Method for Enhanced Initial Access Procedure in Wireless Communication

Abstract

The present invention discloses techniques for differentiating an authorized band from an unauthorized band in a common part of a spectrum to facilitate initial access in a fifth-generation (5G) New Radio (NR) wireless communication system having an NR node. The techniques include the NR generating and the UE processing frequency configuration information indicating whether the common part of the spectrum is allocated as the authorized band or the unauthorized band so that it is possible to determine that the spectrum is configured as the authorized band or the unauthorized band, and thereby facilitate initial access.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application generally relates to wireless communication systems and, more particularly, to techniques for facilitating access to unlicensed frequency bands in New Radio (NR) deployments. Background Art

[0002] Wireless mobile communication technologies use various standards and protocols to transfer data between a base station and a wireless mobile device. Wireless communication system standards and protocols can include the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE) (e.g., 4G) or NR (e.g., 5G); the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.16 standard, which is commonly referred to by industry organizations as Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX); and the IEEE 802.11 standard for wireless local area networks (WLAN), which is commonly referred to by industry organizations as Wi-Fi. In the 3GPP radio access network (RAN) of an LTE system, a base station can include RAN nodes such as evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN) Node B (also commonly denoted as evolved Node B, enhanced Node B, eNodeB, or eNB) and / or radio network controller (RNC) in E-UTRAN, which communicates with a wireless communication device known as user equipment (UE). In a fifth-generation (5G) wireless RAN, the RAN nodes can include 5G nodes, NR nodes (also referred to as next-generation Node B or g NodeB (gNB)).

[0003] The RAN uses radio access technology (RAT) to communicate between RAN nodes and UEs. The RAN can include Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Enhanced Data Rate for GSM Evolution (EDGE) RAN (GERAN), Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), and / or E-UTRAN, which provides access to communication services through a core network. Each RAN in the RAN operates according to a specific 3GPP RAT. For example, GERAN implements GSM and / or EDGE RAT, UTRAN implements Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) RAT or other 3GPP RAT, E-UTRAN implements LTE RAT, and NG-RAN implements 5G RAT. In some deployments, E-UTRAN can also implement 5G RAT.

[0004] The frequency bands of 5G NR can be divided into two different frequency ranges. Frequency Range 1 (FR1) may include frequency bands operating at frequencies below 6 GHz, some of which are available for previous standards and may potentially be extended to cover new spectrum products from 410 MHz to 7125 MHz. Frequency Range 2 (FR2) may include frequency bands from 24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz. The frequency bands in the millimeter wave (mmWave) range of FR2 may have a smaller range but potentially higher available bandwidth than the frequency bands in FR1. Those skilled in the art will recognize that these frequency ranges provided by way of example may vary over time or by region.

[0005] The present invention discloses techniques for differentiating authorized bands from unauthorized bands in a common portion of the spectrum to facilitate initial access in a 5G NR wireless communication system having NR nodes. The techniques include the NR generating and the UE processing frequency configuration information that indicates whether the common portion of the spectrum is allocated as an authorized band or an unauthorized band so as to enable determination that the spectrum is configured as the authorized band or the unauthorized band and thereby facilitate initial access.

[0006] Additional aspects and advantages will be apparent from the following detailed description of embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] To easily identify the discussion of any particular element or action, one or more of the most significant digits in the reference numerals refer to the drawing number in which the element was first introduced.

[0008] Figure 1 is a spectrogram showing an overlapping spectrum between an authorized band and an unauthorized band.

[0009] Figure 2 is an annotated Radio Resource Control (RRC) parameter specification for a Master Information Block (MIB) according to one embodiment.

[0010] Figure 3 is a table showing a Cyclic Redundancy Code (CRC) mask for a Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) according to one embodiment.

[0011] Figure 4 is a spectrogram showing first and second Global Synchronization Channel Numbers (GSCNs) at different frequency positions for an authorized band and an unauthorized band, respectively.

[0012] Figure 5 is an annotated RRC parameter specification for a FrequencyInfoDL Information Element (IE) according to one embodiment.

[0013] Figure 6is a block diagram showing a portion of a PBCH payload according to one embodiment.

[0014] Figure 7 is an initialization value portion of a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) sequence generation equation according to one embodiment.

[0015] Figure 8 is a block diagram of four synchronization signal block (SSB) variants according to one embodiment.

[0016] Figure 9 is an annotated RRC parameter specification for the MIB according to one embodiment.

[0017] Figure 10 is a schematic diagram showing a random access channel (RACH) opportunity (RO) according to one embodiment.

[0018] Figure 11 is an Abstract Syntax Notation One (ASN.1) structure for the periodicity and offset parameters of the RO in a time slot for jointly encoding a physical random access channel (PRACH) according to one embodiment.

[0019] Figure 12 is a PRACH diagram showing discontinuous ROs with "P = 2 and O = 0" set according to one embodiment.

[0020] Figure 13 is a PRACH diagram showing even and odd ROs according to one embodiment.

[0021] Figure 14 is a PRACH diagram showing symbol puncturing according to one embodiment.

[0022] Figure 15 Shows components according to one embodiment.

[0023] Figure 16 Shows a system according to one embodiment. Detailed Description

[0024] Generally speaking, the present disclosure describes techniques for facilitating access to unlicensed frequency bands in NR deployments. First, Figures 1 to 9 describes several embodiments for MIB interoperability and for Type0-CSS monitoring determination, which allow a UE to determine whether the spectrum is an authorized frequency band or an unlicensed (or shared spectrum) frequency band. Second, Figures 10 to 14 describes techniques for optimizing PRACH transmission on unlicensed frequency bands. Third, Figure 15 and Figure 16 provide additional information about systems and devices for implementing the disclosed techniques.

[0025] Reference Figure 1 To achieve the International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT)-2020 target regarding peak data rate, a Release (Rel)-16 work item RP-182878, titled "NR-based Access to Unlicensed Spectrum", was approved by the 3GPP RAN Plenary to consider using unlicensed spectrum (i.e., shared spectrum) as a complementary spectrum source for 5G NR system operation. For 5G NR operation in unlicensed spectrum (NR-U), depending on the operation in the authorized band versus the operation with shared spectrum channel access, it was agreed to use different sets of tables for the UE in the initial access procedure for monitoring the set of Type0 Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) Common Search Space (CSS) (Type0-PDCCH CSS).

[0026] The reinterpretation of bits in the MIB combined with different sets of tables implies that the operating band determines whether the UE should use the conventional interpretation of the MIB or the new interpretation for determining the Type0-PDCCH CSS set to receive SIB1 information. This mechanism applies to bands where there is no overlap between the authorized and unlicensed frequencies, such as the 5 GHz band (i.e., band n46).

[0027] Figure 1 An NR 5G operating environment 100 is shown, where a UE 102 designed for global operation has an ambiguity in MIB interpretation because a spectrum 104 (e.g., the upper part of the 6 GHz band) is allocated as an authorized band 106 in one geographical region (e.g., Europe) and as an unlicensed band 108 in another geographical region (e.g., US). The ambiguity arises because during initial access, the UE 102 has no prior knowledge of whether to adopt the Rel-15 MIB interpretation for the authorized band 106 or the newly defined Rel-16 MIB interpretation for the unlicensed band 108. Accordingly, the present disclosure addresses the foregoing issues to facilitate operation of the NR-U system over overlapping bands.

[0028] According to a first embodiment, Figure 2 An RRC parameter 200 defining a MIB 202 is shown. The MIB 202 includes a bit field 204 for indicating whether the UE is accessing an authorized or unlicensed frequency. The bit field 204 serves as frequency configuration information and replaces a previously reserved (i.e., spare) bit field in the conventional MIB, which did not carry any such information regarding whether an authorized or unlicensed frequency was configured for wireless communication.

[0029] In an example design, when bit field 204 is set to the value 0 (or some other Boolean true / false logic value), it indicates whether the spectrum is authorized. Similarly, if bit field 204 is set to the value 1 (i.e., the opposite Boolean true / false logic value), it indicates that the spectrum is an unlicensed band or shared spectrum (commonly referred to as unlicensed).

[0030] According to a second embodiment, Figure 3 An example is shown of providing frequency information by means of a dedicated sequence for scrambling 24-bit PBCH CRC bits. For example, item 300 shows a CRC mask 302 for PBCH. According to the frequency configuration 304 (i.e., the authorized frequency configuration 306 or the unlicensed frequency configuration 308), the value of the CRC mask 302 changes between a first CRC mask sequence value 310 and a second CRC mask sequence value 312, respectively. Thus, after the parity bits are calculated and appended to the BCH transport block, the subsequent CRC bits:

[0031] p0, p1, p2, p3,..., p 23

[0032] Then, according to the frequency configuration 304 (i.e., the authorized frequency configuration 306 or the unlicensed frequency configuration 308), they are scrambled with the corresponding value of the CRC mask 302:

[0033] x0, x1, x2, x3,..., x 23

[0034] This is done by using the following operation:

[0035] c k =(p k +x k ) mod 2, k = 0, 1, 2, 3,..., 23

[0036] In an example design, the first CRC mask sequence value 310 is all 0s and the second CRC mask sequence value 312 is all 1s. Other scrambling functions may be applied to other designs. Thus, the scrambled PBCH CRC bits provide frequency configuration information to the UE because it can first attempt to decode the PBCH using the first CRC mask sequence value 310. If successful, the UE determines that it is accessing an authorized band. If not successful, the UE determines that it is accessing an unlicensed band and attempts the second CRC mask sequence value 312.

[0037] According to a third embodiment, Figure 4Shows an NR 5G operating environment 400, where different non-overlapping GSCNs with a certain frequency gap therebetween are defined to distinguish the unlicensed band 402 from the licensed band 404. When there is no explicit signaling of the SSB block position, different GSCNs correspond to the SSBs used by the UE for system acquisition.

[0038] As Figure 4 shown, in one example design, the first GSCN 406 is located at the first position of the spectrum 410 and corresponds to the first SSB 408 indicating the licensed band 404. Similarly, the second GSCN 412 is located at the second position of the spectrum 410 and corresponds to the second SSB 414 indicating the unlicensed band 402.

[0039] According to the fourth embodiment, after the primary cell (PCell) is configured, the frequency configuration is provided through dedicated RRC signaling, i.e., licensed band vs. unlicensed band. As Figure 5 shown, in one example, for a secondary cell (SCell) having overlapping frequencies between the licensed band and the unlicensed band, the FrequencyInfoDL IE 500 (or measurement configuration) of sCellToAddModList provides the frequency type configuration 502.

[0040] According to the fifth embodiment, certain fields in the PBCH are reused to indicate licensed and unlicensed operations for overlapping frequencies on FR1. For example, Figure 6 shows the non-CRC, 32-bit portion of the PBCH payload 600, which omits the 24-bit CRC attached to the PBCH payload to produce a total of 56 bits. Specifically, the 32-bit portion of the PBCH payload 600 includes a 24-bit BCH data portion 602, followed by eight timing-related bits 604. The first four bits 606 of the timing-related bits 604 provide system frame number (SFN) information. After these first four bits 606 is the half-frame bit 608. After the half-frame bit 608 are three configurable bits 610, including a spare bit 612 and a reserved bit 614,

[0041] For carrier frequencies above 6 GHz, the configurable bits 610 act as the 6th, 5th, and 4th bits of the SSB. However, in the example design, the reserved bit 614 has the following values set in the PBCH payload: equal to (1,1) if the frequency is a licensed band; otherwise, the corresponding frequency is an unlicensed band. Considering that there are up to 20 candidate SSB positions on the unlicensed band, it is feasible to reuse the reserved bit 614. Therefore, if on the unlicensed band, the value of the reserved bit 614 is always (1,0) or (0,0).

[0042] According to the sixth embodiment, the frequency configuration is indicated by the DMRS sequence of the PBCH. For example, Figure 7 shows the value of the k parameter 702 for the initialization value part of the DMRS sequence generation equation 700 used to generate the initialization value part of the DMRS sequence generation equation 700 that indicates the new DMRS sequence for the authorized band or the unauthorized band. The PBCH DMRS is generated by a pseudo-random sequence with c init (i.e., the initialization value 704). The initialization value 704 consists of individual components such as the physical cell ID, the SSB index, and the half-frame number. That is, by decoding this DMRS, the UE can determine the SSB index and half-frame, as well as the authorized or unauthorized frequency configuration.

[0043] In one example design, when the k parameter 702 is set to the value 0 (or some other Boolean true / false logic value), it modifies the resulting DMRS to indicate that the spectrum is authorized. Similarly, if the k parameter 702 is set to the value 1 (i.e., the opposite Boolean true / false logic value), it indicates that the spectrum is an unauthorized band.

[0044] According to the seventh embodiment, the frequency configuration information (the indication of authorized or unauthorized) is implicitly signaled based on the relative positions of the primary synchronization signal (PSS) and the secondary synchronization signal (SSS).

[0045] For example, Figure 8 shows four SSB variants 800. The first traditional mapping variant 802 indicates an authorized band configuration because the PSS and SSS are located at symbol positions 0 and 2, respectively. Compared with the traditional mapping variant 802, the second variant, the third variant, and the fourth variant have different positions of the PSS and SSS, and thus indicate an unauthorized band configuration. For example, the swapped variant 804 indicates an unauthorized band configuration because the SSS and PSS are located at symbol positions 0 and 2, respectively. The third repositioned variant 806 indicates an unauthorized band configuration because the SSS and PSS are located at symbol positions 1 and 3, respectively. The fourth shifted variant 808 indicates an unauthorized band configuration because the PSS and SSS are located at symbol positions 1 and 3, respectively.

[0046] According to the eighth embodiment, the UE makes two hypothetical assumptions about the MIB content, namely authorized and unauthorized, for Type0-PDCCH configuration determination. For example, the MIB content may differ in terms of the RB offset between the minimum resource block (RB) index of the Type0-PDCCH search space and the minimum RB index of the detected SS / PBCH block. Then, based on the result of the SIB1 decoding, that is, whether the SIB1 message is detected by the UE assuming different RB offsets between the Type0-PDCCH and the SS / PBCH block, the UE can determine the frequency characteristic, that is, authorized or unauthorized.

[0047] For example, Figure 9 illustrates RRC parameter 900 that defines MIB 902. MIB 902 includes pdcch-ConfigSIB1 904, which indicates the location and resources of ControlResourceSetZero (CORESET#0) on the resource grid, where the UE can search the Type0-PDCCH common search space to obtain SIB1 information. In other words, MIB 902 provides the UE with parameters for obtaining SIB1 (e.g., CORESET#0 configuration), and more specifically, information for monitoring the PDCCH that schedules the PDSCH carrying SIB1. If the UE assumes based on the authorized-configured MIB content, but the MIB content is based on an unauthorized configuration, SIB1 cannot be obtained under this improper assumption, and necessarily, the UE determines that the unauthorized configuration is the correct assumption.

[0048] When attempting initial access for an overlapping frequency band, the improper assumption results in increased power consumption on the UE side. However, the implementation is straightforward.

[0049] Rel-15 NR on the authorized frequency band supports back-to-back (continuous) ROs in the time domain. For example, Figure 10 illustrates an example of a 2-symbol PRACH format B1 configuration with seven ROs within one PRACH time slot, which maximizes resource utilization in the uplink (UL) and works well for authorized operations.

[0050] For Rel-16 NR-U transmissions, a listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure is enforced before starting RACH transmissions to avoid collisions and cause severe interference to ongoing transmissions. Since continuous back-to-back ROs are distributed across the entire PRACH time slot, RACH transmission blocking (e.g., the third RO) may occur for the UE due to the transmission of neighboring UEs in the previous RO (e.g., the second RO). Therefore, the blocking results in increased initial access delay and resource waste. Several embodiments are disclosed to address the latency and underutilization of resources attributed to RACH transmission blocking in the initial access procedure for NR-U operation in a 5G wireless communication system.

[0051] According to a first embodiment, discontinuous (non-consecutive) RO time resources are specified based on the Rel-15 (continuous) RO pattern by introducing a new parameter. The UE receives this parameter from the NR node, which indicates that a subset of non-consecutive ROs from a set of consecutive ROs is valid for RACH transmission. This parameter is the so-called puncturing factor. The puncturing factor value "P" indicates that one out of every "P" back-to-back ROs configured through the Rel-15 configuration will be used for RO transmission for NR-U operation. In addition, as Figure 11As shown, in some designs, a parameter offset "O" can be introduced to indicate the valid ROs within the "P" ROs that are valid for PRACH transmission.

[0052] In one embodiment, the value of "P" and the offset value of "O" can be jointly encoded and signaled by the higher layers using a single IE. Figure 11 An example of an ASN.1 structure providing joint encoding 1100 is given. For example, the field "RO-X" is encoded and X represents periodicity (valid ROs per time slot). Additionally, when the value of the offset parameter "O" is 2, the integer value of this field is 2. However, in Figure 11 it, the offset value is shown as O = "0" in the block diagram such that the first RO is selected as the valid resource for transmission.

[0053] Figure 12 Another example is provided to show how to generate a gap by puncturing one RO out of every two back-to-back Rel-15 ROs, i.e., P = 2 and O = 1.

[0054] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that other signaling techniques can also be employed to indicate the gaps in the ROs. For example, the gap can be signaled in the SIB. In another embodiment, for example, a bitmap can be used to indicate which subset of the ROs is available for NR-U operation.

[0055] According to a second embodiment, Figure 13 it is shown that if operating in an unlicensed band or shared spectrum, even or odd numbered ROs within a PRACH time slot are used for actual transmission. The selection of even or odd ROs can be configured by the higher layers, e.g., SIB1, and can thus be used in the initial access procedure to verify the PRACH resources.

[0056] According to a third embodiment, the first X symbols or a part of the first or last symbol of a PRACH format can be punctured to generate a gap for LBT operation. The number of symbols X can be predefined in the specification. In some other designs, a set of X values can be predefined in the specification and then one of these predefined values can be semi-statically configured in the SIB1 information to provide more flexibility at the gNB to determine the value of X based on, for example, cell size and improve UL resource efficiency.

[0057] Figure 14 The top diagram of provides an example of puncturing X = 1 symbol for a PRACH format with Y symbols. Figure 14 The bottom diagram of shows another example of partially puncturing one symbol for a smaller cell deployment scenario.

[0058] Figure 15FIG. 0 is a block diagram showing a component 1500 capable of reading instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and capable of performing any one or more of the methods discussed herein. Specifically, Figure 15 FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of hardware resources 1502, which includes one or more processors 1512 (or processor cores), one or more memory / storage devices 1518, and one or more communication resources 1520, each of which may be communicatively coupled via a bus 1522. For embodiments in which node virtualization (e.g., NFV) is utilized, a hypervisor 1504 may be executed to provide an execution environment for one or more network slices / sub-slices to utilize the hardware resources 1502.

[0059] The processor 1512 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processor, a complex instruction set computing (CISC) processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a digital signal processor (DSP) (such as a baseband processor), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), another processor, or any suitable combination thereof) may include, for example, processors 1514 and 1516.

[0060] The memory / storage device 1518 may include a main memory, a disk memory, or any suitable combination thereof. The memory / storage device 1518 may include, but is not limited to, any type of volatile or non-volatile memory, such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, solid state storage devices, etc.

[0061] The communication resource 1520 may include an interconnect or network interface component or other suitable device to communicate with one or more peripheral devices 1506 or one or more databases 1508 via a network 1510. For example, the communication resource 1520 may include a wired communication component (e.g., for coupling via a universal serial bus (USB)), a cellular communication component, an NFC component, components (e.g., low power), components and other communication components.

[0062] Instruction 1524 may include software, a program, an application, an applet, an application, or other executable code for causing at least any one of the processors 1512 to execute any one or more of the method sets discussed herein. Instruction 1524 may reside completely or partially within at least one of the processors 1512 (e.g., within a cache memory of the processor), the memory / storage device 1518, or any suitable combination thereof. Additionally, any part of Instruction 1524 may be transmitted from any combination of the peripheral device 1506 or the database 1508 to the hardware resources 1502. Accordingly, the memory of the processor 1512, the memory / storage device 1518, the peripheral device 1506, and the database 1508 are examples of computer-readable and machine-readable media.

[0063] Figure 16 An exemplary architecture of a system 1600 of a network according to various embodiments is shown. The following description is provided for an exemplary system 1600 operating in conjunction with the LTE system standard and the 5G or NR system standard provided in 3GPP technical specifications. However, the exemplary embodiments are not limited in this regard, and the embodiments may be applied to other networks that benefit from the principles described herein, such as future 3GPP systems (e.g., sixth-generation (6G) systems), IEEE 802.16 protocols (e.g., WMAN, WiMAX, etc.), and the like.

[0064] As Figure 16 shown, the system 1600 includes a UE 1602 and a UE 1604. In this example, the UE 1602 and the UE 1604 are shown as smart phones (e.g., handheld touchscreen mobile computing devices connectable to one or more cellular networks), but may also include any mobile or non-mobile computing device, such as consumer electronic devices, mobile phones, smart phones, feature phones, tablet computers, wearable computing devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), pagers, wireless handheld devices, desktop computers, laptop computers, in-vehicle infotainment (IVI), in-vehicle entertainment (ICE) devices, instrument clusters (IC), head-up display (HUD) devices, on-board diagnostic (OBD) devices, dashboard mobile equipment (DME), mobile data terminals (MDT), electronic engine management systems (EEMS), electronic / engine control units (ECU), electronic / engine control modules (ECM), embedded systems, microcontrollers, control modules, engine management systems (EMS), networked or "smart" home appliances, MTC devices, M2M, IoT devices, and the like.

[0065] In some embodiments, UE 1602 and / or UE 1604 may be IoT UEs, which may include a network access layer designed for low-power IoT applications that utilize short-term UE connections. The IoT UE may utilize technologies such as M2M or MTC to exchange data with an MTC server or device via a PLMN, ProSe, or D2D communication, a sensor network, or an IoT network. The M2M or MTC data exchange may be machine-initiated data exchange. The IoT network describes interconnected IoT UEs, which may include uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices (within the Internet infrastructure) with short-lived connections. The IoT UE may execute background applications (e.g., keep-alive messages, status updates, etc.) to facilitate the connection to the IoT network.

[0066] UE 1602 and UE 1604 may be configured to connect to an access node or radio access node (shown as (R)AN 1616), e.g., communicatively coupled. In an embodiment, the (R)AN 1616 may be an NG RAN or an SG RAN, an E-UTRAN, or a legacy RAN, such as a UTRAN or a GERAN. As used herein, the term "NG RAN", etc., may refer to the (R)AN 1616 operating in an NR or SG system, and the term "E-UTRAN", etc., may refer to the (R)AN 1616 operating in an LTE or 4G system. UE 1602 and UE 1604 utilize connections (or channels) (shown as connection 1606 and connection 1608, respectively), each connection including a physical communication interface or layer (discussed further below in detail).

[0067] In this example, connection 1606 and connection 1608 are air interfaces to enable communicative coupling and may conform to a cellular communication protocol, such as a GSM protocol, a CDMA network protocol, a PTT protocol, a POC protocol, a UMTS protocol, a 3GPP LTE protocol, an SG protocol, an NR protocol, and / or any other communication protocol discussed herein. In an embodiment, UE 1602 and UE 1604 may directly exchange communication data via the ProSe interface 1610. The ProSe interface 1610 may alternatively be referred to as a side link (SL) interface 110 and may include one or more logical channels, including but not limited to PSCCH, PSSCH, PSDCH, and PSBCH.

[0068] UE 1604 is illustrated as being configured to access an AP 1612 (also referred to as a "WLAN node", "WLAN", "WLAN terminal", "WT", etc.) via connection 1614. Connection 1614 may include a local wireless connection, such as a connection conforming to any IEEE 802.11 protocol, where the AP 1612 will include Wi-Fi Router. In this example, the AP 1612 can be connected to the Internet without being connected to the core network of the wireless system (described in further detail below). In various embodiments, the UE 1604, (R)AN 1616, and AP 1612 can be configured to utilize LWA operations and / or LWIP operations. LWA operations can involve the UE 1604 in RRC_CONNECTED being configured by the RAN node 1618 or the RAN node 1620 to utilize the radio resources of LTE and WLAN. LWIP operations can involve the UE 1604 using the WLAN radio resources (e.g., connection 1614) via IPsec protocol tunneling to authenticate and encrypt the packets (e.g., IP packets) sent through the connection 1614. IPsec tunneling can include encapsulating the entire original IP packet and adding a new packet header, thereby protecting the original header of the IP packet.

[0069] (R)AN 1616 can include one or more AN nodes that enable the implementation of connection 1606 and connection 1608, such as RAN node 1618 and RAN node 1620. As used herein, terms such as "access node", "access point", etc. can describe equipment that provides radio baseband functionality for data and / or voice connections between a network and one or more users. These access nodes can be referred to as BS, gNB, RAN node, eNB, NodeB, RSU, TRxP, or TRP, etc., and can include terrestrial stations (e.g., land access points) or satellite stations that provide coverage within a geographical area (e.g., a cell). As used herein, the term "NG RAN node", etc. can refer to a RAN node (e.g., gNB) operating in an NR or SG system, while the term "E-UTRAN node", etc. can refer to a RAN node (e.g., eNB) operating in an LTE or 4G system 1600. According to various embodiments, the RAN node 1618 or the RAN node 1620 can be implemented as one or more of a dedicated physical device such as a macro cell base station and / or a low-power (LP) base station for providing a femto cell, pico cell, or other similar cell with a smaller coverage area, smaller user capacity, or higher bandwidth compared to a macro cell.

[0070] In some embodiments, all or part of RAN node 1618 or RAN node 1620 may be implemented as one or more software entities running on a server computer that is part of a virtual network, which may be referred to as a Centralized RAN (CRAN) and / or virtual baseband unit pool (vBBUP). In these embodiments, the CRAN or vBBUP may implement RAN function splitting, such as Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) splitting, where the Radio Resource Control (RRC) and PDCP layers are operated by the CRAN / vBBUP, and other Layer 2 protocol entities are operated by individual RAN nodes (e.g., RAN node 1618 or RAN node 1620); Medium Access Control / Physical (MAC / PHY) splitting, where the RRC, PDCP, Radio Link Control (RLC), and MAC layers are operated by the CRAN / vBBUP, and the PHY layer is operated by individual RAN nodes (e.g., RAN node 1618 or RAN node 1620); or "lower PHY" splitting, where the RRC, PDCP, RLC, MAC layers, and the upper part of the PHY layer are operated by the CRAN / vBBUP, and the lower part of the PHY layer is operated by individual RAN nodes. This virtualization framework allows the idle processor cores of RAN node 1618 or RAN node 1620 to execute other virtualized applications. In some specific implementations, each RAN node may represent an individual gNB-DU connected to the gNB-CU via respective F1 interfaces ( Figure 16 not shown). In these specific implementations, the gNB-DU may include one or more remote radio heads or Radio Frequency Electronics Modules (RFEMs), and the gNB-CU may be operated by a server (not shown) located in the (R)AN 1616 or by a pool of servers in a manner similar to the CRAN / vBBUP. Additionally or alternatively, one or more of RAN node 1618 or RAN node 1620 may be a next-generation eNB (ng-eNB), which is a RAN node that provides E-UTRA user plane and control plane protocol terminations to UEs 1602 and 1604 and is connected to the Serving Gateway Controller (SGC) via the NG interface (discussed below). In a Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) scenario, one or more of RAN node 1618 or RAN node 1620 may be a Road Side Unit (RSU) or act as an RSU.

[0071] The term "roadside unit" or "RSU" may refer to any traffic infrastructure entity for V2X communication. The RSU may be implemented in or by a suitable RAN node or a stationary (or relatively stationary) UE, where the RSU implemented in or by the UE may be referred to as a "UE-type RSU", the RSU implemented in or by the eNB may be referred to as an "eNB-type RSU", the RSU implemented in or by the gNB may be referred to as a "gNB-type RSU", and so on. In one example, the RSU is a computing device coupled to a radio frequency circuit located on the roadside, and the computing device provides connectivity support to passing vehicle UEs (vUEs). The RSU may also include an internal data storage circuit for storing intersection map geometries, traffic statistics, media, and application programs / software for sensing and controlling ongoing vehicle and pedestrian traffic. The RSU may operate on the 5.9 GHz direct short-range communication (DSRC) band to provide extremely low-latency communication required for high-speed events, such as collision avoidance, traffic warnings, etc. In addition or alternatively, the RSU may operate on the cellular V2X band to provide the aforementioned low-latency communication and other cellular communication services. In addition or alternatively, the RSU may operate as a Wi-Fi hotspot (2.4 GHz band) and / or provide connectivity to one or more cellular networks to provide uplink and downlink communication. Some or all of the computing device and the radio frequency circuit of the RSU may be encapsulated in a weather-resistant package suitable for outdoor installation and may include a network interface controller to provide a wired connection (e.g., Ethernet) to a traffic signal controller and / or a backhaul network.

[0072] RAN node 1618 and / or RAN node 1620 may terminate the air interface protocol and may be the first point of contact for UEs 1602 and 1604. In some embodiments, RAN node 1618 and / or RAN node 1620 may perform various logical functions of (R)AN 1616, including but not limited to radio network controller (RNC) functions, such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management and data packet scheduling, and mobility management.

[0073] In an embodiment, UEs 1602 and 1604 may be configured to communicate with each other or with RAN node 1618 and / or RAN node 1620 on a multi-carrier communication channel using OFDM communication signals according to various communication technologies, such as but not limited to OFDMA communication technology (e.g., for downlink communication) or SC-FDMA communication technology (e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidelink communication), but the scope of the embodiment is not limited in this regard. The OFDM signal may include a plurality of orthogonal subcarriers.

[0074] In some embodiments, a downlink resource grid can be used for downlink transmissions from RAN node 1618 and / or RAN node 1620 to UEs 1602 and 1604, and uplink transmissions can utilize similar techniques. The grid can be a time-frequency grid, referred to as a resource grid or a time-frequency resource grid, which is the physical resources in the downlink for each time slot. For an OFDM system, such a time-frequency plane representation is a common practice, which makes radio resource allocation intuitive. Each column and each row of the resource grid corresponds to an OFDM symbol and an OFDM subcarrier respectively. The duration of the resource grid in the time domain corresponds to one time slot in a radio frame. The smallest time-frequency unit in the resource grid is represented as a resource element. Each resource grid includes a plurality of resource blocks, which describe the mapping of certain physical channels to resource elements. Each resource block includes a set of resource elements; in the frequency domain, this can represent the smallest amount of resources that can be currently allocated. Such resource blocks are used to transmit several different physical downlink channels.

[0075] According to various embodiments, UEs 1602 and 1604 and RAN node 1618 and / or RAN node 1620 transmit data (e.g., transmit data and receive data) via an authorized medium (also referred to as "authorized spectrum" and / or "authorized band") and an unlicensed shared medium (also referred to as "unlicensed spectrum" and / or "unlicensed band"). The licensed spectrum can include channels operating in a frequency range of approximately 400 MHz to approximately 3.8 GHz, while the unlicensed spectrum can include the 5 GHz band.

[0076] To operate in the unlicensed spectrum, UEs 1602 and 1604 and RAN node 1618 or RAN node 1620 can use LAA, eLAA, and / or feLAA mechanisms to operate. In these specific implementations, UEs 1602 and 1604 and RAN node 1618 or RAN node 1620 can perform one or more known medium sensing operations and / or carrier sensing operations to determine whether one or more channels in the unlicensed spectrum are unavailable or otherwise occupied before transmitting in the unlicensed spectrum. The medium / carrier sensing operations can be performed according to the listen-before-talk (LBT) protocol.

[0077] LBT is a mechanism by which devices (such as UE 1602 and UE 1604, RAN node 1618, or RAN node 1620, etc.) sense the medium (such as a channel or carrier frequency) and perform transmission when the medium is sensed as idle (or when a specific channel in the medium is sensed as unoccupied). The medium sensing operation may include CCA, which uses at least ED to determine whether there are other signals on the channel to determine whether the channel is occupied or idle. This LBT mechanism allows the cellular / LAA network to coexist with existing systems in the unlicensed spectrum and with other LAA networks. ED may include sensing RF energy on the expected transmission band for a period of time and comparing the sensed RF energy with a predefined or configured threshold.

[0078] Generally, existing systems in the 5 GHz band are WLANs based on IEEE 802.11 technology. WLANs adopt a contention-based channel access mechanism called CSMA / CA. Here, when a WLAN node (such as a mobile station (MS) such as UE 1602, AP1612, etc.) intends to transmit, the WLAN node may first perform CCA before transmission. Additionally, in the case where more than one WLAN node senses the channel as idle and transmits simultaneously, a backoff mechanism is used to avoid collisions. This backoff mechanism can be a counter randomly introduced within the CWS, which increases exponentially in the event of a collision and is reset to the minimum value upon successful transmission. The LBT mechanism designed for LAA is somewhat similar to the CSMA / CA of WLANs. In some specific implementations, the LBT process for DL or UL transmission bursts (including PDSCH or PUSCH transmissions) may have an LAA contention window of variable length between X and Y ECCA time slots, where X and Y are the minimum and maximum values of the LAA's CWS. In one example, the minimum CWS for LAA transmission may be 9 microseconds (μs); however, the size of the CWS and the MCOT (such as the transmission burst) may be based on government regulatory requirements.

[0079] The LAA mechanism is built on the CA technology of the LTE-Advanced system. In CA, each aggregated carrier is called a CC. A CC can have a bandwidth of 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15, or 20 MHz, and up to five CCs can be aggregated, so the maximum aggregated bandwidth is 100 MHz. In an FDD system, for DL and UL, the number of aggregated carriers can be different, where the number of UL CCs is equal to or lower than the number of DL component carriers. In some cases, each CC may have a different bandwidth from other CCs. In a TDD system, the number of CCs and the bandwidth of each CC are generally the same for DL and UL.

[0080] CA also includes respective serving cells to provide respective CCs. The coverage of the serving cells may vary, e.g., because the CCs on different frequency bands will experience different path losses. The primary serving cell or PCell may provide the PCC for both UL and DL and may handle the activities related to RRC and NAS. The other serving cells are called SCell, and each SCell may provide respective SCCs for both UL and DL. The SCCs can be added and removed as needed, while changing the PCC may require the UE 1602 to undergo a handover. In LAA, eLAA, and feLAA, some or all of the SCells may operate in the unlicensed spectrum (referred to as "LAA SCell"), and the LAA SCell is assisted by the PCell operating in the licensed spectrum. When the UE is configured with more than one LAA SCell, the UE may receive UL grants on the configured LAA SCells, indicating different PUSCH starting positions within the same subframe.

[0081] The PDSCH carries user data and higher layer signaling to the UEs 1602 and 1604. Among other information, the PDCCH carries information regarding the transport format and resource allocation related to the PDSCH channel. It can also notify the UEs 1602 and 1604 about the transport format, resource allocation, and HARQ information related to the uplink shared channel. Generally, downlink scheduling (allocating control and shared channel resource blocks to the UEs 1604 within the cell) can be performed at either the RAN node 1618 or the RAN node 1620 based on the channel quality information fed back from either of the UEs 1602 and 1604. The downlink resource allocation information can be sent on the PDCCHs used for (e.g., allocated to) each of the UEs 1602 and 1604.

[0082] The PDCCH uses CCEs to convey control information. Before being mapped to resource elements, the PDCCH complex-valued symbols can first be organized into quadruples and then can be arranged using a sub-block interleaver for rate matching. One or more of these CCEs can be used to transmit each PDCCH, where each CCE can correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elements, called REGs. Four quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) symbols can be mapped to each REG. Depending on the size of the DCI and the channel conditions, one or more CCEs can be used to transmit the PDCCH. There can be four or more different PDCCH formats defined in LTE with different numbers of CCEs (e.g., aggregation levels, L = 1, 2, 4, or 8).

[0083] Some embodiments may use the concept of resource allocation for controlling channel information, which is an extension of the above concept. For example, some embodiments may utilize an EPDCCH that uses PDSCH resources for control information transmission. One or more ECCEs may be used to transmit the EPDCCH. Similar to the above, each ECCE may correspond to nine sets each including four physical resource elements, referred to as EREGs. In some cases, an ECCE may have other numbers of EREGs.

[0084] RAN node 1618 or RAN node 1620 may be configured to communicate with each other via interface 1622. In an embodiment where system 1600 is an LTE system (e.g., when CN 1630 is an EPC), interface 1622 may be an X2 interface. The X2 interface may be defined between two or more RAN nodes connected to the EPC (e.g., two or more eNBs, etc.), and / or between two eNBs connected to the EPC. In some specific implementations, the X2 interface may include an X2 user plane interface (X2-U) and an X2 control plane interface (X2-C). The X2-U may provide a flow control mechanism for user packets transmitted through the X2 interface and may be used to convey information regarding the delivery of user data between eNBs. For example, the X2-U may provide specific sequence number information regarding user data transmitted from the MeNB to the SeNB; information regarding the successful in-order delivery of PDCP PDUs from the SeNB to the UE 1602 for user data; information on PDCP PDUs not delivered to the UE 1602; information regarding the current minimum desired buffer size at the SeNB for transmitting user data to the UE; and so on. The X2-C may provide access mobility functions within LTE, including context transfer from a source eNB to a target eNB, user plane transmission control, etc.; load management functions; and inter-cell interference coordination functions.

[0085] In an implementation where the system 1600 is an SG or NR system (e.g., when CN 1630 is an SGC), the interface 1622 can be an Xn interface. The Xn interface is defined between two or more RAN nodes (e.g., two or more gNBs, etc.) connected to the SGC, between the RAN node 1618 (e.g., gNB) connected to the SGC and an eNB, and / or between two eNBs connected to the 5GC (e.g., CN 1630). In some specific implementations, the Xn interface can include an Xn user plane (Xn-U) interface and an Xn control plane (Xn-C) interface. The Xn-U can provide non-guaranteed delivery of user plane PDUs and support / provide data forwarding and traffic control functions. The Xn-C can provide management and error handling functions for managing the functions of the Xn-C interface; the mobility support for the UE 1602 in the connected mode (e.g., CM-CONNECTED) includes functions for managing the UE mobility in the connected mode between one or more RAN nodes 1618 or RAN nodes 1620. The mobility support can include the context transfer from the old (source) serving RAN node 1618 to the new (target) serving RAN node 1620, and the control of the user plane tunnel between the old (source) serving RAN node 1618 and the new (target) serving RAN node 1620. The protocol stack of the Xn-U can include a transport network layer built on the Internet Protocol (IP) transport layer, and a GTP-U layer for carrying user plane PDUs on top of the UDP and / or IP layer. The Xn-C protocol stack can include an application layer signaling protocol (referred to as the Xn application protocol (Xn-AP)) and a transport network layer built on SCTP. SCTP can be on top of the IP layer and can provide guaranteed delivery of application layer messages. In the transport IP layer, point-to-point transmission is used to deliver signaling PDUs. In other specific implementations, the Xn-U protocol stack and / or the Xn-C protocol stack can be the same as or similar to the user plane and / or control plane protocol stacks shown and described herein.

[0086] (R)AN 1616 is shown communicatively coupled to the core network, and in this embodiment, communicatively coupled to CN 1630. CN 1630 may include one or more network elements 1632, which are configured to provide various data and telecommunication services to customers / subscribers (e.g., users of UEs 1602 and 1604) connected to CN 1630 via (R)AN 1616. The components of CN 1630 may be implemented in one physical node or in separate physical nodes, including components for reading and executing instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium). In some embodiments, NFV may be used to virtualize any one or all of the above network node functions via executable instructions stored in one or more computer-readable storage media (described in further detail below). A logical instance of CN 1630 may be referred to as a network slice, and a logical instance of a part of CN 1630 may be referred to as a network sub-slice. The NFV architecture and infrastructure may be used to virtualize one or more network functions onto physical resources that include a combination of industry-standard server hardware, storage hardware, or switches (alternatively performed by proprietary hardware). In other words, the NFV system may be used to perform a virtual or reconfigurable implementation of one or more EPC components / functions.

[0087] Generally speaking, the application server 1634 may be an element that provides an application that uses IP bearer resources with the core network (e.g., UMTS PS domain, LTE PS data services, etc.). The application server 1634 may also be configured to support one or more communication services (e.g., VoIP sessions, PTT sessions, group communication sessions, social network services, etc.) for UEs 1602 and 1604 via the EPC. The application server 1634 may communicate with CN 1630 through an IP communication interface 1636.

[0088] In an embodiment, CN 1630 may be an SGC, and (R)AN 116 may be connected to CN 1630 via an NG interface 1624. In an embodiment, the NG interface 1624 may be divided into two parts: an NG user plane (NG-U) interface 1626, which carries traffic data between the RAN node 1618 or the RAN node 1620 and the UPF; and an S1 control plane (NG-C) interface 1628, which is a signaling interface between the RAN node 1618 or the RAN node 1620 and the AMF.

[0089] In an embodiment, CN 1630 can be SG CN, while in other embodiments, CN 1630 can be EPC. When CN 1630 is EPC, (R)AN 116 can be connected to CN 1630 via the S1 interface 1624. In an embodiment, the S1 interface 1624 can be divided into two parts: the S1 user plane (S1-U) interface 1626, which carries traffic data between the RAN node 1618 or RAN node 1620 and the S-GW; and the S1-MME interface 1628, which is a signaling interface between the RAN node 1618 or RAN node 1620 and the MME.

[0090] For one or more embodiments, at least one of the components shown in one or more of the foregoing figures can be configured to perform one or more of the operations, techniques, processes, and / or methods described in the following example section. For example, the baseband circuitry described above in connection with one or more of the foregoing figures can be configured to operate in accordance with one or more of the following examples. As another example, the circuitry associated with the UE, base station, network element, etc. described above in connection with one or more of the foregoing figures can be configured to operate in accordance with one or more of the examples shown in the following example section.

[0091] Example section

[0092] The following examples relate to additional embodiments.

[0093] Example 1 is a method for differentiating an authorized band from an unauthorized band in a common part of a spectrum, which is executed by a user equipment (UE) to facilitate initial access in a fifth-generation (5G) New Radio (NR) wireless communication system having an NR node. The method includes: receiving frequency configuration information from the NR node, the frequency configuration information indicating that the common part of the spectrum is allocated as an authorized band or an unauthorized band; and processing the frequency configuration information to determine that the spectrum is configured as the authorized band or the unauthorized band to facilitate initial access.

[0094] Example 2 is the method according to Example 1, wherein the receiving includes receiving a master information block (MIB), the MIB including an information element serving as the frequency configuration information.

[0095] Example 3 is the method according to Example 2, wherein the information element is a bit field in the MIB having a first value and a second value, the first value indicating that the spectrum is configured as the authorized band and the second value indicating that the spectrum is configured as the unauthorized band.

[0096] Example 4 is the method according to Example 1, wherein the frequency configuration information includes a cyclic redundancy code (CRC) mask applied to a physical broadcast channel (PBCH), and the processing includes attempting to decode the PBCH using a value of the CRC mask corresponding to one of the authorized band or the unauthorized band.

[0097] Example 5 is the method according to Example 1, wherein the frequency configuration information includes different non-overlapping global synchronization channel numbers (GSCNs).

[0098] Example 6 is the method according to Example 1, wherein the wireless communication system includes a primary cell (PCell) and a secondary cell (SCell), and the receiving includes receiving the frequency configuration information as dedicated radio resource control (RRC) signaling after the PCell is configured.

[0099] Example 7 is the method according to Example 1, wherein the frequency configuration information is represented by bits with values (1,1) in a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) payload.

[0100] Example 8 is the method according to Example 1, wherein the frequency configuration information is indicated by a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) sequence of a physical broadcast channel (PBCH).

[0101] Example 9 is the method according to Example 1, wherein the frequency configuration information is represented based on the position of a primary synchronization signal (PSS) detected in symbol index zero.

[0102] Example 10 is the method according to Example 1, wherein the frequency configuration information is indicated by master information block (MIB) content, and the method further includes making a hypothetical assumption about the MIB content for system information block (SIB) detection to determine whether the spectrum is configured as the authorized band or the unauthorized band based on whether the hypothetical assumption results in successful SIB detection.

[0103] Example 11 is a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of a user equipment (UE), the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium being configured to: facilitate initial access in a fifth-generation (5G) New Radio (NR) wireless communication system having an NR node by differentiating an authorized band from an unauthorized band in a common portion of a spectrum, the computer-readable storage medium including instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor: receive frequency configuration information from the NR node, the frequency configuration information indicating whether the common portion of the spectrum is allocated as an authorized band or an unauthorized band; and process the frequency configuration information to determine that the spectrum is configured as the authorized band or the unauthorized band to facilitate initial access.

[0104] Example 12 is the computer-readable storage medium according to Example 11, wherein the frequency configuration information includes a master information block (MIB) having information elements, and the MIB identifies that the spectrum is configured as one of the authorized band and the unauthorized band.

[0105] Example 13 is the computer-readable storage medium according to Example 11, wherein the frequency configuration information includes a cyclic redundancy code (CRC) mask applied to a physical broadcast channel (PBCH).

[0106] Example 14 is the computer-readable storage medium according to Example 11, wherein the frequency configuration information includes different non-overlapping global synchronization channel numbers (GSCNs).

[0107] Example 15 is the computer-readable storage medium according to Example 11, wherein the wireless communication system includes a primary cell (PCell) and a secondary cell (SCell), and the frequency configuration information is a dedicated radio resource control (RRC) signal received after the PCell is configured.

[0108] Example 16 is the computer-readable storage medium according to Example 11, wherein the frequency configuration information is represented by bits with values (1, 1) in the physical broadcast channel (PBCH) payload.

[0109] Example 17 is the computer-readable storage medium according to Example 11, wherein the frequency configuration information is indicated by a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) sequence of the physical broadcast channel (PBCH).

[0110] Example 18 is the computer-readable storage medium of Example 11, wherein the frequency configuration information is represented based on the position of a primary synchronization signal (PSS) detected in symbol index zero.

[0111] Example 19 is the computer-readable storage medium of Example 11, wherein the frequency configuration information is indicated by master information block (MIB) content, and the instruction further causes the processor to make a hypothetical assumption about the MIB content for system information block (SIB) detection to determine whether the spectrum is configured as the authorized band or the unauthorized band based on whether a successful SIB detection is generated by the hypothetical assumption.

[0112] Embodiment 20 is a method for indicating which of an authorized band and an unauthorized band is configured in a common part of a spectrum. The method is performed by a gNB to facilitate initial access of a user equipment (UE) in a fifth-generation (5G) new radio (NR) wireless communication system. The method includes: generating frequency configuration information indicating whether the common part of the spectrum is allocated as an authorized band or an unauthorized band; and providing the frequency configuration information to the UE to facilitate the initial access.

[0113] Embodiment 21 is the method according to Embodiment 20, wherein the providing includes transmitting a master information block (MIB) containing an information element serving as the frequency configuration information.

[0114] Embodiment 22 is the method according to Embodiment 21, wherein the information element is a bit field in the MIB having a first value and a second value. The first value indicates that the spectrum is configured as the authorized band and the second value indicates that the spectrum is configured as the unauthorized band.

[0115] Embodiment 23 is the method according to Embodiment 20, wherein the frequency configuration information includes a cyclic redundancy code (CRC) mask applied to a physical broadcast channel (PBCH).

[0116] Embodiment 24 is the method according to Embodiment 20, wherein the frequency configuration information includes different non-overlapping global synchronization channel numbers (GSCNs).

[0117] Embodiment 25 is the method according to Embodiment 20, wherein the wireless communication system includes a primary cell (PCell) and a secondary cell (SCell), and the generating includes, after the PCell is configured, signaling the frequency configuration information as a dedicated radio resource control (RRC) message.

[0118] Embodiment 26 is the method according to Embodiment 20, wherein the frequency configuration information is represented by bits with values (1, 1) in a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) payload.

[0119] Embodiment 27 is the method according to Embodiment 20, wherein the frequency configuration information is indicated by a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) sequence of a physical broadcast channel (PBCH).

[0120] Embodiment 28 is the method according to Embodiment 20, wherein the frequency configuration information is represented based on the position of a primary synchronization signal (PSS) detected in symbol index zero.

[0121] Embodiment 29 is the method according to Embodiment 20, wherein the frequency configuration information is indicated by master information block (MIB) content.

[0122] Example 30 may include an apparatus that includes components for performing one or more elements of the method described in any of the above embodiments or related thereto, or any other method or process described herein.

[0123] Example 31 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media that include instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device, cause the electronic device to perform one or more elements of the method described in any of the above embodiments or related thereto, or any other method or process described herein.

[0124] Example 32 may include an apparatus that includes logic components, modules, or circuits for performing one or more elements of the method described in any of the above embodiments or related thereto, or any other method or process described herein.

[0125] Example 33 may include the method, technique, or process described in any of the above embodiments or related thereto, or a part or component thereof.

[0126] Example 34 may include an apparatus that includes: one or more processors and one or more computer-readable media that include instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the method, technique, or process described in any of the above embodiments or related thereto, or a part thereof.

[0127] Example 35 may include the signal described in any of the above embodiments or related thereto, or a part or component thereof.

[0128] Example 7C may include a datagram, packet, frame, segment, protocol data unit (PDU), or message described in any of the above embodiments or related thereto, or a part or component thereof, or something described in other ways in the present disclosure.

[0129] Example 36 may include a signal encoded with data described in any of the above embodiments or related thereto, or a part or component thereof, or something described in other ways in the present disclosure.

[0130] Example 37 may include a signal encoded with a datagram, packet, frame, segment, PDU, or message described in any of the above embodiments or related thereto, or a part or component thereof, or something described in other ways in the present disclosure.

[0131] Example 38 may include an electromagnetic signal carrying computer-readable instructions, wherein execution of the computer-readable instructions by one or more processors will cause the one or more processors to perform the method, technique, or process, or portions thereof, described in or associated with any one of the foregoing examples.

[0132] Example 39 may include a computer program that includes instructions, wherein execution of the program by a processing element will cause the processing element to perform the method, technique, or process, or portions thereof, described in or associated with any one of the foregoing examples.

[0133] Example 40 may include a signal in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

[0134] Example 41 may include a method of communicating in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

[0135] Example 42 may include a system for providing wireless communication as shown and described herein.

[0136] Example 43 may include a device for providing wireless communication as shown and described herein.

[0137] Unless otherwise expressly stated, any one of the foregoing examples may be combined with any other example (or combination of examples). The foregoing description of one or more specific embodiments provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of the embodiments to the precise forms disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings, or may be acquired from practice of the various embodiments.

[0138] Embodiments and specific implementations of the systems and methods described herein may include various operations, which may be embodied in machine-executable instructions to be executed by a computer system. The computer system may include one or more general-purpose or special-purpose computers (or other electronic devices). The computer system may include hardware components that include specific logic components for performing the operations, or may include a combination of hardware, software, and / or firmware.

[0139] It should be recognized that the systems described herein include a description of specific embodiments. These embodiments may be combined into a single system, partially incorporated into other systems, divided into multiple systems, or otherwise partitioned or combined. Further, it is contemplated that the parameters, properties, aspects, etc. of one embodiment may be used in another embodiment. For clarity, these parameters, properties, aspects, etc. are described in only one or more embodiments, and it should be recognized that unless otherwise specifically stated herein, these parameters, properties, aspects, etc. may be combined with or substituted for the parameters, properties, aspects, etc. of another embodiment.

[0140] It is well known that the use of personally identifiable information should comply with privacy policies and practices that are recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or government requirements for maintaining user privacy. Specifically, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of inadvertent or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of the authorized use should be clearly explained to users.

[0141] Although the foregoing has been described in considerable detail for purposes of clarity, it will be apparent that certain changes and modifications can be made without departing from the principles of the invention. It should be noted that there are many alternative ways of implementing both the processes and apparatuses described herein. Accordingly, the embodiments of the invention should be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive, and the specification is not limited to the details given herein but may be modified within the scope and equivalents of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for differentiating an authorized band from an unauthorized band in a common part of a spectrum, the method being performed by a user equipment UE to facilitate initial access in a fifth-generation 5G NR wireless communication system having a New Radio NR node, the method comprising: Receiving frequency configuration information from the NR node, the frequency configuration information indicating whether the common part of the spectrum is allocated as an authorized band or an unauthorized band, wherein the wireless communication system includes a Primary Cell PCell and a Secondary Cell SCell, and the receiving includes receiving the frequency configuration information as dedicated Radio Resource Control RRC signaling after the PCell is configured; and Processing the frequency configuration information to determine whether the spectrum is configured as the authorized band or the unauthorized band to facilitate initial access.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the receiving includes receiving a Master Information Block MIB, the MIB including an information element serving as the frequency configuration information.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the information element is a bit field in the MIB having a first value and a second value, the first value indicating that the spectrum is configured as the authorized band and the second value indicating that the spectrum is configured as the unauthorized band.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the frequency configuration information includes a Cyclic Redundancy Code CRC mask applied to a Physical Broadcast Channel PBCH, and the processing includes attempting to decode the PBCH using a value of the CRC mask corresponding to one of the authorized band or the unauthorized band.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the frequency configuration information includes different non-overlapping Global Synchronization Channel Numbers GSCNs.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the frequency configuration information is indicated by the value (1,1) of bits in a Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) payload .

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the frequency configuration information is indicated by a Demodulation Reference Signal DMRS sequence of a Physical Broadcast Channel PBCH.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the frequency configuration information is represented based on the position of a Primary Synchronization Signal PSS detected in symbol index zero.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the frequency configuration information is indicated by the content of the master information block MIB, and the method further comprises: Making a hypothetical assumption about the MIB content for System Information Block SIB detection to determine whether the spectrum is configured as the authorized band or the unauthorized band based on whether the hypothetical assumption results in a successful SIB detection.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of a user equipment UE, the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium being configured to: facilitate initial access in a fifth-generation 5G NR wireless communication system having a New Radio NR node by differentiating an authorized band from an unauthorized band in a common part of a spectrum, the computer-readable storage medium including instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to: Receive frequency configuration information from an NR node, the frequency configuration information indicating whether a common part of the spectrum is allocated as an authorized band or an unauthorized band, wherein the wireless communication system includes a primary cell (PCell) and a secondary cell (SCell), and the frequency configuration information is a dedicated radio resource control (RRC) signal received after the PCell is configured; and Process the frequency configuration information to determine whether the spectrum is configured as the authorized band or the unauthorized band to facilitate initial access.

11. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 10, wherein the frequency configuration information includes a master information block (MIB) having an information element that identifies the spectrum as being configured as one of the authorized band and the unauthorized band.

12. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 10, wherein the frequency configuration information includes a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) mask applied to a physical broadcast channel (PBCH).

13. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 10, wherein the frequency configuration information includes different non-overlapping global synchronization channel numbers (GSCNs).

14. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 10, wherein the frequency configuration information is indicated by the value (1,1) of bits in a Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) payload ​ 15. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 10, wherein the frequency configuration information is indicated by a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) sequence of a physical broadcast channel (PBCH).

16. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 10, wherein the frequency configuration information is represented based on the position of a primary synchronization signal (PSS) detected in symbol index zero.

17. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 10, wherein the frequency configuration information is indicated by master information block (MIB) content, and the instructions further cause the processor to make a hypothetical assumption about the MIB content for system information block (SIB) detection to determine whether the spectrum is configured as the authorized band or the unauthorized band based on whether a successful SIB detection results from the hypothetical assumption.

18. A method for indicating which of an authorized band and an unauthorized band is configured in a common part of a spectrum, the method being performed by a gNB to facilitate initial access of a user equipment (UE) in a fifth generation (5G) new radio (NR) wireless communication system, the method comprising: Generate frequency configuration information indicating whether a common part of the spectrum is allocated as an authorized band or an unauthorized band, wherein the wireless communication system includes a primary cell (PCell) and a secondary cell (SCell), and the generating includes signaling the frequency configuration information as a dedicated radio resource control (RRC) message after the PCell is configured; and Provide the frequency configuration information to the UE to facilitate the initial access.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein the providing includes transmitting a master information block (MIB) containing an information element serving as the frequency configuration information.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein the information element is a bit field in the MIB having a first value and a second value, the first value indicating that the spectrum is configured as the authorized band and the second value indicating that the spectrum is configured as the unauthorized band.

21. The method according to claim 18, wherein the frequency configuration information includes a cyclic redundancy code (CRC) mask applied to the physical broadcast channel (PBCH).

22. The method according to claim 18, wherein the frequency configuration information includes different non-overlapping global synchronization channel numbers (GSCNs).

23. The method according to claim 18, wherein the frequency configuration information is indicated by the value (1,1) of bits in the physical broadcast channel (PBCH) payload .

24. The method according to claim 18, wherein the frequency configuration information is indicated by a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) sequence of the physical broadcast channel (PBCH).

25. The method according to claim 18, wherein the frequency configuration information is represented based on the position of the primary synchronization signal (PSS) detected at symbol index zero.

26. The method according to claim 18, wherein the frequency configuration information is indicated by the master information block (MIB) content.

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