Listen before talk and short control signaling in unlicensed spectrum

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to techniques for configuring listen-before-talk and short control signaling in unlicensed spectrum in a wireless communication system. A wireless device can establish a wireless link with a cellular base station on a cell in unlicensed spectrum. The wireless device can receive listen-before-talk configuration information, where the listen-before-talk configuration information indicates whether listen-before-talk is configured for the wireless link. The wireless device can receive short control signaling configuration information, where the short control signaling configuration information indicates whether short control signaling is enabled for one or more types of control signaling. When short control signaling is enabled, the wireless device can perform short control signaling with the cellular base station on the wireless link. The short control signaling performed between the cellular base station and the wireless device can include either or both of uplink transmissions or downlink transmissions.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to wireless communication, and more specifically to systems, apparatus, and methods for configuring listen-before-speak and short control signaling in unlicensed spectrum in wireless communication systems. Background Technology

[0002] The use of wireless communication systems is growing rapidly. In recent years, wireless devices such as smartphones and tablets have become increasingly sophisticated. In addition to supporting phone calls, many mobile devices (i.e., user equipment or UE) now offer access to the internet, email, text messaging, and navigation using the Global Positioning System (GPS), and are capable of operating complex applications that utilize these capabilities. Furthermore, many different wireless communication technologies and standards exist. Some examples of wireless communication standards include GSM, UMTS (e.g., associated with WCDMA or TD-SCDMA air interfaces), LTE, LTE-A (LTE-Advanced), NR, HSPA, 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), IEEE 802.11 (WLAN or Wi-Fi), and BLUETOOTH. TM wait.

[0003] The introduction of an ever-increasing number of features and functions into wireless communication devices necessitates continuous improvement of both wireless communication and the devices themselves. Ensuring the accuracy of signals transmitted and received by user equipment (UE) devices (e.g., wireless devices such as cellular phones, base stations, and relay stations used in wireless cellular communications) is of paramount importance. Furthermore, increasing the functionality of UE devices can significantly strain their battery life. Therefore, it is equally crucial to reduce the power requirements in UE device design while allowing them to maintain good transmission and reception capabilities for improved communication. Thus, improvements are expected in this area. Summary of the Invention

[0004] This document presents implementation schemes for apparatus, systems, and methods for configuring listen-before-speak and short control signaling in unlicensed spectrum in wireless communication systems.

[0005] The techniques described herein may include signaling techniques for configuring listen-before-talk (BET) for a given cell to operate in unlicensed spectrum. Such techniques may help identify whether a cell operates in an area where BET is enforced for communications in unlicensed spectrum, whether BET is enabled but not enforced, or whether BET is not enabled. For scenarios where BET is enabled, techniques are also provided for configuring BET for each of downlink and uplink communications, potentially including configurations that support BET only for selected uplink communications (e.g., which may be determined dynamically on a per-radio device basis).

[0006] Additionally, this document describes techniques for indicating short control signaling configuration. Such techniques may include supporting indications of whether each of a variety of possible types of reference signals is configured to be transmitted as short control signaling (and therefore may not require a listen-before-speak process before transmitting the reference signal), whether certain reference signal resources are configured to be transmitted as short control signaling, and / or configured to provide any of a variety of other possible configuration information relating to the use of short control signaling in a cellular communication system.

[0007] According to at least some implementations, these technologies can increase network configuration flexibility in unlicensed spectrum by providing additional configuration options regarding listen-before-speak configuration and / or short control signaling configuration. This increased network configuration flexibility regarding these features may improve spectrum utilization efficiency, reduce power consumption of wireless devices, and / or provide any of a variety of other potential benefits.

[0008] It should be noted that the technologies described herein can be implemented in and / or used in several different types of devices, including but not limited to base stations, access points, mobile phones, portable media players, tablets, wearable devices, unmanned aerial vehicles, unmanned flight controllers, automobiles and / or motor vehicles, and various other computing devices.

[0009] The present invention is intended to provide a brief overview of some of the subjects described in this document. Therefore, it should be understood that the above features are merely illustrative and should not be construed as narrowing the scope or substance of the subjects described herein in any way. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the subjects described herein will become apparent from the following detailed description, drawings, and claims. Attached Figure Description

[0010] A better understanding of the subject matter can be obtained by considering the following detailed description of the various embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0011] Figure 1Exemplary (and simplified) wireless communication systems according to some implementation schemes are shown;

[0012] Figure 2 An exemplary base station communicating with an exemplary wireless user equipment (UE) device according to some embodiments is shown;

[0013] Figure 3 This is an exemplary block diagram of a UE according to some implementation schemes;

[0014] Figure 4 This is an exemplary block diagram of a base station according to some implementation schemes; and

[0015] Figure 5 This is a flowchart illustrating various aspects of exemplary possible methods for providing listen-before-speak and short control signaling configuration information in a wireless communication system, according to some implementation schemes.

[0016] While the features described herein are susceptible to various modifications and alternatives, specific embodiments thereof are illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings and described in detail herein. However, it should be understood that the drawings and their detailed description are not intended to limit this document to the specific forms disclosed, but rather are intended to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the substance and scope of the subject matter as defined by the appended claims. Detailed Implementation

[0017] acronym

[0018] Various acronyms are used throughout this disclosure. The definitions of the most prominent acronyms that may appear throughout this disclosure are as follows:

[0019] UE: User Equipment

[0020] RF: Radio Frequency

[0021] ·BS: Base Station

[0022] GSM: Global System for Mobile Communications

[0023] UMTS: Universal Mobile Telecommunications System

[0024] LTE: Long Term Evolution

[0025] NR: New Radio

[0026] TX: Transmission

[0027] RX: Receiver

[0028] • RAT: Radio Access Technology

[0029] • TRP: Transmitter / Receiver Point

[0030] • DCI: Downlink Control Information

[0031] • CORESET: Control Resource Set

[0032] •QCL: Quasi-cooperative localization or quasi-cooperative position

[0033] • LBT: Listen First, Then Speak

[0034] • CSI: Channel State Information

[0035] • RS: Reference signal

[0036] • CSI-RS: Channel State Information Reference Signal

[0037] • CSI-IM: Channel State Information Interference Management

[0038] •CMR: Channel Measurement Resources

[0039] •IMR: Interference Measurement Resources

[0040] ZP: Zero Power

[0041] • NZP: Non-zero power

[0042] • CQI: Channel Quality Indicator

[0043] • PMI: Precoding Matrix Indicator

[0044] ·RI: Rank Indicator

[0045] the term

[0046] The following is a glossary of terms that will appear in this disclosure:

[0047] memory media—Any device of any type of nontransitory memory device or storage device. The term “memory medium” is intended to include mounting media such as CD-ROMs, floppy disks, or magnetic tape devices; computer system memory or random access memory such as DRAM, DDR RAM, SRAM, EDO RAM, Rambus RAM, etc.; non-volatile memory such as flash memory, magnetic media, such as hard disk drives or optical storage devices; registers or other similar types of memory elements, etc. Memory media may also include other types of nontransitory memory or combinations thereof. Furthermore, memory media may reside in a first computer system executing a program, or may reside in a different second computer system connected to the first computer system via a network such as the Internet. In a later example, the second computer system may provide program instructions to the first computer system for execution. The term “memory medium” may include two or more memory media that may reside in different locations on different computer systems connected via a network, for example. Memory media may store program instructions (e.g., representing a computer program) that can be executed by one or more processors.

[0048] carrier medium —The memory medium as described above, and the physical transmission medium, such as a bus, network and / or other physical transmission medium for transmitting signals (such as electrical signals, electromagnetic signals or digital signals).

[0049] Computer system (or computer) —Any type of computing or processing system, including personal computer systems (PCs), mainframe computer systems, workstations, network appliances, internet-connected appliances, personal digital assistants (PDAs), television systems, grid computing systems, or other devices or combinations thereof. Generally, the term "computer system" can be broadly defined as any device (or combination of devices) that includes at least one processor that executes instructions from a memory medium.

[0050] User Equipment (UE) (or "UE device") —Any of various types of computer systems or devices that are mobile or portable and perform wireless communication. Examples of UE devices include mobile phones or smartphones (e.g., iPhone). TM Based on Android TM Phones), tablets (e.g., iPads) TM Samsung Galaxy TM ), portable gaming devices (e.g., Nintendo DS) TM PlayStation Portable TM Gameboy Advance TM iPhone TMThis includes wearable devices (e.g., smartwatches, smart glasses), laptops, PDAs, portable internet devices, music players, data storage devices, other handheld devices, automobiles and / or motor vehicles, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) (e.g., drones), UAV controllers (UACs), etc. Generally speaking, the term "UE" or "UE device" can be broadly defined to encompass any electronic device, computing device, and / or telecommunications device (or a combination of these devices) that is easily transportable by the user and capable of wireless communication.

[0051] wireless devices —Any of various types of computer systems or devices that perform wireless communication. Wireless devices can be portable (or mobile), or they can be stationary or fixed in a location. UE is an example of a wireless device.

[0052] Communication equipment —Any of various types of computer systems or devices that perform communication, which may be wired or wireless. Communication devices may be portable (or mobile), or they may be stationary or fixed in one location. A wireless device is one example of a communication device. A UE is another example of a communication device.

[0053] Base station (BS) --The term "base station" has the full range of its usual meaning and includes at least a wireless communication station that is installed in a fixed location and used for communication as part of a wireless telephone system or radio system.

[0054] Processing element (or processor) – refers to various elements or combinations of elements capable of performing the functions in a device (such as user equipment or cellular network equipment). Processing elements may include, for example: processors and associated memory, portions or circuitry of individual processor cores, entire processor cores, processor arrays, circuitry such as ASICs (Application-Specific Integrated Circuits), programmable hardware elements such as Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), and any combination thereof.

[0055] Wi-Fi The term "Wi-Fi" encompasses the full range of its common meaning and includes at least wireless communication networks, or RATs, which are provided by and through wireless LAN (WLAN) access points to provide connectivity to the Internet. Most modern Wi-Fi networks (or WLAN networks) are based on the IEEE 802.11 standard and marketed under the name "Wi-Fi." Wi-Fi (WLAN) networks are distinct from cellular networks.

[0056] automatic— This refers to the action or operation performed by a computer system (e.g., software executed by the computer system) or device (e.g., circuits, programmable hardware elements, ASICs, etc.) without requiring direct user input to specify or perform the action or operation. Therefore, the term "automatic" contrasts with a user-manually performed or specified action, where the user provides input to directly perform the action. An automatic process can be initiated by user-provided input, but the subsequent actions performed "automatically" are not specified by the user; that is, they are not performed "manually," where the user specifies each action to be performed. For example, a user filling out a form by selecting each field and providing input specifying information (e.g., by typing information, selecting a checkbox, radio selection, etc.) is considered manually filling out the form, even though the computer system must update the form in response to the user's actions. The form can be automatically filled out by a computer system (e.g., software executed on the computer system) which analyzes the fields of the form and fills it out without any user input specifying answers for the fields. As indicated above, the user can invoke the automatic filling of the form but does not participate in the actual filling of the form (e.g., the user does not manually specify answers for the fields, but they are completed automatically). This manual provides various examples of operations that are automatically performed in response to actions taken by the user.

[0057] Configured as Various components can be described as being "configured" to perform one or more tasks. In such contexts, "configured" is a broad expression generally meaning "having" a "structure" that performs one or more tasks during operation. Thus, a component can be configured to perform a task even when it is not currently performing one (e.g., a set of electrical conductors can be configured to electrically connect one module to another, even when the two modules are not connected). In some contexts, "configured" can also be a broad expression generally meaning a structure that "has" a "circuit" that performs one or more tasks during operation. Thus, a component can be configured to perform a task even when it is not currently switched on. Typically, the circuit forming the structure corresponding to "configured" can include hardware circuitry.

[0058] For ease of description, various components may be described as performing one or more tasks. Such descriptions shall be interpreted as including the phrase “configured to”. The statement that a component is configured to perform one or more tasks is expressly intended not to invoke the interpretation of paragraph 6 of section 112 of title 35 of the United States Code.

[0059] Figure 1 and Figure 2 -Exemplary communication system

[0060] Figure 1 Exemplary (and simplified) wireless communication systems that can implement various aspects of this disclosure according to some embodiments are shown. It should be noted that... Figure 1The system described is merely one example of a possible system, and this implementation can be carried out in any of a variety of systems as needed.

[0061] As shown in the figure, this exemplary wireless communication system includes a base station 102 that communicates with one or more (e.g., any number) user equipments 106A, 106B, etc., up to 106N, via a transmission medium. Each user equipment may be referred to herein as a "user equipment" (UE) or UE device. Therefore, user equipment 106 is referred to as a UE or UE device.

[0062] Base station 102 may be a transceiver base station (BTS) or a cell site, and may include hardware and / or software to enable wireless communication with UEs 106A to 106N. If base station 102 is implemented in an LTE environment, it may be referred to as an "eNodeB" or "eNB". If base station 102 is implemented in a 5G NR environment, it may alternatively be referred to as a "gNodeB" or "gNB". Base station 102 may also be equipped to communicate with network 100 (e.g., the core network of a cellular service provider, telecommunications networks such as the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), and / or the Internet, and various other possible networks). Therefore, base station 102 facilitates communication between user equipments and / or between user equipments and network 100. The communication area (or coverage area) of a base station may be referred to as a "cell". Also as used herein, in relation to a UE, a base station may sometimes be considered to represent the network, taking into account both uplink and downlink communication of the UE. Therefore, a UE communicating with one or more base stations in the network may also be understood as a UE communicating with the network.

[0063] Base station 102 and user equipment can be configured to communicate via a transmission medium using any of a variety of radio access technologies (RATs), also known as wireless communication technologies or telecommunications standards, such as GSM, UMTS (WCDMA), LTE, LTE-A Advanced, LAA / LTE-U, 5G NR, 3GPP2, CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), Wi-Fi, etc.

[0064] Base station 102 and other similar base stations operating according to the same or different cellular communication standards may thus provide, as one or more cell networks, continuous or near-continuous overlapping services to UE 106 and similar devices over a geographic area via one or more cellular communication standards.

[0065] It should be noted that UE 106 can communicate using multiple wireless communication standards. For example, UE 106 can be configured to communicate using either or both of the 3GPP cellular communication standards or the 3GPP2 cellular communication standards. In some implementations, UE 106 can be configured to perform techniques such as those described herein for configuring listen-before-speak and short control signaling in unlicensed spectrum in a wireless communication system. UE 106 can also be configured, or alternatively configured, to use WLAN, BLUETOOTH, etc. TM It can communicate with one or more Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS, such as GPS or GLONASS), one and / or more mobile television broadcasting standards (e.g., ATSC-M / H), etc. Other combinations of wireless communication standards (including more than two wireless communication standards) are also possible.

[0066] Figure 2 An exemplary user equipment 106 (e.g., one of devices 106A to 106N) communicating with base station 102 according to some embodiments is illustrated. UE 106 can be a device with wireless network connectivity, such as a mobile phone, handheld device, wearable device, computer or tablet, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), unmanned flight controller (UAC), automobile, or virtually any type of wireless device. UE 106 may include a processor (processing element) configured to execute program instructions stored in memory. UE 106 can perform any of the method embodiments of the present invention by executing such stored instructions. Alternatively or additionally, UE 106 may include programmable hardware elements, such as any of an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), integrated circuit, and / or various other possible hardware components configured to perform (e.g., individually or in combination) any of or any portion of any of the method embodiments described herein. UE 106 may be configured to communicate using any of a plurality of wireless communication protocols. For example, UE106 can be configured to communicate using two or more of CDMA2000, LTE, LTE-A, 5G NR, WLAN, or GNSS. Other combinations of wireless communication standards are also possible.

[0067] UE 106 may include one or more antennas communicating using one or more wireless communication protocols according to one or more RAT standards. In some embodiments, UE 106 may share one or more portions of the receive chain and / or transmit chain among multiple wireless communication standards. The shared radio components may include a single antenna, or may include multiple antennas for performing wireless communication (e.g., for MIMO). Typically, the radio components may include any combination of baseband processors, analog radio frequency (RF) signal processing circuitry (e.g., including filters, mixers, oscillators, amplifiers, etc.), or digital processing circuitry (e.g., for digital modulation and other digital processing). Similarly, the radio components may use the aforementioned hardware to implement one or more receive chains and transmit chains.

[0068] In some implementations, UE 106 may include separate transmit and / or receive chains (e.g., including separate antennas and other radio components) for each wireless communication protocol configured to communicate therewith. As another possibility, UE 106 may include one or more radio components shared among multiple wireless communication protocols, as well as one or more radio components uniquely used by a single wireless communication protocol. For example, UE 106 may include shared radio components for communication using either LTE or CDMA2000 1xRTT (or LTE or NR, or LTE or GSM), and for communication using Wi-Fi and BLUETOOTH. TM Each component communicates independently. Other configurations are also possible.

[0069] Figure 3 - Block diagram of an exemplary UE device

[0070] Figure 3A block diagram of an exemplary UE 106 according to some embodiments is shown. As shown, UE 106 may include a System-on-Chip (SOC) 300, which may include parts for various purposes. For example, as shown, SOC 300 may include a processor 302 capable of executing program instructions for UE 106, and display circuitry 304 capable of performing graphics processing and providing display signals to a display 360. SOC 300 may also include sensor circuitry 370, which may include components for sensing or measuring any of a variety of possible characteristics or parameters of UE 106. For example, sensor circuitry 370 may include motion sensing circuitry configured to detect motion of UE 106, for example, using a gyroscope, accelerometer, and / or any of a variety of other motion sensing components. As another possibility, sensor circuitry 370 may include one or more temperature sensing components, for example, for measuring the temperature of each of one or more antenna panels and / or other components of UE 106. Any of a variety of other possible types of sensor circuitry may also or alternatively be included in UE 106 as needed. Processor 302 may also be coupled to memory management unit (MMU) 340, which may be configured to receive addresses from processor 302 and translate those addresses into locations in memory (e.g., memory 306, read-only memory (ROM) 350, NAND flash memory 310) and / or other circuitry or devices, such as display circuitry 304, radio components 330, connector I / F 320, and / or display 360. MMU 340 may be configured to perform memory protection and page table translation or setup. In some embodiments, MMU 340 may be included as part of processor 302.

[0071] As shown in the figure, the SOC 300 can be coupled to various other circuits of the UE 106. For example, the UE 106 may include various types of memory (e.g., including NAND flash memory 310), connector interface 320 (e.g., for coupling to computer systems, docking stations, charging stations, etc.), display 360, and wireless communication circuitry 330 (e.g., for LTE, LTE-A, NR, CDMA2000, BLUETOOTH). TM(e.g., Wi-Fi, GPS, etc.). UE device 106 may include at least one antenna (e.g., 335a) and may include multiple antennas (e.g., shown by antennas 335a and 335b) for performing wireless communication with base stations and / or other devices. Antennas 335a and 335b are shown by way of example, and UE device 106 may include fewer or more antennas. In general, one or more antennas are collectively referred to as antenna 335. For example, UE device 106 may use antenna 335 to perform wireless communication via radio circuitry 330. As described above, in some embodiments, the UE may be configured to use multiple wireless communication standards for wireless communication.

[0072] UE 106 may include hardware and software components, such as those further described herein, for implementing methods for configuring Listen-After-Speak and Short Control Signaling in unlicensed spectrum of a wireless communication system. The processor 302 of UE device 106 may be configured to implement some or all of the methods described herein, for example, by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). In other embodiments, processor 302 may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or as an Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC). Furthermore, processor 302 may be coupled to, for example, […]. Figure 3 Other components shown and / or interoperable with it can perform techniques for configuring listen-before-speak and short control signaling in unlicensed spectrum in a wireless communication system, according to various embodiments disclosed herein. Processor 302 can also implement various other applications and / or end-user applications running on UE 106.

[0073] In some implementations, radio component 330 may include a separate controller dedicated to controlling communications for various corresponding RAT standards. For example, such as Figure 3 As shown, the radio component 330 may include a Wi-Fi controller 352, a cellular controller (e.g., an LTE and / or LTE-A controller) 354, and a BLUETOOTH controller. TM Controller 356, and in at least some embodiments, one or more of these controllers may be implemented as corresponding integrated circuits (referred to as ICs or chips), which communicate with each other and with the SOC 300 (more specifically with the processor 302). For example, Wi-Fi controller 352 may communicate with cellular controller 354 via a cell-ISM link or WCI interface, and / or BLUETOOTH TMController 356 can communicate with cellular controller 354 via a cell-ISM link or the like. Although three separate controllers are shown within radio component 330, other implementations with fewer or more similar controllers for various different RATs can be implemented in UE device 106.

[0074] Furthermore, implementation schemes in which the controller can perform functions associated with various radio access technologies are envisioned. For example, according to some implementation schemes, in addition to hardware and / or software components for performing cellular communications, the cellular controller 354 may also include hardware and / or software components for performing one or more activities associated with Wi-Fi, such as Wi-Fi preamble detection, and / or the generation and transmission of Wi-Fi physical layer preamble signals.

[0075] Figure 4 - Block diagram of an exemplary base station

[0076] Figure 4 A block diagram of an exemplary base station 102 according to some implementation schemes is shown. It should be noted that... Figure 4 The base station shown is merely one example of a possible base station. As illustrated, base station 102 may include a processor 404 capable of executing program instructions specific to base station 102. Processor 404 may also be coupled to a memory management unit (MMU) 440 or other circuitry or device, which may be configured to receive addresses from processor 404 and translate those addresses into locations in memory (e.g., memory 460 and read-only memory (ROM) 450).

[0077] Base station 102 may include at least one network port 470. Network port 470 may be configured to be coupled to a telephone network and provide access rights as described above. Figure 1 and Figure 2 The telephone network described herein includes multiple devices such as UE device 106. Network port 470 (or an additional network port) may also be configured, or alternatively configured, to be coupled to a cellular network, such as the core network of a cellular service provider. The core network may provide mobility-related services and / or other services to multiple devices such as UE device 106. In some cases, network port 470 may be coupled to the telephone network via the core network, and / or the core network may provide the telephone network (e.g., in other UE devices served by the cellular service provider).

[0078] Base station 102 may include at least one antenna 434 and possibly multiple antennas. One or more antennas 434 may be configured to operate as a wireless transceiver and may be further configured to communicate with UE device 106 via radio component 430. Antenna 434 communicates with radio component 430 via communication link 432. Communication link 432 may be a receive link, a transmit link, or both. Radio component 430 may be designed to communicate via various wireless telecommunication standards, including but not limited to NR, LTE, LTE-A WCDMA, CDMA2000, etc. Processor 404 of base station 102 may be configured to implement and / or support implementation of some or all of the methods described herein, for example by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively, processor 404 may be configured as a programmable hardware element such as a FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), or as an ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit), or a combination thereof. In the case of certain RATs (e.g., Wi-Fi), base station 102 can be designed as an access point (AP), in which case network port 470 can be implemented to provide access to a wide area network and / or one or more local area networks, for example it may include at least one Ethernet port, and radio component 430 can be designed to communicate according to the Wi-Fi standard.

[0079] Reference signal

[0080] Wireless devices (such as user equipment) can be configured to perform various tasks, including using reference signals (RS) provided by one or more cellular base stations. For example, initial access and beam measurements of the wireless device can be performed, at least in part, based on synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) provided by one or more cells within the communication range of the wireless device from one or more cellular base stations. Another type of reference signal typically provided in cellular communication systems can include channel state information (CSI) RS. In addition to various possibilities, various types of CSI-RS can be provided for tracking (e.g., for time and frequency offset tracking), beam management (e.g., CSI-RS configured to have repetition to help determine one or more beams for uplink and / or downlink communication), and / or channel measurement (e.g., CSI-RS configured in a resource set for measuring the quality of the downlink channel and reporting information related to that quality measurement to the base station). For example, in the case where CSI-RS is used for CSI acquisition, the UE can periodically perform channel measurements and send channel state information (CSI) to the BS. The base station can then receive and use the channel state information during communication with the wireless device to determine adjustments to various parameters. Specifically, the BS can use the received channel state information to adjust the coding of its downlink transmission to improve downlink channel quality.

[0081] In many cellular communication systems, base stations may periodically transmit some or all of these reference signals (or pilot signals), such as SSB and / or CSI-RS. In some cases, aperiodic reference signals may also be provided (e.g., aperiodic reference signals for aperiodic CSI reporting).

[0082] As a detailed example, according to at least some implementation schemes, in the 3GPP NR cellular communication standard, the channel state information from the UE based on the CSI-RS feedback used for CSI acquisition may include one or more of the following: Channel Quality Indicator (CQI), Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI), Rank Indicator (RI), CSI-RS Resource Indicator (CRI), SSBRI (SS / PBCH Resource Block Indicator and Layer Indicator (LI)).

[0083] Channel quality information can be provided to the base station for link adaptation, for example, to provide guidance on which modulation and coding scheme (MCS) the base station should use when transmitting data. For instance, when the downlink channel communication quality between the base station and the UE is determined to be high, the UE can report a high CQI value, which allows the base station to transmit data using a relatively high modulation order and / or a low channel coding rate. Conversely, when the downlink channel communication quality between the base station and the UE is determined to be low, the UE can report a low CQI value, which allows the base station to transmit data using a relatively low modulation order and / or a high channel coding rate.

[0084] PMI feedback can include preferred precoding matrix information and can be provided to the base station to indicate which MIMO precoding scheme the base station should use. In other words, the UE can measure the quality of the downlink MIMO channel between the base station and the UE based on pilot signals received on the channel, and can recommend which MIMO precoding scheme the base station should apply via PMI feedback. In some cellular systems, the PMI configuration is represented in matrix form, providing linear MIMO precoding. The base station and UE can share a codebook consisting of multiple precoding matrices, where each MIMO precoding matrix in the codebook can have a unique index. Therefore, as part of the channel state information fed back by the UE, the PMI can include indices (or possibly multiple indices) corresponding to the most preferred MIMO precoding matrix (or matrices) in the codebook. This allows the UE to minimize the amount of feedback information. Thus, at least according to some embodiments, the PMI can indicate which precoding matrix from the codebook should be used for transmission to the UE.

[0085] For example, when the base station and UE have multiple antennas, Rank Indicator Information (RI Feedback) can indicate the number of transport layers that the UE determines can be supported by the channel, which can enable multi-layer transmission through spatial multiplexing. RI and Rank Indicator Information (PMI) together allow the base station to know which precoding needs to be applied to which layer, for example, depending on the number of transport layers.

[0086] In some cellular systems, the PMI codebook is defined based on the number of transport layers. In other words, for R-layer transport, N N-layer codebooks can be defined. t ×R matrix (e.g., where R represents the number of layers, N t Let R represent the number of transmitter antenna ports, and N represent the codebook size. In such a scenario, the number of transport layers (R) can correspond to the rank (N) of the precoding matrix. t The matrix is ​​a ×R matrix, and therefore R can be called the "rank indicator (RI)" in this context.

[0087] Therefore, channel state information may include an assigned rank (e.g., a rank indicator or RI). For example, a MIMO-enabled UE communicating with a BS may include four receiver chains, for example, four antennas. The BS may also include four or more antennas to enable MIMO communication (e.g., 4×4 MIMO). Thus, the UE can simultaneously receive up to four (or more) signals (e.g., layers) from the BS. Layer-to-antenna mapping can be applied, for example, mapping each layer to any number of antenna ports (e.g., antennas). Each antenna port can transmit and / or receive information associated with one or more layers. The rank may include multiple bits and may indicate the number of signals the BS can send to the UE in an upcoming time period (e.g., during an upcoming transmission time interval or TTI). For example, a rank 4 indicator may indicate that the BS will send four signals to the UE. As a possibility, the RI length may be two bits (e.g., since two bits are sufficient to distinguish four different rank values). It should be noted that, depending on various embodiments, other numbers and / or configurations of antennas (e.g., at either or both of the UE or BS) and / or other numbers of data layers are also possible.

[0088] Figure 5 - Configure Listen-After-Speak and Short Control Signaling in Unlicensed Spectrum

[0089] Cellular communication technologies may include techniques for performing cellular communications in both licensed and unlicensed frequency bands. In unlicensed frequency bands, multiple parties may compete for medium access, and may wish to perform wireless communications based on the same or different wireless communication technologies. Therefore, in at least some areas, communications in such frequency bands are subject to various rules and regulations that may be designed, at least in part, to balance efficient medium use with fair use among parties that may be competing for medium access.

[0090] In some regions and / or for certain spectrum portions, such rules and regulations may include enforcing a Listen-Before-Speak (LBT) policy in unlicensed spectrum. An LBT policy may require wireless devices to check the medium for busy conditions before transmitting, for example by performing energy sensing, radio signal detection, etc., to reduce the likelihood of multiple transmissions overlapping in time and frequency and thus causing mutual interference. LBT policies can be implemented in a variety of different ways; among various other possibilities, for example, there may be various possible protocols that provide and / or support LBT functionality, such as Clear Channel Assessment (CCA) or Extended Clear Channel Assessment (eCCA).

[0091] In some regions and / or for certain spectrum portions, LBT may not be mandatory in unlicensed spectrum. For such regions, the possibility of interference and media use competition can be managed through dynamic (e.g., autonomously imposed) LBT use and / or the use of other interference suppression techniques. For example, it is possible that a wireless device (such as a BS in a cellular communication system) can determine not to use LBT if little or no other media use is detected, while determining to use LBT if significant other media use is detected.

[0092] As previously noted, cellular communications can typically rely significantly on reference signals for a variety of purposes. However, when using LBT (Local Bit Bypass), there may be situations where regular reference signal transmission is not performed due to LBT (e.g., if the cell is in a backoff period waiting to acquire channel occupancy time and / or if the medium is determined to be busy based on energy sensing). This can introduce uncertainty at wireless devices using those reference signals, such as whether the failure to receive the expected reference signal is due to the cellular base station not transmitting the reference signal because of LBT or due to poor link quality.

[0093] In at least some cases, signaling that meets certain configuration requirements may exempt LBT requirements. Such control signaling may be referred to herein as “short control signaling.” At least in some implementations, as a possible example, even in areas where LBT is mandatory, signaling that occupies a relatively small proportion of the medium (e.g., as a possibility, 10% in any given 100ms observation window; other definitions are also possible) may be permitted to perform even without first acquiring the channel occupancy time through the LBT process. In at least some cases, the use of such short control signaling for at least some types of control signaling for cellular communications in unlicensed spectrum can thus help reduce uncertainty at the radio device regarding such reference signals. However, in some cases, it may also be preferable to transmit reference signals in a manner that does not meet the requirements of short control signaling, for example, in at least some scenarios where LBT is not required and such restrictions would limit the scheduling flexibility of the cellular base station.

[0094] Therefore, assuming the existence of various possible scenarios for cellular communications in unlicensed spectrum, including when to use or not use LBT and / or when to use or not use short control signaling for any of the various possible types of control signaling, it may be beneficial to specify techniques for configuring Listen-Before-Speak and short control signaling in unlicensed spectrum. To illustrate a set of such possible techniques, Figure 5 The flowchart illustrates, according to at least some implementations, a method for configuring Listen-After-Speak and Short Control Signaling in unlicensed spectrum in a wireless communication system.

[0095] Figure 5 The aspects of the method can be implemented by a wireless device, for example, in conjunction with one or more cellular base stations (such as UE 106 and BS 102 shown and described with respect to the various figures herein), or more generally, in conjunction as needed with any of the computer circuits, systems, devices, elements, or components shown in the aforementioned figures. For example, the processor (and / or other hardware) of such a device can be configured to cause the device to perform any combination of the illustrated method elements and / or other method elements.

[0096] It should be noted that, although the description uses methods involving the use of communication technologies and / or features associated with 3GPP and / or NR specification documents, Figure 5 This method describes at least some elements, but this description is not intended to limit this disclosure and can be used in any suitable wireless communication system as needed. Figure 5 The method encompasses various aspects. In various implementation schemes, some elements of the method shown may be performed simultaneously in a different order than those shown, may be replaced by other method elements, or may be omitted. Additional method elements may also be performed as needed. As shown in the figure, Figure 5 The method can be operated as follows.

[0097] In section 502, a wireless device can establish a radio link with a cellular base station. According to some implementations, the radio link may include a 5G NR-based cellular link. For example, the wireless device may establish a session with an AMF entity of the cellular network via one or more gNBs that provide radio access to the cellular network. Alternatively, the radio link may include an LTE-based cellular link. For example, the wireless device may establish a session with a mobility management entity of the cellular network via an eNB that provides radio access to the cellular network. Other types of cellular links are also possible according to various implementations, and the cellular network may also, or alternatively, operate according to another cellular communication technology (e.g., UMTS, CDMA2000, GSM, etc.).

[0098] Establishing a radio link may include, according to at least some implementations, establishing an RRC connection with a serving cellular base station. Establishing a first RRC connection may include configuring various parameters for communication between the radio device and the cellular base station, establishing environmental information for the radio device, and / or any of various other possible characteristics, such as establishing an air interface for the radio device to communicate with a cellular network associated with the cellular base station. After establishing an RRC connection, the radio device may operate in an RRC connected state. In some instances, the RRC connection may also be released (e.g., after a period of inactivity relative to data communication), in which case the radio device may operate in an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state. In some cases, such as due to radio device mobility, changes in radio medium conditions, and / or any other various possible reasons, the radio device may perform a handover (e.g., when in RRC connected mode) or cell reselection (e.g., when in RRC idle mode or RRC inactive mode) to a new serving cell.

[0099] According to at least some implementations, a wireless device can establish multiple wireless links, for example, with multiple TRPs in a cellular network, based on a multi-TRP configuration. In such scenarios, the wireless device can be configured (e.g., via RRC signaling) to have one or more Transmission Control Indicators (TCIs), which may correspond to various beams available for communication with the TRPs. Furthermore, there may be situations where one or more configured TCI states can be activated at a specific time by the wireless device's Media Access Control (MAC) control element (CE).

[0100] In at least some cases, establishing a wireless link may include the wireless device providing information about its capabilities. This capability information may include information related to any one of a variety of wireless device capabilities.

[0101] Radio links may include radio links established with cellular base stations on cells in unlicensed spectrum. For example, such radio links may be configured as secondary cells in carrier aggregation scenarios. Alternatively, such links may be established as primary cells, for example, with independent cells deployed in unlicensed frequency bands. Cells in unlicensed spectrum may operate in areas and / or spectrum portions where LBT is mandatory, or in areas and / or spectrum portions where LBT is not mandatory.

[0102] In 504, a radio device may receive LBT configuration information from a cellular base station. This LBT configuration information may indicate whether an LBT is configured for use on a radio link. This may include an indication of whether an LBT is mandated for the cell. For example, an indication that an LBT is mandated for the cell can serve as an indication that an LBT is configured for use on a radio link. The LBT configuration information may additionally or alternatively include various other types of information. For example, if the LBT configuration indication does not mandate an LBT for the cell, the LBT configuration information may further provide cell-specific and / or radio device-specific LBT configuration information. Cell-specific LBT configuration information may include information such as whether the cell is operating in LBT-free mode; whether the cellular base station was performing an LBT prior to transmission; whether all radio devices served by the cell were to perform an LBT prior to transmission; and / or various other types of information. In various possibilities, such information may be broadcast in cell system information or provided to the radio device in public RRC signaling. In some cases, cell-specific LBT configuration information may include an indication of performing LBT configuration for the radio device at a radio device-specific level. Wireless device-specific LBT configuration information may include indications as to whether the wireless device (e.g., individually, due to specific channel conditions at the wireless device) is configured to perform LBT prior to transmission. Such information may be provided, as is possible, in dedicated RRC control signaling, Media Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) signaling, and / or Downlink Control Information (DCI) signaling.

[0103] Based on any of a variety of possible considerations, a cellular base station can determine whether to enable LBT (e.g., on a broad cell basis and / or for a specific radio device served by the cell). In at least some cases, such considerations may include Layer 3 (L3) Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) information and / or channel occupancy information (potentially including directed L3 RSSI) and / or Layer 1 (L1) RSSI information. In some cases, if L1 RSSI information is available (e.g., as part of AP-CSI-RS or as part of data scheduling), it is possible to dynamically enable / disable LBT at the radio device using MAC CE or DCI signaling. In some cases, the radio device can provide an indication of its ability to perform LBT. In such scenarios, the cellular base station can consider this information when determining whether to enable LBT; for example, in at least some cases, if the radio device indicates that it cannot perform LBT, the cellular base station can determine that uplink communication for that radio device is not enabled with LBT.

[0104] In 506, wireless devices can receive short control signaling configuration information from cellular base stations. This short control signaling configuration information indicates whether short control signaling is enabled for one or more types of control signaling and / or for one or more control signaling resources.

[0105] For example, as one possibility, short control signaling configuration information may indicate whether short control signaling is enabled for Radio Link Monitoring (RLM) Reference Signals (RS). As another possibility, short control signaling configuration information may indicate whether short control signaling is enabled for Beam Failure Detection (BFD) RSs and / or Candidate Beam Detection (CBD) RSs. As a further possibility, short control signaling configuration information may indicate whether short control signaling is enabled for Sounding Reference Signals (SRSs). For example, in configuration information for any or all such reference signals, the cellular base station may provide an indication of whether short control signaling is enabled, among various other parameters and configuration settings. Other types of reference signals may also be indicated, or alternatively, to be enabled as short control signaling in a similar manner, as needed. Note that, according to various implementations, it is possible that short control signaling may be enabled only when the SSB is used as an RS for a given function, or it is possible that short control signaling may be enabled when either the SSB or the CSI-RS is used as an RS for a given function.

[0106] In some cases, certain RS resources may be configured for short control signaling transmission. For example, short control signaling configuration information may indicate that one or more non-zero power (NZP) CSI-RS resources are configured for short control signaling transmission. In such scenarios, any type of RS configured on those resources (e.g., including RLM RS, BFD RS, CBD RS) may be implicitly configured to have short control signaling functionality. At least according to some implementations, such configuration of selected RS resources as short control signaling can be performed if needed, while other RS ​​resources are configured for non-short control signaling.

[0107] In some implementations, short control signaling configuration information may include information indicating whether short control signaling is used for Radio Resource Management (RRM) or Mobility Measurement timing configuration and / or in combination with any of a variety of other possible timing configurations. The radio device may use such information to determine whether to extend the corresponding RRM or mobility measurement timing, for example, by determining the length of time for performing cell measurements for reference signal transmissions used for RRM or mobility. For example, if short control signaling is not enabled for RRM / mobility measurements and LBT is enabled, the radio device may determine to extend the time for performing RRM / mobility measurements to account for any missed opportunities to perform RRM / mobility measurements due to missed reference signal transmissions caused by LBT. Following the same example, if short control signaling is enabled for RRM / mobility measurements or LBT is not enabled, the radio device may determine not to extend the time for performing RRM / mobility measurements, for example, if, in such a case, no reference signal transmission is missed due to LBT.

[0108] Note that when RRM / mobility measurement extensions are implemented within certain frequency ranges (such as those where beamforming can be used (e.g., 60 GHz as a possibility)) (and / or other measurement timing extensions that can be implemented, at least in part, based on whether short control signaling is enabled for reference signals applicable to those measurement timing configurations), the length of those measurement timing extensions can depend on the number of configured beams. For example, in some cases, for each instance of a reference signal missed due to LBT, the amount of time for extending the measurement timing can be a configured or specified amount multiplied by the number of beams configured for the reference signal.

[0109] In some implementations, the cellular base station may additionally or alternatively be able to determine whether one or more neighboring cells have enabled LBT and / or are performing reference signal communication as short control signaling. In such scenarios, it is further possible that the cellular base station can configure measurement gaps (e.g., for a radio device to perform neighboring cell measurements) based at least in part on whether neighboring cells have enabled LBT and / or are performing certain reference signal communication as short control signaling. For example, if LBT is used and short control signaling is not enabled for the reference signal that the radio device will be measuring, the cellular base station can configure a longer measurement gap than if LBT is not used and / or short control signaling is enabled for the reference signal that the radio device will be measuring. At least in some cases, this approach can allow sufficient time for performing neighboring cell measurements if some possible reference signal transmissions from neighboring cells are missed due to LBT, while potentially avoiding longer (and therefore potentially inefficient) measurement gaps when it can be expected that no neighboring cell reference signal transmissions will be missed due to LBT.

[0110] In some implementations, it is possible that coreset 0 and / or System Information Block (SIB) 1 transmissions can be configured as short control signaling. For example, as a possibility, the short control signaling configuration information may include (e.g., 1 bit) an indication in the Master Information Block (MIB) indicating whether coreset 0 / SIB1 is transmitted as short control signaling for 3GPP multiplexing mode 1.

[0111] In 508, the radio device and the cellular base station can perform short control signaling. This may include the cellular base station transmitting one or more reference signals for which short control signaling has been indicated as short control signaling. For example, if short control signaling is enabled for RLM RS, BFD RS, CBD RS, RS, and / or for certain specific RS resources such as RRM or mobility, the cellular base station may transmit those reference signals as short control signaling, and the radio device may receive those reference signals transmitted as short control signaling. Additionally or alternatively, this may include the radio device transmitting one or more reference signals for which short control signaling has been indicated as short control signaling. For example, if short control signaling is enabled for SRS, the radio device may transmit those reference signals as short control signaling, and the cellular base station may receive those reference signals transmitted as short control signaling.

[0112] Executing short control signaling may also, or alternatively, include transmitting one or more other signals as short control signaling. For example, as previously noted, in some cases, coreset 0 and / or SIB 1 may be configured as short control signaling. In such scenarios, the cellular base station may transmit coreset 0 and / or SIB 1 as short control signaling, and the wireless device may receive coreset 0 and / or SIB 1 transmitted as short control signaling.

[0113] As previously noted, signals configured to be transmitted as short control signaling and correspondingly transmitted as short control signaling can meet the conditions configured to exempt LBT requirements for transmission in unlicensed spectrum. As one possible set of such conditions, short control signaling can be limited to no more than 10% channel occupancy within a 100ms window. In some implementations, for radio devices or cellular base stations (e.g., UEs or gNBs) that perform eCCA before scheduled transmissions and whose eCCA is successful and COT is acquired, it is possible that any transmitted signals within the COT are not counted in the short control signaling limit. Depending on various implementations, other channel occupancy limits, other observation windows, and / or all other conditions are also possible conditions or sets of conditions that can be used to define short control signaling.

[0114] In various scenarios, short control signaling may or may not be multiplexed with other transmissions. According to some implementations, in scenarios where short control signaling is executed outside the acquired Channel Occupancy Time (COT) (e.g., if the LBT procedure has not yet been performed to obtain media access), short control signaling executed outside the COT may not be multiplexed with non-short control signaling transmissions. If short control signaling is executed within the acquired COT, whether it is multiplexed with other (e.g., non-short control signaling) may depend on the type of COT and possibly on the transmission direction of the signals considered for multiplexing. For example, as a possibility, when the executed short control signaling includes short control signaling executed within an omnidirectional COT or quasi-omnidirectional COT, short control signaling executed within an omnidirectional COT or quasi-omnidirectional COT may be multiplexed with non-short control signaling transmissions. Similarly, when the executed short control signaling includes short control signaling executed within a directional or multi-beam COT for a Transmission Control Indicator (TCI) state associated with a directional or multi-beam COT, the short control signaling can be multiplexed with non-short control signaling transmissions. At least in some embodiments, when the executed short control signaling includes short control signaling executed within a directional or multi-beam COT for a TCI state not associated with a directional or multi-beam COT, the short control signaling executed within a directional or multi-beam COT for a TCI state not associated with a directional or multi-beam COT can also be multiplexed with non-short control signaling transmissions, wherein the non-short control signaling transmissions and short control signaling transmissions are rate-matched.

[0115] Therefore, at least according to some implementation schemes, Figure 5 The method can be used to provide a framework for configuring listen-before-speak and / or short control signaling in unlicensed spectrum, which can improve spectrum utilization efficiency, reduce power consumption and / or provide any of a variety of other possible benefits for cellular network communications in unlicensed spectrum.

[0116] Additional Information

[0117] The following additional information describes possible connections, if needed. Figure 5 The method may be used in combination with other aspects. However, it should be noted that the exemplary details provided below are not intended to limit this disclosure as a whole: many variations and alternative forms of the details provided below are possible and should be considered within the scope of this disclosure.

[0118] For beam-based operations in relatively high-frequency unlicensed spectrum portions that comply with regulations (as an example, such as between 52.6 GHz and 71 GHz), channel access mechanisms may be important to specify the cellular communication technologies desired for communication in such spectrum portions. Such mechanisms may include LBT-related procedures and LBT-free procedures. In the LBT-free case, it is possible that no additional channel sensing mechanism is specified. LBT cases may include the use of omnidirectional LBT and / or directional LBT techniques.

[0119] For areas where LBT is not mandatory, making it possible to perform cellular communication with or without LBT, it may be useful to provide a signaling mechanism that can indicate whether a given gNB-UE connection is operating in LBT mode or without LBT mode. Depending on various implementations, such a signaling mechanism may include support for cell-specific gNB indications (e.g., common to all UEs in the cell, such as being provided as part of system information, dedicated RRC signaling, etc.) and / or UE-specific gNB indications (e.g., which may differ from different UEs in the cell and can be signaled using UE-specific RRC configuration information).

[0120] In some cases, competition-exempt short control signaling rules can be applied for the transmission of certain cellular control signals, such as those used for synchronization signaling (SS) / physical broadcast channel (PBCH) procedures in the downlink and / or certain random access channel (RACH) procedures in the uplink (among other possibilities, e.g., message 1 for a 4-step RACH procedure and message A for a 2-step RACH procedure). At least according to some implementations, control signaling can be considered short control signaling if it occupies as much as (but not more than) 10% of any given 100ms observation window. Key considerations for designing a control information framework applicable to contention-exempt short control signaling (SBT) management rules in cellular communication systems may include the following: which other downlink signals and channels can be multiplexed with SS / PBCH transmission under contention-exempt SBT rules; whether such rules can be applied to all supported subcarrier spacing (SCS) configurations to certain specific SCS configurations; whether short control signaling can be extended to include discovery burst signaling; and / or which downlink / uplink signals / channels (e.g., PDCCH, broadcast PDSCH, PDSCH without user general data, CSI-RS, PRS, 4-step RACH procedure message 3, SRS, PUCCH, PUSCH without user general data, etc.) are transmitted in unlicensed spectrum without LBT under contention-exempt SBT rules.

[0121] Radio link monitoring (RLM) procedures based on SSB and CSI-RS (e.g., as described in 3GPP TS 38.213 and 38.113) can be used to maintain the radio link between the UE and the gNB. When LBT is enabled, uncertainties may exist in the RLM procedure because the UE may not be able to distinguish whether a reference signal was not transmitted due to LBT (e.g., preventing the transmission of the reference signal if the channel is otherwise occupied) or was not received due to poor link quality. Therefore, the RLM procedure can benefit from signaling that supports whether the RLM RS is being transmitted as short control signaling (e.g., which may not be affected by LBT before transmission), for example, because such signaling can reduce this potential uncertainty.

[0122] Beam Failure Detection (BFD) and Candidate Beam Detection (CBD) based on SSB and CSI-RS for beam management processes can be used to detect when a beam failure occurs and identify one or more potential candidate beams for beam failure recovery. According to some implementations, BFD can be evaluated on a configured RS set q_0, while CBD can be evaluated on a configured RS set q_1. When LBT is used for BFD and CBD, uncertainties may also exist in the beam management process; for example, similar to RLM, the UE may not be able to distinguish whether the reference signal was not transmitted due to LBT or was not received due to poor link quality. Therefore, at least according to some implementations, signaling as short control signaling for BFD / CBD RS transmission can be defined and used to potentially reduce this uncertainty.

[0123] As one possibility for signaling to support LBT or non-LBT operation, the gNB can provide cell-specific signaling in the system information. For example, in ServingCellConfigCommonSIB and ServingCellConfigCommon, the following information regarding Extended Free Channel Assessment (eCCA) can be provided:

[0124]

[0125] In this example, "eCCA" can indicate that the cell operates in an area where LBT is mandatory; "noLBTConfig" can be used to configure the cell to operate in an area where LBT is not mandatory; "noLBT" can indicate that the cell operates in LBT mode; "eCCA-gNB" can be used to indicate that the gNB can perform eCCA before transmission by the implementation method; "eCCA-UE" can be used to configure the UE to perform eCCA before transmission; "eCCAConfig-UE" can be used to indicate that UE-specific signaling can be used to configure the link as LBT-enabled, wherein if no UE-specific LBT configuration is sent, no LBT is available for the UE. As an extension, MAC CE or DCI can be used to dynamically activate LBT for the UE, for example, based on interference conditions. Note that while this exemplary signaling is provided as one possibility, many other variations and alternatives to the signaling for whether LBT operation or no LBT operation is effective are possible and should be considered within the scope of this disclosure.

[0126] According to some implementation schemes, a gNB operating in an area where LBT is not mandatory can determine whether to enable UE eCCA based on any of a variety of possible considerations. Such considerations may include L3-RSSI reporting and channel occupancy (potentially including directed L3-RSSI information), L1-RSSI reporting information, etc. If L1-RSSI is configured as part of AP-CSI-RS, the gNB may be able to dynamically trigger the UE to perform LBT using MAC CE signaling. If L1-RSSI is part of data scheduling, the gNB may be able to dynamically trigger the UE to perform LBT using DCI.

[0127] CSI-RS can be used for many purposes. In some cases, it may be possible that short control signaling can be applied only to the RLM RS in the RadioLinkMonitoringRS configuration. When the SSB is used as the RLM RS, the SSB may be applied to the RLM RS if short control signaling is generally valid for the SSB. In some cases, enabling short control signaling for the SSB can be implicitly implemented without enabling the Discovery Burst Transmission Window (DBTW); other techniques for enabling short control signaling for the SSB are also possible. When CSI-RS is configured as an RLM RS, the use of short control signaling for the RLM RS can be configured by providing such indications in the RLM configuration information, for example, using the following configuration information. Note that, as a possibility, short control signaling can be enabled for p-CSI-RS with the same active TCI state as the PDCCH when no RLM RS is explicitly configured. In some cases, when the RLM RS is explicitly configured, short control signaling can be enabled for each detection resource.

[0128]

[0129] For beam management, when the SSB is used as a BFD / CBD RS, the SSB can be applied to the BFD / CBD RS if short control signaling is generally valid for the SSB. In some cases, enabling short control signaling for the SSB can be implicitly achieved without enabling the Discovery Burst Transmission Window (DBTW); other techniques for enabling short control signaling for the SSB are also possible. When the CSI-RS is configured as a BFD / CBD RS, the use of short control signaling can be configured for the BFD / CBD RS by providing such indications in the beam management configuration information (e.g., using the following configuration information). Note that, for example, due to overhead limitations, all or part of the CSI-RS resource ID can be enabled as short control signaling.

[0130]

[0131] Short control signaling can also be configured within the NZP-CSI-RS-Resource configuration itself. For example, some NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceIDs can be explicitly configured as short control signaling transmissions. This can be applied to periodic or non-periodic CSI-RS transmissions. As an extension, it can be applied to semi-persistent CSI-RS, and whether short control signaling is enabled can be configured by the RRC or MAC CE signaling used to activate semi-persistent CSI-RS. As a possibility, the following configuration information can be used to directly configure NZP-CSI-RS-Resources as short control signaling transmissions.

[0132]

[0133] You can also configure SRS transport as short control signaling using, for example, the following RRC configuration:

[0134]

[0135] As previously noted, another consideration for the framework supporting short control signaling for cellular communications may include which signaling / channels can be transmitted along with short control signaling. According to some implementations, when transmitting outside the acquired Channel Occupancy Time (COT), it may be possible to transmit only the CSI-RS / SRS with short control signaling in an RRC configuration, for example, making it possible that no unicast PDSCH transmission is possible. When transmitting within the acquired COT, for omnidirectional-quasi-omnidirectional COTs, any signal including unicast PDSCH can be multiplexed with CSI-RS and SRS configured as short control signaling. For directional / multi-beam COTs acquired via directional LBTs, if the associated TCI state of the CSI-RS is covered by the LBT-sensing beam, similar to omnidirectional / quasi-omnidirectional COTs, any signal including unicast PDSCH can be multiplexed with CSI-RS and SRS configured as short control signaling. If the associated TCI state of CSI-RS / SRS is not covered by the LBT sensing beam, CSI-RS / SRS can be transmitted as short control signaling, and PDSCH rate matching can be used with p-CSI-RS or sp-CSI-RS symbols configured with rateMatchPattern in the PDSCH-Config or ServingCellConfigCommon configuration information. It is possible that if the associated TCI state is not covered by the LBT sensing beam, CSI-RS / SRS not configured as short control signaling cannot be transmitted in the directional COT. In this case, PDSCH can still be rate matched with CSI-RS even if it is not transmitted using the rateMatchPattern configured with RRC. As another possibility, in this case, the gNB may be able to dynamically indicate that PDSCH can be transmitted on CSI-RS resource elements in the DCI. As a further possibility, the UE may always assume that PDSCH is transmitted on periodic / semi-persistent CSI-RS REs in such cases, for example, similar to that for AP-CSI-RS.

[0136] According to at least some implementations, for CoreSet 0 and SIB1 transmissions, if multiplexing mode 3 is used, the transmissions can follow the same rules as SSB. For multiplexing mode 1, if short control signaling is generally invalid for SSB, CoreSet 0 and SIB transmissions can default to LBT (e.g., not as short control signaling). If short control signaling is generally valid for SSB, a signal can be sent in the Master Information Block (MIB) indicating whether CoreSet 0 / SIB1 transmissions are performed as short control signaling. At least as a possibility, a single bit can be used to indicate whether CoreSet 0 / SIB1 is transmitted as short control signaling. UE flexibility can be supported to decode 1 SIB1 transmission (e.g., corresponding to the optimal SSB direction) or to combine multiple SIB1 instances received across different SSB directions. As previously noted, in some cases, enabling short control signaling for SSB can be implicitly implemented when the Burst Transmission Window (DBTW) is not enabled; other techniques for enabling short control signaling for SSB are also possible. It is also possible (as a possibility, for example, if signaling is supported but not used to notify DBTW) that CoreSet 0 and SIB1 are not transmitted as short control signaling by default and / or additional signaling in the MIB may be available to indicate whether CoreSet 0 and SIB1 are transmitted as short control signaling.

[0137] In some cases, RRC configuration can be used to indicate whether short control signaling is used for SSB-based RRM measurement timing configuration (SMTC). Note that in some cases, when using such short control signaling or when LBT is not required for control, DBTW may be disabled. As a possible example, the following configuration information can be used.

[0138]

[0139]

[0140] Mobility object configuration can also indicate whether short control signaling is used. In some cases, DBTW is not enabled when short control signaling is used. SSB transmission is guaranteed in such scenarios. At least as a possibility, and as an example, the following configuration information can be used.

[0141]

[0142] Similar techniques can be used for CSI-RS-based measurements, for example, for CSI-RS transmissions used for qualification as short control signaling.

[0143] For UE mobility within the 60GHz frequency range, T can be configured as follows: interrupt parameter:

[0144] T interrupt =T search +T 1U +

[20] +T Δ ms

[0145] When short control signaling is applied (e.g., when DBTW is disabled), the UE may follow FR2 handover requirements, for example, without any LBT-related handover to T. search and T Δ Value expansion.

[0146] In unlicensed spectrum, at least when short control signaling is not applied (e.g., when DBTW is enabled), measurement requirements can be relaxed (extended), for example, to account for LBT-related considerations. In such scenarios, there may be no SSB transmission due to LBT, and therefore extensions can be applied to handover requirements. For example, as a set of possible extended definitions, the following modified T can be used. search value.

[0147] If the target cell is an unknown in-frequency cell and the target cell Es / lot ≥ {-2} dB:

[0148] T search =N*[(1+L1)*T rs +2]ms

[0149] If the target cell is an unknown inter-frequency cell and the target cell Es / lot ≥ {-2} dB:

[0150] T search =N*[(3+L′1)*T rs +2]ms

[0151] Where L1 and L′1 represent the number of DRS moments missed due to DL LBT during the intra-frequency detection period and inter-frequency detection period, respectively, and N is the number of receive beams to be used in the 60 GHz frequency range (as a possibility, the FR2 value N = 8 can be reused). Note that these measurement requirements can be further extended based on this number of beams N compared to the existing NR-U extension, which can significantly increase the length of the extension, although it may be smaller than in NR-U in different frequency ranges due to the lower LBT failure probability L1 and L′1 in 60 GHz. Also note that RACH process communication can also be transmitted as short control signaling, where T IU There is no need for LBT delay in time.

[0152] Note that similar techniques used to extend measurement requirements can also be applied to other types of measurements. For example, such techniques can be used for SSB-based L1-RSRP measurement requirements (e.g., if short control signaling is used, an FR2-based approach is followed without LBT-related extensions and may have different N values; if short control signaling is not used, LBT-related extensions can be applied based on N*L1, where similar L1 definitions as described herein can be used), SSB-based RLM, SSB-based BFD / CBD, intra-frequency measurement requirements, inter-frequency measurement requirements, and / or any of various other possible measurement requirements.

[0153] Additionally, according to at least some implementations, if the gNB knows whether the neighboring cell's SSB is being transmitted as a short control signaling transmission, the gNB can configure the measurement gap accordingly. For example, when LBT is not used (e.g., if DBTW is disabled), the measurement gap can be configured for each SCS for the SSB transmission plus handover time. If LBT is used (e.g., if DBTW is enabled), since DBTW can be up to 5ms (each beam has a Q SSB candidate), the measurement gap can be 5ms plus the handover time.

[0154] Further exemplary implementations are provided below.

[0155] One set of embodiments may include an apparatus comprising: a processor configured to cause a wireless device to: establish a radio link with a cellular base station on a cell in an unlicensed frequency band; receive Listen-Before-Speak (LBT) configuration information, wherein the LBT configuration information indicates whether an LBT is configured for use on the radio link; receive Short Control Signaling configuration information, wherein the Short Control Signaling configuration information indicates whether short control signaling is enabled for one or more types of control signaling; and when short control signaling is enabled, perform short control signaling with the cellular base station on the radio link.

[0156] According to some implementation schemes, LBT configuration information indicates whether a cell is operating in an area where LBT is mandatory.

[0157] According to some implementation schemes, if the LBT configuration information indicates that the cell is not operating in an area where LBT is mandatory, the LBT configuration information further indicates one or more of the following: whether the cell is operating in a no-LBT mode; whether the cellular base station performs LBT before transmission; whether all radio devices served by the cell should perform LBT before transmission; or whether radio device-specific LBT configuration signaling is enabled.

[0158] According to some implementation schemes, short control signaling configuration information indicates that short control signaling is used for one or more of radio resource management (RRM) or mobility measurement timing configurations, wherein when short control signaling is enabled, short control signaling performed on the radio link with the cellular base station includes receiving one or more of RRM or mobility measurement transmissions as short control signaling.

[0159] According to some implementations, the processor is further configured to enable the wireless device to determine whether to extend the length of one or more cell measurements, at least in part, based on whether short control signaling is enabled for one or more cell measurements.

[0160] According to some implementation schemes, short control signaling configuration information indicates that probe reference signal (SRS) transmission is configured as short control signaling, wherein when short control signaling is enabled, short control signaling with the cellular base station performed on the radio link includes transmitting one or more SRS as short control signaling.

[0161] According to some implementation schemes, short control signaling is limited to no more than 10% channel occupancy within a 100ms observation window.

[0162] Another set of embodiments may include a wireless device comprising: an antenna; a radio component operatively coupled to the antenna; and a processor operatively coupled to the radio component; wherein the wireless device is configured to: establish a wireless link with a cellular base station in unlicensed spectrum; receive short control signaling configuration information, wherein the short control signaling configuration information indicates whether short control signaling is enabled for one or more types of control signaling; and, when short control signaling is enabled, execute short control signaling with the cellular base station on the wireless link.

[0163] According to some implementation schemes, the wireless device is further configured to receive Listen-Before-Speak (LBT) configuration information, wherein the LBT configuration information indicates whether the LBT is configured for use in the wireless link.

[0164] According to some implementation schemes, the short control signaling to be executed includes short control signaling executed outside of the Channel Occupied Time (COT), wherein the short control signaling executed outside of the COT is not multiplexed with non-short control signaling transmission.

[0165] According to some implementation schemes, the short control signaling executed includes short control signaling executed within the omnidirectional channel occupancy time (COT) or quasi-omnidirectional COT, wherein the short control signaling executed within the omnidirectional COT or quasi-omnidirectional COT is multiplexed with non-short control signaling.

[0166] According to some implementation schemes, the short control signaling executed includes short control signaling executed within a directional or multi-beam COT for a Transmission Control Indicator (TCI) state not associated with a directional or multi-beam Channel Occupancy Time (COT), wherein the short control signaling executed within a directional or multi-beam COT for a TCI state not associated with a directional or multi-beam COT is multiplexed with non-short control signaling transport that matches the rate of the short control signaling.

[0167] According to some implementation schemes, short control signaling configuration information indicates that one or more of the coreset 0 transmission or system information block (SIB) 1 transmission are configured as short control signaling, wherein when short control signaling is enabled, short control signaling performed on the radio link with the cellular base station includes receiving one or more of the coreset 0 transmission or SIB 1 transmission as short control signaling.

[0168] Another set of embodiments may include a cellular base station comprising: an antenna; a radio component operatively coupled to the antenna; and a processor operatively coupled to the radio component; wherein the cellular base station is configured to: establish a radio link with a wireless device in unlicensed spectrum; provide short control signaling configuration information, wherein the short control signaling configuration information indicates that short control signaling is enabled for one or more types of control signaling; and perform short control signaling with the wireless device on the radio link, at least in part based on the provided short control signaling configuration information.

[0169] According to some implementation schemes, the cellular base station is further configured to provide Listen-Before-Speak (LBT) configuration information, wherein the LBT configuration information indicates whether the LBT is configured for the radio link, and the LBT configuration information includes one or more of cell-specific LBT configuration information or radio device-specific LBT configuration information.

[0170] According to some implementation schemes, the cellular base station is further configured to determine LBT configuration information based on one or more of Layer 3 Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) and channel occupancy information or Layer 1 RSSI information.

[0171] According to some implementation schemes, short control signaling configuration information indicates that short control signaling is enabled for Radio Link Monitoring (RLM) Reference Signal (RS), wherein short control signaling performed on the radio link with the radio device includes transmitting RLMRS as short control signaling.

[0172] According to some implementation schemes, short control signaling configuration information indicates that short control signaling is enabled for one or more of the Beam Failure Detection (BFD) Reference Signal (RS) or Candidate Beam Detection (CBD) RS, wherein the short control signaling performed on the radio link with the radio device includes transmitting one or more of the BFD RS or CBD RS as short control signaling.

[0173] According to some implementation schemes, short control signaling configuration information indicates that one or more non-zero power (NZP) channel state information (CSI) reference signal (RS) resources are configured to be transmitted as short control signaling, wherein when short control signaling is enabled, short control signaling performed on the radio link with the radio device includes transmitting one or more NZP-CSI-RS resources as short control signaling.

[0174] According to some implementation schemes, the cellular base station is further configured to: determine whether to transmit one or more reference signals for neighboring cells as short control signaling; and configure measurement gaps for wireless devices for neighboring cells based at least in part on whether to transmit one or more reference signals for neighboring cells as short control signaling.

[0175] Another exemplary implementation may include a method comprising: performing any or all of the foregoing examples by a wireless device.

[0176] Another exemplary embodiment may include a device comprising: an antenna; a radio component coupled to the antenna; and a processing element operatively coupled to the radio component, wherein the device is configured to implement any or all of the foregoing examples.

[0177] Another set of exemplary embodiments may include a non-transitory computer-accessible memory medium comprising program instructions that, when executed at the device, cause the device to implement any or all of the portions of any of the foregoing examples.

[0178] Another exemplary set of implementations may include a computer program comprising instructions for performing any or all portions of any of the examples described above.

[0179] Another exemplary set of embodiments may include an apparatus that includes means for performing any or all elements of any of the examples described above.

[0180] Another set of exemplary embodiments may include an apparatus that includes a processing element configured to cause a wireless device to perform any or all of the elements of any of the foregoing examples.

[0181] As is widely recognized, the use of personally identifiable information should comply with privacy policies and practices that are generally accepted to meet or exceed industry or governmental requirements for protecting user privacy. Specifically, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of authorized use should be clearly explained to users.

[0182] By interpreting each message / signal X received by the user equipment (UE) in the downlink as a message / signal X transmitted by the base station, and interpreting each message / signal Y transmitted by the UE in the uplink as a message / signal Y received by the base station, any method described herein for operating the UE can serve as the basis for a corresponding method for operating the base station.

[0183] Embodiments of this disclosure may be implemented in any of a variety of forms. For example, in some embodiments, the subject matter may be implemented as a computer-implemented method, a computer-readable storage medium, or a computer system. In other embodiments, the subject matter may be implemented using one or more custom-designed hardware devices such as ASICs. In still other embodiments, the subject matter may be implemented using one or more programmable hardware elements such as FPGAs.

[0184] In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium (e.g., a non-transitory memory element) may be configured to store program instructions and / or data, wherein if the program instructions are executed by a computer system, the computer system performs a method, such as any of the method embodiments described herein, or any combination of the method embodiments described herein, or any subset of any method embodiments described herein, or any combination of such subsets.

[0185] In some embodiments, a device (e.g., a UE) may be configured to include a processor (or a set of processors) and a memory medium (or memory elements), wherein the memory medium stores program instructions, and wherein the processor is configured to read from and execute the program instructions, wherein the program instructions are executable to implement any of the various method embodiments described herein (or any combination of the method embodiments described herein, or any subset or any combination of such subsets of any method embodiments described herein). The device may be implemented in any of a variety of forms.

[0186] Although the above embodiments have been described in considerable detail, many variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the disclosure is fully understood. This disclosure is intended to render the following claims as encompassing all such variations and modifications.

Claims

1. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising: a processor configured to perform operations when executing instructions stored in a memory, the operations comprising: receiving listen-before-talk (LBT) configuration information, wherein the LBT configuration information indicates whether LBT is configured for a wireless link established with a cellular base station on a cell in an unlicensed spectrum; receiving short control signaling configuration information, wherein the short control signaling configuration information indicates whether short control signaling is not used for one or more types of control signaling; and determining whether to extend a length of one or more outage parameters of UE mobility based at least in part on whether short control signaling is not used for the one or more types of control signaling.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the LBT configuration information indicates whether the cell is operating in a region where LBT is mandated.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein if the LBT configuration information indicates that the cell is not operating in a region where LBT is mandated, the LBT configuration information further indicates one or more of: whether the cell is operating in a no-LBT mode; whether the cellular base station performs LBT prior to transmission; whether all wireless devices served by the cell are to perform LBT prior to transmission; or whether wireless device-specific LBT configuration signaling is used.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the short control signaling configuration information indicates that short control signaling is used for one or more of radio resource management (RRM) or mobility measurement timing configurations, wherein the short control signaling with the cellular base station performed on the wireless link when short control signaling is used includes receiving one or more of RRM or mobility measurement transmissions as short control signaling.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise: determining the length of the one or more interruption parameters not to be extended comprises, as part of determining the interruption time, for T IU The time does not include an LBT delay associated with a random access channel, RACH.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the short control signaling configuration information indicates that sounding reference signal (SRS) transmissions are configured as short control signaling, wherein the short control signaling with the cellular base station performed on the wireless link when short control signaling is used includes transmitting one or more SRSs as short control signaling.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the short control signaling is limited to no more than 10% channel occupancy within a 100 ms observation window.

8. A method for wireless communication, comprising: receiving listen-before-talk (LBT) configuration information, wherein the LBT configuration information indicates whether LBT is configured for a wireless link established with a cellular base station on a cell in an unlicensed spectrum; receiving short control signaling configuration information, wherein the short control signaling configuration information indicates whether short control signaling is not used for one or more types of control signaling; and determining whether to extend a length of one or more outage parameters of UE mobility based at least in part on whether short control signaling is not used for the one or more types of control signaling.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the LBT configuration information indicates whether the cell is operating in a region where LBT is mandated. ​ 10. The method of claim 9, wherein if the LBT configuration information indicates that the cell is not operating in a region where LBT is mandated, the LBT configuration information further indicates one or more of: whether the cell is operating in a no-LBT mode; whether the cellular base station performs LBT prior to transmission; whether all wireless devices served by the cell are to perform LBT prior to transmission; or whether wireless device specific LBT configuration signaling is used.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the short control signaling configuration information indicates that short control signaling is used for one or more of radio resource management (RRM) or mobility measurement timing configurations, wherein the short control signaling with the cellular base station performed on the wireless link when short control signaling is used comprises receiving one or more of RRM or mobility measurement transmissions as short control signaling.

12. The method of claim 8, further comprising: determining the length of the one or more interruption parameters not to be extended comprises, as part of determining the interruption time, for T IU The time does not include an LBT delay associated with a random access channel, RACH.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein the short control signaling configuration information indicates that sounding reference signal (SRS) transmissions are configured as short control signaling, wherein the short control signaling with the cellular base station performed on the wireless link when short control signaling is used comprises transmitting one or more SRSs as short control signaling.

14. The method of claim 8, wherein the short control signaling is limited to no more than 10% channel occupancy within a 100 ms observation window.

15. A method for wireless communication, comprising: transmitting listen-before-talk (LBT) configuration information to a wireless device, wherein the LBT configuration information indicates whether LBT is configured for a wireless link established with the wireless device on a cell in unlicensed spectrum; transmitting short control signaling configuration information to the wireless device, wherein the short control signaling configuration information indicates whether short control signaling is not used for one or more types of control signaling, wherein the short control signaling configuration information can be used to determine whether to extend a length of one or more interruption parameters for UE mobility based at least in part on whether short control signaling is not used for the one or more types of control signaling.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the LBT configuration information indicates whether the cell is operating in a region where LBT is mandated.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein if the LBT configuration information indicates that the cell is not operating in a region where LBT is mandated, the LBT configuration information further indicates one or more of: whether the cell is operating in a no-LBT mode; whether LBT is performed prior to transmission; whether all wireless devices served by the cell are to perform LBT prior to transmission; or whether wireless device specific LBT configuration signaling is used.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the short control signaling configuration information indicates that short control signaling is used for one or more of radio resource management (RRM) or mobility measurement timing configurations, wherein when short control signaling is used, the short control signaling performed on the wireless link comprises one or more of sending RRM or mobility measurement transmissions as short control signaling.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein the short control signaling configuration information indicates that sounding reference signal, SRS, transmissions are configured as short control signaling, wherein when short control signaling is used, the short control signaling performed on the wireless link comprises receiving one or more SRS as short control signaling.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein the short control signaling is limited to no more than 10% channel occupancy within a 100 ms observation window.

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