Frequency division multiplexing random access channel resource configuration and selection for new radio unlicensed use

Abstract

Frequency division multiplexing (FDM) random access configuration and selection for new radio (NR) unlicensed (NR‑U) operation is disclosed. For a user equipment (UE) in idle mode, the network may configure multiple frequency bands for random access. When the default frequency is subject to interference, the UE may then select a different frequency for random access. For a UE in connected mode, the network may configure which of multiple configured frequency bands a connected UE may use for autonomous random access transmissions. The UE may then select any allowed frequency band for autonomous random access. Contention-free random access resources may be configured on one or more of the multiple configured frequency bands. When contention-free resources are available, the UE may initially attempt access to contention-free resources on the default frequency band before attempting random access on other configured frequency bands, or the network may provide the UE with a priority of frequency bands for access.

Description

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Patent Application No. 16 / 742,558, filed on January 14, 2020, entitled “FREQUENCY DIVISION MULTIPLEXRANDOM ACCESS CHANNEL RESOURCE CONFIGURATION AND SELECTION FOR NEW RADIO-UNLICENSED,” and Indian Provisional Patent Application No. 201941005869, filed on February 14, 2019, entitled “FDM RACH RESOURCE CONFIGURATION AND SELECTION FOR NR-U,” both of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. Technical Field

[0003] Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless communication systems, and more particularly to frequency division multiplexing (FDM) random access configuration and selection for new radio (NR) unlicensed (NR-U) operation. 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 can support multiple users by sharing available network resources. Such networks (which are usually used as 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 third generation (3G) mobile phone technology supported by the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), 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 communication 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 a communication link from a base station to a UE, while an uplink (or reverse link) refers to a 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 be interfered by transmissions from neighboring base stations or from other wireless radio frequency (RF) transmitters. On the uplink, the transmission from the UE may be interfered by uplink transmissions from other UEs communicating with neighboring base stations or from other wireless RF transmitters. This interference may degrade performance on both the downlink and uplink.

[0007] As the demand for mobile broadband access continues to increase, 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 facilitate and enhance the user experience of mobile communications. Summary of the invention

[0008] In one aspect of the present disclosure, a method of wireless communication includes: detecting, by a user equipment (UE), a random access configuration message identifying one or more random access opportunities on multiple frequency bands, sending, by the UE, a random access request to a base station at a selected random access resource of the one or more random access opportunities on a selected frequency band of the multiple frequency bands, monitoring, by the UE, a downlink frequency for a random access response in response to the random access request, and sending, by the UE, a connection request to the base station in response to detecting the random access response.

[0009] In additional aspects of the present disclosure, an apparatus configured for wireless communication includes: a component for detecting, by a UE, a random access configuration message identifying one or more random access opportunities on multiple frequency bands, a component for sending, by the UE, a random access request to a base station at a selected random access resource of one or more random access opportunities on a selected frequency band of the multiple frequency bands, a component for monitoring a downlink frequency for a random access response by the UE in response to the random access request, and a component for sending, by the UE, a connection request to the base station in response to detecting the random access response.

[0010] In an additional aspect of the present disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable medium has program code recorded thereon. The program code also includes: code for detecting, by a UE, a random access configuration message identifying one or more random access opportunities on a plurality of frequency bands, code for sending, by the UE, a random access request to a base station at a selected random access resource of one or more random access opportunities on a selected frequency band of the plurality of frequency bands, code for monitoring, by the UE, a downlink frequency for a random access response in response to the random access request, and code for sending, by the UE, a connection request to the base station in response to detecting the random access response.

[0011] In an additional aspect of the present disclosure, an apparatus configured for wireless communication is disclosed. The apparatus includes at least one processor and a memory coupled to the processor. The processor is configured to: detect, by a UE, a random access configuration message identifying one or more random access opportunities on multiple frequency bands, send, by the UE, a random access request to a base station at a selected random access resource of one or more random access opportunities on a selected frequency band of the multiple frequency bands, monitor, by the UE in response to the random access request, a downlink frequency for a random access response, and send, by the UE in response to detecting the random access response, a connection request to the base station.

[0012] The foregoing has outlined quite extensively the features and technical advantages of examples according to the present disclosure so that the following detailed description may be better understood. Additional features and advantages will be described hereinafter. The disclosed concepts and specific examples may be easily used as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for the same purpose of performing the present disclosure. Such equivalent constructions do not depart from the scope of the appended claims. When considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, the characteristics of the concepts disclosed herein, both their organization and methods of operation, together with the associated advantages, will be better understood from the following description. Each of the accompanying drawings is provided for the purpose of illustration and description, and not as a limitation of the claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] 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 numeral. In addition, 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 applies to any of the similar components having the same first reference numeral, regardless of the second reference numeral.

[0014] Figure 1 is a block diagram illustrating details of a wireless communication system.

[0015] Figure 2 is a block diagram illustrating a design of a base station and a UE configured according to one aspect of the present disclosure.

[0016] Figure 3 is a block diagram illustrating a wireless communication system including a base station using directional wireless beams.

[0017] Figure 4 is a block diagram illustrating example blocks executed to implement an aspect of the present disclosure.

[0018] Figure 5 is a block diagram illustrating a portion of an NR-U network having base stations and UEs configured according to various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0019] Figure 6 is a block diagram illustrating a portion of an NR-U network having base stations and UEs configured according to various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0020] Figure 7 is a block diagram illustrating a portion of an NR-U network having base stations and UEs configured according to various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0021] Figure 8 is a block diagram illustrating a portion of an NR-U network having base stations and UEs configured according to various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0022] Fig. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an example UE configured in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] 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, the detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understanding of the subject matter of the invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that these specific details are not required in every case, and in some cases, well-known structures and components are shown in block diagram form for clarity of presentation.

[0024] 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 apparatus 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.

[0025] OFDMA network can realize radio technology such as Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), IEEE 802.11, IEEE802.16, IEEE802.20, Flash OFDM, etc. UTRA, E-UTRA, and Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) are part of Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS). In particular, Long Term Evolution (LTE) is a version of UMTS using 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 groups of telecommunication associations that aim to define globally applicable third generation (3G) mobile phone specifications. 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) is a 3GPP plan to improve the Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) mobile phone standard. 3GPP may define specifications for next generation mobile networks, mobile systems, and mobile devices. The present disclosure relates to the evolution of wireless technology from LTE, 4G, 5G, NR and beyond, using a set of new and different radio access technologies or radio air interfaces with shared access to the wireless spectrum between networks.

[0026] In particular, 5G networks envision multiple deployments, multiple spectrums, and multiple services and devices that can be implemented using a unified air interface based on OFDM. 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 the following coverage: (1) reach networks with ultra-high density (e.g., ~1M nodes / km2) 2 ))), ultra-low complexity (e.g., ~10 bits / sec), ultra-low energy consumption (e.g., ~10+ years of battery life), and deep coverage of the massive Internet of Things (IoT) with the ability to reach challenging locations; (2) including mission-critical control with strong security to protect sensitive personal, financial, or confidential information, ultra-high reliability (e.g., ~99.9999% reliability), ultra-low latency (e.g., ~1 millisecond (ms)), and users with wide-range mobility or lack thereof; and (3) with enhanced mobile broadband, including extremely high capacity (e.g., ~10 terabits per second (Tbps) / km2), extremely high data rates (e.g., multi-Gbps rates, 100+ megabits per second (Mbps) user experience rates), and deep perception with advanced discovery and optimization.

[0027] 5G NR can be implemented as: using an optimized OFDM-based waveform with scalable numerology and transmission time interval (TTI); having a general flexible framework to effectively multiplex services and features using dynamic, low-latency time division duplex (TDD) / frequency division duplex (FDD) design; and having advanced wireless technologies such as massive multiple input multiple output (MIMO), robust millimeter wave (mmWave) transmission, advanced channel decoding, and device-centric mobility. The scalability of the numerology in 5G NR with scaling of subcarrier spacing can effectively solve different services operating across different spectrums and different deployments. For example, in various outdoor and macro coverage deployments of less than 3GHz FDD / TDD implementations, the subcarrier spacing may appear at 15kHz on bandwidths such as 1, 5, 10, 20MHz, etc. For other various outdoor and small cell coverage deployments of TDD greater than 3GHz, the subcarrier spacing may appear at 30kHz on 80 / 100MHz bandwidth. For various other indoor broadband implementations using TDD in the unlicensed portion of the 5 GHz band, subcarrier spacing may occur at 60 kHz over a 160 MHz bandwidth. Finally, for various deployments transmitting with millimeter wave components in TDD at 28 GHz, subcarrier spacing may occur at 120 kHz over a 500 MHz bandwidth.

[0028] 5G NR's scalable parameter sets facilitate scalable TTIs for different 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 TTIs and short TTIs allows transmissions to start on symbol boundaries. 5G NR also envisions a self-contained integrated subframe design with uplink / downlink scheduling information, data, and acknowledgments in the same subframe. The self-contained integrated subframe supports adaptive uplink / downlink communications in unlicensed or contention-based shared spectrum, which can be flexibly configured on a per-cell basis to dynamically switch between uplink and downlink to meet current business needs.

[0029] Various other aspects and features of the present disclosure are further described below. It should be clear that the teachings herein can be implemented in various forms, and any specific structure, function, or both disclosed herein are only representative and non-restrictive. Based on the teachings herein, it should be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the aspects disclosed herein can be implemented independently of any other aspects, and two or more aspects 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 method. In addition, in addition to one or more aspects set forth herein or excluding one or more aspects set forth herein, other structures, functions, or structures and functions 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 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.

[0030] Figure 1 1 is a block diagram illustrating a 5G network 100 including various base stations and UEs configured according to 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 that specific geographic coverage area of ​​a base station and / or a base station subsystem serving that coverage area, depending on the context in which the term is used.

[0031] 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 typically covers a relatively large geographic area (e.g., a radius of several kilometers) and may allow unrestricted access to UEs with a service subscription to a network provider. Small cells such as pico cells will typically cover a relatively small geographic area and may allow unrestricted access to UEs with a service subscription to a network provider. Small cells such as femto cells will also typically cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a home) and, in addition to unrestricted access, may also provide restricted access to UEs associated with the femto cell (e.g., UEs in a closed subscriber group (CSG), UEs for users in a home, etc.). 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 1In the example shown, base stations 105d and 105e are conventional macro base stations, while base stations 105a-105c are macro base stations enabled with one of 3-dimensional (3D), full-dimensional (FD), or massive MIMO. Base stations 105a-105c exploit their higher-dimensional MIMO capabilities to develop 3D beamforming in both elevation and azimuth beamforming to increase coverage and capacity. Base station 105f is a small cell base station, which may be a home node or a portable access point. The base station may support one or more (e.g., two, three, four, etc.) cells.

[0032] The 5G network 100 may support synchronous or asynchronous operation. For synchronous operation, the base stations may have similar frame timing, and transmissions from different base stations may be approximately aligned in time. For asynchronous operation, the base stations may have different frame timing, and transmissions from different base stations may not be aligned in time.

[0033] UE 115 is dispersed throughout the wireless network 100, and each UE may be fixed or mobile. UE may also be referred to as a terminal, mobile station, subscriber unit, station, etc. UE may 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 may be a device including a universal integrated circuit card (UICC). In another aspect, the UE may be a device that does not include a UICC. In some aspects, a UE that does not include a UICC may 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 may also be a machine specifically configured for connection communication, which includes machine type communication (MTC), enhanced MTC (eMTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), etc. UE 115e-115k is an example of various machines configured for communication of accessing the 5G network 100. 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 (the serving base station is a base station designated to serve the UE on a downlink and / or uplink), or an expected transmission between base stations, and a backhaul transmission between base stations.

[0034] In operation of the 5G network 100, base stations 105a-105c serve UEs 115a and 115b using 3D beamforming and cooperative spatial technologies such as coordinated multi-point (CoMP) or multi-connectivity. Macro base station 105d performs backhaul communications with base stations 105a-105c, as well as small cells, 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.

[0035] 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. The 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 communicate 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 then reports the temperature measurement information 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.

[0036] Figure 2 A block diagram shows a design of a base station 105 and a UE 115, which may be Figure 1One 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 receive 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 control information to obtain data symbols and control symbols, respectively. The transmit processor 220 can also generate reference symbols for PSS, SSS, and cell-specific reference signals, for example. 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 (if applicable), and can provide output symbol streams to modulators (MOD) 232a to 232t. Each modulator 232 can process a corresponding 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.

[0037] 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) a corresponding received signal to obtain input samples. Each demodulator 254 can further process the input samples (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain received symbols. A MIMO detector 256 can obtain received symbols from all demodulators 254a to 254r, perform MIMO detection on the received symbols (if applicable), and provide detected symbols. A receive processor 258 can process (e.g., demodulate, deinterleave, and decode) the detected symbols, provide decoded data for the UE 115 to a data sink 260, and provide decoded control information to a controller / processor 280.

[0038] On the uplink, at the UE 115, a transmit processor 264 may receive and process data from a data source 262 (e.g., for PUSCH) and control information from a controller / processor 280 (e.g., for PUCCH). The transmit processor 264 may also generate reference symbols for reference signals. 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 sent by the UE 115. The processor 238 may provide the decoded data to a data sink 239 and the decoded control information to the controller / processor 240.

[0039] 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 4 and 6 The memory 242 and 282 may store data and program codes for the base station 105 and the UE 115, respectively. The scheduler 244 may schedule the UE to transmit data on the downlink and / or uplink.

[0040] 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 a period of time before another network operating entity uses the entire designated shared spectrum for a different period of time. Therefore, in order 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 divided and allocated to different network operating entities for certain types of communications.

[0041] 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. A network operating entity may also be allocated other time resources in which the entity is given priority over other network operating entities for communication using the shared spectrum. Time resources that are prioritized for use by the network operating entity may be utilized by other network operating entities on an opportunistic basis if the prioritized network operating entity does not utilize them. Additional time resources may be allocated for use by any network operator on an opportunistic basis.

[0042] Access to the shared spectrum and arbitration of time resources between different network operating entities may be centrally controlled by a separate entity, autonomously determined by a predefined arbitration scheme, or dynamically determined based on interactions between wireless nodes of the network operator.

[0043] In some cases, the UE 115 and the base station 105 (in the 5G network 100) Figure 1 ) can operate in a shared radio spectrum band, which may include licensed or unlicensed (e.g., contention-based) spectrum. In the unlicensed frequency portion of the shared radio spectrum band, typically the UE 115 or the base station 105 can perform a medium sensing process to compete for access to the spectrum. For example, the UE 115 or the base station 105 can 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, the device may infer that a change in the received signal strength indicator (RSSI) of the power meter indicates that the channel is occupied. Specifically, a signal power concentrated in a certain bandwidth and exceeding a predetermined background noise 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 adjusting its own backoff window based on the amount of energy detected on the channel and / or acknowledgement / negative acknowledgement (ACK / NACK) feedback for its own transmitted packets as a collision proxy.

[0044] Using a medium sensing process to compete for access to an unlicensed shared spectrum may result in ineffective communications. This may be particularly evident when multiple network operating entities (e.g., network operators) are trying to access shared resources. In a 5G network 100, base stations 105 and UEs 115 may be operated by the same or different network operating entities. In some examples, a single 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. Requiring each base station 105 and UE 115 of different network operating entities to compete for shared resources may result in increased signaling overhead and communication latency.

[0045] Figure 3 An example of a timing diagram 300 for coordinated 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 repeat for a given communication session and may be referenced by, for example, Figure 1 The superframe 305 may 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 may be subdivided into subintervals that are designated for certain resource types and are allocated to different network operating entities to facilitate coordinated communications between different network operating entities. For example, the arbitration interval 315 may be divided into a plurality of subintervals 320. In addition, the superframe 305 may 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 communications may be greater or less than the number illustrated in the timing diagram 300.

[0046] A-INT 310 may be a dedicated interval of a superframe 305 reserved for exclusive communications by network operating entities. In some examples, certain resources within A-INT 310 may be allocated to each network operating entity for exclusive communications. For example, resource 330-a may be reserved for exclusive communications by operator A, such as through base station 105a, resource 330-b may be reserved for exclusive communications by operator B, such as through base station 105b, and resource 330-c may be reserved for exclusive communications by operator C, such as through base station 105c. Since resource 330-a is reserved for exclusive communications by operator A, even if operator A chooses not to communicate during resource 330-a, operator B and operator C still cannot communicate during those resources. 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 (eg, UE 115 or base station 105) of operator A may communicate any information desired during its exclusive resource 330-a, such as control information or data.

[0047] When communicating over 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 the resources are reserved. Because only designated network operating entities can communicate over exclusive resources, there can be a reduced likelihood of interfering communications (e.g., no hidden node problem) compared to relying solely on medium sensing techniques. In some examples, A-INT310 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.

[0048] In some examples, resources can be classified as being preferentially used for certain network operation entities. Resources that are preferentially allocated to a certain network operation entity can be referred to as the guaranteed interval (G-INT) of the network operation entity. The interval of resources used by the network operation entity during the G-INT can be referred to as a priority sub-interval. For example, resource 335-a can be preferentially used 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, resource 335-d can be preferentially used for operator A, resource 335-e (e.g., G-INT-OpC) can be preferentially used for operator B, and resource 335-f can be preferentially used for operator C.

[0049] Figure 3 The various G-INT resources shown appear to be interleaved to illustrate their association with their respective network operating entities, but these resources may all be on the same frequency bandwidth. Thus, if viewed along a time-frequency grid, the G-INT resources may be viewed as a continuous line within superframe 305. This partitioning of data may be an example of time division multiplexing (TDM). Furthermore, 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 superframe 305 (e.g., the resources occupy the same subinterval 320), but the resources are individually designated to illustrate that the same time resources may be classified differently for different operators.

[0050] When resources are assigned as being preferentially used for a certain network operation entity (e.g., G-INT), the network operation entity can use those resources for communication without having to wait for or perform any medium sensing process (e.g., LBT or CCA). For example, the wireless node of operator A is free to communicate any data or control information during resource 335-a without being interfered by the wireless nodes of operator B or operator C.

[0051] The network operating 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 on resource 335-a, operator A may be considered an operator with a higher priority than both operator B and operator C. However, as discussed above, operator A does not necessarily signal to other network operating entities to ensure interference-free transmission during resource 335-a because resource 335-a is preferentially assigned to operator A.

[0052] Similarly, a network operation entity may signal another network operation entity that it is not intended to use a specific G-INT. The signaling may also be referred to as an activity indication. For example, with reference to resource 335-b, operator B may signal to operator A and operator C that it is not intended 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 regarded as 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, a subinterval 320 containing resource 335-b may be regarded as an opportunistic interval (O-INT) (e.g., O-INT-OpA) for operator A. For purposes of illustration, resource 340-a may represent an O-INT for operator A. In addition, from the perspective of operator C, the same subinterval 320 may represent an O-INT for operator C with corresponding resource 340-b. Resources 340-a, 335-b, and 340-b all represent the same time resource (e.g., a particular subinterval 320), but these resources are individually identified to indicate that the same resource may be considered G-INT for some network operating entities and also considered O-INT for other network operating entities.

[0053] In order to utilize resources on an opportunistic basis, operator A and operator C can 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 can use those same resources (e.g., represented by resource 340-a) by first checking the interference of the channel (e.g., LBT), and then, if it is determined that the channel is clear, send data. Similarly, if operator C wishes 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., using O-INT represented by resource 340-b), operator C can perform a medium sensing process and access the resources 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 operators may employ a contention-based process to avoid interfering with communications. Operators may also have sub-priorities assigned to them, which are designed to determine which operator can gain access to resources in the event that multiple operators attempt access simultaneously. For example, when operator B is not using resources 335-b (e.g., G-INT-OpB), operator A may have priority over 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 priority over operator A.

[0054] In some examples, a network operation entity may intend not to use a particular G-INT assigned to it, but may not issue an activity indication conveying an intent not to use the resource. In this case, for a particular subinterval 320, a lower priority operation entity may be configured to monitor the channel to determine whether a higher priority operation entity is using the resource. If a lower priority operation entity determines, through LBT or a similar method, that a 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.

[0055] In some examples, a reservation signal (e.g., request to send (RTS) / clear to send (CTS)) may precede access to the G-INT or O-INT, and a contention window (CW) may be randomly selected between one of the operating entities and the total number of operating entities.

[0056] In some examples, the operation entity may employ coordinated multi-point (CoMP) communication or be compatible with CoMP communication. For example, the operation entity may employ CoMP and dynamic time division duplex (TDD) in G-INT as needed, and employ opportunistic CoMP in O-INT.

[0057] exist Figure 3 In the example shown in , 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). For any network operating entity, such unassigned resources may be considered O-INT and may be accessed on an opportunistic basis as described above.

[0058] In some examples, each subframe 325 may contain 14 symbols (e.g., 250 μs for a 60 kHz tone interval). These subframes 325 may be independent self-contained intervals C (ITCs), or the subframes 325 may be part of a long ITC. An ITC may be a self-contained transmission that begins with a downlink transmission and ends with an uplink transmission. In some embodiments, an ITC may contain one or more subframes 325 that operate continuously while the medium is occupied. In some cases, assuming a 250 μs transmission opportunity, there may be up to eight network operators in an A-INT 310 (e.g., 2 ms in duration).

[0059] Despite 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 collaborative manner as described above. In some cases, the location of each operator's G-INT, O-INT, or A-INT within the superframe 305 may be autonomously determined 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 a G-INT and an 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 a G-INT for the first network operating entity and a G-INT for the second network operating entity. If there are three network operating entities, the G-INT and O-INT for each network operating entity may be designed, such as Figure 3As shown. If there are four network operation entities, the first four sub-intervals 320 may include consecutive G-INTs for the four network operation entities, while 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 consecutive G-INTs for the five network operation entities, while the remaining sub-intervals 320 may contain O-INT. If there are six network operation entities, all six sub-intervals 320 may include consecutive G-INTs 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.

[0060] It should be understood that Figure 3 The described collaboration framework is for illustration purposes only. For example, the duration of superframe 305 can be more or less than 20 ms. Moreover, the number, duration, and location of subintervals 320 and subframes 325 can be different from the configuration shown. Moreover, the type of resource designation (e.g., exclusive, preferred, unassigned) can be different or can include more or fewer sub-designations.

[0061] One of the difficulties in using unlicensed band channels for services that require higher quality of service (QoS) is the channel acquisition failure caused by consistent listen before talk (LBT) failure. Similar effects are also seen in connection establishment of a cell, as the random access procedure may also be delayed due to consistent LBT failure. One existing proposal to address these limitations is to increase the number of random access opportunities (e.g., PRACH opportunities) in the time domain and / or frequency domain, thereby allowing the UE to have more opportunities to access the channel. Various aspects of the present disclosure provide different proposed solutions for providing additional random access opportunities in the frequency domain.

[0062] Figure 4 1 is a block diagram illustrating example blocks executed by a UE to implement an aspect of the present disclosure. Fig. 9 UE 115 is shown to describe the example blocks. Fig. 9 1 is a block diagram illustrating a UE 115 configured according to an aspect of the present disclosure. The UE 115 includes Figure 2 115. For example, the UE 115 includes a controller / processor 280 that operates to execute logic or computer instructions stored in a memory 282 and to control components of the UE 115 that provide the features and functions of the UE 115. Under the control of the controller / processor 280, the UE 115 sends and receives signals via wireless radios 900a-r and antennas 252a-r. The wireless radios 900a-r include the following: Figure 21 , including modulators / demodulators 254a-r, MIMO detector 256, receive processor 258, transmit processor 264, and TX MIMO processor 266.

[0063] For idle mode UEs, the initial active bandwidth part (BWP) may be fixed to a 20 MHz bandwidth, assuming that the initial active BWP is the minimum bandwidth for performing LBT operations. Therefore, failure of LBT on the initial active BWP before a PRACH opportunity means that the UE may not be able to perform PRACH transmissions. When high congestion is observed in the initial active BWP, idle mode UEs may observe increased delays and low reliability in issuing random access transmissions.

[0064] At block 400, the UE detects a system information message, wherein the system information message includes a random access configuration identifying one or more random access opportunities on a plurality of frequency bands. A UE such as UE 115 may be in an idle mode and detect a system information signal of a particular cell or base station via antennas 252a-r and wireless radios 900a-r. The network on which the cell or base station operates may use various system information broadcasts or signals (such as remaining minimum system information (RMSI) signals, master information blocks (MIBs), system information blocks (SIBs), etc.) to configure a plurality of frequency bands for random access transmissions. One of these frequency bands may be an initial active BWP to which the UE 115 may be assigned for random access, while the other frequency bands may refer to any separate frequency resources other than a supplementary uplink carrier, an uplink BWP, or an initial active BWP. Such additional frequency bands may be configured only for random access transmissions (e.g., only configured with random access resources) or may be configured for all uplink channels and transmissions.

[0065] At block 401, the UE sends a random access request to a base station at a selected random access resource of one or more random access opportunities on a selected frequency band of a plurality of frequency bands. As part of an initial access random access procedure, the UE 115 executes a random access logic 901 stored in the memory 282 under the control of the controller / processor 280. The execution environment of the random access logic 901 provides the UE 115 with functions to perform a random access procedure. According to the initial access random access procedure, the UE 115 may send a random access request or Msg1 of a random access procedure to a target base station via the wireless radio devices 900a-r and the antennas 252a-r.

[0066] At block 402, the UE monitors a downlink frequency for a random access response in response to a random access request. The downlink frequency monitored by the UE 115 may be a downlink resource of the initial active BWP. Alternatively, other downlink resources may be configured to be associated with an additional frequency band configured for random access transmission. For example, for each uplink BWP in which random access resources are available, the network may configure a downlink BWP for random access response (RAR) reception. The UE 115 will receive the configuration of these designated downlink frequency bands via antennas 252a-r and wireless radio devices 900a-r, via a configuration signal from a serving or target base station. If such a downlink BWP is not configured for a supplementary uplink BWP, the UE 115 may receive the RAR within the downlink resource of the initial active BWP. In an optional aspect, for each supplementary uplink carrier configured for random access, the network may configure a supplementary downlink carrier to receive the RAR. The configuration may include physical cell identifier (PCI) information and other cell-specific configurations. If such a downlink carrier is not configured for the supplemental uplink carrier, the UE 115 may receive the RAR within the primary downlink carrier in which the synchronization signal block (SSB) is received.

[0067] At block 403, the UE sends a connection request to the base station in response to detecting the random access response. Within the execution environment of the random access logic 901, the UE 115 will send a connection request or Msg3 of the random access procedure after successfully receiving the RAR message. The connection request will be sent to the target base station via the wireless radio devices 900a-r and antennas 252a-r.

[0068] NR networks currently allow connected mode UEs (such as UE 115) to perform UE-triggered random access transmissions using only the random access resources of the primary cell (PCell) within the active BWP (if random access resources are available) and the initial active BWP. Because random access resources can be configured in inactive bandwidth parts and secondary cells, various additional aspects of the present disclosure allow a connected mode UE to select one of the configured bandwidth parts / secondary cells for performing autonomous random access without receiving any random access trigger from a base station or network during a radio resource control (RRC) connected state.

[0069] Figure 5 1 is a block diagram illustrating a portion of an NR-U network 50 having a base station 105 and a UE 115 configured according to aspects of the present disclosure. As shown, the UE 115 is in a connected mode with the base station 105. Figure 5In one example aspect shown, for a serving cell or BWP in which random access resources (e.g., bands 1-3) are configured, the network may configure whether the UE 115 may autonomously perform random access transmissions. According to a first optional aspect, the base station 105 may signal a configuration message to the UE 115 indicating that the UE 115 may perform autonomous random access on band 1 and band 3. As shown for the example aspect, band 1 is identified as a default BWP (e.g., an initial access BWP or a default BWP). Therefore, in the event that the UE 115 determines to attempt autonomous random access for the base station 105, it may use the configured random access resources on band 1 or 3.

[0070] It should be noted that alternative aspects of the present disclosure may allow the default BWP to always be implemented as a default configuration known to the UE 115. Therefore, even in the case where the UE 115 fails to receive an autonomous random access configuration from the base station 105, the UE 115 may always choose to perform UE-triggered random access on the initial access BWP or the default BWP.

[0071] Within the current standard provisions of NR Release 15 (Rel-15), contention-free random access (CFRA) resources can be provided for a single BWP of the target cell. Figure 5 In an additional aspect shown, CFRA resources 500 and 501 may be configured in multiple cells or BWPs (eg, band 1 and band 3) of a target node. For example, CFRA resources 500 and 501 may be configured for bands 1 and 3. Figure 5 In the illustrated aspects, each band may represent a BWP, a supplementary uplink carrier, or a serving cell. In a given band, one band may be configured as a default band. The CFRA resources 500 configured in each of bands 1 and 3 are associated with a set of SSBs and / or (one or more) CSI-RSs. For example, the CFRA resources 500 of band 1 may be associated with SSB-1, SSB-3, and SSB-5 (or CSI-RS-1, CSI-RS-3, and CSI-RS-5), and the CFRA resources 501 of band 3 may be associated with SSB-0 and SSB-2 (or CSI-RS-0 and CSI-RS-2). Contention-based random access (CBRA) resources are configured in each of bands 1 and 2. If the UE 115 cannot attempt random access transmission using the CFRA resources 500 and 501, it may revert to the CBRA resources to attempt random access.

[0072] Figure 6 1 is a block diagram illustrating example blocks that are executed to implement one aspect of the present disclosure. Fig. 9The example blocks are described with reference to UE 115. As used herein, the phrase "band" may refer to a bandwidth part (BWP), a supplemental uplink carrier, a serving cell, or a sub-band.

[0073] CFRA resources may be configured on a subset of random access opportunities within a given frequency band. The remaining random access resources may include CBRA resources. In the current NR Rel-15 standard that allows CFRA resources to be configured on a single frequency band, a UE such as UE 115 should use the frequency band in which the CFRA resources are configured. As mentioned previously, each such CFRA resource may be associated with a set of SSBs or (one or more) CSI-RS. UE 115 may use the CFRA resources when the signal strength of one of the associated SSBs or (one or more) CSI-RS exceeds a predefined threshold signal strength. In accordance with the various aspects described herein, UE 115 may prioritize the default frequency band in which the CFRA resources are configured, but may revert to any remaining frequency band when the signal strength of the reference signal associated with the CFRA resource does not exceed the threshold.

[0074] At block 600, a random access configuration message identifying one or more random access opportunities on a plurality of frequency bands is detected. The random access configuration message may include a system information message, such as a master information block (MIB), a system information block (SIB), a remaining minimum system information (RMSI), etc. A UE, such as UE 115, may detect the random access configuration message via a system information signal or a dedicated semi-static signal of a particular cell or base station via antennas 252a-r and wireless radio devices 900a-r. As mentioned previously, the network on which the cell or base station operates may use various system information broadcasts or semi-static configuration signals, such as RMSI MIB, SIB, dedicated RRC messages, etc., to configure a plurality of frequency bands for random access transmission. One of these frequency bands may be a default or initial active frequency band to which the UE 115 may be assigned for random access, while the other frequency bands may refer to supplementary frequency bands (e.g., uplink carrier, uplink BWP, or any separate frequency resource outside the initial active BWP). All available frequency bands will have various random access resources, whether CFRA resources or CBRA resources, assigned or configured thereon. Random access configuration information including multiple frequency bands and identification of CFRA and CBRA resources may be stored in memory 282 at random access configuration 902. For example, if CFRA resources are configured in a default frequency band, then UE 115 will prioritize the default frequency band for performing random access.

[0075] At block 601, the UE determines the signal strength of a reference signal indicated by a CFRA resource configured in a default frequency band among multiple frequency bands. When determining to perform a random access procedure, whether triggered by the UE or from network signaling, the UE 115 executes the random access logic 901 under the control of the controller / processor 280. The execution environment of the random access logic 901 provides the UE 115 with the functionality to perform a random access procedure. Within the execution environment of the random access logic 901, the UE 115 determines the signal strength of a reference signal (e.g., SSB, CSI-RS, etc.) associated with the CFRA resource allocated on the default frequency band. Under the control of the controller / processor 280, the UE 115 executes the measurement logic 903 in the memory 282 to provide the measurement functionality. The signal strength of the relevant reference signal received via the antenna 252a-r and the wireless radio device 900a-r is measured.

[0076] At block 602, in response to the signal strength exceeding the threshold signal strength, the UE prioritizes random access on the CFRA resources of the default frequency band. Within the execution environment of the random access logic 901, the UE 115 determines whether the measured signal strength of the reference signal associated with the CFRA resources exceeds a predefined threshold. When any reference signal associated with the CFRA resources meets the random access transmission criteria (e.g., exceeds the threshold signal strength), the UE 115 selects the default frequency band in which the CFRA resources can be used for random access transmission.

[0077] At block 603, the UE selects a random access resource in another of the multiple frequency bands in response to the signal strength being within the threshold signal strength. After measuring the signal strength of the reference signal associated with the CFRA resource on the default frequency band using measurement logic 903 in block 602, if the measured signal strength fails to meet the threshold, the UE 115 may select any other of the configured multiple frequency bands in which the random access resource is available. Other frequency bands may also be configured with CBRA or CFRA resources or both.

[0078] According to additional aspects, when the random access criteria are not met on the default frequency band, the fallback priority can allow the UE 115 to select one of the other frequency bands in which the CFRA resources are configured. In such additional aspects, the random access criteria of the newly selected frequency band will be evaluated again (e.g., measuring the reference signal corresponding to the CFRA resources of the new frequency band). If the random access criteria are met (e.g., the signal strength exceeds a threshold), the UE 115 can then use the CFRA resources of the newly selected frequency band to send a random access transmission, or further fall back to the CBRA resources on any configured frequency band.

[0079] Figure 7is a block diagram illustrating a portion of an NR-U network 70 having a base station 105 and a UE 115 configured according to various aspects of the present disclosure. The NR-U network 70 has configured four frequency bands for communications between the base station 105 and the UE 115. According to the random access configuration, random access opportunities 703 are configured on frequency bands 1, 3, and 4. The random access configuration identifies frequency bands 3 and 4 for performing LBT. However, when the network has acquired a channel for transmission, a UE such as UE 115 may experience a higher success rate when performing random access transmissions on a frequency band within the acquired channel. For non-standalone deployments or deployments based on scheduled uplink (SUL), a primary downlink channel may be used to transmit downlink control signal instructions (e.g., PDCCH instructions or commands) regardless of the random access resources used in the uplink random access transmission. In this case, the downlink control signal instructions may provide a frequency band (e.g., cell, BWP, subband, etc.) in which the network has acquired a channel occupancy time (COT). For example, when the base station 105 has gained access to the channel, it may send a downlink control signal instruction 700 indicating that the base station 105 has acquired the COT in frequency band 1 .

[0080] In the case where there is a wideband BWP, the downlink control signal instruction 700 can indicate the specific subband in which the base station 105 has acquired the COT. The UE 115 can use the downlink control signal instruction 700 to prioritize random access resources for specific bands in the bands 1-4. As mentioned, each of the bands 1-4 can include a BWP, a cell, or a subband. Therefore, after receiving the downlink control signal instruction 700, the UE 115 can prioritize the band 1-701 for performing random access even if the bands 3-702 and 4-702 are prioritized for random access within the random access configuration.

[0081] In an alternative aspect, the downlink control signal instruction 700 may indicate a particular frequency band that the UE 115 may preferentially use for random access. The downlink control signal instruction 700 may also indicate a channel access priority to be used for the indicated frequency band. For example, the downlink control signal instruction 700 may indicate a time value for which the frequency band information and the channel access priority are considered valid. Depending on the capabilities of the UE 115, the information provided in the downlink control signal instruction 700 regarding the duration for using the identified frequency band, such as Figure 7As shown, UE 115 may perform random access only on the identified (one or more) frequency bands (band 1). Alternatively, in the case where UE 115 is capable of performing LBT on multiple frequency bands simultaneously, UE 115 will perform the LBT process in parallel on one or more configured frequency bands. Among the one or more frequency bands on which the LBT process is successful, if the identified frequency band is one of the frequency bands with successful LBT, UE 115 will choose to perform random access transmission on the identified frequency band. For example, UE 115 may perform LBT procedures on frequency bands 1, 3, and 4 simultaneously. When UE 115 detects successful LBT on frequency bands 1 and 3, it can use the prioritization information in the downlink control signal instruction 700 to select frequency bands 1-701 for random access transmission.

[0082] exist Figure 7 In the additional aspect of the disclosure shown, the base station 105 sends a PDCCH instruction or command using the subband or frequency band in which the base station 105 has acquired the COT. This information can be used by the UE 115 to prioritize random access resources for (one or more) specific subbands. According to the additional aspect shown, the base station 105 obtains the COT in frequency bands 1 and 2. The base station 105 then sends a downlink control signal instruction 700 on frequency bands 1 and 2. Upon receiving the downlink control signal instruction 700, the UE 115 will then prioritize the random access resources corresponding to frequency band 1.

[0083] As described above, the downlink control signal instruction 700 may indicate that the network has acquired the time value of the COT. In this case, in the case where the downlink control signal instruction 700 is received within the duration indicated by the downlink control signal instruction 700, the UE 115 may use a simplified LBT process (e.g., Category 2 LBT) for random access resources within band 1. Furthermore, depending on the capabilities of the UE 115, the UE 115 may perform random access only on one of the identified bands in which the downlink control signal instruction 700 is received. Otherwise, in the case where the UE 115 is capable of performing LBT on multiple bands at the same time, the UE 115 may perform the LBT process in parallel on one or more of the configured bands (e.g., bands 1, 3, and 4), and in the case where one of the bands in which the downlink control signal instruction 700 is received has a successful LBT, the UE 115 may perform random access transmission on the band (e.g., band 1).

[0084] Figure 81 is a block diagram illustrating a portion of an NR-U network 80 having a base station 105 and a UE 115 configured according to various aspects of the present disclosure. The base station 105 may associate a priority for random access transmission for each configured frequency band based on congestion or interference in the frequency band. In additional aspects of the present disclosure, a priority value (priority values ​​800-802) may be associated with each frequency band in which CFRA or CBRA resources are available. In a first optional aspect, the base station 105 may signal a congestion level (e.g., a channel occupancy percentage or channel load) on each frequency band, which the UE 115 may use to determine a priority associated with each of the frequency bands 1-4. In these aspects, a higher priority may be associated with a frequency band with lower congestion. In a second optional aspect, the base station 105 may provide an explicit priority value for each frequency band.

[0085] In example operations of these aspects, the base station 105 may signal the congestion level or priority value (priority values ​​800-802) of each of the frequency bands 1, 3, and 4 to the UE 115. Upon receiving the congestion level, the UE 115 may determine the priority value 800-802 for each of the frequency bands 1, 3, and 4 when determining to select a frequency band for random access. The UE 115 may then select the frequency band, namely, frequency band 1, which has the best priority value.

[0086] exist Figure 8 In the alternative aspect shown, UE 115 can use the probability based on the priority value to select the frequency band for random access transmission. A higher probability will be associated with a higher priority value. For example, as discussed above, frequency band 1 is assigned priority 1 (priority value 800), which is the highest priority (priority value 800 can be received directly from base station 105, or UE115 can determine priority value 800 by evaluating the congestion level received from base station 105). According to a first optional example implementation, if UE 115 is able to perform LBT on multiple frequency bands, then a set is defined as the frequency band whose LBT is successful. UE115 can then select the frequency band for random access from a given set (e.g., frequency bands 1, 3, 4) based on the probability value of which frequency band in frequency bands 1, 3, 4 has a better priority value 800-802. In a second optional example implementation, the set of frequency bands can be composed of all frequency bands (e.g., frequency bands 1, 3, and 4) in which random access resources are available. The UE 115 will perform the LBT procedure on one of the frequency bands based on the probability value or on the frequency band in the set with a better priority value.

[0087] NR operation currently defines that autonomous random access transmissions are allowed using the active BWP (if random access resources are available) and PCell random access resources within the initial active BWP. This standard concept can be extended in additional aspects of the present disclosure to allow more random access opportunities in other BWPs and secondary cells (SCells). Figure 8 In one such example aspect of the illustration, for a set of BWPs, the UE 115 may select a BWP (e.g., band 1, 3, or 4) for random access based on: the UE 115 selects any BWP in which random access resources are configured, or the UE 115 selects any BWP, but only if no random access resources are configured in the active BWP or the initial active BWP, or the UE 115 selects any BWP, but only if interference or congestion measurements or LBT failures in the active BWP and the initial active BWP are greater than a threshold, or the UE 115 selects the BWP with the minimum value of interference or congestion measurements or LBT failures, or the UE 115 selects any BWP, but only if one or more LBT failures are detected on the active BWP and the initial active BWP, or the UE 115 may perform the LBT process on multiple BWPs based on the capabilities of the UE 115, and the UE 115 may select a BWP in which LBT succeeds among the multiple BWPs.

[0088] In additional aspects of the present disclosure in which a set of serving cells or supplementary uplinks are configured, the UE 115 may select a carrier (e.g., band 1, 3, or 4) for random access based on: the UE 115 selects any carrier in which random access resources are configured, or the UE 115 may select any carrier but only if an LBT failure is detected in a primary UL carrier, or the UE 115 may select any carrier but only if an interference or congestion measurement or LBT failure on the primary UL carrier is greater than a threshold, or the UE 115 selects the UL carrier with the smallest value of interference or congestion measurement or LBT failure, or the UE 115 performs an LBT procedure on multiple carriers based on the capabilities of the UE 115. The UE 115 may then select a carrier in which LBT succeeds among the multiple carriers.

[0089] In NR Rel-15, a UE such as UE 115 may send a Msg3 for a connection request or a random access procedure in the same cell used for PRACH transmission. UE 115 uses a BWP as configured by higher layers. For non-standalone scenarios (e.g., licensed assisted access (LAA) type), a RAR will be received on the PCell, which may indicate which frequency band is acquired by the base station 105. Resources for the connection request or Msg3 may be scheduled with low interference or where the base station 105 has already acquired the COT. In additional aspects of the present disclosure, the RAR may indicate the serving cell to be used for the connection request or Msg3 transmission. This information may also be implicit, so that the UE 115 performs the connection request or Msg3 transmission on the same cell where the RAR is received. In an alternative aspect, the RAR may indicate the BWP to be used by the UE 115 for the connection request or Msg3 transmission.

[0090] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that any of a variety of different processes and techniques may be used to represent information and signals. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the above specification may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

[0091] Figure 4 and 6 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.

[0092] Those skilled in the art will further appreciate that various illustrative logic blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithmic steps described in conjunction with the disclosure herein 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 terms of their functions. Whether this function is implemented as hardware or software depends on specific applications and the design constraints imposed on the overall system. The technician can implement the described function in a changing manner for each specific application, but this implementation decision should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure. The technician will also easily recognize that the components, methods, or interactive order or combination described herein are merely examples, and the components, methods, or interactive aspects of the present disclosure can be combined or performed in a manner different from the manner described and described herein.

[0093] The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the disclosure herein may be implemented or performed using 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. The general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but alternatively, 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.

[0094] The steps of the method or algorithm described in conjunction with the disclosure herein can be directly implemented 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 the processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and can write information to the storage medium. Alternatively, the storage medium can be integrated with the processor. The processor and the storage medium can reside in an ASIC. The ASIC can reside in a user terminal. Alternatively, the processor and the storage medium can reside in a user terminal as discrete components.

[0095] In one or more exemplary designs, the described functions can be implemented with hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented with software, these functions can be stored on a computer-readable medium 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, and communication media include any media that helps to transfer a computer program from one place to another. Computer-readable storage media can be any available medium that can be accessed by a general or special-purpose computer. As an example and not limitation, such computer-readable media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, 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 can be appropriately referred to as a computer-readable medium. For example, if a coaxial cable, optical cable, twisted pair, or digital subscriber line (DSL) is used to transmit software from a website, server or other remote source, the coaxial cable, optical cable, twisted pair, or DSL are included in the definition of the medium. Disk and disc, as used herein, include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray disc, where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0096] As used herein, the term "and / or," as included in the claims, when used in a list of two or more items, means that any one of the listed items may be taken alone, or any combination of two or more of the listed items may be taken. For example, if a composition is described as comprising components A, B, and / or C, the composition may comprise: A alone; B alone; C alone; A and B in combination; A and C in combination; B and C in combination; or A, B, and C in combination. Also, as used herein (including in the claims), "or" used in a list of items ending with "at least one of..." indicates a separable list, such that, for example, a list of "at least one of A, B, or C" indicates A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C) or any of these items in any combination thereof.

[0097] The previous description of the disclosure is provided to enable those skilled in the art to make or use the disclosure. Various modifications to the disclosure will be clear to those skilled in the art, and the general 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 given the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment UE, comprising: detecting a random access configuration message identifying one or more random access opportunities on a plurality of frequency bands, the random access configuration message identifying the one or more random access opportunities on the plurality of frequency bands, wherein the one or more random access opportunities include first one or more random access resources, the first one or more random access resources including one or more contention free random access CFRA resources configured on first one or more frequency bands on the plurality of frequency bands; sending a random access request to a base station at a selected random access resource of the one or more random access opportunities on a selected frequency band among the plurality of frequency bands; monitoring a downlink frequency for a random access response in response to the random access request; and sending a connection request to the base station in response to detecting the random access response, The method further includes receiving an autonomous random access configuration, wherein the autonomous random access configuration identifies a subset of frequency bands among the plurality of frequency bands that the UE can use for UE-triggered random access transmissions.

2. The method according to claim 1, in, The one or more random access opportunities include second one or more random access resources, the second one or more random access resources include contention-based random access (CBRA) resources in second one or more frequency bands of the plurality of frequency bands, the second one or more frequency bands being different from the first one or more frequency bands of the plurality of frequency bands, The random access configuration message includes one of the following: a system information message or a semi-static signaling, and The random access configuration message further identifies a downlink frequency band associated with each of the plurality of frequency bands, wherein the UE monitors the downlink frequency band for the random access response.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein: Each of the plurality of frequency bands and the downlink frequency band comprises one of: Supplementary carrier frequencies; or Service community.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein: The frequency band subset includes a default frequency band set and an additional frequency band set, wherein even if the autonomous random access configuration is not received, the random access transmission triggered by the UE is still performed on the default frequency band set.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein: The default frequency band set includes one or more of the following: Initial access bandwidth portion; and Main area.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising: A random access resource configuration is received that identifies one or more contention-free random access (CFRA) resources configured on one or more frequency bands of the plurality of frequency bands, wherein each of the one or more CFRA resources is associated with a reference signal from a target base station.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein: The reference signal includes one of the following: a synchronization signal block SSB or a channel state information reference signal CSI-RS.

8. The method of claim 6, further comprising: Determining to perform a random access process; measuring a signal strength of the reference signal detected by the UE for an active frequency band including a CFRA resource associated with the reference signal; In response to the signal strength exceeding a threshold signal strength, performing a random access procedure on the CFRA resources of the active frequency band; as well as In response to the signal strength being within the threshold signal strength, performing the random access procedure on random access resources of another frequency band of the plurality of frequency bands.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising: obtaining a prioritization indication applicable to the plurality of frequency bands; Determining to perform a random access process; The random access procedure is performed using the prioritization indication.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein: Obtaining the prioritization indication includes one of: Receiving a downlink control signal identifying one or more priority frequency bands among the plurality of frequency bands, wherein the one or more priority frequency bands include one or more frequency bands on which the target base station has obtained a channel occupancy time COT; or receiving the downlink control signal from the target base station on the one or more frequency bands on which the target base station has obtained the COT; and identifying the one or more priority frequency bands as the one or more frequency bands on which the downlink control signal is received.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein: Performing the random access procedure includes one of the following: performing the random access procedure on a priority band selected from the one or more priority bands; or performing a listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure on two or more frequency bands among the plurality of frequency bands; selecting the priority frequency band among the one or more priority frequency bands from the one or more frequency bands in which the LBT procedure is successful; And performing the random access procedure on the priority frequency band.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein: Obtaining the prioritization indication includes one of: receiving a congestion indicator associated with one or more frequency bands of the plurality of frequency bands; and determining a prioritization indication for each of the one or more frequency bands based on the congestion indicator associated with each of the one or more frequency bands; or receiving a prioritization indicator for each of one or more of the plurality of frequency bands; or A probability of success indicator is received for each frequency band of one or more frequency bands of the plurality of frequency bands.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein: Executing the random access process includes: determining a probability of success for each of the one or more frequency bands based on a prioritization indication associated with each of the one or more frequency bands; and One of the following: performing a listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure on two or more frequency bands among the plurality of frequency bands; identifying a candidate frequency band set as one or more frequency bands among the two or more frequency bands in which the LBT procedure is successful; selecting a priority frequency band from the candidate frequency band set using a probability based on a probability of success from the candidate frequency band set; and performing the random access procedure on the priority frequency band; or performing the LBT procedure on a priority band selected from the plurality of frequency bands using a probability based on a probability of success from the plurality of frequency bands; and performing the random access procedure on the priority band in response to success of the LBT procedure.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising: In response to a good resolution of the connection request, establishing a connection state with the base station; Determining to execute a random access procedure triggered by a UE; selecting a random access resource of the one or more random access opportunities on a frequency band among the plurality of frequency bands; as well as A random access procedure triggered by the UE is performed using the random access resource on the frequency band.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein: Selecting the random access resource comprises one of the following: selecting the random access resource from any one of the plurality of frequency bands on which one or more random access resources are configured; selecting the random access resource from one of the plurality of frequency bands based on one of: interference, congestion measurements, or LBT failure records on the plurality of frequency bands; In response to determining that the one or more active frequency bands do not have random access resources configured thereon, selecting the random access resources from the one or more inactive frequency bands; or performing a listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure and congestion measurement on one or more frequency bands of the plurality of frequency bands having one or more random access resources configured thereon; and The random access resource is selected from a frequency band among the one or more frequency bands based on at least one of: a successful result of the LBT procedure or a value of a congestion measurement being below a threshold congestion level.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving the random access response from the base station on the downlink frequency; A frequency band indication is obtained from the random access response, wherein the connection request is sent using a transmission frequency band identified by the frequency band indication among the plurality of frequency bands.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein: Obtaining the frequency band indication comprises one of the following: receiving, from the base station, a frequency band indication message including the frequency band indication; or The frequency band indication is identified based on a downlink frequency on which the random access response was received.

18. A user equipment UE configured for wireless communication, the UE 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: detecting a random access configuration message identifying one or more random access opportunities on a plurality of frequency bands, the random access configuration message identifying the one or more random access opportunities on the plurality of frequency bands, wherein the one or more random access opportunities include first one or more random access resources, the first one or more random access resources including one or more contention free random access CFRA resources configured on first one or more frequency bands configured on the plurality of frequency bands; sending a random access request to a base station at a selected random access resource of the one or more random access opportunities on a selected frequency band among the plurality of frequency bands; monitoring a downlink frequency for a random access response in response to the random access request; and sending a connection request to the base station in response to detecting the random access response; The at least one processor is further configured to receive an autonomous random access configuration, wherein the autonomous random access configuration identifies a subset of frequency bands of the plurality of frequency bands that the UE can use for UE-triggered random access transmissions.

19. The UE according to claim 18, in, The random access configuration message includes one of the following: a system information message or a semi-static signaling, and The random access configuration message further identifies a downlink frequency band associated with each of the plurality of frequency bands, wherein the UE monitors the downlink frequency band for the random access response.

20. The UE of claim 18, further configuring the at least one processor to receive a random access resource configuration identifying one or more contention-free random access (CFRA) resources configured on one or more frequency bands among the plurality of frequency bands, wherein: Each CFRA resource of the one or more CFRA resources is associated with a reference signal from a target base station.

21. The UE of claim 20, further configuring the at least one processor to: Determining to perform a random access process; measuring a signal strength of the reference signal detected by the UE for an active frequency band including a CFRA resource associated with the reference signal; performing, by the UE, a random access procedure on the CFRA resources of the active frequency band in response to the signal strength exceeding a threshold signal strength; as well as In response to the signal strength being within the threshold signal strength, the UE performs the random access procedure on random access resources of another frequency band among the multiple frequency bands.

22. The UE of claim 18, further configuring the at least one processor to: obtaining a prioritization indication applicable to the plurality of frequency bands; Determining to perform a random access process; The random access procedure is performed using the prioritization indication.

23. The UE according to claim 22, wherein: Configuring the at least one processor to obtain the prioritization indication includes configuring the at least one processor to do one of: Receiving a downlink control signal identifying one or more priority frequency bands among the plurality of frequency bands, wherein the one or more priority frequency bands include one or more frequency bands on which the target base station has obtained a channel occupancy time COT; or The downlink control signal is received from the target base station on one or more frequency bands on which the target base station has obtained a COT, and the one or more priority frequency bands are identified as the one or more frequency bands on which the downlink control signal is received.

24. The UE according to claim 23, wherein: Configuring the at least one processor to perform the random access procedure includes configuring the at least one processor to do one of: performing the random access procedure on a priority band selected from the one or more priority bands; or A listen-before-talk LBT procedure is performed on two or more frequency bands among the multiple frequency bands, the priority frequency band among the one or more priority frequency bands is selected from the one or more frequency bands in which the LBT procedure is successful, and the random access procedure is performed on the priority frequency band.

25. The UE according to claim 22, wherein: Configuring the at least one processor to obtain the prioritization indication includes configuring the at least one processor to do one of: receiving a congestion indicator associated with one or more frequency bands of the plurality of frequency bands; and determining a prioritization indication for each of the one or more frequency bands based on the congestion indicator associated with each of the one or more frequency bands; or receiving a prioritization indicator for each of one or more of the plurality of frequency bands; or A probability of success indicator is received for each frequency band of one or more frequency bands of the plurality of frequency bands.

26. The UE according to claim 25, wherein: Configuring the at least one processor to perform the random access procedure comprises configuring the at least one processor to determine a probability of success for each of the one or more frequency bands based on a prioritization indication associated with each of the one or more frequency bands; as well as The at least one processor is configured to do one of: performing a listen-before-talk (LBT) process on two or more frequency bands among the plurality of frequency bands; identifying a set of candidate frequency bands as one or more frequency bands among the two or more frequency bands in which the LBT process is successful; selecting a priority frequency band from the set of candidate frequency bands using a probability based on a probability of success from the set of candidate frequency bands; and performing the random access procedure on the priority frequency band; or performing the LBT process on a priority frequency band selected from the plurality of frequency bands using a probability based on a probability of success from the plurality of frequency bands; And in response to the success of the LBT process, performing the random access process on the priority band.

27. The UE of claim 18, further configuring the at least one processor to: In response to a good resolution of the connection request, establishing a connection state with the base station; Determining to execute a random access procedure triggered by a UE; selecting a random access resource of the one or more random access opportunities on a frequency band among the plurality of frequency bands; and A random access procedure triggered by the UE is performed using the random access resource on the frequency band.

28. The UE according to claim 27, wherein: Configuring the at least one processor to select the random access resource comprises configuring the at least one processor to do one of: selecting the random access resource from any one of the plurality of frequency bands on which one or more random access resources are configured; selecting the random access resource from one of the plurality of frequency bands based on one of: interference, congestion measurements, or LBT failure records on the plurality of frequency bands; In response to determining that the one or more active frequency bands do not have random access resources configured thereon, selecting the random access resources from the one or more inactive frequency bands; or performing a listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure and congestion measurement on one or more frequency bands of the plurality of frequency bands having one or more random access resources configured thereon; and The random access resource is selected from a frequency band among the one or more frequency bands based on at least one of: a successful result of the LBT procedure or a value of a congestion measurement being below a threshold congestion level.

29. A computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon, which when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 17.

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