Electronic device, method and storage medium for wireless communication system

Abstract

The present invention relates to an electronic device, method, and storage medium for a wireless communication system. The present disclosure provides an electronic device for a wireless communication system, comprising: a processing circuit configured to: communicate using an unlicensed frequency band; and perform directional clear channel assessment (CCA) on multiple beams, and select a beam for transmission based on the result of the directional CCA, wherein the directional CCA is performed on the multiple beams by the following operations: performing an initial CCA on one of the multiple beams; if the initial CCA passes, selecting the beam that passes the initial CCA for transmission; and if the initial CCA fails, performing further CCA on one or more beams of the multiple beams.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communication systems, and more particularly to a directional carrier sensing mechanism for unlicensed frequency bands in wireless communication systems. Background Art

[0002] In wireless communication systems, unlicensed frequency bands may be used for transmission. Different types of systems (such as NR systems and WiFi systems) can use unlicensed frequency bands for data transmission. Given that different types of systems should have equal access to spectrum, and to avoid unnecessary interference, the transmitter of any system must perform carrier sensing before using unlicensed spectrum to determine whether the spectrum is currently occupied.

[0003] However, in the existing carrier sensing mechanism, only FR1 (low frequency band) carrier sensing is involved, in which only receiving beams with a wide spatial coverage range (for example, omnidirectional beams) are used to perform carrier sensing operations. Therefore, even if the transmitter receives strong received signal energy, it cannot determine from which direction the energy comes. However, in unlicensed frequency bands (such as millimeter wave bands), due to the strong path loss, directional beams with beamforming are generally used for transmission, in which beamforming technology concentrates the power of the transmitted signal in certain specific spatial directions, thereby achieving better signal coverage to combat path loss. In view of this, if carrier sensing operations are still performed in unlicensed frequency bands using receiving beams with a wide spatial coverage range (for example, omnidirectional beams) as in low frequency band carrier sensing, it is possible that opportunities to communicate using specific beams in certain directions will be wasted.

[0004] Therefore, a directional carrier sensing mechanism for unlicensed frequency bands in wireless communication systems is needed to monitor whether a channel is idle in the direction of a beam, thereby effectively utilizing the beam in a specific direction for communication. Summary of the Invention

[0005] In view of the above situation, the present disclosure proposes a directional idle channel assessment solution, so as to perform idle channel assessment in a directional beam direction, thereby facilitating communication using a beam in a specific direction.

[0006] The present disclosure provides an electronic device, a method, and a storage medium for a wireless communication system.

[0007] One aspect of the present disclosure relates to an electronic device for a wireless communication system, comprising: a processing circuit configured to: communicate using an unlicensed frequency band; and perform directional clear channel assessment CCA on multiple beams, and select a beam for transmission based on the result of the directional CCA, wherein the directional CCA is performed on the multiple beams by the following operations: performing an initial CCA on one of the multiple beams; if the initial CCA passes, selecting the beam that passes the initial CCA for transmission; and if the initial CCA fails, performing further CCA on one or more of the multiple beams.

[0008] Another aspect of the present disclosure relates to a method for a wireless communication system, comprising: a processing circuit configured to: communicate using an unlicensed frequency band; and perform directional clear channel assessment CCA on multiple beams, and select a beam for transmission based on the result of the directional CCA, wherein the directional CCA is performed on the multiple beams by the following operations: performing an initial CCA on one of the multiple beams; if the initial CCA passes, selecting the beam that passes the initial CCA for transmission; and if the initial CCA fails, performing further CCA on one or more of the multiple beams.

[0009] Another aspect of the present disclosure relates to an electronic device for a wireless communication system, comprising: communicating using an unlicensed frequency band; and performing directional clear channel assessment CCA on multiple beams, selecting a beam for transmission based on the results of the directional CCA, wherein the directional CCA is performed on the multiple beams by the following operations: performing CCA on the directions of the multiple beams in turn, and when the CCA of a predetermined threshold number of beams passes, no longer performing CCA on the remaining beams in the multiple beams.

[0010] Another aspect of the present disclosure relates to a method for a wireless communication system, comprising: communicating using an unlicensed frequency band; and performing directional clear channel assessment CCA on multiple beams, and selecting a beam for transmission based on the results of the directional CCA, wherein the directional CCA is performed on the multiple beams by the following operations: performing CCA on the directions of the multiple beams in sequence, and when the CCA of a predetermined threshold number of beams passes, no longer performing CCA on the remaining beams in the multiple beams.

[0011] Another aspect of the present disclosure relates to a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing executable instructions, which, when executed, implement any of the methods described above.

[0012] Another aspect of the present disclosure relates to a device, comprising: a processor and a storage device storing executable instructions, wherein the executable instructions implement any of the above methods when executed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] A better understanding of the present disclosure may be obtained when the following detailed description of the embodiments is considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The same or similar reference numerals are used in the various drawings to represent the same or similar components. The accompanying drawings, together with the following detailed description, are incorporated into and form a part of this specification and are used to illustrate the embodiments of the present disclosure and to explain the principles and advantages of the present disclosure. In particular:

[0014] Figure 1 Schematically illustrates a Type 2 "listen before talk" carrier sensing mechanism;

[0015] Figure 2 Schematically illustrates a Type 4 "listen before talk" carrier sensing mechanism;

[0016] Figure 3 Schematically illustrates a communication system according to the present disclosure;

[0017] Figure 4 schematically illustrates a conceptual configuration of an electronic device according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0018] Figure 5 Schematically illustrates a conceptual operation flow of a clear channel assessment (CCA) unit of an electronic device according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0019] Figure 6 Schematically shows a flow chart of a directional CCA according to a first example of the first embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0020] Figure 7 Schematically shows a flow chart of a directional CCA according to a second example of the first embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0021] Figure 8 Schematically shows a flow chart of a directional CCA according to a third example of the first embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0022] Figure 9 Schematically illustrates an example of indicating information related to directional clear channel assessment according to the present disclosure;

[0023] Figure 10 An exemplary transmission configuration indication state (TCI-State) information element is schematically shown;

[0024] Figure 11aAn exemplary physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) spatial relation information (PUCCH-SpatialRelationInfo) information element is schematically shown;

[0025] Figure 11b An exemplary channel sounding reference signal (SRS) spatial relationship information (SRS-SpatialRelationInfo) information element is schematically shown;

[0026] Figure 12 Schematically illustrates a conceptual operation flow of an electronic device according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0027] Figure 13 schematically illustrates a conceptual configuration of an electronic device according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0028] Figure 14 Schematically illustrates a conceptual operation flow of a clear channel assessment (CCA) unit of an electronic device according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0029] Figure 15 Schematically illustrates a conceptual operation flow of an electronic device according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0030] Figure 16 is a block diagram showing an example structure of a personal computer as an information processing device that can be employed in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0031] Figure 17 A block diagram illustrating a first example of a schematic configuration of a gNB to which the technology of the present disclosure may be applied;

[0032] Figure 18 A block diagram illustrating a second example of a schematic configuration of a gNB to which the technology of the present disclosure may be applied;

[0033] Figure 19 is a block diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a smartphone to which the technology of the present disclosure can be applied; and

[0034] Figure 20 is a block diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a car navigation device to which the technology of the present disclosure can be applied.

[0035] While the embodiments described in this disclosure may be susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described in detail. However, it should be understood that the drawings and detailed description thereof are not intended to limit the embodiments to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intent is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the claims. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0036] The following describes representative applications of various aspects of the apparatus and method of the present disclosure. The description of these examples is only to add context and help understand the described embodiments. Therefore, it is clear to those skilled in the art that the embodiments described below can be implemented without some or all of the specific details. In other cases, well-known process steps are not described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the described embodiments. Other applications are also possible, and the solutions of the present disclosure are not limited to these examples.

[0037] Typically, a wireless communication system includes at least a control device and a terminal device. The control device can provide communication services for one or more terminal devices.

[0038] In this disclosure, the terms "base station" or "control device" have their full breadth of ordinary meaning and include at least a wireless communication station that facilitates communications as part of a wireless communication system or radio system. For example, a base station may be an eNB for 4G communications standards, a gNB for 5G communications standards, a remote radio head, a wireless access point, an unmanned aerial vehicle control tower, or other communication devices that perform similar functions. In this disclosure, "base station" and "control device" may be used interchangeably, or a "control device" may be implemented as part of a "base station." The following detailed description of application examples of base stations / control devices will be provided, using base stations as an example and in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0039] In this disclosure, the term "terminal device" or "user equipment (UE)" has the full breadth of its usual meaning and includes at least a terminal device that is part of a wireless communication system or radio system to facilitate communication. As an example, the terminal device can be a terminal device such as a mobile phone, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, an in-vehicle communication device, or a component thereof. In this disclosure, "terminal device" and "user equipment" (hereinafter referred to as "user") can be used interchangeably, or the "terminal device" can be implemented as a part of the "user equipment". The following sections will describe in detail the application examples of the terminal device / UE using the terminal device as an example.

[0040] In this disclosure, the terms "control device side" / "base station side" have their full breadth of ordinary meaning and generally refer to the side of a communication system that transmits data in a downlink. Similarly, the terms "terminal device side" / "user equipment side" have their full breadth of ordinary meaning and can accordingly refer to the side of a communication system that receives data in a downlink.

[0041] In this disclosure, unless otherwise specified, the term "beam" refers to a directional beam formed by focusing the transmitted signal in certain specific spatial directions through beamforming. In general, the term "beam" is equivalent to the term "spatial domain filter." More specifically, a transmit beam (Tx beam) is equivalent to a transmit spatial domain filter, and a receive beam (Rx beam) is equivalent to a receive spatial domain filter.

[0042] In this disclosure, directional carrier sensing is generally performed by a transmitting device, and the operation of this directional carrier sensing is similar whether performed on the control device or the terminal device. Therefore, in the following description, unless otherwise specified, the operation of directional carrier sensing can be performed on both the control device and the terminal device.

[0043] It should be noted that although the following description of the embodiments of the present disclosure is primarily based on a communication system including a base station and a terminal device, this description can be extended to situations involving any other type of communication system including a control device side and a terminal device side. For example, in the case of a downlink, the operation on the control device side can correspond to the operation of the base station, and the operation on the terminal device side can correspond to the operation of the terminal device.

[0044] Figure 1 and Figure 2 The figure shows an existing carrier sensing mechanism called "Listen Before Talk (LBT)". In this disclosure, this carrier sensing mechanism called LBT is also called Clear Channel Assessment (CCA). This LBT mechanism is defined in existing 3GPP or non-3GPP standards (such as IEEE standards). The following briefly describes this listen-before-talk carrier sensing mechanism using the simpler type (Type 2) LBT (i.e., Category 2 LBT) and the more complex type (Type 4) LBT (i.e., Category 4 LBT) as examples.

[0045] Figure 1 The carrier sensing mechanism of Cat.2LBT is schematically shown. Figure 1When there is no data to be sent, the transmitter is in an idle state. When data needs to be sent, the transmitter performs an idle channel assessment on a beam with a wider spatial coverage range (e.g., an omnidirectional beam). That is, the transmitter monitors the energy of the frequency band to be used in the wider space within a predetermined period of time (e.g., 34μs). If the energy exceeds a predetermined threshold, the channel in the frequency band is considered to be in use. Therefore, the transmitter needs to remain silent and cannot use the spectrum resource for transmission (this situation is also called LBT failure). Otherwise, if the energy is lower than the predetermined threshold, the channel is considered idle and transmission can be performed.

[0046] Figure 2 The diagram schematically shows the more complex carrier sensing mechanism of Cat.4LBT. Figure 2 As shown, the operation of Cat.4LBT can be divided into two parts: initial CCA and extended CCA. The initial CCA is similar to Cat.2LBT. If the channel is detected to be within a predetermined period (e.g., Figure 2 Initial CCA period B shown iCCA ) is idle within the contention window, then transmission can be performed, otherwise extended CCA will be performed. During extended CCA, first, based on the contention window (for example, Figure 2 The contention window may be updated based on an ACK or NACK. The specific update method is less relevant to the present disclosure and will not be described here. The transmitter then enters a backoff period D. eCCA For example, 34us. If the channel is idle during the backoff period and N is not zero, the channel is checked to see if it is idle within a predetermined period T (for example, 9 or 10μs). If the channel is idle within T, the N value is reduced by 1 and the channel is continuously checked to see if it is idle within T until N is equal to zero. When N is equal to zero, the transmitter can transmit. If the channel is detected to be busy within the backoff period or within T, a further backoff is entered. The purpose of the backoff period is to provide other systems competing for the use of the unlicensed frequency band with an opportunity to transmit using the spectrum resources.

[0047] Already referenced Figure 1 、 Figure 2An example of an existing carrier sensing mechanism is briefly introduced. However, as explained above, this existing mechanism evaluates whether a channel is idle on a beam with a wider spatial coverage range, for example, evaluates whether the channel is idle in all directions. However, in a wireless communication system, especially in an unlicensed frequency band, a directional beam can be used for directional transmission. In this case, it is expected that even if the channel energy in a certain direction is very strong (that is, the channel in that direction is occupied), another directional beam whose channel is idle can be used for transmission. In this case of transmission using a directional beam, the existing carrier sensing mechanism may cause the transmitting end to be unable to determine which direction the energy on the channel comes from. Therefore, the opportunity to use a specific beam for communication in certain directions may be wasted. In view of this, the present disclosure provides a directional carrier sensing mechanism for an unlicensed frequency band in a wireless communication system, so that directional beams can be used more effectively for transmission.

[0048] Figure 3 Schematically shows a communication system according to the present disclosure. Figure 3 As shown in FIG, a directional beam (hereinafter referred to as a beam) is used to communicate between the base station and the terminal device. Figure 3 Schematically shows four beams between the base station 10 and the terminal device 20A, but the number of beams between the base station and the terminal device is not limited thereto, and there may be more than four beams (e.g., eight) or fewer than four beams that can be used for communication therebetween. Figure 3 Only a schematic beam between the base station 10 and the terminal device 20A is shown, but similar directional beams also exist between the base station and other terminal devices (such as the terminal devices 20B and 20C).

[0049] According to the present disclosure, an electronic device (base station or terminal device) that is to transmit may communicate using an unlicensed frequency band, and perform directional clear channel assessment (CCA) on multiple beams, and select a beam for transmission based on the results of the directional CCA. In the present disclosure, it is generally believed that the transmit beam of the transmitter can be equivalent to the receive beam, that is, there is beam correspondence. According to the present disclosure, the transmitter performs the directional CCA on the receive beam corresponding to the direction of the transmit beam. According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, directional CCA can be performed by the following operations: performing an initial CCA on one of the multiple beams; if the initial CCA passes, selecting the beam that passes the initial CCA for transmission; and if the initial CCA fails, performing further CCA on one or more beams of the multiple beams. According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, directional CCA can also be performed by the following operations: performing CCA on the directions of the multiple beams in sequence, and when the CCA of a predetermined threshold number of beams passes, no longer performing CCA on the remaining beams of the multiple beams.

[0050] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, multiple beams for which CCA is performed are pre-configured through radio resource control (RRC) signaling, or alternatively, multiple beams for which CCA is performed are pre-configured through radio resource control (RRC) signaling and activated through a control element MAC CE of a media access control layer. According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, multiple beams may be pre-set for one or more channels between a base station and a terminal device, wherein the one or more channels include one or more of the following: a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), and a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH).

[0051] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the electronic device that performs directional CCA (i.e., the base station or terminal device that is to transmit) can notify the electronic device at the other end of the communication (i.e., the base station or terminal device that is the receiving party) of information related to the directional CCA of the beam. Additionally, the electronic device that performs directional CCA can, for example, notify the electronic device at the other end of the communication of the beams that can be transmitted and the beams that cannot be transmitted, determined based on the results of the directional CCA, so that the communicating parties can subsequently prepare and / or negotiate beams for transmission and reception.

[0052] The communication system according to the present disclosure has been briefly introduced above. The configuration and operation of electronic devices in the communication system of the present disclosure will be described in detail below.

[0053] Structure of electronic device according to first embodiment

[0054] The following will refer to Figure 4 A conceptual configuration of an electronic device according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure is explained.

[0055] The electronic device can be implemented as a device that performs directional CCA and, therefore, can be a base station-side device or a terminal device that transmits. When implemented as a base station-side device, the electronic device can be implemented as a base station (BS), small base station, Node B, e-NodeB, g-NodeB, relay, etc. in a cellular communication system, a terminal device in a machine-type communication system, a sensor node in an ad hoc network, a coexistence manager (CM), or SAS in a cognitive radio system. For example, the electronic device can be implemented as any type of evolved Node B (eNB), such as a macro eNB (associated with a macro cell) and a small eNB (associated with a small cell). A small eNB can be an eNB that covers a cell smaller than a macro cell, such as a pico eNB, micro eNB, and home (femto) eNB. Alternatively, the electronic device can be implemented as any other type of base station, such as a network node in a next-generation network, such as a gNB, NodeB, and base transceiver station (BTS). The electronic device may include: a main body (also referred to as a base station device) configured to control wireless communications; and one or more remote radio heads (RRHs) located at a location different from the main body. In addition, various types of devices described below can work as the electronic device by temporarily or semi-permanently performing base station functions. It should be noted that the electronic device can be included in the base station as a component of the base station, or a control device separate from the base station for controlling the base station.

[0056] In the case of being implemented as a terminal device, the electronic device can be implemented as a mobile terminal (such as a smart phone, a tablet personal computer (PC), a notebook PC, a portable game terminal, a portable / dongle-type mobile router, and a digital camera) or a vehicle-mounted terminal (such as a car navigation device). The electronic device can also be implemented as a terminal that performs machine-to-machine (M2M) communication (also known as a machine type communication (MTC) terminal). In addition, the electronic device can be a wireless communication module (such as an integrated circuit module including a single chip) installed on each of the above-mentioned terminals. The electronic device can also be implemented as a smart meter, a smart home appliance, or a Geolocation Capability Object (GCO) or a Citizens Broadband Radio Service Device (CBSD) in a cognitive radio system.

[0057] like Figure 4As shown, the electronic device may include a processing circuit 400. The processing circuit 400 may be configured to communicate using an unlicensed frequency band; and perform directional clear channel assessment (CCA) on multiple beams, and select a beam for transmission based on the result of the directional CCA, wherein the directional CCA is performed on the multiple beams by the following operations: performing an initial CCA on one of the multiple beams; if the initial CCA passes, selecting the beam that passes the initial CCA for transmission; and if the initial CCA fails, performing further CCA on one or more beams of the multiple beams.

[0058] The processing circuit 400 may be in the form of a general-purpose processor or a dedicated processing circuit, such as an ASIC. For example, the processing circuit 400 may be constructed from a circuit (hardware) or a central processing device (such as a central processing unit (CPU)). In addition, the processing circuit 400 may carry a program (software) for operating the circuit (hardware) or the central processing device. The program may be stored in a memory (such as one disposed in the memory 401) or in an externally connected external storage medium, or downloaded via a network (such as the Internet).

[0059] According to some embodiments, the processing circuit of the electronic device may include various units to implement various embodiments according to the present disclosure.

[0060] According to the first embodiment of the present disclosure, the processing circuit 400 may include a CCA unit 4001 for performing directional clear channel assessment (CCA) on multiple beams. In implementation, the CCA unit may include various modules / sub-units to implement various operations in the CCA operation described herein. For example, the CCA unit may include an initial beam determination module configured to determine a beam to be subjected to initial CCA from multiple beams. The CCA unit may also include a calculation module configured to execute the directional CCA operation process described in detail below.

[0061] Alternatively, the CCA unit 4001 may include more or fewer modules. For example, the initial beam determination module may not be included in the CCA unit 4001 or even in the processing circuit 400, and the beam may be transmitted to the CCA unit 4001 of the processing circuit 400 after it is determined. Alternatively, the calculation module may be further divided into finer sub-modules to respectively process corresponding determination / calculation operations. The detailed operation of the CCA unit 4001 will be referred to below. Figure 5-8 Provide explanation.

[0062] According to the first embodiment of the present disclosure, the processing circuit 400 may include a CCA result processing unit 4002 that processes the result of the directional CCA. In implementation, the CCA result processing unit may include various modules / sub-units to implement the various operations related to processing the result of the directional CCA described herein. For example, the CCA result processing unit may include a transmit beam determination module, which is configured to determine which beam or beams can be used for transmission based on the result of the directional CCA. The CCA result processing unit may also include a CCA result indication module, which is configured to perform operations related to indicating information related to the directional CCA, so that the communication unit 402 of the electronic device 40 notifies another electronic device communicating with the electronic device 40 of information related to the directional CCA of the beam based on such indication. Alternatively, the CCA result processing unit 4002 may also include more or fewer modules. The detailed operation of the CCA result processing unit 4002 will be described below.

[0063] According to the first embodiment of the present disclosure, the processing circuit 400 may further include a channel occupancy time (COT) configuration unit 4003. The COT configuration unit 4003 may be configured to configure (i.e., initialize) a directional channel occupancy time in the direction of the beam to be transmitted, based on the beam determined by the transmit beam determination unit 4002. The channel occupancy time, for example, indicates that the transmitter will occupy the channel for a period of time, and during this period, the transmitter can transmit without performing a clear channel assessment. Traditionally, the channel occupancy time is not declared for a specific beam direction. This results in the possibility of missing transmission opportunities in certain beam directions due to the initialization of the channel occupancy time when transmitting using a directional beam. Furthermore, traditionally, because the channel occupancy time is not initialized for a specific direction, a shorter channel occupancy time is generally initialized to prevent excessively long channel occupancy in all directions (e.g., omnidirectional). In view of this, according to the present disclosure, the directional COT is initialized based on the results of the directional CCA, thereby preventing the occupation of channel resources on other beams. In addition, according to the present disclosure, since the directional COT is initialized for the beam to be transmitted based on the result of the directional CCA, a COT that is longer than the traditional COT can be appropriately initialized, thereby avoiding inappropriate waiting time between consecutive transmissions (for example, for a base station, sending PDSCH after sending PDCCH, or for a terminal device, sending PUSCH after sending PUCCH). This is particularly beneficial for situations where the receiving device needs a longer time to understand the received content in order to prepare to receive the next information. For example, when operating at a 60kHz subcarrier spacing, the terminal device requires a maximum of 2 time slots to understand the content of the PDCCH and to prepare to receive the PDSCH. Since the traditional non-directional COT is likely to be shorter than the sum of the duration of sending the PDCCH and the duration of the terminal device understanding the content of the PDCCH, this is likely to result in the need to re-perform CCA or re-perform a type of CCA with a longer waiting time when sending the PDSCH following the PDCCH. This situation can be effectively avoided with the help of a directional COT that is longer than the traditional non-directional COT.

[0064] In addition, the processing circuit 400 may further include an interface circuit (not shown) for performing interface connections between various units.

[0065] It should be noted that the above-mentioned units are merely logical modules divided according to the specific functions they implement, and are not intended to limit specific implementation methods. For example, they can be implemented in software, hardware, or a combination of software and hardware. In actual implementation, the above-mentioned units can be implemented as independent physical entities, or can be implemented by a single entity (for example, a processor (CPU or DSP, etc.), an integrated circuit, etc.). In addition, the above-mentioned units are shown with dotted lines in the accompanying drawings to indicate that these units may not actually exist, and the operations / functions they implement can be implemented by the processing circuit itself. In addition, the units / modules and their operations / functions shown with dotted lines in the accompanying drawings can be selectively applied according to actual conditions, that is, the processing circuit does not necessarily have to include all the units / modules and their operations / functions shown, but can selectively implement some of these units / modules and their operations / functions.

[0066] In addition, optionally, the electronic device 40 may further include a memory 401 and a communication unit 402. In addition, the electronic device 40 may further include other components not shown, such as a radio frequency link, a baseband processing unit, a network interface, a processor, a controller, etc. The processing circuit 400 may be associated with the memory 401 and / or the communication unit 402. For example, the processing circuit 400 may be directly or indirectly connected to the memory 401 (for example, with other components connected in between) to access data. For another example, the processing circuit 400 may be directly or indirectly connected to the communication unit 402 to send radio signals via the communication unit 402 and receive radio signals via the communication unit 402.

[0067] Memory 401 can store various information to be used or generated by processing circuit 400 (e.g., information related to directional CCA, statistical information on CCA results for each beam during directional CCA), programs and data used for the operation of electronic device 40, data to be transmitted by communication unit 402, etc. Memory 401 is depicted with a dotted line because it can be located within processing circuit 400 or outside electronic device 40. Memory 401 can be volatile memory and / or non-volatile memory. For example, memory 401 can include, but is not limited to, random access memory (RAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), read-only memory (ROM), and flash memory.

[0068] The communication unit 402 can be configured to communicate with an electronic device at the other end of the communication (e.g., a receiving electronic device) under the control of the processing circuit 400. In one example, the communication unit 402 can be implemented as a transmitter or a transceiver, including communication components such as an antenna array and / or a radio frequency link. In one implementation, the communication unit 402 can transmit on a beam determined based on the results of a directional CCA. In one implementation, the communication unit 402 can send information about the beam that can be used for transmission to the receiving electronic device.

[0069] Although Figure 4 4 shows that the processing circuit 400 is separated from the communication unit 402, but the processing circuit 400 may also be implemented to include the communication unit 402. In addition, the processing circuit 400 may also be implemented to include one or more other components in the electronic device 40, or the processing circuit 400 may be implemented as the electronic device 40 itself. In actual implementation, the processing circuit 400 may be implemented as a chip (such as an integrated circuit module including a single die), a hardware component, or a complete product.

[0070] The detailed operations performed by the electronic device 40 will be described below.

[0071] Operation of the CCA unit 4001 of the electronic device according to the first embodiment

[0072] First, refer to Figure 5 A conceptual operation flow 50 of the CCA unit 4001 according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure is described.

[0073] like Figure 5 As shown, the operation process 50 begins at S500. At this time, the electronic device is in an idle state, that is, there is no data to be sent. When it is determined at S502 that data needs to be sent, the operation process enters S504. In S504, the CCA unit 4001 performs an initial CCA on one of the multiple beams.

[0074] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the initial beam determination module may determine a beam for performing initial CCA from the multiple beams. According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the beam for performing initial CCA may be the most suitable beam or a predetermined beam. According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the predetermined beam may represent a beam configured by RRC during the RRC connection establishment process or a beam activated by MAC CE. According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the most suitable beam may be a beam with better channel quality in the beam direction. For example, the beam direction with better channel quality may be determined based on a reference signal sent between a base station and a terminal device. For example, for the uplink, the beam direction with better channel quality may be determined based on a channel sounding reference signal (SRS) of the terminal device, i.e., for the uplink, the beam for performing initial CCA may be determined based on the SRS. For another example, for the downlink, the beam direction with better channel quality may be determined based on a synchronization signal block (SSB) or channel state information reference information (CSI-RS) of the base station, i.e., for the downlink, the beam for performing initial CCA may be determined based on the SSB or CSI-RS. The initial CCA is performed on the beam with better channel quality in the beam direction so that if the initial CCA succeeds, the beam with better channel quality can be used for transmission. Alternatively, the beam to be subjected to the initial CCA can also be randomly determined.

[0075] After determining the beam for which the initial CCA is to be performed, the CCA unit 4001 can determine whether the energy on the channel in the direction of the beam is strong (for example, greater than a predetermined threshold) during a predetermined period of time (for example, 34 μs). If the energy on the channel in the direction of the beam is weak (for example, lower than a predetermined threshold), it is considered that the initial CCA in the direction of the beam has passed (S506: Yes), and the electronic device can use the beam to transmit (S510). It can be understood that directly transmitting after the initial CCA without performing subsequent further CCA can advantageously reduce the waiting time for transmission. If the energy on the channel in the direction of the beam for which the initial CCA was performed is strong, it is considered that the initial CCA in the direction of the beam has failed (S506: No), and the CCA unit 4001 can perform further CCA (S508).

[0076] At S508, if Figure 5As shown, the calculation module of the CCA unit 4001 can perform further CCA according to the following operations: determine a number T within a predetermined range; iteratively perform CCA as follows: when the current CCA passes, decrement T by 1, otherwise continue to perform CCA without changing T until T equals 0, wherein CCA is performed for one or more beams in the multiple beams in each iteration. It should be noted that during the entire directional CCA operation (including the initial CCA and further CCA), the term "CCA" refers to performing a directional clear channel assessment for a specific beam direction. For the sake of simplicity, the detailed description of further CCA below will no longer specifically indicate that each CCA performed is directional. In addition, the expression "CCA passed" is intended to indicate that the channel in the specific beam direction is clear, that is, it means that the energy on the channel in the direction of the beam for which CCA is performed is less than a predetermined threshold within a predetermined period (e.g., 34 μs). hereinafter, "CCA passed" or "CCA successful" have similar meanings, and these terms will not be explained again.

[0077] like Figure 5 As shown, in the case where further CCA is performed, when T is equal to 0, the electronic device can select a beam for transmission based on the result of the directional CCA (S510).

[0078] Already referenced Figure 5 The conceptual operation flow 50 of the directional CCA performed by the CCA unit 4001 is briefly introduced. Figure 6-8 Three implementation examples of directional CCA are described in detail. The initial CCA operation in these three implementation examples is the same as that in reference Figure 5 The operations described are similar and therefore will not be described in detail below.

[0079] First, refer to Figure 6 The operational flow 60 of the first example of directional CCA is described in detail.

[0080] Figure 6 In the operation S600, S602, S604 and S610 correspond to Figure 5 Operations S500, S502, S504 and S510 in FIG. Figure 5 The details of the corresponding operations are omitted here.

[0081] If it is determined in step S606 that the initial CCA fails, further CCA is performed according to the operation in S608. Specifically, first, the number T can be determined within a predetermined range. According to this first example, the value of T can be randomly selected within the range. The range can be similar to the contention window described above with reference to Cat.4LBT. The determination of the range is intended to provide a value interval for the number T. The range is not limited to the size of the contention window of Cat.4LBT. Any range that can define a suitable value interval for the number T is applicable.

[0082] Subsequently, in reference Figure 5 During the CCA iteration process described in operation S508, at each iteration, CCA is performed on a randomly selected beam from the multiple beams that undergo directional CCA, and the result of the CCA of the beam is used as the CCA result of the iteration. In other words, at each iteration, a beam is randomly selected from the multiple beams for CCA. If the CCA passes, the T value is reduced by 1 and the next iteration is performed if the T value is not 0 (that is, a beam is randomly selected from the multiple beams for CCA again), otherwise, the next iteration is performed directly without decrementing the T value. When the T value is 0 (that is, T CCAs are successfully performed, where each CCA is for a beam randomly selected from the multiple beams), a beam is selected for transmission based on the result of the directional CCA. The detailed process of selecting a transmission beam based on the result of the directional CCA will be explained below.

[0083] For example, assuming that directional CCA is performed for 4 beams (B1, B2, B3, B4), during the process of performing further CCA when the initial CCA fails, the following steps are performed: Figure 6 In the first example shown, the CCA unit 4001 first determines a random number T within a predetermined range, for example, T=5. Subsequently, the CCA unit 4001 randomly selects a beam (for example, beam B2) for the first CCA iteration. Assuming that the CCA passes, the T value is decremented to 4, and the CCA unit 4001 randomly selects a beam again (the result of the random selection may be the same or different beam as the beam B2 of the first iteration) for the next CCA iteration. Assuming that the CCA fails, the T value remains unchanged (i.e., T=4) and a beam is randomly selected again for the next CCA iteration, and so on, until T=0. Finally, when T=0, that is, after T times (5 times in this example) of CCA are successfully performed, the CCA unit 4001 can control the processing circuit 400 to select a beam to send data based on the result of the directional CCA.

[0084] Already referenced Figure 6This section describes the operational flow of the first example of directional CCA. By randomly selecting a beam for clear channel assessment in each iteration, each beam can be fairly considered and the total number of CCAs can be effectively limited (CCA is performed on only one beam per iteration), thus avoiding excessive waiting times for transmission.

[0085] Below, we will refer to Figure 7 The operational flow 70 of the second example of directional CCA is described in detail.

[0086] Figure 7 In the operation S700, S702, S704 and S710 correspond to Figure 5 Operations S500, S502, S504 and S510 in FIG. Figure 5 The details of the corresponding operations are omitted here.

[0087] If it is determined that the initial CCA fails in step S706, further CCA is performed according to the operation in S708. Specifically, first, a number T can be determined within a predetermined range. According to this second example, the value of T can be determined as the product of the number of the plurality of beams and a value randomly selected from the predetermined range. The range can be compared with the reference value. Figure 6 The range in the first example of the description is similar.

[0088] Subsequently, in reference Figure 5 During the CCA iteration process described in operation S508, at each iteration, CCA is performed on a beam selected in a predetermined order from among the multiple beams that undergo directional CCA, and the result of the CCA of the beam is used as the CCA result of the iteration, wherein the predetermined order enables the multiple beams to be cyclically CCAed in turn. In other words, CCA iterations are performed on the multiple beams that undergo directional CCA in turn. If the current CCA passes, the T value is reduced by 1 and the next iteration is performed (CCA is performed on the next beam in the multiple beams) if the T value is not 0; otherwise, the next iteration is performed directly without decrementing the T value. When the T value is 0 (that is, T CCAs are successfully performed), a beam is selected for transmission based on the result of the directional CCA.

[0089] For example, assuming that directional CCA is performed for 4 beams (B1, B2, B3, B4), during the process of performing further CCA when the initial CCA fails, the following steps are performed: Figure 7 In the second example shown, the CCA unit 4001 first selects a random number N within a predetermined range, for example, N=2, and determines the product of the number of beams to be subjected to directional CCA and the random number N as a number T, that is, T=4*2=8.

[0090] Subsequently, the CCA unit 4001 performs CCA iterations on each beam in a predetermined order. The predetermined order enables CCA to be performed cyclically on the four beams in this example. For example, the predetermined order may be B1, B2, B3, and B4. However, this order is not limiting and may be any order that cycles through the four beams, such as B2, B3, B1, and B4, or B4, B2, B1, and B3. Assuming that the predetermined order is B1, B2, B3, and B4, the CCA unit 4001 first performs the first CCA iteration on beam B1. Assuming that the CCA passes, the T value is decremented to 7, and the CCA unit 4001 performs the next CCA iteration on the next beam B2. Assuming that the CCA fails, the T value remains unchanged (i.e., T=7) and the next CCA iteration is performed on the next beam (i.e., B3) in sequence, and so on, until T=0. After CCA is performed on beam B4, the next iteration will perform CCA on beam B1 again, and the cycle will continue. Finally, when T=0, that is, after T times (8 times in this example) of CCA are successfully performed, the CCA unit 4001 can control the processing circuit 400 to select a beam to send data based on the result of the directional CCA.

[0091] Already referenced Figure 7 The second example operation flow of directional CCA is described. By cyclically performing idle channel assessment on each of the multiple beams during a further CCA period, each beam can be considered fairly, and statistical information about the idle status of each beam can be comprehensively collected during the further CCA period to facilitate subsequent selection of a beam for transmission.

[0092] Below, we will refer to Figure 8 The operational flow 80 of the third example of directional CCA is described in detail.

[0093] Figure 8 In the example, operations S800, S802, S804, and S810 correspond to Figure 5 Operations S500, S502, S504 and S510 in FIG. Figure 5 The details of the corresponding operations are omitted here.

[0094] If it is determined that the initial CCA fails in step S806, further CCA is performed according to the operation in S808. Specifically, first, a number T can be determined within a predetermined range. Similar to the first example, the value of T can be randomly selected within the range.

[0095] Subsequently, in reference Figure 5During the CCA iteration process described in operation S508, at each iteration, CCA is performed on all or part of the multiple beams that are subjected to directional CCA in sequence, and when CCA of more than a predetermined threshold number of beams passes, it is considered that the current CCA has been passed. In other words, CCA iteration is performed in units of groups including multiple beams that are subjected to directional CCA. In each iteration, CCA is performed on one or more beams of the multiple beams, respectively, and if CCA of more than a predetermined threshold number of beams passes during the current CCA, it is considered that the current CCA has been passed. The predetermined threshold number can be any one of the following values: one, half of the number of beams that are subjected to CCA in one iteration, and the number of beams that are subjected to CCA in one iteration. In particular, during each CCA iteration in groups, S beams (S is less than or equal to the number of beams) of the multiple beams can be randomly selected to perform CCA in sequence. In particular, during a group-based CCA iteration, if it is determined that a predetermined threshold number of beams have passed CCA and there are still beams among the selected S beams for which CCA has not been performed, then the next group-based CCA iteration can be performed directly without performing CCA on the remaining beams.

[0096] If the current group-based CCA iteration succeeds (i.e., more than a predetermined number of CCAs pass in this group-based CCA iteration), the T value is decremented by 1 and the next group-based iteration is performed if the T value is not 0. Otherwise, the next iteration is performed directly without decrementing the T value. When the T value is 0 (that is, T group-based CCAs have been successfully performed), a beam is selected for transmission based on the results of the directional CCA.

[0097] For example, assuming that directional CCA is performed for 4 beams (B1, B2, B3, B4), during the process of performing further CCA when the initial CCA fails, the following steps are performed: Figure 8 In the third example shown, the CCA unit 4001 first selects a random number T within a predetermined range, for example, T=3.

[0098] Subsequently, the CCA unit 4001 performs CCA iterations in groups including these four beams. For example, in each iteration, the CCA unit 4001 randomly selects two beams from the multiple beams to perform CCA at a time, and assuming that when the CCA of more than one beam passes, it is considered that the current CCA iteration has passed (that is, the above-mentioned predetermined threshold number is one). For example, in the first iteration, the CCA unit 4001 randomly selects beams B1 and B4 for CCA. Assuming that the CCA of beam B1 passes, it can be directly determined that the CCA in group units has passed, and the T value is directly reduced to 2 without performing CCA on beam B4. Subsequently, the CCA unit 4001 randomly selects beams B2 and B4 for the next CCA in group units. Assuming that the beams for beams B2 and B4 do not pass, the T value remains unchanged (that is, T=2) and the next CCA iteration in group units is continued, and so on, until T=0. Finally, when T=0, that is, after T (3 in this example) group-based CCAs are successfully performed, the CCA unit 4001 may control the processing circuit 400 to select a beam to transmit data based on the result of the directional CCA.

[0099] Already referenced Figure 8 The operational flow of the third example of directional CCA is described. By iteratively performing idle channel assessment in groups, each beam can be considered more fairly, and statistical information on the idle status of each beam can be collected more comprehensively to facilitate the subsequent selection of beams for transmission. In addition, by adjusting the predetermined threshold number for judging whether the iteration in groups is successful, the strictness of CCA can be flexibly controlled. For example, the higher the predetermined threshold number, the stricter the CCA, which may make the waiting time for transmission longer. For example, the strictness of CCA can be flexibly adjusted based on the intensity of competition in the unlicensed frequency band or the importance of the content to be transmitted, so as to appropriately adjust the waiting time for transmission.

[0100] Operation of the CCA result processing unit 4002 of the electronic device according to the first embodiment

[0101] As mentioned above Figure 4 Briefly described, the CCA result processing unit 4002 is configured to perform some processing on the results of the directional CCA, for example, determining the beam that can be used for transmission and controlling the communication unit to notify the beam that can be used for transmission.

[0102] Specifically, according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure, the transmit beam determination module of the CCA result processing unit 4002 may be configured to determine the beam that passes the initial CCA as the beam to be transmitted.

[0103] According to the first embodiment of the present disclosure, the transmit beam determination module of the CCA result processing unit 4002 may be further configured to, during a further CCA, count the channel occupancy performance of each beam and determine a beam that can be used for transmission based on the statistical results. For example, the transmit beam determination unit may be configured to, during a further CCA, count the total number of CCA successes or CCA failures for each beam and determine the beam with a statistically relatively idle channel as the beam to be transmitted. In other words, the beam with the highest total number of CCA successes or the lowest total number of CCA failures during the further CCA may be determined as the beam to be transmitted. In this case, the highest total number of CCA successes or the lowest total number of CCA failures may indicate that there are fewer users or less traffic in that beam direction. Thus, based on the statistical results, the beam direction with a relatively idle channel can be inferred, and the beam in that direction can be used for transmission. Alternatively, based on the statistical results of directional CCA, multiple beams with statistically relatively idle channels that can be used for transmission can be determined, so that the sender and receiver can select the beam to be transmitted through subsequent negotiation.

[0104] According to the first embodiment of the present disclosure, the transmit beam determination module may be further configured to, upon completion of a subsequent CCA, directly determine the beam that last passed the CCA (i.e., the beam for which T is decremented to 0) as the beam to be transmitted. This configuration simplifies operations in the electronic device and ensures with a high probability that the channel on the beam to be transmitted is idle.

[0105] According to the first embodiment of the present disclosure, the transmit beam determination module can also be configured to simply determine the beam with better channel quality in that direction as the beam that can be transmitted. For example, during the RRC connection establishment process, a beam with better channel quality determined based on reference information (such as SRS, SSB or CSI-RS) exchanged between the base station and the terminal device can be selected for transmission. Alternatively, multiple beams that can be used for transmission can be determined based on the channel quality, so that the sender and the receiver can select the beam to be transmitted through subsequent negotiations. This configuration can better guarantee the channel quality of the transmit beam, thereby facilitating successful reception at the receiving end.

[0106] According to the first embodiment of the present disclosure, the transmission beam determination module can also be configured to determine the beam to be transmitted based on the statistical results of the channel occupancy of each beam and the channel quality in each beam direction. For example, based on the statistical results of the directional CCA, multiple beams that can be used for transmission and whose channels are statistically relatively idle can be determined, and the beam with the best channel quality can be selected as the beam to be transmitted. Alternatively, multiple beams with good channel quality can be determined, and the beam with the largest total number of CCA passes or the smallest total number of CCA failures can be selected as the beam to be transmitted. This configuration can comprehensively consider the channel quality and the idleness of the channel to select the beam that is most suitable for transmission.

[0107] According to the first embodiment of the present disclosure, the CCA result indication module of the CCA result processing unit 4002 may be configured to determine information related to the directional CCA of the beam, and control the communication unit to notify the receiving electronic device of the information related to the directional CCA of the beam. The information related to the directional CCA of the beam may include an indication of the beam that can be transmitted and the beam that cannot be transmitted. Accordingly, notifying the receiving electronic device of the information related to the directional CCA of the beam may include notifying the receiving electronic device of the beam that can be transmitted and the beam that cannot be transmitted determined based on the result of the directional CCA. The following will refer to Figure 9 Provide detailed explanation.

[0108] like Figure 9 As shown, the CCA result indication module can be configured to indicate beams that can be transmitted and beams that cannot be transmitted in the form of a bitmap. For example, referring to the beams that can be used for transmission determined by the transmit beam determination module, the CCA result indication module can generate a bitmap indicating beams that can be used for transmission (i.e., beams that pass directional CCA) and beams that cannot be used for transmission (i.e., beams that do not pass directional CCA). Figure 9 As shown, directional CCA can be performed on 8 beams, and the transmit beam determination module determines the second beam from the left as a beam that can be used for transmission (shown by a solid line, and the other beams, i.e., beams that are not determined by the transmit beam determination module as being available for transmission, are shown by dotted lines). Figure 9 As shown, an 8-bit bitmap may be generated, where 0 represents a beam that is unavailable for transmission and 1 represents a beam that is available for transmission, and for this example, the generated bitmap may be "01000000".

[0109] Although Figure 9The case where directional CCA is performed on 8 beams is shown, but the number of beams is not limited to this. For example, directional CCA can be performed on fewer than 8 beams, and an 8-bit bitmap is generated based on the results of the CCA. In this case, 1 represents a beam that can be used for transmission, 0 represents a beam that cannot be used for transmission, and a reserved bit (R) is used to represent an uninvolved beam. Alternatively, the reserved bit (R) can be replaced by 0, in which case 0 can represent both a beam determined to be unavailable for transmission and a beam that is not involved. Using a fixed-length bitmap regardless of the number of beams that are subjected to directional CCA can facilitate the receiver's interpretation of the received bitmap, thereby simplifying the receiver's calculations.

[0110] Furthermore, as explained above with reference to the transmit beam determination module, multiple beams available for transmission may be determined. In this case, the generated bitmap may include multiple bits with a value of 1, such as "01011000." The CCA result indication module may control the communication unit to notify the receiving device of the beams available for transmission based on the generated bitmap, so that the receiving device can prepare a beam for reception (if only one beam available for transmission is indicated), or so that both parties can conduct subsequent negotiation to determine the beam to be transmitted (if multiple beams available for transmission are indicated).

[0111] According to the first embodiment of the present disclosure, the CCA result indication module of the CCA result processing unit 4002 may be configured to control relevant units (e.g., the communication unit) in the electronic device 40 to dynamically or semi-statically notify the receiving electronic device of information related to the directional CCA of the beam. For example, based on the generated bitmap, the communication unit may be controlled to dynamically or semi-statically notify the receiving electronic device of beams that can be used for transmission, beams that cannot be used for transmission, and / or beams not involved.

[0112] According to the present disclosure, the dynamic method may include using control information to dynamically specify beams that pass directional CCA and beams that do not pass directional CCA. For example, the control information may be physical layer control information, such as uplink control information (UCI) for the uplink and downlink control information (DCI) for the downlink. For example, the CCA result indication module may be configured to control the communication unit to use such control information to send the generated bitmap to the receiving electronic device to indicate beams that can be used for transmission and beams that cannot be used for transmission and / or beams that are not involved.

[0113] According to the present disclosure, the static method may include using MAC CE to activate the beam through CCA. For example, for the downlink, the CCA result indication module may be configured to control to activate the transmission configuration indication (TCI) state (TCI state) corresponding to the beam that can be used for transmission using MAC CE based on the generated bitmap. For example, for the uplink, the CCA result indication module may be configured to control to activate the spatial relationship information (SpatialRelationInfo) corresponding to the beam that can be used for transmission using MAC CE based on the generated bitmap. The TCI state and SpatialRelationInfo will be further described in detail below. It should be noted that, whether for the uplink or the downlink, the process of activating the beam using MAC CE is performed by the base station. Therefore, in the case of directional CCA performed by the terminal device, the terminal device may first send the generated bitmap indicating the beams that can be used for transmission and the beams that cannot be used for transmission and / or the beams not involved to the base station, and then the base station activates it according to the received bitmap.

[0114] The configuration according to the first embodiment is to perform a multi-beam operation of a directional CCA

[0115] Referenced above Figure 4-9 The operation of directional CCA for multiple beams and some operations performed after the completion of directional CCA (for example, determining and notifying the beams that can be used for transmission and initializing the channel occupancy time) are described. According to the present disclosure, before starting the directional CCA for multiple beams, the multiple beams can also be pre-set. According to the present disclosure, it is considered that directional CCA is performed after the terminal device enters the RRC connection state, and accordingly, the multiple beams for which directional CCA is performed can be pre-configured through RRC signaling, or can be pre-configured through RRC signaling and activated through MAC CE. It should be noted that, whether for the uplink or downlink, this process of pre-setting the beams is implemented by the base station. In other words, whether for the uplink or downlink, the base station pre-configures the multiple beams to be subjected to directional CCA by performing beam setting for one or more channels between the base station and the terminal device through RRC signaling. However, it should be understood that when the terminal device wants to transmit and perform directional CCA, there is also a pre-setting process for multiple beams, and this pre-setting process is implemented by the base station side based on the signaling interaction between the base station and the terminal device.

[0116] Next, first refer to Figure 10 The downlink will be described.

[0117] As explained above, in the present disclosure, it is considered to perform directional CCA after the terminal device enters the RRC connection state. Some reference signals, such as channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), synchronization signal block (SSB) and the like, are transmitted between the base station and the terminal device, and these reference signals may be sent through directional beams. Therefore, during the RRC connection process, the terminal device may have measured some downlink reference signals with spatial directionality, and may use the receiving beam that previously received the downlink reference signal to receive a new channel or signal. According to the present disclosure, multiple beams to be subjected to directional CCA can be pre-set based on these beam directions that have been measured during the RRC connection process.

[0118] Specifically, beam setting can be performed with the help of the transmission configuration indication state (TCI state). The TCI state is an RRC parameter, which may include an index of a downlink reference signal, such as a CSI-RS resource index or an SSB index. Through the TCI state information element (TCI state information element), one or more downlink reference signals can be associated with the corresponding quasi-co-location (QCL) type, wherein the quasi-co-location type D (Type D) can represent the quasi-co-location in the spatial direction. That is, when a downlink reference signal is associated with the quasi-co-location of Type D using the TCI state information element, the index of the downlink reference signal contained in the TCI state information element can be used to indicate that a new channel or signal can be received using the beam direction of the reference signal represented by the index. In other words, each TCI state can correspond to a beam direction. Multiple TCI states can be configured through RRC signaling to pre-set multiple beams for directional CCA.

[0119] Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram of TCI status information elements. Figure 10 As shown, “CHOICE” and “ENUMBERATED” can be used to associate the reference signal index with the quasi co-location type, thereby setting the beam by configuring the TCI state.

[0120] According to the present disclosure, multiple TCI states can be configured for a channel or signal between a base station and a terminal device. If more than eight TCI states are configured, eight of these TCI states can be activated using a MAC CE. In this case, directional CCA will be performed for the eight beams activated using the MAC CE.

[0121] Beam setting can be performed for multiple channels between a base station and a terminal device. For the downlink, the multiple channels may include a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) and a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH). In particular, multiple TCI states can be configured for both PDCCH and PDSCH. This configuration is particularly advantageous for PDCCH. Specifically, the base station needs to notify the terminal device of the CORESET indicating the time-frequency resources occupied by the PDCCH. Traditionally, only one beam is activated for a CORESET, so when an idle channel assessment is performed only for this one beam, it is likely that the CORESET cannot be transmitted in this direction due to failure to pass the idle channel assessment. According to the present disclosure, multiple beams can be configured and activated for the CORESET in advance, so that directional CCA can be performed for multiple beams, and the beam that passes the directional CCA is selected to transmit the CORESET. Therefore, the chance of successful CORESET transmission is increased to facilitate subsequent communications.

[0122] Below, we will refer to Figure 11a 、 Figure 11b The uplink is described.

[0123] As explained above, in the present disclosure, it is considered to perform directional CCA after the terminal device enters the RRC connection state. Similar to the downlink, some reference signals, such as sounding reference signals (SRS), are also transmitted between the uplink base station and the terminal device, and these reference signals can be sent through directional beams. Therefore, during the RRC connection process, the base station may have measured some uplink reference signals with spatial directionality, and can use the receiving beam that previously received the uplink reference signal to receive a new channel or signal. According to the present disclosure, multiple beams to be subjected to directional CCA can be pre-set based on these beam directions that have been measured during the RRC connection process.

[0124] Specifically, beam setting can be performed by sending spatial relationship information (SpatialRelationInfo). Similar to the TCI state for the downlink, the beam for the uplink can be configured by configuring SpatialRelationInfo as an RRC parameter. In other words, each SpatialRelationInfo state can correspond to a beam direction. Multiple SpatialRelationInfos can be configured through RRC signaling to pre-set multiple beams to be directional CCA. Specifically, for the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), the following can be used: Figure 11a The PUCCH-SpatialRelationInfo information element shown in the figure is used to configure the beam; for SRS, the following information can be used: Figure 11b The SRS-SpatialRelationInfo information element shown is used to configure the beam; and for the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), its beam can be the same as the beam configured for SRS, that is, the SRS-SpatialRelationInfo information element is indirectly used to configure the beam.

[0125] According to the present disclosure, multiple SpatialRelationInfos can be configured for a channel or signal between a terminal device and a base station. If more than eight SpatialRelationInfos are configured, eight of them can be further activated using a MAC CE. In this case, directional CCA will be performed for the eight beams activated using the MAC CE.

[0126] Beam setting can be performed for multiple channels between the base station and the terminal device. For the uplink, the multiple channels may include (PUCCH) and the physical uplink shared channel PUSCH.

[0127] The above has described the various units and operations of the electronic device 40 according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 12 A conceptual operation flow 120 of the electronic device according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure is described.

[0128] The conceptual operational flow begins at step S1200. First, at step S1202, the electronic device pre-configures multiple beams for directional CCA. As described above, the multiple beams are pre-configured via RRC signaling or pre-configured via RRC signaling and activated via a MAC CE. The configuration methods for the uplink and downlink have been described above and will not be repeated here.

[0129] The electronic device then begins performing directional CCA on the configured multiple beams. At step S1204, the electronic device first performs an initial CCA on one of the multiple beams. As described above, the beam for the initial CCA can be the most suitable beam, i.e., a beam with good channel quality in that direction, or a beam randomly selected from the multiple beams, or a predetermined beam as described above.

[0130] Next, at step S1206, it is determined whether the initial CCA passes. If so, the process proceeds directly to step S1210. Otherwise, at step S1208, the electronic device performs further CCA on one or more of the multiple beams. For example, any of the three examples described above may be used to perform the further CCA.

[0131] Subsequently, at S1210, the electronic device may process the result of the CCA. For example, as described above, the electronic device may determine one or more beams that can be used for transmission and notify the one or more beams to the receiving electronic device with the help of a bitmap. For example, as described above, the electronic device may determine the beam that can be used for transmission based on the statistical results during further CCA and / or the channel quality in each beam direction. In the case where multiple beams that can be used for transmission are determined, the operation process 120 may also include an optional step (not shown) of negotiating with the receiving electronic device to determine the beam to be transmitted. Alternatively, the electronic device may also determine the beam that passes the initial CCA or the beam that last passes the CCA during further CCA as the beam to be transmitted at S1210.

[0132] Next, optionally, at S1212, the electronic device to transmit initializes a directional channel occupancy time in the determined beam direction to transmit. Subsequently, at S1214, the electronic device may transmit in the determined beam direction. The process ends at S1216.

[0133] The above operation flow is merely an exemplary description of the operation of the electronic device according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. The illustrated operations may be performed in a different order or in parallel by the electronic device according to the present disclosure. For example, after determining the beam to be transmitted, the electronic device may first initialize the directional channel occupancy time and then notify the receiving electronic device of the beam to be transmitted.

[0134] The structure and operation of the electronic device according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure have been briefly introduced above. Now, the structure and operation of the electronic device according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail.

[0135] Structure of electronic equipment according to second embodiment

[0136] The following will refer to Figure 13 A conceptual configuration of an electronic device according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure is explained.

[0137] Similar to the first embodiment, the electronic device can be implemented as a device for performing directional CCA, and therefore can be a base station-side device or terminal device that is to transmit. When implemented as a base station-side device or terminal device, the specific implementation of the electronic device is the same as that of the first embodiment and will not be repeated here.

[0138] like Figure 13As shown, the electronic device may include a processing circuit 1300. The processing circuit 1300 may be configured to communicate using an unlicensed frequency band; and perform directional clear channel assessment (CCA) on multiple beams, and select a beam for transmission based on a result of the directional CCA, wherein the directional CCA is performed on the multiple beams by the following operations: performing CCA on the directions of the multiple beams in sequence, and when CCA of a predetermined threshold number of beams is passed, no longer performing CCA on the remaining beams in the multiple beams.

[0139] The processing circuit 1300 may be in the form of a general-purpose processor or a dedicated processing circuit, such as an ASIC. For example, the processing circuit 1300 may be constructed from a circuit (hardware) or a central processing device (such as a central processing unit (CPU)). In addition, the processing circuit 1300 may carry a program (software) for operating the circuit (hardware) or the central processing device. The program may be stored in a memory (such as one disposed in the memory 1301) or in an externally connected external storage medium, or downloaded via a network (such as the Internet).

[0140] According to some embodiments, the processing circuit of the electronic device may include various units to implement various embodiments according to the present disclosure.

[0141] According to the second embodiment of the present disclosure, the processing circuit 1300 may include a CCA unit 13001 for performing directional clear channel assessment (CCA) on multiple beams. Figure 13 The submodules / subunits of the CCA unit are not shown, but in implementation, the CCA unit may include various modules / subunits to implement corresponding operations. For example, the CCA unit may include a CCA sequence determination module that determines the order in which CCA is performed on each beam, and a calculation module that executes the CCA operation flow. The detailed operation of the CCA unit 13001 will be referred to below. Figure 14 Provide explanation.

[0142] According to the second embodiment of the present disclosure, the processing circuit 1300 may include a CCA result processing unit 13002 that processes the result of the directional CCA. Similar to the first embodiment, the CCA result processing unit may include various modules / sub-units to implement the various operations related to processing the result of the directional CCA described herein. For example, the CCA result processing unit may include a transmit beam determination module, which is configured to determine which beam can be used for transmission based on the result of the directional CCA. The CCA result processing unit may also include a CCA result indication module, which is configured to perform operations related to indicating information related to the directional CCA, so that the communication unit 1302 of the electronic device 130 notifies another electronic device communicating with the electronic device 130 of information related to the directional CCA of the beam based on such indication. Alternatively, the CCA result processing unit 13002 may also include more or fewer modules. The detailed operation of the CCA result processing unit 13002 will be described below.

[0143] According to a second embodiment of the present disclosure, the processing circuit 1300 may further include a channel occupancy time (COT) configuration unit 13003 similar to the first embodiment. The COT configuration unit 13003 may be configured to configure (i.e., initialize) a directional channel occupancy time in the direction of the beam to be transmitted, based on the beam to be transmitted determined by the transmit beam determination unit 13002. According to the present disclosure, initializing the directional COT based on the result of the directional CCA can prevent the occupation of channel resources on other beams. In addition, according to the present disclosure, since the directional COT is initialized for the beam that passes the directional CCA, a COT that is longer than the traditional COT can be appropriately initialized, so that when continuous transmission is required (for example, for a base station, sending a PDSCH after sending a PDCCH, or for a terminal device, sending a PUSCH after sending a PUCCH), it is prevented that the CCA needs to be re-performed between two transmissions due to the COT time being too short, thereby avoiding inappropriate waiting time between continuous transmissions.

[0144] In addition, the processing circuit 1300 may further include an interface circuit (not shown) for performing interface connections between various units.

[0145] It should be noted that the above-mentioned units are merely logical modules divided according to the specific functions they implement, and are not intended to limit specific implementation methods. For example, they can be implemented in software, hardware, or a combination of software and hardware. In actual implementation, the above-mentioned units can be implemented as independent physical entities, or can be implemented by a single entity (for example, a processor (CPU or DSP, etc.), an integrated circuit, etc.). In addition, the above-mentioned units are shown with dotted lines in the accompanying drawings to indicate that these units may not actually exist, and the operations / functions they implement can be implemented by the processing circuit itself. In addition, the units / modules and their operations / functions shown with dotted lines in the accompanying drawings can be selectively applied according to actual conditions, that is, the processing circuit does not necessarily have to include all the units / modules and their operations / functions shown, but can selectively implement some of these units / modules and their operations / functions.

[0146] In addition, optionally, the electronic device 130 may further include a memory 1301 and a communication unit 1302. In addition, the electronic device 130 may further include other components not shown, such as a radio frequency link, a baseband processing unit, a network interface, a processor, a controller, etc. The processing circuit 1300 may be associated with the memory 1301 and / or the communication unit 1302. For example, the processing circuit 1300 may be directly or indirectly connected to the memory 1301 (e.g., with other components connected in between) to access data. For another example, the processing circuit 1300 may be directly or indirectly connected to the communication unit 1302 to send radio signals via the communication unit 1302 and receive radio signals via the communication unit 4132.

[0147] The memory 1301 can store various information to be used or generated by the processing circuit 1300 (e.g., information related to directional CCA, thresholds to be used during directional CCA execution, etc.), programs and data used for the operation of the electronic device 130, data to be transmitted by the communication unit 1302, etc. The memory 1301 is drawn with a dotted line because it can be located within the processing circuit 1300 or outside the electronic device 130. The memory 1301 can be a volatile memory and / or a non-volatile memory. For example, the memory 1301 can include, but is not limited to, random access memory (RAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), read-only memory (ROM), and flash memory.

[0148] The communication unit 1302 can be configured to communicate with an electronic device at the other end of the communication (e.g., a receiving electronic device) under the control of the processing circuit 1300. In one example, the communication unit 1302 can be implemented as a transmitter or a transceiver, including communication components such as an antenna array and / or a radio frequency link. In one implementation, the communication unit 1302 can transmit on a beam determined based on the results of a directional CCA. In one implementation, the communication unit 1302 can send information about the beam that can be used for transmission to the receiving electronic device.

[0149] Although Figure 13 1300 is shown as being separate from the communication unit 1302, but the processing circuit 1300 may also be implemented to include the communication unit 1302. In addition, the processing circuit 1300 may also be implemented to include one or more other components in the electronic device 130, or the processing circuit 1300 may be implemented as the electronic device 130 itself. In actual implementation, the processing circuit 1300 may be implemented as a chip (such as an integrated circuit module including a single die), a hardware component, or a complete product.

[0150] The detailed operations performed by the electronic device 130 will be described below.

[0151] First, refer to Figure 14 A conceptual operation flow of the CCA unit of the electronic device according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure is described.

[0152] like Figure 14 As shown, the operation process 140 begins at S1400, at which point the electronic device is in an idle state, meaning no data needs to be sent. When it is determined at S1402 that data needs to be sent, the operation process proceeds to S1404. In S1404, the CCA unit sequentially performs CCA on the directions of multiple beams. Once CCA passes a predetermined threshold number of beams, CCA is no longer performed on the remaining beams.

[0153] Similar to the first embodiment, in the second embodiment, the term "CCA" indicates a directional clear channel assessment for a specific beam direction. Furthermore, the expression "CCA passed" is intended to indicate that the channel in the specific beam direction is clear, i.e., it indicates that the energy on the channel in the direction of the beam for which CCA is performed is less than a predetermined threshold within a predetermined period (e.g., 34 μs). Hereinafter, "CCA passed" or "CCA successful" have similar meanings, and these terms will not be explained again.

[0154] Unlike the first embodiment, in the second embodiment, the initial CCA and the further CCA are no longer divided, but CCA is performed on multiple beams in sequence. According to the second embodiment, the CCA unit can perform CCA on the directions of the multiple beams in sequence according to a predetermined order, and the order enables CCA to be performed preferentially on the beam with better channel quality in the direction. Figure 14 As shown, beams 1, 2...M can be M beams with channel quality from high to low. For example, the beam quality of the beam direction can be determined based on the reference signal sent between the base station and the terminal device, and CCA can be performed on each beam in order of channel quality from high to low. For example, for the uplink, the channel quality of the beam can be determined based on the channel sounding reference signal (SRS) of the terminal device. For another example, for the downlink, the channel quality of the beam can be determined based on the synchronization signal block (SSB) or channel state information reference information (CSI-RS) of the base station. By performing CCA in an order related to the channel quality, the CCA unit can give priority to performing CCA in the direction with better channel quality, so that when the CCA passes in this direction, the beam with better channel quality can be used for transmission, thereby improving the communication quality accordingly.

[0155] Alternatively, the CCA unit may perform CCA on multiple beams in a random order. For example, this random order may be used when it is difficult for the transmitter to determine the channel quality of each beam, or when the channel quality of each beam is similar.

[0156] According to the second embodiment, the CCA unit may predetermine a threshold number of beams, and when the CCA of the predetermined threshold number of beams passes, no CCA is performed on the remaining beams. Assume that directional CCA is performed on S beams, such as Figure 14 As shown, after performing CCA on M (M <= S) beams, if a predetermined threshold number of beams have passed CCA, CCA is no longer performed on the remaining SM beams, and a beam can be selected from the beams that have passed CCA for transmission (S1406). Preferably, the predetermined threshold number can be 1. In this way, as long as one beam passes CCA in the direction of the beam, the beam can be directly used for transmission, which can effectively reduce the waiting time for transmission and thus improve communication efficiency.

[0157] The operation of the CCA result processing unit of the electronic device according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure will be described below.

[0158] Similar to the first embodiment, the CCA result processing unit 13002 is configured to perform some processing on the result of the directional CCA, for example, determining the beam that can be used for transmission and controlling the communication unit to notify the beam that can be used for transmission.

[0159] Specifically, according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure, when the above-mentioned predetermined threshold number is equal to 1, the transmission beam determination module of the CCA result processing unit 13002 can be configured to determine the beam through CCA as the beam to be used for transmission. When the above-mentioned predetermined threshold number is greater than 1, the CCA result processing unit 13002 can determine the beam with better channel quality in that direction among the beams through CCA as the beam that can be transmitted. For example, during the RRC connection establishment process, a beam with better channel quality determined based on reference information (such as SRS, SSB or CSI-RS) exchanged between the base station and the terminal device can be selected for transmission. Alternatively, multiple beams that can be used for transmission can be determined based on the channel quality, so that the sender and the receiver can select the beam to be transmitted through subsequent negotiation. This configuration can better guarantee the channel quality of the transmission beam, thereby facilitating successful reception at the receiving end.

[0160] Similar to the first embodiment, according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure, the CCA result indication module of the CCA result processing unit 13002 can be configured to determine information related to the directional CCA of the beam and control the communication unit to notify the receiving electronic device of the information related to the directional CCA of the beam. The information related to the directional CCA of the beam may include an indication of beams that can be transmitted and beams that cannot be transmitted. Accordingly, notifying the receiving electronic device of the information related to the directional CCA of the beam may include notifying the receiving electronic device of the beams that can be transmitted and the beams that cannot be transmitted, as determined based on the result of the directional CCA.

[0161] Similar to the first embodiment, the CCA result indication module can also be configured to indicate beams that can be transmitted and beams that cannot be transmitted in the form of a bitmap. For example, with reference to the beams that can be used for transmission determined by the transmit beam determination module, the CCA result indication module can generate an 8-bit bitmap indicating beams that can be used for transmission (i.e., beams that pass the directional CCA) and beams that cannot be used for transmission (i.e., beams that do not pass the directional CCA), wherein 1 represents a beam that can be used for transmission, 0 represents a beam that cannot be used for transmission, and a reserved bit (R) is used to represent beams that are not involved (for example, as described above, after CCA is performed on M beams out of S beams, when CCA of beams that have passed a predetermined threshold is passed, there are SM beams that are not involved). Alternatively, the reserved bit (R) can also be replaced by 0. In this case, 0 can represent both beams that are determined to be unavailable for transmission and beams that are not involved. Using a fixed-length bitmap without considering the number of beams performing directional CCA can facilitate the receiver to interpret the received bitmap, thereby simplifying the receiver's calculations.

[0162] Similar to the first embodiment, the CCA result indication module according to the second embodiment can control the communication unit to notify the receiving device of the beam that can be used for transmission based on the generated bitmap, so that the receiving party prepares the beam for reception (in the case where only one beam that can be used for transmission is indicated), or so that the two parties can conduct subsequent negotiations to determine the beam to be transmitted (in the case where multiple beams that can be used for transmission are indicated).

[0163] Similar to the first embodiment, the CCA result indication module according to the second embodiment can be configured to control the relevant units (e.g., the communication unit) in the electronic device 130 to dynamically or semi-statically notify the receiving electronic device of information related to the directional CCA of the beam. For example, based on the generated bitmap, the communication unit can be controlled to dynamically or semi-statically notify the receiving electronic device of the beams that can be used for transmission, the beams that cannot be used for transmission, and / or the beams not involved. The specific dynamic and semi-static notification methods are the same as those in the first embodiment and will not be repeated here.

[0164] In addition, similar to the first embodiment, according to the second embodiment, before starting the directional CCA for multiple beams, the multiple beams may also be pre-set. According to the second embodiment of the present disclosure, the multiple beams for which the directional CCA is performed may be pre-configured through RRC signaling, or may be pre-configured through RRC signaling and activated through MAC CE. In the second embodiment, this process of pre-setting the beams is implemented by the base station, whether for the uplink or the downlink. In other words, whether for the uplink or the downlink, the base station pre-configures the multiple beams to be subjected to directional CCA by performing beam setting for one or more channels between the base station and the terminal device through RRC signaling. However, it should be understood that in the case where the terminal device wants to transmit and perform directional CCA, there is also a process for pre-setting multiple beams, and this pre-setting process is implemented by the base station side based on the signaling interaction between the base station and the terminal device. The process of pre-setting multiple beams to be subjected to directional CCA is similar to the process described with reference to the first embodiment, and will not be repeated here.

[0165] The above description has been given of the various units of the electronic device 130 according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure, that is, the operations thereof. Figure 15 A conceptual operation flow 150 of the electronic device 130 according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure is described.

[0166] The conceptual operational flow begins at step S1500. First, at step S1502, electronic device 130 pre-configures multiple beams for directional CCA. As described above, the multiple beams are pre-configured via RRC signaling or pre-configured via RRC signaling and activated via a MAC CE. The configuration methods for the uplink and downlink have been described above and will not be repeated here.

[0167] Subsequently, the electronic device 130 begins performing directional CCA on the multiple set beams at step S1504. As described above, at step S1504, CCA is performed on the directions of the multiple beams in sequence, and after CCA passes a predetermined threshold number of beams, CCA is no longer performed on the remaining beams in the multiple beams.

[0168] Subsequently, at S1506, the electronic device may process the result of the CCA. For example, as described above, the electronic device 130 may determine one or more beams that can be used for transmission and notify the receiving electronic device of the one or more beams via a bitmap. For example, as described above, the electronic device 130 may determine the beam that can be used for transmission based on the channel quality in each beam direction. In the case where multiple beams that can be used for transmission are determined, the operation process 150 may also include an optional step (not shown) of negotiating with the receiving electronic device to determine the beam to be transmitted.

[0169] Next, optionally, at S1508, the electronic device 150 initializes a directional channel occupancy time in the determined beam direction to be transmitted. Subsequently, at S1510, the electronic device 150 may transmit in the determined beam direction. The process ends at S1512.

[0170] The above operation flow is merely an exemplary description of the operation of the electronic device according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure. The illustrated operations may be performed in a different order or in parallel by the electronic device according to the present disclosure. For example, after determining the beam to be transmitted, the electronic device 130 may first initialize the directional channel occupancy time and then notify the receiving electronic device of the beam to be transmitted.

[0171] The solution of the present disclosure has been described through the first and second embodiments. It should be noted that the above embodiments are merely exemplary. The solution of the present disclosure can also be implemented in other ways and still have the advantageous effects obtained by the above embodiments.

[0172] In addition, it should be understood that the above series of processes and devices can also be implemented by software and / or firmware. In the case of implementation by software and / or firmware, the data is transmitted from a storage medium or a network to a computer with a dedicated hardware structure, such as Figure 16 The general-purpose personal computer 1600 shown is installed with programs constituting the software. When various programs are installed, the computer can execute various functions and the like. Figure 16 1 is a block diagram showing an example structure of a personal computer as an information processing device that can be adopted in an embodiment of the present disclosure. In one example, the personal computer can correspond to the above-mentioned exemplary terminal device according to the present disclosure.

[0173] exist Figure 16 In the embodiment, a central processing unit (CPU) 1601 executes various processes according to a program stored in a read-only memory (ROM) 1602 or a program loaded from a storage section 1608 to a random access memory (RAM) 1603. In the RAM 1603, data required when the CPU 1601 executes various processes and the like is also stored as needed.

[0174] The CPU 1601, the ROM 1602, and the RAM 1603 are connected to one another via a bus 1604. An input / output interface 1605 is also connected to the bus 1604.

[0175] The following components are connected to the input / output interface 1605: an input section 1606 including a keyboard, a mouse, etc.; an output section 1607 including a display such as a cathode ray tube (CRT), a liquid crystal display (LCD), etc., and a speaker, etc.; a storage section 1608 including a hard disk, etc.; and a communication section 1609 including a network interface card such as a LAN card, a modem, etc. The communication section 1609 performs communication processing via a network such as the Internet.

[0176] A drive 1610 is also connected to the input / output interface 1605 as needed. A removable medium 1611 such as a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a semiconductor memory, etc. is mounted on the drive 1610 as needed so that a computer program read therefrom is installed in the storage section 1608 as needed.

[0177] In the case of realizing the above-described series of processing by software, a program constituting the software is installed from a network such as the Internet or a storage medium such as the removable medium 1611 .

[0178] It should be understood by those skilled in the art that such storage media is not limited to Figure 16The removable medium 1611 shown has a program stored therein and is distributed separately from the device to provide the program to the user. Examples of the removable medium 1611 include magnetic disks (including floppy disks (registered trademark)), optical disks (including compact disk read-only memories (CD-ROMs) and digital versatile disks (DVDs)), magneto-optical disks (including minidiscs (MDs) (registered trademark)), and semiconductor memories. Alternatively, the storage medium may be ROM 1602, a hard disk included in storage section 1608, or the like, in which the program is stored and distributed to the user along with the device containing it.

[0179] The technology disclosed herein can be applied to various products.

[0180] For example, the electronic device (40, 130) according to the embodiment of the present disclosure may be implemented as various control devices / base stations or included in various control devices / base stations, and the method shown in Figures (12, 15) may also be implemented by various control devices / base stations. For example, the electronic device (40, 130) according to the embodiment of the present disclosure may also be implemented as various terminal devices / user devices or included in various terminal devices / user devices, and the method shown in Figures (12, 15) may also be implemented by various control devices / base stations.

[0181] For example, the control device / base station mentioned in the present disclosure can be implemented as any type of base station, such as an evolved Node B (gNB), such as a macro gNB and a small gNB. A small gNB can be a gNB that covers a cell smaller than a macro cell, such as a pico gNB, a micro gNB, and a home (femto) gNB. Alternatively, the base station can be implemented as any other type of base station, such as a NodeB and a base transceiver station (BTS). A base station may include: a main body (also called a base station device) configured to control wireless communication; and one or more remote radio heads (RRHs) located at a location different from the main body. In addition, the various types of terminals described below can all operate as a base station by temporarily or semi-permanently performing base station functions.

[0182] For example, the terminal device mentioned in the present disclosure is also referred to as a user device in some examples, and can be implemented as a mobile terminal (such as a smart phone, a tablet personal computer (PC), a notebook PC, a portable game terminal, a portable / dongle-type mobile router, and a digital camera) or a vehicle-mounted terminal (such as a car navigation device). The user device can also be implemented as a terminal that performs machine-to-machine (M2M) communication (also referred to as a machine-type communication (MTC) terminal). In addition, the user device can be a wireless communication module (such as an integrated circuit module including a single chip) installed on each of the above-mentioned terminals.

[0183] The following will refer to Figures 17 to 20 Examples according to the present disclosure are described.

[0184] [Example about base stations]

[0185] It should be understood that the term "base station" in the present disclosure has the full breadth of its usual meaning and at least includes a wireless communication station used as part of a wireless communication system or radio system to facilitate communication. Examples of base stations may include, but are not limited to, the following: a base station may be one or both of a base transceiver station (BTS) and a base station controller (BSC) in a GSM system, one or both of a radio network controller (RNC) and a Node B in a WCDMA system, an eNB in an LTE and LTE-Advanced system, or a corresponding network node in a future communication system (such as a gNB, eLTE eNB, etc. that may appear in a 5G communication system). Some of the functions in the base station of the present disclosure may also be implemented as an entity that has a control function for communication in D2D, M2M, and V2V communication scenarios, or as an entity that plays a spectrum coordination role in a cognitive radio communication scenario.

[0186] First example

[0187] Figure 17 This is a block diagram illustrating a first example of a schematic configuration of a gNB to which the techniques of this disclosure can be applied. gNB 1700 includes multiple antennas 1710 and a base station device 1720. Base station device 1720 and each antenna 1710 can be connected to each other via an RF cable. In one implementation, gNB 1700 (or base station device 1720) herein may correspond to the electronic device (40, 130) described above.

[0188] Each of the antennas 1710 includes a single or multiple antenna elements (such as multiple antenna elements included in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna) and is used for the base station device 1720 to transmit and receive wireless signals. Figure 17 As shown, gNB 1700 may include multiple antennas 1710. For example, multiple antennas 1710 may be compatible with multiple frequency bands used by gNB 1700.

[0189] The base station device 1720 includes a controller 1721 , a memory 1722 , a network interface 1723 , and a wireless communication interface 1725 .

[0190] The controller 1721 may be, for example, a CPU or DSP, and operates various higher-layer functions of the base station device 1720. For example, the controller 1721 generates data packets based on data in the signal processed by the wireless communication interface 1725 and transmits the generated packets via the network interface 1723. The controller 1721 may bundle data from multiple baseband processors to generate bundled packets and transmit the generated bundled packets. The controller 1721 may have logic functions for performing control such as radio resource control, radio bearer control, mobility management, admission control, and scheduling. This control may be performed in conjunction with a nearby gNB or core network node. The memory 1722 includes RAM and ROM and stores programs executed by the controller 1721 and various types of control data (such as terminal lists, transmission power data, and scheduling data).

[0191] Network interface 1723 is a communication interface for connecting base station device 1720 to core network 1724. Controller 1721 can communicate with a core network node or another gNB via network interface 1723. In this case, gNB 1700 and the core network node or other gNB can be connected to each other via logical interfaces (such as S1 and X2 interfaces). Network interface 1723 can also be a wired communication interface or a wireless communication interface for wireless backhaul. If network interface 1723 is a wireless communication interface, network interface 1723 can use a higher frequency band for wireless communication than the frequency band used by wireless communication interface 1725.

[0192] The wireless communication interface 1725 supports any cellular communication scheme, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) and LTE-Advanced, and provides wireless connectivity to terminals located in the gNB 1700 cell via the antenna 1710. The wireless communication interface 1725 may typically include, for example, a baseband (BB) processor 1726 and RF circuitry 1727. The BB processor 1726 can perform various signal processing functions, such as encoding / decoding, modulation / demodulation, and multiplexing / demultiplexing, and handle various layers (e.g., Layer 1, Medium Access Control (MAC), Radio Link Control (RLC), and Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP)). In place of the controller 1721, the BB processor 1726 may perform some or all of the aforementioned logical functions. The BB processor 1726 may be a memory storing communication control programs, or a module including a processor configured to execute programs and associated circuitry. Program updates can modify the functionality of the BB processor 1726. This module may be a card or blade inserted into a slot in the base station device 1720. Alternatively, it may be a chip mounted on the card or blade. Meanwhile, the RF circuit 1727 may include, for example, a mixer, a filter, and an amplifier, and transmits and receives wireless signals via the antenna 1710. Figure 17 An example is shown in which one RF circuit 1727 is connected to one antenna 1710 , but the present disclosure is not limited to this illustration, and one RF circuit 1727 may be connected to multiple antennas 1710 at the same time.

[0193] like Figure 17 As shown, the wireless communication interface 1725 may include multiple BB processors 1726. For example, the multiple BB processors 1726 may be compatible with multiple frequency bands used by the gNB 1700. Figure 16 As shown, the wireless communication interface 1725 may include multiple RF circuits 1727. For example, the multiple RF circuits 1727 may be compatible with multiple antenna elements. Figure 16 An example is shown in which the wireless communication interface 1725 includes a plurality of BB processors 1726 and a plurality of RF circuits 1727 , but the wireless communication interface 1725 may also include a single BB processor 1726 or a single RF circuit 1727 .

[0194] Second example

[0195] Figure 18 This is a block diagram illustrating a second example of a schematic configuration of a gNB to which the techniques of this disclosure can be applied. A gNB 1830 includes multiple antennas 1840, a base station device 1850, and an RRH 1860. The RRH 1860 and each antenna 1840 can be connected to each other via an RF cable. The base station device 1850 and the RRH 1860 can be connected to each other via a high-speed line such as an optical fiber cable. In one implementation, the gNB 1830 (or base station device 1850) herein may correspond to the electronic device (40, 130) described above.

[0196] Each of the antennas 1840 includes a single or multiple antenna elements (such as multiple antenna elements included in a MIMO antenna) and is used for the RRH 1860 to transmit and receive wireless signals. Figure 18 As shown, gNB 1830 may include multiple antennas 1840. For example, multiple antennas 1840 may be compatible with multiple frequency bands used by gNB 1830.

[0197] The base station device 1850 includes a controller 1851, a memory 1852, a network interface 1853, a wireless communication interface 1855, and a connection interface 1857. The controller 1851, the memory 1852, and the network interface 1853 are similar to the reference Figure 17 The controller 1721, memory 1722, and network interface 1723 described are the same.

[0198] The wireless communication interface 1855 supports any cellular communication scheme (such as LTE and LTE-Advanced) and provides wireless communication to terminals located in the sector corresponding to the RRH 1860 via the RRH 1860 and the antenna 1840. The wireless communication interface 1855 may generally include, for example, a BB processor 1856. In addition to the BB processor 1856 being connected to the RF circuit 1864 of the RRH 1860 via the connection interface 1857, the BB processor 1856 is connected to the reference RF circuit 1864 of the RRH 1860. Figure 17 The same as the BB processor 1726 described above. Figure 18 As shown, the wireless communication interface 1855 may include multiple BB processors 1856. For example, the multiple BB processors 1856 may be compatible with multiple frequency bands used by the gNB 1830. Figure 18 An example is shown in which the wireless communication interface 1855 includes a plurality of BB processors 1856 , but the wireless communication interface 1855 may also include a single BB processor 1856 .

[0199] The connection interface 1857 is an interface for connecting the base station device 1850 (wireless communication interface 1855) to the RRH 1860. The connection interface 1857 may also be a communication module for connecting the base station device 1850 (wireless communication interface 1855) to the RRH 1860 for communication in the high-speed line.

[0200] The RRH 1860 includes a connection interface 1861 and a wireless communication interface 1863 .

[0201] The connection interface 1861 is an interface for connecting the RRH 1860 (wireless communication interface 1863) to the base station device 1850. The connection interface 1861 may also be a communication module for communication in the above-mentioned high-speed line.

[0202] The wireless communication interface 1863 transmits and receives wireless signals via the antenna 1840. The wireless communication interface 1863 may generally include, for example, an RF circuit 1864. The RF circuit 1864 may include, for example, a mixer, a filter, and an amplifier, and transmits and receives wireless signals via the antenna 1840. Figure 18 An example is shown in which one RF circuit 1864 is connected to one antenna 1840 , but the present disclosure is not limited to this illustration, and one RF circuit 1864 may be connected to multiple antennas 1840 at the same time.

[0203] like Figure 18 As shown, the wireless communication interface 1863 may include multiple RF circuits 1864. For example, the multiple RF circuits 1864 may support multiple antenna elements. Figure 18An example is shown in which the wireless communication interface 1863 includes a plurality of RF circuits 1864 , but the wireless communication interface 1863 may also include a single RF circuit 1864 .

[0204] [Example about user equipment]

[0205] First example

[0206] Figure 19 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of a smartphone 1900 to which the technology of the present disclosure can be applied. The smartphone 1900 includes a processor 1901, a memory 1902, a storage device 1903, an external connection interface 1904, a camera 1906, a sensor 1907, a microphone 1908, an input device 1909, a display device 1910, a speaker 1911, a wireless communication interface 1912, one or more antenna switches 1915, one or more antennas 1916, a bus 1917, a battery 1918, and an auxiliary controller 1919. In one implementation, the smartphone 1900 (or the processor 1901) herein may correspond to the aforementioned electronic device (40, 130).

[0207] The processor 1901 may be, for example, a CPU or a system on a chip (SoC), and controls the functions of the application layer and other layers of the smartphone 1900. The memory 1902 includes RAM and ROM, and stores data and programs executed by the processor 1901. The storage device 1903 may include storage media such as semiconductor memories and hard disks. The external connection interface 1904 is an interface for connecting external devices (such as memory cards and universal serial bus (USB) devices) to the smartphone 1900.

[0208] The camera 1906 includes an image sensor (such as a charge coupled device (CCD) and a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS)) and generates a captured image. The sensor 1907 may include a group of sensors such as a measurement sensor, a gyroscope sensor, a geomagnetic sensor, and an acceleration sensor. The microphone 1908 converts the sound input to the smartphone 1900 into an audio signal. The input device 1909 includes, for example, a touch sensor, a keypad, a keyboard, a button, or a switch configured to detect a touch on the screen of the display device 1910, and receives an operation or information input from the user. The display device 1910 includes a screen (such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) and an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display) and displays the output image of the smartphone 1900. The speaker 1911 converts the audio signal output from the smartphone 1900 into sound.

[0209] The wireless communication interface 1912 supports any cellular communication scheme (such as LTE and LTE-Advanced) and performs wireless communication. The wireless communication interface 1912 may generally include, for example, a BB processor 1913 and an RF circuit 1914. The BB processor 1913 may perform, for example, encoding / decoding, modulation / demodulation, and multiplexing / demultiplexing, and perform various types of signal processing for wireless communication. Meanwhile, the RF circuit 1914 may include, for example, a mixer, a filter, and an amplifier, and transmit and receive wireless signals via an antenna 1916. The wireless communication interface 1912 may be a chip module on which the BB processor 1913 and the RF circuit 1914 are integrated. Figure 19 As shown, the wireless communication interface 1912 may include multiple BB processors 1913 and multiple RF circuits 1914. Figure 19 An example is shown in which the wireless communication interface 1912 includes a plurality of BB processors 1913 and a plurality of RF circuits 1914 , but the wireless communication interface 1912 may also include a single BB processor 1913 or a single RF circuit 1914 .

[0210] In addition, in addition to the cellular communication scheme, the wireless communication interface 1912 can support other types of wireless communication schemes, such as a short-range wireless communication scheme, a near field communication scheme, and a wireless local area network (LAN) scheme. In this case, the wireless communication interface 1912 may include a BB processor 1913 and an RF circuit 1914 for each wireless communication scheme.

[0211] Each of the antenna switches 1915 switches the connection destination of the antenna 1916 between a plurality of circuits (eg, circuits for different wireless communication schemes) included in the wireless communication interface 1912 .

[0212] Each of the antennas 1916 includes a single or multiple antenna elements (such as multiple antenna elements included in a MIMO antenna) and is used for the wireless communication interface 1912 to transmit and receive wireless signals. Figure 19 As shown, the smartphone 1900 may include multiple antennas 1916. Figure 19 An example is shown in which the smartphone 1900 includes a plurality of antennas 1916 , but the smartphone 1900 may also include a single antenna 1916 .

[0213] In addition, the smartphone 1900 may include an antenna 1916 for each wireless communication scheme. In this case, the antenna switch 1915 may be omitted from the configuration of the smartphone 1900.

[0214] The bus 1917 connects the processor 1901, the memory 1902, the storage device 1903, the external connection interface 1904, the camera 1906, the sensor 1907, the microphone 1908, the input device 1909, the display device 1910, the speaker 1911, the wireless communication interface 1912, and the auxiliary controller 1919. Figure 18 The various blocks of the smartphone 1900 shown are supplied with power, with feed lines partially shown as dashed lines in the figure. The auxiliary controller 1919 operates the minimum necessary functions of the smartphone 1900, for example in sleep mode.

[0215] Second example

[0216] Figure 20 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of a car navigation device 2020 to which the technology of the present disclosure can be applied. The car navigation device 2020 includes a processor 2021, a memory 2022, a global positioning system (GPS) module 2024, a sensor 2025, a data interface 2026, a content player 2027, a storage medium interface 2028, an input device 2029, a display device 2030, a speaker 2031, a wireless communication interface 2033, one or more antenna switches 2036, one or more antennas 2037, and a battery 2038. In one implementation, the car navigation device 2020 (or the processor 2021) herein may correspond to the aforementioned electronic device (40, 130).

[0217] The processor 2021 may be, for example, a CPU or an SoC, and controls a navigation function and other functions of the car navigation device 2020. The memory 2022 includes a RAM and a ROM, and stores data and programs executed by the processor 2021.

[0218] The GPS module 2024 uses GPS signals received from GPS satellites to measure the position (such as latitude, longitude, and altitude) of the car navigation device 2020. The sensor 2025 may include a group of sensors such as a gyroscope sensor, a geomagnetic sensor, and an air pressure sensor. The data interface 2026 is connected to, for example, the vehicle network 2041 via a terminal not shown, and acquires data generated by the vehicle (such as vehicle speed data).

[0219] The content player 2027 reproduces content stored in a storage medium (such as a CD or DVD) inserted into the storage medium interface 2028. The input device 2029 includes, for example, a touch sensor, button, or switch configured to detect a touch on the screen of the display device 2030, and receives an operation or information input from the user. The display device 2030 includes a screen such as an LCD or OLED display and displays an image of a navigation function or reproduced content. The speaker 2031 outputs the sound of the navigation function or the reproduced content.

[0220] The wireless communication interface 2033 supports any cellular communication scheme (such as LTE and LTE-Advanced) and performs wireless communication. The wireless communication interface 2033 may generally include, for example, a BB processor 2034 and an RF circuit 2035. The BB processor 2034 may perform, for example, encoding / decoding, modulation / demodulation, and multiplexing / demultiplexing, and perform various types of signal processing for wireless communication. Meanwhile, the RF circuit 2035 may include, for example, a mixer, a filter, and an amplifier, and transmit and receive wireless signals via an antenna 2037. The wireless communication interface 2033 may also be a chip module on which the BB processor 2034 and the RF circuit 2035 are integrated. Figure 20 As shown, the wireless communication interface 2033 may include multiple BB processors 2034 and multiple RF circuits 2035. Figure 20 An example is shown in which the wireless communication interface 2033 includes a plurality of BB processors 2034 and a plurality of RF circuits 2035 , but the wireless communication interface 2033 may also include a single BB processor 2034 or a single RF circuit 2035 .

[0221] In addition, in addition to the cellular communication scheme, the wireless communication interface 2033 can support other types of wireless communication schemes, such as a short-range wireless communication scheme, a near field communication scheme, and a wireless LAN scheme. In this case, for each wireless communication scheme, the wireless communication interface 2033 can include a BB processor 2034 and an RF circuit 2035.

[0222] Each of the antenna switches 2036 switches the connection destination of the antenna 2037 between a plurality of circuits included in the wireless communication interface 2033 , such as circuits for different wireless communication schemes.

[0223] Each of the antennas 2037 includes a single or multiple antenna elements (such as multiple antenna elements included in a MIMO antenna) and is used for the wireless communication interface 2033 to transmit and receive wireless signals. Figure 20 As shown, the car navigation device 2020 may include multiple antennas 2037. Figure 20An example is shown in which the car navigation device 2020 includes a plurality of antennas 2037 , but the car navigation device 2020 may also include a single antenna 2037 .

[0224] Furthermore, the car navigation device 2020 may include an antenna 2037 for each wireless communication scheme. In this case, the antenna switch 2036 may be omitted from the configuration of the car navigation device 2020.

[0225] Battery 2038 is fed to Figure 20 The blocks of the car navigation device 2020 are supplied with electric power, and the feed lines are partially shown as dotted lines in the figure. The battery 2038 accumulates the electric power supplied from the vehicle.

[0226] The technology of the present disclosure can also be implemented as an in-vehicle system (or vehicle) 2040 including a car navigation device 2020, an in-vehicle network 2041, and one or more blocks of a vehicle module 2042. The vehicle module 2042 generates vehicle data (such as vehicle speed, engine speed, and fault information) and outputs the generated data to the in-vehicle network 2041.

[0227] The exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the present disclosure is certainly not limited to the above examples. Those skilled in the art may obtain various changes and modifications within the scope of the appended claims, and it should be understood that these changes and modifications will naturally fall within the technical scope of the present disclosure.

[0228] It should be understood that the machine-executable instructions in the machine-readable storage medium or program product according to the embodiments of the present disclosure can be configured to perform operations corresponding to the above-mentioned device and method embodiments. When referring to the above-mentioned device and method embodiments, the embodiments of the machine-readable storage medium or program product are clear to those skilled in the art and are therefore not described again. Machine-readable storage media and program products for carrying or including the above-mentioned machine-executable instructions also fall within the scope of the present disclosure. Such storage media may include, but are not limited to, floppy disks, optical disks, magneto-optical disks, memory cards, memory sticks, and the like.

[0229] In addition, it should be understood that the above series of processes and devices can also be implemented by software and / or firmware. In the case of being implemented by software and / or firmware, the storage medium of the relevant device (e.g. Figure 4 The electronic device 40 or Figure 13 The memory 1301 of the electronic device 130 shown stores corresponding programs constituting corresponding software, and when the programs are executed, various functions can be performed.

[0230] For example, a plurality of functions included in one unit in the above embodiments may be implemented by separate devices. Alternatively, a plurality of functions implemented by a plurality of units in the above embodiments may be implemented by separate devices, respectively. In addition, one of the above functions may be implemented by a plurality of units. Needless to say, such a configuration is included in the technical scope of the present disclosure.

[0231] In this specification, the steps described in the flowchart include not only processing executed in time series in the order described, but also processing executed in parallel or individually rather than necessarily in time series. In addition, even in the steps processed in time series, it goes without saying that the order can be changed as appropriate.

[0232] Although the present disclosure and its advantages have been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions and transformations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims. Moreover, the terms "comprises," "comprising," or any other variations thereof in the embodiments of the present disclosure are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions, such that a process, method, article, or device comprising a series of elements includes not only those elements, but also other elements not explicitly listed, or also includes elements inherent to such process, method, article, or device. In the absence of further restrictions, an element defined by the statement "comprising a ..." does not exclude the presence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article, or device comprising the element.

[0233] In addition, the present disclosure may also have the following configurations:

[0234] (1) An electronic device for a wireless communication system, comprising:

[0235] The processing circuit is configured to:

[0236] Use of unlicensed frequency bands for communications; and

[0237] Perform directional clear channel assessment (CCA) on multiple beams and select beams for transmission based on the results of directional CCA.

[0238] The directional CCA is performed on the multiple beams by the following operations:

[0239] performing an initial CCA on a beam from among the plurality of beams;

[0240] In the case that the initial CCA passes, selecting the beam that passes the initial CCA for transmission; and

[0241] If the initial CCA fails, further CCA is performed on one or more beams of the plurality of beams.

[0242] (2) The electronic device according to (1), wherein

[0243] The beam for which the initial CCA is performed is the most suitable beam or a predetermined beam.

[0244] (3) The electronic device according to (1) or (2),

[0245] The most suitable beam indicates a beam with better channel quality in that direction; and

[0246] The predetermined beam refers to a beam configured by RRC during the radio resource control configuration RRC connection establishment process or a beam activated by the control element MAC CE of the media access control layer.

[0247] (4) The electronic device according to (1), wherein

[0248] Further CCAs include:

[0249] - determining a number T within a predetermined range;

[0250] - iteratively performing CCA as follows: upon a current CCA pass, decrementing T by 1, otherwise continuing to perform CCA without changing T until T equals 0, wherein CCA is performed on one or more beams of the plurality of beams in each iteration.

[0251] (5) The electronic device according to (4), wherein

[0252] The number T is randomly selected within the predetermined range, and

[0253] In each iteration, CCA is performed on a randomly selected beam from the multiple beams, and a CCA result of the beam is used as a CCA result of the iteration.

[0254] (6) The electronic device according to (4), wherein

[0255] The number T is the product of the number of the plurality of beams and a value randomly selected from the predetermined range, and

[0256] In each iteration, CCA is performed on a beam selected according to a predetermined order from among the multiple beams, and a CCA result of the beam is used as a CCA result of the iteration, wherein the predetermined order enables CCA to be performed on the multiple beams in sequence in a cyclic manner.

[0257] (7) The electronic device according to (4), wherein

[0258] The number T is randomly selected within the predetermined range, and

[0259] In each iteration, CCA is performed on all or part of the multiple beams in sequence, and when CCA of more than a predetermined threshold number of beams passes, it is considered that the current CCA has passed.

[0260] (8) The electronic device according to (7), wherein:

[0261] The predetermined threshold number is any one of the following values: one, half the number of beams that perform CCA in one iteration, and the number of beams that perform CCA in one iteration.

[0262] (9) The electronic device according to any one of (1) to (8), wherein:

[0263] By directional CCA is meant that energy in the direction of the beam for which directional CCA is performed is less than a predetermined threshold.

[0264] (10) The electronic device according to any one of (4) to (8), wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:

[0265] After the further CCA is completed, any one of the following beams is selected for transmission:

[0266] the beam having the largest total number of CCA passes or the smallest total number of CCA failures during the further CCA period;

[0267] The beam finally passes through the CCA; and

[0268] The beam with better channel quality in this direction.

[0269] (11) The electronic device according to any one of (1) to (10), wherein:

[0270] The directional CCA is performed on a receive beam corresponding to the transmit beam direction.

[0271] (12) The electronic device according to (1), wherein

[0272] The multiple beams are pre-configured via radio resource control signaling, or,

[0273] The multiple beams are pre-configured through radio resource control signaling and activated through a control element MAC CE of the media access control layer.

[0274] (13) The electronic device according to claim (12), wherein

[0275] Pre-configuring the multiple beams through radio resource control signaling includes:

[0276] - The electronic device and the other electronic device, one of which acts as a base station, perform beam setting for one or more channels between the electronic device and the other electronic device through radio resource control signaling.

[0277] (14) The electronic device according to (13), wherein

[0278] For the downlink, beam setting includes configuring multiple transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states, where each TCI state corresponds to a beam; or

[0279] For the uplink, beam setting includes configuring multiple spatial relationship information SpatialRelationInfo, where each SpatialRelationInfo corresponds to a beam.

[0280] (15) The electronic device according to claim (14), wherein

[0281] The one or more channels include one or more of the following: a physical downlink control channel PDCCH, a physical downlink shared channel PDSCH, a physical uplink control channel PUCCH and a physical uplink shared channel PUSCH.

[0282] (16) The electronic device according to (1), wherein

[0283] The directivity channel occupancy time is initialized in the direction of the beam to be transmitted determined based on the result of the directivity CCA.

[0284] (17) The electronic device according to (1), wherein

[0285] The processing circuit is further configured to notify another electronic device of information related to the directivity CCA of the beam.

[0286] (18) The electronic device according to (17), wherein:

[0287] Notifying another electronic device of information related to the directional CCA of the beam includes notifying the other electronic device of beams that can be transmitted and beams that cannot be transmitted, which are determined based on a result of the directional CCA.

[0288] (19) The electronic device according to (18), wherein

[0289] Indicates the beams that can be transmitted and the beams that cannot be transmitted in the form of a bitmap.

[0290] (20) The electronic device according to (18) or (19), wherein:

[0291] Notifying the other electronic device of information related to the directivity CCA of the beam in a dynamic or semi-static manner, wherein,

[0292] The dynamic method includes using control information to dynamically designate beams that can be transmitted and beams that cannot be transmitted; and

[0293] The semi-static approach involves using control elements of the media access control layer to activate beams that can transmit.

[0294] (21) A method for a wireless communication system, comprising:

[0295] The processing circuit is configured to:

[0296] Use of unlicensed frequency bands for communications; and

[0297] Perform directional clear channel assessment (CCA) on multiple beams and select beams for transmission based on the results of directional CCA.

[0298] The directional CCA is performed on the multiple beams by the following operations:

[0299] performing an initial CCA on a beam from among the plurality of beams;

[0300] In the case that the initial CCA passes, selecting the beam that passes the initial CCA for transmission; and

[0301] If the initial CCA fails, further CCA is performed on one or more beams of the plurality of beams.

[0302] (22) An electronic device for a wireless communication system, comprising:

[0303] Use of unlicensed frequency bands for communications; and

[0304] Perform directional clear channel assessment (CCA) on multiple beams and select beams for transmission based on the results of directional CCA.

[0305] The directional CCA is performed on the multiple beams by the following operations:

[0306] CCA is performed on the directions of the plurality of beams in sequence, and when CCA of a predetermined threshold number of beams passes, CCA is no longer performed on the remaining beams of the plurality of beams.

[0307] (23) The electronic device as described in (22), wherein

[0308] CCA is performed on the directions of the multiple beams in sequence according to a predetermined order, and the order is such that CCA is performed preferentially on the beam with good channel quality in the direction.

[0309] (24) The electronic device as described in (22) or (23), wherein

[0310] The predetermined threshold number is 1.

[0311] (25) The electronic device as described in (22) or (23), wherein

[0312] When the predetermined threshold number is greater than 1, a beam with better channel quality is selected from the beams passing through CCA for transmission.

[0313] (26) The electronic device according to any one of (22) to (25), wherein:

[0314] By directional CCA is meant that energy in the direction of the beam for which directional CCA is performed is less than a predetermined threshold.

[0315] (27) The electronic device according to any one of (22) to (26), wherein:

[0316] The directional CCA is performed on a receive beam corresponding to the transmit beam direction.

[0317] (28) The electronic device according to (22), wherein:

[0318] The multiple beams are pre-configured via radio resource control signaling, or,

[0319] The multiple beams are pre-configured through radio resource control signaling and activated through a control element MAC CE of the media access control layer.

[0320] (29) The electronic device according to (28), wherein:

[0321] Pre-configuring the multiple beams through radio resource control signaling includes:

[0322] - The electronic device and the other electronic device, one of which acts as a base station, perform beam setting for one or more channels between the electronic device and the other electronic device through radio resource control signaling.

[0323] (30) The electronic device according to (29), wherein:

[0324] For the downlink, beam setting includes configuring multiple transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states, where each TCI state corresponds to a beam; or

[0325] For the uplink, beam setting includes configuring multiple spatial relationship information SpatialRelationInfo, where each SpatialRelationInfo corresponds to a beam.

[0326] (31) The electronic device according to (30), wherein:

[0327] The one or more channels include one or more of the following: a physical downlink control channel PDCCH, a physical downlink shared channel PDSCH, a physical uplink control channel PUCCH and a physical uplink shared channel PUSCH.

[0328] (32) The electronic device according to (22), wherein:

[0329] The directivity channel occupancy time is initialized in the direction of the beam to be transmitted determined based on the result of the directivity CCA.

[0330] (33) The electronic device according to (22), wherein:

[0331] The processing circuit is further configured to notify another electronic device of information related to the directivity CCA of the beam.

[0332] (34) The electronic device according to (33), wherein:

[0333] Notifying another electronic device of information related to the directional CCA of the beam includes notifying the other electronic device of beams that can be transmitted and beams that cannot be transmitted, which are determined based on a result of the directional CCA.

[0334] (35) The electronic device according to (34), wherein:

[0335] Indicates the beams that can be transmitted and the beams that cannot be transmitted in the form of a bitmap.

[0336] (36) The electronic device according to (34) or (35), wherein:

[0337] Notifying the other electronic device of information related to the directivity CCA of the beam in a dynamic or semi-static manner, wherein,

[0338] The dynamic method includes using control information to dynamically designate beams that can be transmitted and beams that cannot be transmitted; and

[0339] The semi-static approach involves using control elements of the media access control layer to activate beams that can transmit.

[0340] (37) A method for a wireless communication system, comprising:

[0341] Use of unlicensed frequency bands for communications; and

[0342] Perform directional clear channel assessment (CCA) on multiple beams and select beams for transmission based on the results of directional CCA.

[0343] The directional CCA is performed on the multiple beams by the following operations:

[0344] CCA is performed on the directions of the plurality of beams in sequence, and when CCA of a predetermined threshold number of beams passes, CCA is no longer performed on the remaining beams of the plurality of beams.

[0345] (38) A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing executable instructions, wherein the executable instructions, when executed, implement the method as described in (21) or (37).

[0346] (39) An apparatus comprising:

[0347] processor,

[0348] A storage device storing executable instructions, wherein the executable instructions implement the method as described in (21) or (37) when executed.

Claims

1. An electronic device for a wireless communication system, comprising: The processing circuit is configured to: Use unlicensed frequency bands for communications; and Perform directional clear channel assessment (CCA) on multiple beams and select beams for transmission based on the results of directional CCA. The directional CCA is performed on the multiple beams by the following operations: performing an initial CCA on a beam from among the plurality of beams; In the case that the initial CCA passes, selecting the beam that passes the initial CCA for transmission; and If the initial CCA fails, randomly select S beams from the plurality of beams for further CCA, where S is less than or equal to the number of the plurality of beams. Further CCAs include: - determining a number T within a predetermined range; - iteratively performing CCA as follows: when the current CCA passes, decrement T by 1, otherwise continue to perform CCA without changing T until T equals 0, wherein CCA is performed for the S beams of the plurality of beams in each iteration, The number T is randomly selected within the predetermined range, and In each iteration, CCA is performed on the S beams of the multiple beams in sequence, and when more than one beam passes CCA, it is considered to have passed the current CCA, and CCA is not performed on the remaining beams of the S beams that have not undergone CCA.

2. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein The beam for which the initial CCA is performed is the most suitable beam or a predetermined beam.

3. The electronic device according to claim 2, in, The most suitable beam means a beam having a better channel quality in the direction of the beam; and The predetermined beam refers to a beam configured by RRC during the radio resource control configuration RRC connection establishment process or a beam activated by the control element MAC CE of the media access control layer.

4. The electronic device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: By directional CCA is meant that energy in the direction of the beam for which directional CCA is performed is less than a predetermined threshold.

5. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein The processing circuit is further configured to: After the further CCA is completed, any one of the following beams is selected for transmission: the beam having the largest total number of CCA passes or the smallest total number of CCA failures during the further CCA period; The beam finally passes through the CCA; and The beam in the direction of this beam has better channel quality.

6. The electronic device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The directional CCA is performed on a receive beam corresponding to the transmit beam direction.

7. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein The multiple beams are pre-configured via radio resource control signaling, or, The multiple beams are pre-configured through radio resource control signaling and activated through a control element MAC CE of the media access control layer.

8. The electronic device according to claim 7, wherein: Pre-configuring the multiple beams through radio resource control signaling includes: - A device acting as a base station among the electronic device and the other electronic device performs beam setting for one or more channels between the electronic device and the other electronic device through radio resource control signaling.

9. The electronic device according to claim 8, wherein: For the downlink, beam setting includes configuring multiple transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states, where each TCI state corresponds to a beam; or For the uplink, beam setting includes configuring multiple spatial relationship information SpatialRelationInfo, where each SpatialRelationInfo corresponds to a beam.

10. The electronic device according to claim 9, wherein The one or more channels include one or more of the following: a physical downlink control channel PDCCH, a physical downlink shared channel PDSCH, a physical uplink control channel PUCCH and a physical uplink shared channel PUSCH.

11. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein The directivity channel occupancy time is initialized in the direction of the beam to be transmitted determined based on the result of the directivity CCA.

12. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein The processing circuit is further configured to notify another electronic device of information related to the directivity CCA of the beam.

13. The electronic device according to claim 12, wherein: Notifying another electronic device of information related to the directional CCA of the beam includes notifying the other electronic device of beams that can be transmitted and beams that cannot be transmitted, which are determined based on a result of the directional CCA.

14. The electronic device according to claim 13, wherein: Indicates the beams that can be transmitted and the beams that cannot be transmitted in the form of a bitmap.

15. The electronic device according to claim 13 or 14, wherein: Notifying the other electronic device of information related to the directivity CCA of the beam in a dynamic or semi-static manner, wherein, The dynamic method includes using control information to dynamically designate beams that can transmit and beams that cannot transmit; and The semi-static approach involves using control elements of the media access control layer to activate beams that can transmit.

16. A method for a wireless communication system, comprising: The processing circuit is configured to: Use unlicensed frequency bands for communications; and Perform directional clear channel assessment (CCA) on multiple beams and select beams for transmission based on the results of directional CCA. The directional CCA is performed on the multiple beams by the following operations: performing an initial CCA on a beam from among the plurality of beams; In the case that the initial CCA passes, selecting the beam that passes the initial CCA for transmission; and In the case that the initial CCA fails, randomly selecting S beams from the plurality of beams for further CCA, where S is less than or equal to the number of the plurality of beams, Further CCAs include: - determining the number T within a predetermined range; - iteratively performing CCA as follows: when the current CCA passes, decrement T by 1, otherwise continue to perform CCA without changing T until T equals 0, wherein CCA is performed for the S beams of the plurality of beams in each iteration, The number T is randomly selected within the predetermined range, and In each iteration, CCA is performed on the S beams of the multiple beams in sequence, and when more than one beam passes CCA, it is considered to have passed the current CCA, and CCA is not performed on the remaining beams of the S beams that have not undergone CCA. 17 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing executable instructions, the executable instructions implementing the method of claim 16 when executed by a processor.

18. An electronic device comprising: processor, A storage device storing executable instructions, wherein the executable instructions implement the method according to claim 16 when executed by the processor.

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