal via antennas 252a-r and radios 1200a-r. Under the control of the controller / processor 280, the trigger signal identifies the UE 115 to initiate an action to compete for the shared spectrum. Therefore, the UE 115 can execute the shared access logic 1202 stored in the memory 282. The execution environment of the shared access logic 1202 enables the UE 115 to start the reservation of the shared channel. In an example implementation, the trigger signal can be a communication permission, such as a downlink permission for downlink transmission or an uplink permission for scheduling and allocating resources for uplink transmission, or both. The trigger signal can also be implemented as a dedicated signal for triggering coexistence operations.

[0084] At block 502, in response to a trigger signal, the UE transmits an SRS signal using a coexistence set of SRS resources. The trigger signal triggers the UE 115 to start a coexistence operation, such as by transmitting a channel reservation signal. Therefore, within the execution environment of the shared access logic 1202, the UE 115 executes an SRS generator 1203 in the memory 282 in response to the trigger signal. Because the trigger signal triggers the shared access operation, the UE 115 generates a coexistence SRS using the configuration resources in the SRS configuration resources 1201 under the control of the controller / processor 280 as a channel reservation signal. The channel reservation signal according to various aspects of the present disclosure is implemented by using SRS signaling with a coexistence set of SRS resources. Then, the UE 115 can transmit the coexistence SRS generated by the SRS generator 1203 via the radio 1200a-r and the antenna 252a-r.

[0085] At block 503, the UE communicates with the serving base station. After sending the channel reservation SRS signal using the coexistence set of SRS resources, communication may proceed, whether granted by a trigger signal or granted in a separate transmission grant for uplink communication, downlink communication, or both in the COT portion of the current frame. The UE 115 may then communicate with the serving base station via the radios 1200a-r and antennas 252a-r via uplink or downlink transmissions.

[0086] Figure 6 6 is a block diagram illustrating shared communications between network entities of two PAL operators, wherein the network entities, base stations 105a-105b, and UEs 115a-115b are configured according to one aspect of the present disclosure. Communication flows 60-62a represent communications between base stations 105a-105b and UEs 115a-115b, respectively, on the same shared frequency band. Base station 105a and UE 115a communicate via a first operator (operator 1), which is assigned priority access to the shared frequency band during frame 600. Base station 105b and UE 115b communicate via a second operator (operator 2), which is an unassigned priority operator of the shared frequency band in frame 600. Communication flow 60 is a communication sent from base station 105a, while communication flow 61 is a communication sent from UE 115a. Communication flow 62 is a communication sent from base station 105b, while communication flow 62a is an alternative communication sent from base station 105b.

[0087] Access to the shared frequency band is governed by priority-based access between operator 1 and operator 2, with operator 1 having priority during frame 600. When there is data to be communicated between base station 105a and UE 115a, whether it is downlink data, uplink data, or both, base station 105a sends a reservation signal (e.g., DCI for DMRS or CSI-RS, etc.) during reserved time slot 601. UE 115a can respond by using the coexistence SRS resource set with its reservation signal SRS. Base station 105b of operator 2 monitors the shared frequency band for any reservation signals from operator 1 entities during reserved time slot 601. If base station 105b detects a reservation signal DCI from base station 105a or a coexistence SRS sent by UE 115a, it will avoid transmitting during COT 602 of frame 600, as shown in communication flow 62. Otherwise, if base station 105b does not detect the reservation signal DCI from base station 105a or the coexistence SRS transmitted by UE 115a, it may transmit downlink data after transmitting its own DCI during COT 602 of frame 600, as shown in alternative communication flow 62a.

[0088] To ensure no interference to operator 1, any HARQ / CSI feedback from UE 115b may be delayed and forwarded to a dedicated resource such as exclusive resource 400 ( Figure 4 ). UE 115b may delay HARQ feedback by receiving DCI signaling with different k1 values. The sent k1 value may allow all HARQ feedback to be sent in the last time slot. Alternatively, since DMRS or CSI-RS and SRS are used for coexistence in the reserved time slot, HARQ feedback may also be delayed to the next reserved time slot.

[0089] Figure 7 1 is a block diagram illustrating time division multiplexing (TDM) sharing of a shared frequency band 70 by base stations 105a-105b and UEs 115a-115b respectively operated by two different operators, and each is configured according to one aspect of the present disclosure. By adopting an NR license configuration configured according to one aspect of the present disclosure, the shared frequency band 70 includes a plurality of frames, each of which has guaranteed resources (such as reserved time slots 700, 702, 704, 706, 708, 710, 712, 714, and 716) and shared resources (such as COTs 701, 703, 705, 707, 709, 711, 715, and 717). The network shared access server SAS 71 coordinates resources by assigning resources and allocating priorities to each frame. For example, SAS 71 assigns priority to operator 1 in a frame including reserved slots 700, 704, 708, 712, and 716 and COTs 701, 705, 707, 713, and 717, and assigns priority to operator 2 in a frame including reserved slots 702, 706, 710, and 714 and COTs 703, 707, 711, and 715. In addition to coordinating resources for transmitting SSB, SI, paging, and RACH procedures, it is also useful to coordinate the use of SRS and DCI resources (e.g., DMRS and / or CSI-RS ports).

[0090] In one example of operation, the base station 105a transmits a reservation trigger signal via DCI during the reserved time slot 700. The UE 115a responds with a reservation response signal SRS using a coexistence set of SRS resources. As described above, the UE 115a may be configured with at least two different sets of SRS resources: a sounding set that may be used for a conventional sounding reference signal (SRS), and a coexistence set for a reserved signal. The UE 115a may further be signaled separately to use different transmission powers for the conventional SRS or the reserved signal SRS. For example, the UE 115( Fig.12) can execute the transmit power control logic 1203 stored in the memory 282 to individually control the transmit power of the SRS (regular SRS or reserved signal SRS) triggered for the transmission. The base station 105b knows to monitor the shared frequency band 70 for the DCI from the base station 105a. It also knows which set of SRS resources is the coexistence set, and thus can monitor the coexistence set of SRS resources for the reserved signal SRS transmitted by the UE 115a.

[0091] In NR Release 15, the HARQ timing may be set to K1≤8. This means that the maximum COT n for an assigned priority user is 7 or 8 time slots. Since an unassigned priority user may monitor the priority transmission in the first time slot, the overhead for such an unassigned priority user may be 1 / n time slot. In addition, in the case where two or more operators time-share access to a shared channel (such as shared frequency band 70), the HARQ timing for confirmation may not support K1 being 0. For example, the confirmation of the transmission in COT 701 by base station 105a may not be located in the next time slot because base station 105a has opportunistic access in the next time slot when communicating through operator 1. In contrast, the minimum K1 value places the confirmation of the transmission in COT 701 in the next time slot for which operator 1 has priority, such as a time slot containing reserved time slots 704 and COT 705. The confirmation may be sent in an available time slot of COT 705 or in a guaranteed resource of reserved time slot 704. Similarly, if a different operator has priority in a subsequent time slot, the triggering of SRS may also not support the timing of K2=0. In this way, the SRS triggering can provide K2 timing for transmission in the next time slot to which the operator of the SRS scheduling UE has assigned priority access. In some cases, although time slots are allocated to the assigned priority user (operator 1), communication may not occur (for example, time slots 707 and 717), in which no data and control signals are sent. In addition, in such idle time slots (time slots 707 and 717), if data is available for communication, the unassigned priority user (operator 2) may opportunistically attempt to access.

[0092] Figure 880 and 81. It is a block diagram illustrating a shared communication between network entities of two PAL operators, wherein the network entity, base station 105a-105b and UE 115a-115b are configured according to one aspect of the present disclosure. Each communication flow 80-83 is a communication flow as seen by each communication pair of the same frequency resource. According to the illustrated aspect, in order to enable UE 115b of operator 2 to transmit on shared resources, UE 115b can monitor reserved signals from other operators. Therefore, base station 105b and UE 115b monitor any reserved signal from any one of base station 105a and UE 115a of operator 1 in reserved time slot 800 at 803 and 804 in communication flows 80 and 81. The configured UE (such as UE 115b with data for uplink transmission) will monitor the reserved signal sent from base station 105a or UE 115a in reserved time slot 800. UE 115b monitors the reservation signal to ensure that its transmission on the shared resources will not adversely affect the communication channel of base station 105a or UE 115a. If transmission on the shared resources is allowed, UE 115b monitors the configured coexistence SRS resource set at 804. In addition, UE 115b will monitor the reservation signal from base station 105a at 803 (e.g., CSI-RS or DMRS from base station 105a).

[0093] Although operator 1 has assigned priority to the shared resource, when no reservation signal is detected in the reserved time slot 800, the base station 105b of operator 2 can send DCI in a subsequent mini-time slot (mini-time slot 805 of time slot 801). The DCI at mini-time slot 805 provides UE 115b with a reservation and permission for downlink transmission (DL Tx) of communication flow 82. If uplink data is ready, the DCI transmission by base station 105b at mini-time slot 805 can also trigger UE 115b to send a coexistence SRS in time slot 801 of communication link 83. Base station 105b can schedule UE 115b to perform uplink transmission in COT 802 with an uplink grant DCI at mini-time slot 806. In order for two unassigned priority network entities to monitor the reservation signal of the assigned priority network entity, the overhead for the unassigned priority user uplink transmission will be 2 / n time slots.

[0094] The lowest priority users (e.g., GAA users) may also share spectrum resources in the CBRS / 3.5 GHz band with PAL users. Exclusive or guaranteed resources for critical overhead signals and channels may also be allocated to such non-exclusive licensees. In one example aspect, when operating in the 3.5 GHz spectrum, the CBRS shared access server may coordinate such guaranteed resources for SSB, SI, paging signals, PRACH resources, etc. for GAA users. When a smaller number of operators share the band at any given geographic location, relatively small overhead may be incurred. Because of the flexible configuration of these resources in NR, GAA users can provide possible operating modes while coordinating GAA users in both the time and frequency domains.

[0095] Resource sharing for each GAA user can be achieved using the Listen Before Talk (LBT) NR Shared Spectrum (SS) process. The sharing method may be similar to the sharing mechanism between PAL users, however, the use of LBT technology enables more aggressive reuse of resources. GAA users competing for the same shared resources can use precoded SRS for interference alignment when possible, and / or use receiver-based messaging or energy-only LBT processes or synchronization and FBE-like sensing. Due to access frequency allocation, timing, etc., after performing the LBT NR SS process, GAA users from different operators may cause residual interference between each other. However, when operating within CBRS / 3.5GHz, potential residual interference can be more effectively minimized by allocating orthogonal resources to nearby nodes.

[0096] Fig. 9 is a block diagram illustrating example blocks executed to implement an aspect of the present disclosure. Fig.13 As shown, these example blocks will also be described in conjunction with base station 105. Fig.13 1 is a block diagram illustrating a base station 105 configured according to an aspect of the present disclosure. The base station 105 includes Figure 2 1. The structure, hardware, and components of the base station 105 shown in FIG. 1. For example, the base station 105 includes a controller / processor 240 that operates to execute logic or computer instructions stored in a memory 242 and controls the components of the base station 105 that provide the features and functions of the base station 105. The base station 105 transmits and receives signals via the radios 1300a-t and antennas 234a-t under the control of the controller / processor 240. The radios 1300a-t include the following: Figure 2 1. Various components and hardware are shown for base station 105, including modulators / demodulators 232a-t, MIMO detector 236, receive processor 238, transmit processor 220, and TX MIMO processor 230.

[0097] At box 900, the base station determines a communication operation between the base station and one or more served UEs. The communication operation can be an uplink communication requested by the UE, or a downlink communication triggered by receiving downlink data. For example, a base station such as base station 105 can determine the communication operation via uplink / downlink communication 1301 in memory 242. Uplink / downlink communication 1301 may include a downlink buffer indicating downlink data for transmission to one of the served UEs, or may include scheduling logic for responding to a scheduling request from the served UE to schedule and grant uplink communication. Under the control of the controller / processor 240, the base station 105 executes shared access logic 1302 in the memory 242. The execution environment of the shared access logic 1302 enables the base station 105 to compete for access to a shared communication channel.

[0098] At block 901, the base station monitors radio frequency (RF) energy on a communication channel at the beginning of an LBT window of a current frame in a shared spectrum shared between at least one or more opportunistic generally authorized users, wherein the monitoring occurs after the base station performs a back-off operation. In an energy-based LBT process according to aspects of the present disclosure, the base station 105 monitors the shared resource for RF energy above a minimum threshold. If such energy above the threshold is detected, the base station 105 concludes that the channel is occupied and starts the LBT process again. To monitor the RF energy, within the execution environment of the shared access logic 1302, the base station 105 receives RF energy via the antennas 234a-t and the radio 1300. The base station 105 may execute energy detection logic 1303 stored in the memory 242. The execution environment of the energy detection logic 1303 provides measurement parameters for determining an energy threshold level between a situation where a shared channel is considered occupied and a situation where the channel is considered available.

[0099] At box 902, in response to not detecting RF energy above a minimum energy threshold at the beginning of the LBT window, the base station sends an LBT trigger signal. When no RF energy above the identified minimum threshold is detected within the execution environment of energy detection logic 1303, the base station 105 executes an LBT process 1304 in memory 242 under the control of controller / processor 240. The execution environment of LBT process 1304 implements the use of LBT to manage access to a shared channel. For example, within the execution environment of LBT process 1304, the base station 105 sends an LBT trigger signal to the served UE via radio 1300a-t and antenna 234a-t, which not only triggers the served UE to send a channel reservation response signal, but also indicates to competing neighbors that the channel is about to be occupied.

[0100] At box 903, the base station receives an LBT trigger response signal from one or more served UEs, wherein the RF energy on the communication channel remains above a minimum energy threshold for the remainder of the LBT window. After the base station 105 sends the trigger signal, the served UE responds with a trigger response signal, which also serves as a channel reservation signal on the shared resource. The base station 105 receives the trigger response signal via the antenna 234a-t and the radio 1300a-t. RF blocking energy can be sent to the shared resource by a blocking signal sent by the base station 105, or by the served UE, or by both within the execution environment of the LBT process 1304, until the end of the LBT window. The blocking signal will be detected by most other competing neighbor nodes attempting to access the channel during their respective LBT processes, and a reservation of the shared channel will be reserved for the base station 105 and its served UEs.

[0101] At block 904, the base station engages in communication with one or more UEs during a channel occupancy time (COT) of the current frame following the LBT window. After winning the channel in the LBT window, communication (whether uplink, downlink, or both) between the base station 105 and the served UEs may begin in the COT portion of the current frame.

[0102] Fig.10 1 is a block diagram illustrating GAA users and shared access to a 3.5 GHz band communication network, wherein the GAA users include a base station 105a and a UE 115a of operator 1 and a base station 105b and a UE 115b of operator 2, each configured according to an aspect of the present disclosure. Each of the base stations 105a and 105b competes for access to the shared band frequency 1. At the LBT time slot 1004, the base station 105a performs a pseudo-random backoff 1008, which can be coordinated between operators by a CBRS shared access server, or can be completely random and generated at the base station 105a. After the pseudo-random backoff 1008, the base station 105a sends a trigger signal 1009 in a communication flow 1000. The UE 115a responds with a blocked channel reservation response signal in the communication flow 1001. In order to minimize the possibility of collisions, the trigger response delay can be minimized.

[0103] According to aspects of the present disclosure, the LBT process used by GAA users competing for access to shared resources is energy-based LBT. Therefore, during the pseudo-random backoff 1008, the base station 105a monitors the RF energy on frequency 1. If the RF energy is detected to be above the minimum threshold, the base station 105a will not send a trigger signal 1009, but will perform another pseudo-random backoff (not shown). However, as shown, the base station 105a does not detect RF energy above the minimum threshold during the pseudo-random backoff 1008.

[0104] To prevent other GAA users from gaining access to the shared frequency band, the base station 105a, the UE 115a, or both may use channel blocking. The base station 105a and / or the UE 115a may block the channel of frequency 1 by continuously sending signals (e.g., blocking signals, channel reservation response signals, etc.) until the end of the LBT slot 1004. The transmitter (base station 105a) may block the medium after detecting a blocking response from the receiver (UE 115a) to protect the reception of the confirmation. Therefore, if the base station 105b were to attempt to access frequency 1 during the LBT slot 1004, it would listen and measure the RF energy of the blocking signal sent by one or both of the base station 105a or UE 115a. After the channel is protected in the LBT time slot 1004, the base station 105a can make any downlink transmissions in the communication flow 1000 during the COT 1005 on the frequency 1, and the UE 115a can make any uplink transmissions in the communication flow 1001 during the COT 1005 on the frequency 1.

[0105] Since energy may leak into adjacent bands, energy-based LBT allows channel blocking of two nodes using different frequency resources. However, receiver blocking may vary from technology to technology and is also optional, depending on whether overhead minimization is a primary concern.

[0106] At LBT slot 1006, base station 105b of operator 2 may attempt to access shared band frequency 1 after performing pseudo-random backoff 1010. Base station 105b transmits trigger signal 1011 in communication flow 1002, and UE 115b responds with a blocked channel reservation response signal in communication flow 1003. During the duration of LBT slot 1006, one or both of the transmitter or receiver blocking signals of one or both of base station 105b or UE 115b protect the channel of frequency 1 with RF energy above a minimum threshold. Once the channel is protected in LBT slot 1006, base station 105b and UE 115b may engage in communications (e.g., downlink and / or uplink transmissions) during COT 1007.

[0107] It should be noted that coexistence between technologies may be facilitated; however, such coexistence may be achieved by synchronizing the LBT windows of each technology node.

[0108] If the LBT window of the sending node has been synchronized before the access and the sending node finds that the COT is empty, the access can be allowed outside the synchronized contention (LBT) window. Fig.10, when new data arrives at the base station 105a in the middle of the COT 1007, in the case where all transmissions of either the base station 105b or the UE 115b have ended in the COT 1007, the base station 105a performs an energy-based LBT process that begins with a pseudo-random backoff 1012 followed by a trigger signal 1013. The UE 115a responds by sending a channel reservation response signal 1014, after which the base station 105a may begin its downlink transmissions 1015. However, regardless of the amount of data that the base station 105a has to send, the opportunistic downlink transmissions 1015 will cease at the end of the COT 1007. The base station 105a may start a new energy-based contention process at the next synchronous LBT window.

[0109] It should be noted that receiver protection by blocking signals may not be enabled when nodes from different network operators competing for the same shared spectrum are not synchronized.

[0110] Fig.11 1 is a block diagram illustrating a sharing scheme for sharing spectrum between multiple PAL users, base stations 105a-105b and UEs 115a-115b, and between multiple GAA users, base stations 105c, 105g, 105e and UEs 115c, 115d and 115m, each of which is configured according to aspects of the present disclosure. According to aspects shown in the present disclosure, the allocated bandwidth for sharing can be divided into two bandwidth partitions, frequency 1100 and frequency 1101. Each of frequencies 1100 and 1101 can use time division multiplexing (TDM), frequency division multiplexing (FDM), a combination of TDM and FDM, etc. The PAL users, base stations 105a-105b and UEs 115a-115b use a listening-based sharing mechanism (such as a combination of Figures 5 to 8 ) to manage access to frequency 1101, while GAA users, base stations 105c, 105g, 105e and UEs 115c, 115d and 115m use an energy-based LBT NR SS sharing mechanism (such as in combination with Figures 9 and 10 1 and 1) to manage access to frequency 1100. As shown, frequency 1100 provides TDM access, while frequency 1101 provides a combination of TDM and FDM. Since the shared frequency resources have been divided into two different bandwidth parts, there are enough frequencies for two groups of users to compete and access the shared resources respectively, while also protecting key signaling such as SSB, SI, paging and PRACH resources, ensuring resource allocation for both PAL and GAA users.

[0111] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referred to throughout the above description may be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, optical fields or optical particles, or any combination thereof.

[0112] Figure 5 and Fig. 9 The functional blocks and modules in may include processors, electronic devices, hardware devices, electronic components, logical circuits, memories, software codes, firmware codes, etc., or any combination thereof.

[0113] The technician will further recognize that the various illustrative logic boxes, modules, circuits and algorithm steps described in conjunction with the present disclosure can be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software or a combination of the two. In order to clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits and steps have been generally described above in the form of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the overall system. The technician can implement the described functionality in different ways for each specific application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing departure from the scope of the present disclosure. The technician will also easily recognize that the order or combination of components, methods or interactions described herein are only examples, and the components, methods or interactions of various aspects of the present disclosure can be combined or performed in a manner different from those shown and described herein.

[0114] The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the present disclosure may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, for example, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0115] The steps of the method or algorithm described in conjunction with the present disclosure can be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. The software module can reside in a RAM memory, a flash memory, a ROM memory, an EPROM memory, an EEPROM memory, a register, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to a processor so that the processor can read information from / write information to the storage medium. In an alternative, a storage medium can be integrated into a processor. The processor and the storage medium can reside in an ASIC. The ASIC can reside in a user terminal. In an alternative, the processor and the storage medium can reside in a user terminal as discrete components.

[0116] In one or more exemplary designs, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or sent by a computer-readable medium as one or more instructions or codes. Computer-readable media include both computer storage media and communication media, including any media that facilitates the transfer of a computer program from one place to another. Computer-readable storage media may be any available media that can be accessed by a general or special-purpose computer. As an example and not limitation, such a computer-readable medium may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, disk storage or other magnetic storage device or any other medium that can be used to carry or store the desired program code components in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a general or special-purpose computer or a general or special-purpose processor. Moreover, the connection may also be properly referred to as a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is sent from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, or digital subscriber line (DSL), the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, or DSL is included in the definition of the medium. As used herein, disk and disc include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray disc, wherein disk usually reproduces data magnetically, while disc reproduces data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0117] As used herein, including in the claims, the term "and / or" used in a list of two or more items means that any one of the listed items may be taken alone or in any combination of two or more of the listed items. For example, if a composition is described as containing components A, B, and / or C, the composition may contain only A; only B; only C; a combination of A and B; a combination of A and C; a combination of B and C; or a combination of A, B, and C. In addition, as used herein, including in the claims, "or" as used in a list of items ending with "at least one of..." indicates an inclusive list, such that, for example, a list of "at least one of A, B, or C" means any one of A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C) or any combination thereof.

[0118] The previous description of the disclosure is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the disclosure. Various modifications to the disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the universal principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosure. Therefore, the disclosure is not intended to be limited to the examples and designs described herein, but should be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A method of wireless communication, comprising: Obtaining, by a user equipment UE, a resource configuration, wherein the resource configuration identifies a plurality of sounding reference signal SRS resources, the SRS resources comprising at least a sounding set of SRS resources for a conventional sounding operation and a coexistence set of SRS resources for reserving access to a shared communication channel, the coexistence set of SRS resources being associated with a channel reservation signal; The UE receives a trigger signal from a serving base station on a shared spectrum shared between at least one or more priority licensed users, wherein the trigger signal identifies the UE to initiate an action of competing for the shared spectrum; In response to the trigger signal, the UE sends an SRS as the channel reservation signal using the coexistence set of SRS resources; and The UE communicates with the serving base station on the shared communication channel. 2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the SRS is transmitted during a reserved time slot of a current frame of the shared spectrum, wherein the reserved time slot is associated with priority access to the shared spectrum. 3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the trigger signal comprises a communication grant, the communication grant defining the communication with the serving base station.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Monitoring, by the UE that does not have priority access to the shared spectrum, one or more reservation signals sent by one or more network entities of a network operator that has priority access to the shared spectrum in a current frame during a reserved time slot of the current frame of the shared spectrum, wherein in response to failing to detect the one or more reservation signals, sending the SRS and engaging in communication occur in one or more subsequent time slots of the current frame.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the one or more reservation signals include one or more of the following: a sounding signal transmitted by one or more neighboring UEs of the network operator using the coexistence set of SRS resources; and A reference signal sent by one or more neighboring base stations of the network operator.

6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: A plurality of transmission power control messages are received by the UE, the transmission power control messages including at least a detection power control for transmitting a detection signal using the detection set of SRS resources and a coexistence power control for transmitting a coexistence signal using the coexistence set of SRS resources, wherein the SRS is sent according to the coexistence power control.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein a first portion of the shared spectrum shared among the at least one or more priority licensed users is a bandwidth divided from a second portion of the shared spectrum shared by one or more opportunistic general authorized users.

8. An apparatus configured for wireless communication, the apparatus comprising: at least one processor; as well as a memory coupled to the at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: Obtaining, by a user equipment UE, a resource configuration, wherein the resource configuration identifies a plurality of sounding reference signal SRS resources, the SRS resources comprising at least a sounding set of SRS resources for a conventional sounding operation and a coexistence set of SRS resources for reserving access to a shared communication channel, the coexistence set of SRS resources being associated with a channel reservation signal; The UE receives a trigger signal from a serving base station on a shared spectrum shared between at least one or more priority licensed users, wherein the trigger signal identifies the UE to initiate an action of competing for the shared spectrum; In response to the trigger signal, the UE sends an SRS as the channel reservation signal using the coexistence set of SRS resources; and The UE communicates with the serving base station on the shared communication channel. 9 . The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the SRS is transmitted during a reserved time slot of a current frame of the shared spectrum, wherein the reserved time slot is associated with priority access to the shared spectrum.

10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the trigger signal comprises a communication grant defining the communication with the serving base station.

11. The apparatus according to claim 8 further includes a configuration of the at least one processor for: monitoring, by the UE that does not have priority access to the shared spectrum, one or more reservation signals sent by one or more network entities of a network operator that has priority access to the shared spectrum in a current frame during a reserved time slot of the current frame of the shared spectrum, wherein in response to a failure to detect the one or more reservation signals, the configuration for sending the SRS and the configuration for participating in communication occur in one or more subsequent time slots of the current frame.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the one or more reservation signals include one or more of the following: a sounding signal transmitted by one or more neighboring UEs of the network operator using the coexistence set of SRS resources; and A reference signal sent by one or more neighboring base stations of the network operator.

13. The apparatus according to claim 8 further includes a configuration of the at least one processor, which is used to: receive multiple transmission power control messages by the UE, the transmission power control messages including at least a detection power control for transmitting a detection signal using the detection set of SRS resources and a coexistence power control for transmitting a coexistence signal using the coexistence set of SRS resources, wherein the SRS is sent according to the coexistence power control.

14. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein a first portion of the shared spectrum shared among the at least one or more priority licensed users is a bandwidth carved out from a second portion of the shared spectrum shared by one or more opportunistic general licensed users.

15. An apparatus configured for wireless communication, the apparatus comprising: means for obtaining, by a user equipment UE, a resource configuration, wherein the resource configuration identifies a plurality of sounding reference signal (SRS) resources, the SRS resources comprising at least a sounding set of SRS resources for conventional sounding operations and a coexistence set of SRS resources for reserving access to a shared communication channel, the coexistence set of SRS resources being associated with a channel reservation signal; a component for receiving, by the UE, a trigger signal from a serving base station on a shared spectrum shared between at least one or more priority licensed users, the trigger signal identifying the UE to initiate an action to contend for the shared spectrum; A means for transmitting, by the UE, an SRS using the coexistence set of SRS resources as the channel reservation signal in response to the trigger signal; as well as Means for communicating, by the UE, with the serving base station on the shared communication channel.

16. A non-transitory computer readable medium having program code recorded thereon, the program code comprising: code for obtaining, by a user equipment UE, a resource configuration, wherein the resource configuration identifies a plurality of sounding reference signal (SRS) resources, the SRS resources comprising at least a sounding set of SRS resources for conventional sounding operations and a coexistence set of SRS resources for reserving access to a shared communication channel, the coexistence set of SRS resources being associated with a channel reservation signal; code for receiving, by the UE, a trigger signal from a serving base station on a shared spectrum shared between at least one or more priority licensed users, the trigger signal identifying the UE to initiate an action to contend for the shared spectrum; code for sending, by the UE, an SRS as the channel reservation signal using the coexistence set of SRS resources in response to the trigger signal; as well as Code for communicating, by the UE, with the serving base station on the shared communication channel.

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