Wireless transmit / receive unit

Abstract

A wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) is provided that includes a transceiver, a memory, and a processor configured to monitor one or more frequency bands, receive information related to an upcoming channel occupancy time (COT) in one of the one or more frequency bands, and transmit the received information to the transceiver. And determining at least one resource for operation of the WTRU during the COT according to the received information.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application of an invention patent application with an application date of October 22, 2019, application number 201980083447.0, and invention name “Method for bandwidth portion and supplementary uplink operation in a wireless system”. Background Art

[0002] Next generation air interfaces, including further evolution of LTE (Long Term Evolution) Advanced Professional and New Radio (NR), are expected to support a wide range of use cases with different service requirements (including high data rate mobile broadband services) for various wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) capabilities and with different spectrum usage models (e.g., licensed, unlicensed / shared, etc.) in various mobility scenarios using an architecture that is flexible enough to accommodate various deployment scenarios.

[0003] In NR, a WTRU may operate using a bandwidth part (BWP) in a carrier. First, a WTRU may access a cell using an initial BWP. Then, it may be configured with a set of BWPs to continue operating.

[0004] Channel access in unlicensed bands may use a listen-before-talk (LBT) mechanism, which is typically enforced independently of whether the channel is occupied. For frame-based systems, LBT may be defined by one or more of the following parameters: Clear Channel Assessment (CCA) time, Channel Occupancy Time (COT), Idle Period, Fixed Frame Period, Short Control Signaling Transmission Time, and CAA (Capacity Allocation Acknowledgement) Energy Detection Threshold. For load-based systems (e.g., the transmit / receive structure may not be fixed in time), LBT may be parameterized by a number N corresponding to the number of idle slots in an extended Clear Channel Assessment (CCA), rather than a fixed time period before a device may access the channel. N may be randomly selected within a certain range.

[0005] The Listen Before Talk (LBT) procedure is defined as a mechanism by which the WTRU applies a CCA check before using a channel. The CCA utilizes at least energy detection to determine if there are other signals on the channel to determine whether the channel is occupied or idle, respectively.

[0006] Clear Channel Assessment (CCA) may be performed on contiguous PRBs (Physical Resource Blocks) of multiples of 20 MHz (or a number of PRBs). The WTRU may be configured with a BWP set consisting of one or more 20 MHz subbands. When the network acquires the channel, it may indicate the start of the COT to the WTRU. However, the WTRU also needs to determine which subbands (e.g., PRB sets) of the frequency carrier are acquired and also needs to determine which active DL BWPs and / or portions of the configured DL BWPs are acquired by the network.

[0007] Additionally, if the regular uplink (RUL) in the cell is assessed to be unreliable for uplink transmission, the WTRU may switch its active UL carrier to a supplementary uplink carrier (SUL).

[0008] Therefore, there is a need for methods for bandwidth part (BWP) and supplemental uplink (SUL) operations in wireless systems. Summary of the invention

[0009] Methods for BWP and SUL operation in wireless systems are described herein, particularly in systems using shared spectrum. The term shared spectrum may refer to any spectrum shared between multiple operators and / or multiple technologies (e.g., 3GPP, WiFi, radar, satellite, etc.), and may include lightly licensed spectrum, licensed spectrum shared between operators, and / or unlicensed spectrum. The terms shared and unlicensed may be used interchangeably in this disclosure.

[0010] In an exemplary embodiment, a wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) may receive information related to an upcoming channel occupancy time (COT) and use the received information to determine at least one resource for operation of the WTRU during the COT. The received information may include signaling information about occupied channels in the frequency domain during the COT. The received information may also include the duration of the COT. The at least one resource may include a control resource set (CORESET) in which the WTRU should operate. The WTRU may monitor at least one frequency band to detect the information related to the upcoming channel occupancy time. The WTRU may select a downlink bandwidth part (DL BWP) for message reception. The selection may be based on at least one measurement performed by the WTRU. When at least one measurement associated with the DL BWP meets a criterion, the WTRU may trigger a measurement report. The WTRU may switch from one DL BWP to another DL BWP. It may then send a message indicating the switch. The WTRU may also select an uplink bandwidth part (UL BWP) for message transmission. At least one inactivity timer may be configured in the WTRU for at least one DL BWP. The WTRU may deactivate a DL BWP when the corresponding inactivity timer of the DL BWP expires.

[0011] In another exemplary embodiment, a WTRU operating in a wireless network may transmit data on a first uplink carrier, trigger a switch from the first uplink carrier to a second uplink carrier based on at least one condition of the network, and send data on the second uplink carrier.

[0012] In another exemplary embodiment, a wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) may include: a transceiver, a memory, and a processor, configured to: monitor one or more frequency bands, receive information related to an upcoming channel occupancy time (COT) in one of the one or more frequency bands, and determine at least one resource for operation of the WTRU during the COT based on the received information.

[0013] In another exemplary embodiment, a wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) may include: a transceiver, a memory, and a processor, configured to: receive information related to an upcoming channel occupancy time (COT), and determine at least one resource for operation of the WTRU during the COT based on the received information, wherein the at least one resource for operation of the WTRU includes at least one of a downlink bandwidth part (DL BWP) and a listen-before-talk (LBT) subband set.

[0014] In another exemplary embodiment, a wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) may include: a transceiver, a memory, and a processor, configured to: determine an active uplink (UL) bandwidth part (BWP), switch from a first downlink (DL) BWP to one or more second DL BWPs based on an association with the active UL BWP, and perform a random access (RA) procedure using the one or more second DL BWPs. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] The present invention may be understood in more detail from the following description given by way of example in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals represent like elements, and in which:

[0016] Figure 1A is a system diagram illustrating an example communication system in which one or more disclosed embodiments may be implemented;

[0017] Figure 1B is a diagram showing that according to one embodiment, Figure 1A A system diagram of an example wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) for use within a communication system is shown;

[0018] Figure 1C is a diagram showing that according to one embodiment, Figure 1A A system diagram of an example radio access network (RAN) and an example core network (CN) used within the communication system shown;

[0019] Figure 1D is a diagram showing that according to one embodiment, Figure 1A A system diagram of another exemplary RAN and another exemplary CN used within the communication system shown;

[0020] Figure 2 is a diagram showing the operation of the bandwidth section according to the first exemplary embodiment;

[0021] Figure 3 is a diagram showing the operation of a bandwidth section according to a second exemplary embodiment;

[0022] Figure 4 is a diagram illustrating an incremental monitoring procedure performed by a WTRU according to an exemplary embodiment;

[0023] Figure 5 is a flow chart illustrating the operation of an exemplary WTRU according to an exemplary embodiment; and

[0024] Figure 6 is a flow chart illustrating the operation of an exemplary WTRU according to another exemplary embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0025] Example network for implementation of embodiments

[0026] Figure 1A 1 is a diagram showing an exemplary communication system 100 in which one or more disclosed embodiments may be implemented. The communication system 100 may be a multiple access system that provides content such as voice, data, video, messaging, broadcast, etc. to multiple wireless users. The communication system 100 may enable multiple wireless users to access such content by sharing system resources including wireless bandwidth. For example, the communication system 100 may use one or more channel access methods such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), single carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), zero tail unique word DFT spread OFDM (ZT UW DTS-s OFDM), unique word OFDM (UW-OFDM), resource block filtered OFDM, and filter bank multi-carrier (FBMC), etc.

[0027] like Figure 1A As shown, the communication system 100 may include wireless transmit / receive units (WTRUs) 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, RAN 104 / 113, CN 106 / 115, public switched telephone network (PSTN) 108, Internet 110, and other networks 112, although it should be appreciated that the disclosed embodiments contemplate any number of WTRUs, base stations, networks, and / or network components. Each WTRU 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d may be any type of device configured to operate and / or communicate in a wireless environment. By way of example, any of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d may be referred to as a “station” and / or “STA”, which may be configured to transmit and / or receive wireless signals, and may include a user equipment (UE), a mobile station, a fixed or mobile subscriber unit, a subscription-based unit, a pager, a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a smart phone, a laptop, a netbook, a personal computer, a wireless sensor, a hotspot or Mi-Fi device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, a watch or other wearable device, a head-mounted display (HMD), a vehicle, a drone, medical devices and applications (e.g., remote surgery), industrial devices and applications (e.g., robots and / or other wireless devices working in an industrial and / or automated process chain environment), consumer electronic devices, and devices working on a commercial and / or industrial wireless network, etc. Any of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d may be interchangeably referred to as a UE.

[0028] The communication system 100 may also include a base station 114a and / or a base station 114b. Each base station 114a and / or base station 114b may be any type of device configured to facilitate access to one or more communication networks (e.g., CN 106 / 115, Internet 110, and / or other networks 112) by wirelessly interfacing with at least one of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d. For example, the base stations 114a, 114b may be base transceiver stations (BTS), Node Bs, eNode Bs, Home Node Bs, Home eNode Bs, gNBs, NR Node Bs, site controllers, access points (APs), wireless routers, and the like. Although each base station 114a, 114b is depicted as a single component, it should be appreciated that the base stations 114a, 114b may include any number of interconnected base stations and / or network components.

[0029] The base station 114a may be part of the RAN 104 / 113, and the RAN may also include other base stations and / or network components (not shown), such as a base station controller (BSC), a radio network controller (RNC), a relay node, and the like. The base station 114a and / or the base station 114b may be configured to transmit and / or receive wireless signals on one or more carrier frequencies called cells (not shown). These frequencies may be in a licensed spectrum, an unlicensed spectrum, or a combination of licensed and unlicensed spectrum. A cell may provide wireless service coverage for a specific geographic area that is relatively fixed or may change over time. A cell may be further divided into cell sectors. For example, a cell associated with the base station 114a may be divided into three sectors. Thus, in one embodiment, the base station 114a may include three transceivers, i.e., each transceiver corresponds to a sector of the cell. In one embodiment, the base station 114a may use multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology and may use multiple transceivers for each sector of the cell. For example, by using beamforming, signals may be transmitted and / or received in a desired spatial direction.

[0030] The base stations 114a, 114b may communicate with one or more of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d over an air interface 116, which may be any suitable wireless communication link (e.g., radio frequency (RF), microwave, centimeter wave, millimeter wave, infrared (IR), ultraviolet (UV), visible light, etc.). The air interface 116 may be established using any suitable radio access technology (RAT).

[0031] More specifically, as described above, the communication system 100 may be a multiple access system and may use one or more channel access schemes, such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, and SC-FDMA, among others. For example, the base station 114a in the RAN 104 / 113 and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), which may use Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) to establish the air interface 115 / 116 / 117. WCDMA may include communication protocols such as High Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA) and / or Evolved HSPA (HSPA+). HSPA may include High Speed ​​Downlink (DL) Packet Access (HSDPA) and / or High Speed ​​UL Packet Access (HSUPA).

[0032] In one embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may utilize a radio technology such as Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA), which may utilize Long Term Evolution (LTE) and / or LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) and / or LTE-Advanced Pro (LTE-A Pro) to establish the air interface 116.

[0033] In one embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as NR radio access, which may establish the air interface 116 using new radio (NR).

[0034] In one embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement multiple radio access technologies. For example, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may jointly implement LTE radio access and NR radio access (e.g., using dual connectivity (DC) principles). Thus, the air interface used by the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may be characterized by multiple types of radio access technologies and / or transmissions sent to / from multiple types of base stations (e.g., eNBs and gNBs).

[0035] In other embodiments, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement radio technologies such as IEEE 802.11 (i.e., Wireless Fidelity (WiFi)), IEEE 802.16 (i.e., Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX)), CDMA2000, CDMA2000 1X, CDMA2000 EV-DO, Interim Standard 2000 (IS-2000), Interim Standard 95 (IS-95), Interim Standard 856 (IS-856), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), and GSM EDGE (GERAN), etc.

[0036] Figure 1A The base station 114b in the example may be a wireless router, a Home NodeB, a Home eNodeB, or an access point, and may use any appropriate RAT to facilitate wireless connectivity in a local area, such as a business location, a residence, a vehicle, a campus, an industrial facility, an air corridor (e.g., for use by drones), a road, and the like. In one embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may establish a wireless local area network (WLAN) by implementing a radio technology such as IEEE 802.11. In one embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may establish a wireless personal area network (WPAN) by implementing a radio technology such as IEEE 802.15. In yet another embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may establish a picocell or a femtocell by using a cellular-based RAT (e.g., WCDMA, CDMA2000, GSM, LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR, etc.). Figure 1A As shown, the base station 114b may be directly connected to the Internet 110. Thus, the base station 114b does not need to access the Internet 110 via the CN 106 / 115.

[0037] The RAN 104 / 113 may be in communication with the CN 106 / 115, which may be any type of network configured to provide voice, data, applications and / or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services to one or more WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d. The data may have different quality of service (QoS) requirements, such as different throughput requirements, latency requirements, fault tolerance requirements, reliability requirements, data throughput requirements, mobility requirements, etc. The CN 106 / 115 may provide call control, billing services, mobile location-based services, prepaid calls, Internet connectivity, video distribution, etc., and / or may perform advanced security functions such as user authentication. Although in Figure 1AAlthough not shown, it will be appreciated that the RAN 104 / 113 and / or the CN 106 / 115 may be in direct or indirect communication with other RANs that employ the same RAT or a different RAT as the RAN 104 / 113. For example, in addition to being connected to the RAN 104 / 113 employing NR radio technology, the CN 106 / 115 may also be in communication with other RANs (not shown) employing GSM, UMTS, CDMA 2000, WiMAX, E-UTRA, or WiFi radio technology.

[0038] The CN 106 / 115 may also act as a gateway for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d to access the PSTN 108, the Internet 110, and / or other networks 112. The PSTN 108 may include a circuit-switched telephone network that provides plain old telephone service (POTS). The Internet 110 may include a global system of interconnected computer network devices that use common communication protocols (e.g., the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), the User Datagram Protocol (UDP), and / or the Internet Protocol (IP) in the TCP / IP Internet Protocol Suite). The networks 112 may include wired and / or wireless communication networks owned and / or operated by other service providers. For example, the networks 112 may include another CN connected to one or more RANs, wherein the one or more RANs may use the same RAT or a different RAT as the RAN 104 / 113.

[0039] Some or all of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d in the communication system 100 may include multi-mode capabilities (e.g., the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d may include multiple transceivers for communicating with different wireless networks over different wireless links). Figure 1A The illustrated WTRU 102c may be configured to communicate with the base station 114a, which may employ a cellular-based radio technology, and with the base station 114b, which may employ an IEEE 802 radio technology.

[0040] Figure 1B is a system diagram showing an example WTRU 102. Figure 1B As shown, the WTRU 102 may include a processor 118, a transceiver 120, a transmit / receive element 122, a speaker / microphone 124, a numeric keypad 126, a display / touchpad 128, a non-removable memory 130, a removable memory 132, a power source 134, a global positioning system (GPS) chipset 136, and other peripherals 138. It should be appreciated that the WTRU 102 may include any sub-combination of the foregoing components while remaining consistent with an embodiment.

[0041] The processor 118 may be a general purpose processor, a special purpose processor, a conventional processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors associated with a DSP core, a controller, a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) circuit, any other type of integrated circuit (IC), a state machine, and the like. The processor 118 may perform signal coding, data processing, power control, input / output processing, and / or any other functionality that enables the WTRU 102 to operate in a wireless environment. The processor 118 may be coupled to the transceiver 120, which may be coupled to the transmit / receive element 122. Although Figure 1B The processor 118 and the transceiver 120 are depicted as separate components, however it should be appreciated that the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 may also be integrated into one electronic component or chip.

[0042] The transmit / receive component 122 may be configured to transmit or receive signals to or from a base station (e.g., base station 114a) via the air interface 116. For example, in one embodiment, the transmit / receive component 122 may be an antenna configured to transmit and / or receive RF signals. As an example, in another embodiment, the transmit / receive component 122 may be an emitter / detector configured to transmit and / or receive IR, UV, or visible light signals. In yet another embodiment, the transmit / receive component 122 may be configured to transmit and / or receive RF and light signals. It should be appreciated that the transmit / receive component 122 may be configured to transmit and / or receive any combination of wireless signals.

[0043] Although in Figure 1B 102 as a single component, but the WTRU 102 may include any number of transmit / receive components 122. More specifically, the WTRU 102 may employ MIMO technology. Thus, in one embodiment, the WTRU 102 may include two or more transmit / receive components 122 (e.g., multiple antennas) for transmitting and receiving radio signals over the air interface 116.

[0044] The transceiver 120 may be configured to modulate signals to be transmitted by the transmit / receive component 122 and to demodulate signals received by the transmit / receive component 122. As described above, the WTRU 102 may have multi-mode capabilities. Thus, the transceiver 120 may include multiple transceivers that allow the WTRU 102 to communicate via multiple RATs (e.g., NR and IEEE 802.11).

[0045] The processor 118 of the WTRU 102 may be coupled to a speaker / microphone 124, a keypad 126, and / or a display / touchpad 128 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) display unit or an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display unit), and may receive user input data from these components. The processor 118 may also output user data to the speaker / microphone 124, the keypad 126, and / or the display / touchpad 128. In addition, the processor 118 may access information from and store information in any suitable memory such as a non-removable memory 130 and / or a removable memory 132. The non-removable memory 130 may include a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a hard disk, or any other type of memory storage device. The removable memory 132 may include a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, a memory stick, a secure digital (SD) memory card, and the like. In other embodiments, the processor 118 may access information from, and store data in, memory that is not physically located on the WTRU 102, such as, for example, on a server or a home computer (not shown).

[0046] The processor 118 may receive power from the power source 134, and may be configured to distribute and / or control power for use by other components in the WTRU 102. The power source 134 may be any suitable device for powering the WTRU 102. For example, the power source 134 may include one or more dry cell batteries (e.g., nickel-cadmium (Ni-Cd), nickel-zinc (Ni-Zn), nickel-metal hydride (NiMH), lithium-ion (Li-ion), etc.), solar cells, fuel cells, and the like.

[0047] The processor 118 may also be coupled to the GPS chipset 136, which may be configured to provide location information (e.g., longitude and latitude) related to the current location of the WTRU 102. In addition to or in lieu of the information from the GPS chipset 136, the WTRU 102 may receive location information from a base station (e.g., base stations 114a, 114b) via the air interface 116 and / or determine its location based on the timing of signals received from two or more nearby base stations. It should be appreciated that the WTRU 102 may acquire location information via any suitable positioning method while remaining consistent with an embodiment.

[0048] The processor 118 may also be coupled to other peripheral devices 138, wherein the peripheral devices may include one or more software and / or hardware modules that provide additional features, functions, and / or wired or wireless connections. For example, the peripheral devices 138 may include an accelerometer, an electronic compass, a satellite transceiver, a digital camera (for photos and / or videos), a universal serial bus (USB) port, a vibration device, a television transceiver, a hands-free headset, a module, a frequency modulation (FM) radio unit, a digital music player, a media player, a video game console module, an Internet browser, a virtual reality and / or augmented reality (VR / AR) device, and an activity tracker, etc. The peripheral devices 138 may include one or more sensors, which may be one or more of the following:

[0049] A gyroscope, an accelerometer, a Hall effect sensor, a magnetometer, an orientation sensor, a proximity sensor, a temperature sensor, a time sensor, a geolocation sensor, an altimeter, a light sensor, a touch sensor, a magnetometer, a barometer, a gesture sensor, a biometric sensor, and / or a humidity sensor.

[0050] The WTRU 102 may include a full-duplex radio in which reception or transmission of some or all signals (e.g., associated with specific subframes for UL (e.g., for transmission) and downlink (e.g., for reception)) may be concurrent and / or simultaneous for the radio. A full-duplex radio may include an interference management unit that reduces and / or substantially eliminates self-interference by means of hardware (e.g., chokes) or by signal processing by a processor (e.g., a separate processor (not shown) or by the processor 118). In one embodiment, the WTRU 102 may include a half-duplex radio that transmits or receives some or all signals (e.g., associated with specific subframes for UL (e.g., for transmission) or downlink (e.g., for reception)).

[0051] Figure 1C 1 is a system diagram showing the RAN 104 and the CN 106 according to one embodiment. As described above, the RAN 104 may communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c using an E-UTRA radio technology over the air interface 116. The RAN 104 may also be in communication with the CN 106.

[0052] The RAN 104 may include eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c, however it will be appreciated that the RAN 104 may include any number of eNode-Bs while remaining consistent with an embodiment. Each of the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may include one or more transceivers for communicating with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. In one embodiment, the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may implement MIMO technology. Thus, for example, the eNode-B 140a may use multiple antennas to transmit wireless signals to, and / or receive wireless signals from, the WTRU 102a.

[0053] Each eNodeB 160a, 160b, 160c may be associated with a particular cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handover decisions, user scheduling in UL and / or DL, etc. Figure 1C As shown, the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may communicate with each other via an X2 interface.

[0054] Figure 1C The illustrated CN 106 may include a mobility management entity (MME) 162, a serving gateway (SGW) 164, and a packet data network (PDN) gateway (or PGW) 166. Although each of the foregoing components are described as being part of the CN 106, it should be appreciated that any of these components may be owned and / or operated by an entity other than the CN operator.

[0055] The MME 162 may be connected to each of the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c in the RAN 104 via an S1 interface and may serve as a control node. For example, the MME 142 may be responsible for authenticating users of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, performing bearer activation / deactivation processing, and selecting a particular serving gateway during an initial attach of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c. The MME 162 may also provide a control plane function for switching between the RAN 104 and other RANs (not shown) that employ other radio technologies, such as GSM and / or WCDMA.

[0056] The SGW 164 may be connected to each of the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c in the RAN 104 via an S1 interface. The SGW 164 may generally route and forward user data packets to / from the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c. The SGW 164 may also perform other functions, such as anchoring the user plane during inter-eNode-B handovers, triggering paging processing when DL data is available for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and managing and storing the contexts of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and the like.

[0057] The SGW 164 may be connected to the PGW 166, which may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to packet-switched networks, such as the Internet 110, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and IP-enabled devices.

[0058] The CN 106 may facilitate communications with other networks. For example, the CN 106 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to circuit-switched networks, such as the PSTN 108, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and traditional land-line communications devices. For example, the CN 106 may include or communicate with an IP gateway, such as an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) server, and the IP gateway may serve as an interface between the CN 106 and the PSTN 108. In addition, the CN 106 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to other networks 112, which may include other wired and / or wireless networks that are owned and / or operated by other service providers.

[0059] Although in Figures 1A-1D While the WTRU is described as a wireless terminal, it should be appreciated that in certain representative embodiments, such a terminal may use a (eg, temporary or permanent) wired communication interface with a communication network.

[0060] In some representative embodiments, other network 112 may be a WLAN.

[0061] A WLAN using an infrastructure basic service set (BSS) mode may have an access point (AP) for the BSS and one or more stations (STAs) associated with the AP. The AP may access or be connected to a distributed system (DS) or other types of wired / wireless networks that send traffic into and / or out of the BSS. Traffic originating from outside the BSS and destined for the STA may arrive through the AP and be delivered to the STA. Traffic originating from the STA and destined for a destination outside the BSS may be sent to the AP for delivery to the corresponding destination. Traffic between STAs within the BSS may be sent through the AP, for example, where the source STA may send traffic to the AP and the AP may deliver the traffic to the destination STA. Traffic between STAs within the BSS may be considered and / or referred to as point-to-point traffic. The point-to-point traffic may be sent between the source and destination STAs (e.g., directly therebetween) using a direct link setup (DLS). In certain representative embodiments, the DLS may use 802.11e DLS or 802.11z tunneled DLS (TDLS)). For example, a WLAN using an independent BSS (IBSS) mode may not have an AP, and STAs (eg, all STAs) within or using the IBSS may communicate directly with each other. Here, the IBSS communication mode may sometimes be referred to as an "ad hoc" communication mode.

[0062] When using the 802.11ac infrastructure mode of operation or a similar mode of operation, the AP may transmit a beacon on a fixed channel (e.g., a primary channel). The primary channel may have a fixed width (e.g., a bandwidth of 20 MHz) or a width that is dynamically set by means of signaling. The primary channel may be a working channel of the BSS and may be used by the STA to establish a connection with the AP. In certain representative embodiments, carrier sense multiple access (CSMA / CA) with collision avoidance (e.g., in an 802.11 system) may be implemented. For CSMA / CA, STAs (e.g., each STA) including the AP may sense the primary channel. If a particular STA senses / detects and / or determines that the primary channel is busy, the particular STA may back off. In a specified BSS, one STA (e.g., only one station) transmits at any given time.

[0063] A high throughput (HT) STA may communicate using a 40 MHz wide channel (eg, by combining a 20 MHz wide primary channel with a 20 MHz wide adjacent or non-adjacent channel to form a 40 MHz wide channel).

[0064] Very high throughput (VHT) STA can support channels with widths of 20MHz, 40MHz, 80MHz and / or 160MHz. 40MHz and / or 80MHz channels can be formed by combining continuous 20MHz channels. A 160MHz channel can be formed by combining 8 continuous 20MHz channels or by combining two discontinuous 80MHz channels (this combination can be referred to as an 80+80 configuration). For the 80+80 configuration, after channel coding, the data can be transmitted and passed through a segment parser, which can separate the data into two streams. Inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) processing and time domain processing can be performed separately on each stream. The stream can be mapped on two 80MHz channels, and the data can be transmitted by the STA performing the transmission. At the receiver of the STA performing the reception, the above operations for the 80+80 configuration can be reversed, and the combined data can be sent to the medium access control (MAC).

[0065] 802.11af and 802.11ah support sub-1 GHz operating modes. Compared to 802.11n and 802.11ac, the channel operating bandwidth and carrier used in 802.11af and 802.11ah are reduced. 802.11af supports 5MHz, 10MHz and 20MHz bandwidths in the TV White Space (TVWS) spectrum, and 802.11ah supports 1MHz, 2MHz, 4MHz, 8MHz and 16MHz bandwidths using non-TVWS spectrum. According to a representative embodiment, 802.11ah can support instrument type control / machine type communication (e.g., MTC devices in macro coverage areas). MTC can have certain capabilities, such as limited capabilities including support (e.g., only support) certain and / or limited bandwidths. MTC devices can include a battery, and the battery life of the battery is higher than a threshold (e.g., for maintaining a very long battery life).

[0066] For WLAN systems that can support multiple channels and channel bandwidths (e.g., 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.11af, and 802.11ah), these systems include a channel that can be designated as a primary channel. The bandwidth of the primary channel can be equal to the maximum common operating bandwidth supported by all STAs in the BSS. The bandwidth of the primary channel can be set and / or limited by a STA, where the STA is derived from all STAs operating in the BSS that supports the minimum bandwidth operating mode. In the example of 802.11ah, even if the AP and other STAs in the BSS support 2MHz, 4MHz, 8MHz, 16MHz and / or other channel bandwidth operating modes, for STAs (e.g., MTC-type devices) that support (e.g., only support) 1MHz mode, the width of the primary channel can be 1MHz. Carrier sensing and / or network allocation vector (NAV) settings can depend on the state of the primary channel. If the primary channel is busy (eg, because a STA (which only supports 1 MHz operating mode) is transmitting to the AP), then the entire available band may be considered busy even though most of the band remains empty and available for use.

[0067] In the United States, the available frequency band for 802.11ah is 902MHz to 928MHz. In South Korea, the available frequency band is 917.5MHz to 923.5MHz. In Japan, the available frequency band is 916.5MHz to 927.5MHz. Depending on the country, the total bandwidth available for 802.11ah is 6MHz to 26MHz.

[0068] Figure 1D 1 is a system diagram showing the RAN 113 and the CN 115 according to one embodiment. As described above, the RAN 113 may communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c using NR radio technology over the air interface 116. The RAN 113 may also be in communication with the CN 115.

[0069] The RAN 113 may include gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c, though it will be appreciated that the RAN 113 may include any number of gNBs while remaining consistent with the embodiments. Each of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may include one or more transceivers to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. In one embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may implement MIMO technology. For example, the gNBs 180a, 180b may use beamforming processing to transmit and / or receive signals to and / or from the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c. Thus, for example, the gNB 180a may use multiple antennas to transmit wireless signals to and / or receive wireless signals from the WTRU 102a. In one embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may implement carrier aggregation technology. For example, the gNB 180a may transmit a plurality of component carriers (not shown) to the WTRU 102a. A subset of these component carriers may be on an unlicensed spectrum, while the remaining component carriers may be on a licensed spectrum. In one embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may implement coordinated multi-point (CoMP) technology. For example, the WTRU 102a may receive coordinated transmissions from gNB 180a and gNB 180b (and / or gNB 180c).

[0070] The WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using transmissions associated with the scalable parameter configurations. For example, the OFDM symbol spacing and / or OFDM subcarrier spacing may be different for different transmissions, different cells, and / or different portions of the radio transmission spectrum. The WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using subframes or transmission time intervals (TTIs) of different or scalable lengths (e.g., containing different numbers of OFDM symbols and / or lasting different absolute time lengths).

[0071] The gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may be configured to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c in a standalone configuration and / or a non-standalone configuration. In a standalone configuration, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c without accessing other RANs (e.g., the eNodeBs 160a, 160b, 160c). In a standalone configuration, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may use one or more of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c as mobility anchors. In a standalone configuration, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using signals in an unlicensed band. In a non-standalone configuration, the WTRU 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate / connect to the gNB 180a, 180b, 180c while communicating / connecting to another RAN (e.g., the eNode-B 160a, 160b, 160c). For example, the WTRU 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with one or more gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c and one or more eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c in a substantially simultaneous manner by implementing the DC principle. In a non-standalone configuration, the eNode-B 160a, 160b, 160c may act as a mobility anchor for the WTRU 102a, 102b, 102c, and the gNB 180a, 180b, 180c may provide additional coverage and / or throughput to serve the WTRU 102a, 102b, 102c.

[0072] Each gNB 180a, 180b, 180c may be associated with a particular cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handover decisions, user scheduling in UL and / or DL, support network slicing, implement dual connectivity, implement interworking between NR and E-UTRA, route user plane data to user plane functions (UPFs) 184a, 184b, and route control plane information to access and mobility management functions (AMFs) 182a, 182b, and the like. Figure 1D As shown, gNBs 180a, 180b, and 180c can communicate with each other through the Xn interface.

[0073] Figure 1DThe CN 115 shown may include at least one AMF 182a, 182b, at least one UPF 184a, 184b, at least one session management function (SMF) 183a, 183b, and may include a data network (DN) 185a, 185b. Although each of the aforementioned components is described as part of the CN 115, it should be understood that any of these components may be owned and / or operated by entities other than the CN operator.

[0074] The AMF 182a, 182b may be connected to one or more gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c in the RAN 113 via an N2 interface and may act as a control node. For example, the AMF 182a, 182b may be responsible for authenticating users of the WTRU 102a, 102b, 102c, supporting network slicing (e.g., handling different PDU sessions with different requirements), selecting a specific SMF 183a, 183b, managing registration areas, terminating NAS signaling, and mobility management, etc. The AMF 182a, 1823b may use network slicing processing to customize the CN support provided to the WTRU 102a, 102b, 102c based on the type of service used. As an example, different network slices may be established for different use cases, such as services that rely on ultra-reliable low latency (URLLC) access, services that rely on enhanced massive mobile broadband (eMBB) access, and / or services for machine type communication (MTC) access, etc. The AMF 182 may provide control plane functionality for switching between the RAN 113 and other RANs (not shown) that employ other radio technologies (e.g., LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, and / or non-3GPP access technologies such as WiFi).

[0075] The SMF 183a, 183b may be connected to the AMF 182a, 182b in the CN 115 via the N11 interface. The SMF 183a, 183b may also be connected to the UPF 184a, 184b in the CN 115 via the N4 interface. The SMF 183a, 183b may select and control the UPF 184a, 184b, and may configure traffic routing through the UPF 184a, 184b. The SMF 183a, 183b may perform other functions, such as managing and allocating UE IP addresses, managing PDU sessions, controlling policy enforcement and QoS, and providing downlink data notification, etc. The PDU session type may be IP-based, non-IP-based, Ethernet-based, etc.

[0076] The UPF 184a, 184b can be connected to one or more gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c in the RAN 113 via the N3 interface, which can provide the WTRU 102a, 102b, 102c with a packet-switched network (e.g., the Internet 110) connection to facilitate communication between the WTRU 102a, 102b, 102c and IP-enabled devices. The UPF 184a, 184b can perform other functions such as routing and forwarding packets, implementing user plane policies, supporting multi-host PDU sessions, processing user plane QoS, buffering downlink packets, and providing mobility anchor processing, etc.

[0077] The CN 115 may facilitate communications with other networks. For example, the CN 115 may include or may communicate with an IP gateway (e.g., an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) server) that acts as an interface between the CN 115 and the CN 108. In addition, the CN 115 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to other networks 112, which may include other wired and / or wireless networks owned and / or operated by other service providers. In one embodiment, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may be connected to a local data network (DN) 185a, 185b via an N3 interface connected to the UPF 184a, 184b and an N6 interface between the UPF 184a, 184b and the DN 185a, 185b and through the UPF 184a, 184b.

[0078] In view of Figures 1A-1D and about Figures 1A-1D In accordance with the corresponding description of the present invention, one or more or all of the functions described herein in comparison with one or more of the following may be performed by one or more simulation devices (not shown): WTRU 102a-d, base station 114a-b, eNodeB 160a-c, MME 162, SGW 164, PGW 166, gNB 180a-c, AMF 182a-ab, UPF 184a-b, SMF 183a-b, DN 185a-b, and / or any other device described herein. These simulation devices may be one or more devices configured to simulate one or more or all of the functions herein. For example, these simulation devices may be used to test other devices and / or simulate network and / or WTRU functions.

[0079] The simulation device can be designed to implement one or more tests about other devices in a laboratory environment and / or an operator network environment. For example, the one or more simulation devices can perform one or more or all functions while being implemented and / or deployed as a part of a wired and / or wireless communication network in whole or in part to test other devices inside the communication network. The one or more simulation devices can perform one or more or all functions while being temporarily implemented / deployed as a part of a wired and / or wireless communication network. The simulation device can be directly coupled to other equipment to perform the test, and / or can use over-the-air wireless communication to perform the test.

[0080] The one or more simulation devices can perform one or more functions, including all functions, while not being implemented / deployed as part of a wired and / or wireless communication network. For example, the simulation device can be used in a test lab and / or a test scenario of a wired and / or wireless communication network that is not deployed (e.g., tested) to implement tests on one or more components. The one or more simulation devices can be test devices. The simulation device can transmit and / or receive data using direct RF coupling and / or wireless communication with the aid of RF circuits (as an example, the circuits can include one or more antennas).

[0081] BWP and SUL Operation

[0082] The term network in the following description may refer to one or more gNBs, which in turn may be associated with one or more transmission / reception points (TRPs) or any other nodes in the radio access network.

[0083] The term shared spectrum may refer to any spectrum shared between multiple operators and / or multiple technologies (e.g., 3GPP, WiFi, radar, satellite, etc.), and may include lightly licensed spectrum, licensed spectrum shared between operators, and / or unlicensed spectrum. The terms shared spectrum and unlicensed spectrum may be used interchangeably in this disclosure.

[0084] Next generation air interfaces, including further evolution of LTE Professional Advanced and New Radio (NR), are expected to support a wide range of use cases with different service requirements (e.g., low overhead low data rate power efficient services (mMTC), ultra-reliable low latency communications (URLLC), and high data rate enhanced mobile broadband services (eMBB)), for different WTRU capabilities (low power low bandwidth WTRU, WTRU capable of very wide bandwidth (e.g., 80Mhz), WTRU supporting high frequencies (e.g., >6Ghz)), and in various mobility scenarios (e.g., fixed / fixed, high speed train, etc.) using an architecture that is flexible enough to accommodate different deployments (e.g., standalone, non-standalone with assistance from different air interfaces, centralized, virtualized, distributed on ideal / non-ideal backhaul, etc.), with different spectrum usage models (e.g., licensed, unlicensed / shared, etc.).

[0085] In NR, a WTRU may operate using a bandwidth portion (BWP) of the carrier spectrum. First, the WTRU may access a cell using an initial BWP. Then, it may be configured with a set of BWPs to continue operating. At any given moment, the WTRU may have at least one active BWP. Each BWP may be configured with a set of control resource sets (CORESET) in which the WTRU may blindly decode physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidates for scheduling, etc.

[0086] In addition, NR supports variable transmission duration and feedback timing. In the case of variable transmission duration, a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) or physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission may occupy a subset of consecutive symbols of a slot. With variable feedback timing, the downlink control information (DCI) for DL ​​assignments may include an indication of the feedback timing for the WTRU, for example by pointing to a specific physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource.

[0087] NR can support two types of PUCCH resources: short PUCCH and long PUCCH. The former can be sent using 1 or 2 OFDM symbols, while the latter can use up to 14 OFDM symbols. Each PUCCH type can have multiple formats, which can depend on the type and / or size of the corresponding payload.

[0088] Beamforming can be used to compensate for increased path loss at higher frequencies (eg, >6 GHz).A larger number of antenna elements can be used to achieve higher beamforming gain.

[0089] Analog and / or hybrid beamforming can be used to reduce implementation costs by reducing the number of RF chains. Typically, analog / hybrid beams can be multiplexed in time. Beamforming can be applied to synchronization and / or physical broadcast channels (PBCH) and / or control channels to provide cell-wide coverage.

[0090] Different reference signals may be defined for beam management in DL and UL. For example, downlink beam management may use a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS), a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), a synchronization signal, etc. For example, uplink beam management may use a sounding reference signal (SRS), a DMRS, or a random access channel (RACH), etc.

[0091] Operation in unlicensed bands may be subject to some restrictions on transmit power control (TPC), RF output power and power density given by the average effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP), and the average EIRP density at the highest power level. It may also be affected by requirements on transmitter out-of-band emissions. This may be frequency band and / or geographic location specific.

[0092] Operation may also be subject to requirements for the nominal channel bandwidth (NCB) and occupied channel bandwidth (OCB) that may be defined for unlicensed spectrum in the 5 GHz region. In NR, the nominal channel bandwidth (i.e., the widest band including the guard band assigned to a single channel) should be at least 5 MHz at all times. The occupied channel bandwidth (i.e., the bandwidth containing 99% of the signal power) should be between 80% and 100% of the declared nominal channel bandwidth. During established communications, a device may be allowed to temporarily operate in a mode in which its occupied channel bandwidth may be reduced to 40% of its minimum nominal channel bandwidth of 4 MHz.

[0093] Channel access in unlicensed bands can use a listen-before-talk (LBT) mechanism. LBT is usually enforced regardless of whether the channel is occupied.

[0094] For frame-based systems, LBT can be defined by: (1) clear channel assessment (CCA) time (e.g., ~20 μs), (2) channel occupation time (COT) (e.g., minimum 1 ms, maximum 10 ms), (3) idle period (e.g., minimum 5% of the channel occupation time), (4) fixed frame period (e.g., equal to the channel occupation time + idle period), (5) short control signaling transmission time (e.g., maximum duty cycle of 5% within a 50 ms observation period), and (6) capacity allocation confirmation (CAA) energy detection threshold.

[0095] For load-based systems (e.g., the transmit / receive structure may not be fixed in time), LBT can be parameterized by a number N, rather than a fixed frame period, corresponding to the number of idle slots in an extended CCA that must be detected before a device can access the channel. N can be randomly selected within a range.

[0096] Deployment scenarios may include different standalone NR-based operations, different variants of dual connectivity operations (e.g., EN-DC (E-UTRAN New Radio - Dual Connectivity) with at least one carrier operating according to an LTE radio access technology (RAT) or NR DC with at least two sets of one or more carriers operating according to an NR RAT), and / or different variants of carrier aggregation (CA), which may also include different combinations of zero or more carriers of each of the LTE RAT and the NR RAT, for example.

[0097] For example, for LTE, for the License Assisted Access (LAA) system, the following functions are considered:

[0098] - Listen before talk (clear channel assessment): The listen before talk (LBT) process is defined as a mechanism by which a device applies a clear channel assessment (CCA) check before using a channel. CCA may utilize at least energy detection to determine whether there are other signals on the channel in order to determine whether the channel is occupied or idle, respectively. Carrier sensing via LBT may be a way to fairly share unlicensed spectrum, and thus it may be an important feature for fair and friendly operation in unlicensed spectrum within a single global solution framework.

[0099] – Discontinuous transmission on a carrier with limited maximum transmission duration: In unlicensed spectrum, channel availability cannot always be guaranteed. In addition, some regions, such as Europe and Japan, prohibit continuous transmission and impose restrictions on the maximum duration of transmission bursts in unlicensed spectrum. Therefore, discontinuous transmission with limited maximum transmission duration may be a desired feature for LAA.

[0100] – Carrier selection: Since there is a large amount of available bandwidth of unlicensed spectrum, LAA nodes may need carrier selection to choose a carrier that has low interference and can achieve good coexistence with other unlicensed spectrum deployments.

[0101] - Transmit Power Control: Transmit Power Control (TPC) is a regulatory requirement in some regions by which the transmitting device should be able to reduce the transmit power by 3dB or 6dB compared to the maximum nominal transmit power. This requirement does not require a new specification.

[0102] - Radio Resource Management (RRM) measurements including cell identification: RRM measurements including cell identification can enable mobility between secondary cells (SCells) and robust operation in unlicensed bands.

[0103] - Channel State Information (CSI) measurements (which include channel and interference): A WTRU operating in an unlicensed carrier should also support the necessary frequency / time estimation and synchronization in order to enable RRM measurements and for successful reception of information on the unlicensed band.

[0104] 3GPP expects to study support for operations in unlicensed bands in Release 16. According to the research project description for NR Unlicensed (NR-U), reference can be made to 3rd Generation Partnership Project 3GPP TS38.331, V15.0.0 (2017-12); Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network NR Radio Resource Control (RRC) Protocol Specification (Release 15). The purpose is to study NR-based operations in unlicensed spectrum (including initial access, scheduling / hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) and mobility) and coexistence methods with LTE-LAA and other incumbent RATs. Some of the scenarios studied include NR-based LAA cells connected to LTE or NR anchor cells, and NR-based cells operating independently in unlicensed spectrum.

[0105] NR Unlicensed (NR-U) can support that the serving cell can be configured with a bandwidth greater than 20 MHz. In NR-U, the following options can be considered for BWP. For DL ​​operation, the following options for BWP-based operation within a carrier with a bandwidth greater than 20 MHz can be considered:

[0106] – Multiple BWPs are configured and multiple BWPs are activated. The gNB can send PDSCH on one or more BWPs.

[0107] – Multiple BWPs are configured and multiple BWPs are activated. The gNB can send PDSCH on a single BWP.

[0108] – Multiple BWPs are configured and a single BWP is activated. The gNB may send PDSCH on a single BWP. This may happen if CCA succeeds at the gNB for the entire BWP.

[0109] – Multiple BWPs are configured and a single BWP is activated. The gNB may send PDSCH on the entire single BWP or on part of the single BWP. This may occur if CCA succeeds at the gNB for the entire BWP or part of the entire BWP.

[0110] Multiple active BWPs and LBT mechanisms in a given frequency carrier may impact BWP and SUL operations as originally defined in NR. Therefore, some procedures may be adapted to accommodate this situation. In particular, procedures may be defined to account for multiple active BWPs, unavailability of subbands, and to utilize different available frequency carriers or portions with different associated channel characteristics or rules.

[0111] Additionally, the new measurements may help the network configure the BWP and / or allow the WTRU to select a frequency carrier and / or BWP to successfully receive downlink control messages or perform uplink transmissions.

[0112] A first aspect of the present disclosure relates to indication of channel acquisition in the frequency domain. CCA may be performed on contiguous physical resource blocks (PRBs) in multiples of 20 MHz (or multiples of PRBs). The WTRU may be configured with a BWP set consisting of one or more 20 MHz subbands. When the network acquires a channel, it may transmit a signal (hereinafter referred to as a pre-signal) to the WTRU indicating the start of COT. However, the WTRU may also need to determine which subbands of the frequency carrier (e.g., which (which) PRB sets) are captured, and also need to determine which active DL BWPs and / or portions of the configured DL BWPs have been acquired by the network.

[0113] Additionally, further to signal the start of the COT and the corresponding acquired bandwidth, it may be beneficial to also inform the WTRU of the duration of the COT.

[0114] Furthermore, although the transmission of a preparation signal indicating the start of COT facilitates detection with low complexity and low power consumption compared to frequent PDCCH monitoring, the WTRU may need to monitor multiple frequency locations to receive the preparation signal, especially with multiple active DL BWP operations. In order to facilitate its detection while reducing the workload of the WTRU, some procedures may need to be defined.

[0115] The occupied channel structure may include resources in the frequency domain, time domain, and / or space domain. The occupied channels may be determined based on the medium acquired through a successful channel access procedure (e.g., LBT). Thus, in addition to the timing and duration of acquisition of the channel, the channel access procedure may imply how much bandwidth is occupied.

[0116] The WTRU may monitor for the presence of a preparation signal transmitted to the WTRU that signals the configuration of the upcoming COT. This preparation signal may be transmitted to one or more WTRUs in the system.

[0117] The preparation signal may contain information regarding channel acquisition by the gNB (e.g., time / frequency / space resources), or indicate to the WTRU that it must monitor one or more PDCCHs to receive further downlink control information regarding activation of the BWP or acquisition of a channel subband.

[0118] The preparation signal may be provided implicitly via another signal. For example, the sequence used for the reference signal (RS) may provide the WTRU with the necessary parameters to operate on the COT. These parameters may include the PDCCH to monitor.

[0119] In another solution, the preparatory signal may be provided explicitly, such as in a bitmap or a short transmission (e.g., one bit of information).

[0120] – The preparation signal bitmap may indicate the index of the LBT subbands acquired by the network. The WTRU may also determine (e.g., be configured with a mapping) to which configured active DL BWPs these subbands map. The preparation signal bitmap may be mapped to the LBT subbands, the first bit of the sequence may correspond to subband index 0, and the last bit of the sequence may correspond to the last subband of the frequency carrier. A 0 bit may indicate that LBT failed in the corresponding subband, while a 1 bit may indicate that LBT succeeded in the corresponding subband.

[0121] – The entire bandwidth over which the preliminary signal is sent during a predefined number of OFDM symbols may indicate the bandwidth acquired by the gNB.

[0122] – The mapping of PRBs across frequency carriers and CORESETs may be configured. For example, if the preparation signal is transmitted on the xth PRB or PRB set, this may indicate that the WTRU is to monitor CORESET index y.

[0123] – A one-to-one mapping of the preparation signal and the subband may be configured. For example, if the WTRU receives a preparation signal in a specific subband, the WTRU may monitor the PDCCH in that subband. This may further require mapping of the CORESET and search space to the LBT subband.

[0124] - The preparation signal may be used to indicate to the WTRU that it should monitor the PDCCH in the subband where it has been transmitted.

[0125] – A short preparatory signal sequence transmitted offset by x PRBs from the first PRB of the configured CORESET may indicate to the WTRU that it may monitor the corresponding CORESET.

[0126] –The WTRU may receive an indication in the System Information Block (SIB) / Master Information Block (MIB) about the LBT subbands acquired by the gNB. If the LBT has acquired the subband of the initial DL BWP or the initial DL BWP where the cell defining the synchronization signal block (SSB) is located, the WTRU may receive this information in the MIB or SIB. The WTRU may also be configured with a CORESET and search space to receive SIBs in dedicated DL BWPs or subbands. This configuration may be common to all WTRUs, a group of WTRUs, or dedicated to a single WTRU. The information about the LBT subbands acquired by the gNB may then be broadcast or sent in the corresponding SIB.

[0127] To signal the subbands acquired by the network, the subbands may be indexed from 0 to x across the entire frequency carrier, e.g., subband index 0 corresponds to the first LBT subband in the serving carrier, and subband index x corresponds to the last LBT subband.

[0128] The WTRU may also receive a DCI for LBT success indication in the DL subband in the corresponding PDCCH. The DCI may indicate the activated (ie, acquired by the network) subbands to the WTRU of the system.

[0129] When the WTRU successfully receives the preparation signal, the WTRU may start monitoring the corresponding CORESET and / or search space.

[0130] Figure 2The embodiment shows an example NR-U system with three example WTRUs UE1, UE2 and UE3, where the initial BWP, BWP0, is not acquired by the network. The UEs are configured with a DL BWP that contains frequency locations where preparatory signals can be received, i.e., frequency locations where LBT succeeds at the network. Thus, UE1 and UE2 may be configured with DL BWP1 containing frequency locations where preparatory signal 1 may be received, while UE3 may be configured with DL BWP1 containing frequency locations where preparatory signal 2 may be received (note that each WTRU has its own different BWP index, i.e., the BWP indexed as BWP1 for UE1 may be different from the BWP indexed as BWP1 for UE2). Preparatory signals indicating the start of COT are transmitted to the WTRUs. They include a first preparatory signal (i.e., preparatory signal 1) sent in LBT subband 1 and a second preparatory signal (i.e., preparatory signal 2) sent in LBT subband 6. For UE1 and UE2, the channel is considered to be acquired in each UE's respective BWP1 as determined from the reception of preparation signal 1, while for UE3, the channel is considered to be acquired in its BWP1 as determined from the reception of preparation signal 2. Thus, according to the exemplary mapping, UE1 and UE2 are configured with CORESET1 located in subband 2 as determined from the reception of preparation signal 1, and UE3 is configured with CORESET2 located in subband 7 as determined from the reception of preparation signal 2. All WTRUs may be configured with a search space (e.g., a common search space) to receive DCI indicating the acquisition of subband 1, subband 2, subband 6, and subband 7.

[0131] Figure 2 An embodiment is shown in which a WTRU may detect a preparation signal transmission in a BWP other than an initial BWP. If the WTRU does not receive a preparation signal in its initial DL BWP, the WTRU may monitor a CORESET and / or search space in a set of secondary BWPs (e.g., configured BWPs, which may not include the initial DL BWP). For example, the WTRU may monitor the initial DL BWP (BWP0), and only if no preparation signal is received on that initial DL BWP, the WTRU may start monitoring a second set of BWPs. The set of CORESETs or BWPs to monitor may be determined by the WTRU as a function of time and / or location of the initial DL BWP.

[0132] The WTRU may evaluate the correspondence between the LBT subbands and the configured BWP and may be able to determine the configured BWP or the portion of the BWP acquired by the network. Figure 3 In the example of , UE1 may determine that the corresponding portion of DL BWP1 is acquired by the network, and UE2 may determine that its entire BWP1 is successfully acquired.

[0133] The duration of the COT may further be explicitly or implicitly signaled to the WTRU.

[0134] The explicit indication may be, for example, that a first set of bits of the preparation signal (e.g., the first x bits) may correspond to the LBT subband indication as described above, and a second set of bits (e.g., the last y bits) may correspond to the duration of the COT (e.g., the number of time slots of the COT).

[0135] Alternatively, the duration of the COT may be implicitly signaled, for example, by a parameter of the preparation signal. For example, the duration of the preparation signal in an OFDM symbol may be mapped to the duration of the COT. For example, one OFDM symbol of the preparation signal duration may correspond to a certain number of OFDM symbols in the COT.

[0136] The preparatory signal indicating the set of LBT subbands acquired by the gNB and / or the start of COT may be one or a combination of the following signals:

[0137] – A dedicated reference signal (DRS) or a primary synchronization signal / secondary synchronization signal (PSS / SSS) may be used as a preparatory signal to indicate the start of the COT. In this case, the WTRU may be configured with the frequency location and periodicity of the synchronization signal (SS) bursts across the frequency carrier. For example, one PSS / SSS per subband may be configured for the WTRU. The WTRU may monitor the preparatory signal only in the configured DL BWP. The sequence of the PSS and / or SSS may also indicate the bandwidth of the acquired channel. The acquired channel may be defined by the bandwidth of the acquired channel and the first PRB.

[0138] – The CSI-RS resource included in the DRS may be used to indicate the bandwidth and the first PRB of the acquired channel.

[0139] -RRC message for a WTRU configured with one or more active BWPs (e.g., BWPs or sets thereof restricted to resources within the acquired bandwidth) during the signaled COT. For example, the WTRU may receive an RRC (re)configuration of the first active downlink BWP-Id indicating a newly activated DL BWP. The configuration of these activated DL BWPs may also signal the network whether the entire DL BWP is acquired, or which LBT subbands within the configured DL BWP are acquired.

[0140] - A Master Information Block (MIB), which may be received, for example, once the initial DL BWP has been acquired and the associated Synchronization Signal - Physical Broadcast Channel (SS-PBCH) block has been transmitted.

[0141] The WTRU may be configured with multiple CORESETs and search spaces for acquiring system information blocks (SIBs) across the frequency carriers. If the provisioning signal is received, this may instruct the WTRU to monitor one or more CORESETs where the SIBs may be transmitted.

[0142] The preparatory signal or COT preamble may additionally be used to indicate the start of a COT (or DL ​​burst) acquired by the gNB, or may be included in the signal used to indicate the start of a COT (or DL ​​burst) acquired by the gNB.

[0143] In order to avoid the need to monitor the preparation signal at multiple frequency locations, the WTRU may expect to receive the preparation signal at some predefined frequency locations. This may reduce the complexity of the WTRU's preparation signal detection and may reduce the need for the cell to transmit the preparation signal at multiple frequency locations. For example, the WTRU may expect to receive the preparation signal in the subband corresponding to the initial DL BWP.

[0144] Figure 3 An embodiment with two WTRUs (UE1 and UE2) is shown, where the channel acquired by each WTRU contains an initial BWP, which may be common to all WTRUs in the system, such as BWP0. In this case, UE1 and UE2 may receive the preparation signal in the initial active DL BWP(s) (i.e., BWP0). UE1 and UE2 may be configured with a CORESET (CORESET0) and a common search space to receive downlink control information (DCI) indicating the acquired subband (i.e., subband 4) during the signaled COT. The WTRU may also receive system information (SI) indicating the acquired subband within the acquired initial DL BWP. Since the WTRUs are configured with multiple active DL BWs, they may expect to receive the preparation signal at different frequency locations (i.e., different DL BWPs) based on the locations where successful LBT can be performed on the transmitter side. Therefore, UE1 and UE2 also monitor BWP1 and BWP2 for this purpose. Furthermore, a portion of a BWP may be dropped only for the duration of a COT (eg, for UE1, a portion of BWP1 and BWP2 are dropped). This does not prevent the WTRU from receiving an indication of another COT for another set of subbands in these DL BWPs.

[0145] If the WTRU receives a DCI for DL ​​BWP activation during COT (i.e., upon receiving the preparation signal indicating the start of COT), the WTRU may consider that the active DL BWP is acquired by the gNB.

[0146] In an exemplary embodiment, the WTRU monitors all of its active DL BWPs for preparatory signal reception. For example, the WTRU may receive a preparatory signal in one DL BWP, which may activate or trigger monitoring of the associated CORESET and search space (e.g., a CORESET in the same DL BWP as the DL BWP in which the preparatory signal was received).

[0147] For example, refer again to Figure 2 , UE 1, UE2 and UE3 all monitor a common BWP, namely, BWP0. UE 1 also monitors two other BWPs, namely, its BWP1 and BWP2. UE2 also monitors another BWP, namely, its BWP1. Finally, UE3 also monitors another BWP, namely, its BWP1. Note that UE 1's BWP1 and UE2's BWP1 overlap each other. UE 1 and UE2 both receive a preparatory signal, namely, preparatory signal 1, in their respective BWP1s. Therefore, UE 1 and UE2 start monitoring the associated CORESET1 for DCI reception. However, UE3 is not configured with a DL BWP in which the first preparatory signal (i.e., preparatory signal 1) is sent. Therefore, UE3 receives another preparatory signal (i.e., preparatory signal 2) in its active DL BWP1, which triggers monitoring of CORESET2.

[0148] The preparation signal may be transmitted at a time offset from the first PRB of the CORESET, for example, a given number of PRBs before or after the first PRB. If the WTRU receives such a preparation signal, the WTRU may start monitoring the corresponding PDCCH. In the corresponding PDCCH, the WTRU may receive DCI for BWP activation or subband acquisition.

[0149] For example, the WTRU may be configured with a mapping of PRBs to BWPs. If the preparation signal is received in a set of PRBs mapped to a BWP, the WTRU may consider the BWP to be activated. This mapping may be per BWP. Thus, a preparation signal sent on a first BWP may point to a second BWP that is activated.

[0150] The WTRU may be configured to determine the BWP (or several BWPs) for monitoring the preparatory signal based on predefined rules. For example, the WTRU may be configured to monitor the preparatory signal in a target BWP (e.g., the currently active BWP or the BWP in which it received the most recent DL signal). If the preparatory signal is not detected in the target BWP (possibly within a configured time period), the WTRU may be configured to monitor the preparatory signal in one or more other BWPs (e.g., any BWP that was active in the past X ms). Upon failure to detect the preparatory signal in the previous active BWP, the WTRU may add the initial / default BWP to the BWP list to monitor the preparatory signal. Upon failure to detect the preparatory signal (possibly within a configured time period), the WTRU may monitor the preparatory signal in all configured BWPs. If the preparatory signal is not detected in any configured BWP (possibly within a configured time period), the WTRU may include the entire carrier bandwidth for preparatory signal monitoring.

[0151] The WTRU may be configured with a window to monitor the preparation signal, which has a start time, a duration and a periodicity. This configuration may be received via an RRC configuration and may be applied to the WTRU when the WTRU is in connected mode. The monitoring may be performed only outside of DL bursts. The time window may include multiple occasions, each occasion corresponding to a monitoring time and duration for an indicated subband. A first occasion of the window may, for example, be used to monitor a particular subband, a second occasion may be used to monitor another subband, and so on.

[0152] In another solution, the monitoring of subbands may be incremental in time windows. Figure 4 An example of an incremental monitoring procedure performed by a WTRU is depicted, where the first monitoring opportunity of the window (w1 on the left) is dedicated to monitoring subband 3, the second monitoring opportunity (w21 and w22 in the middle) is dedicated to monitoring subband 1 and subband 3, and the last third monitoring opportunity of the window (w31, w32, and w33 on the right) is dedicated to monitoring subband 1, subband 3, and subband 4. In the example shown, a preparation signal is detected at subband 3 in active DL BWP0 at the second monitoring opportunity, which triggers monitoring of CORESET0.

[0153] Upon detection of a preparation signal in any configured or signaled DL BWP or subband, the WTRU may activate the corresponding DL BWP or subband. This activation may be part of a two-step approach combined with DL BWP activation received in a DCI. For example, in a first step, the UE may be instructed to switch the DL BWP to a target DL BWP. The UE may then attempt to receive a preparation signal indicating that the target DL BWP is indeed activated. In another approach, activation of the DLBWP by preparation signal detection may overriding the indicated target DL BWP determined based on a previously received DCI indication. In the case of an overriding activation, the WTRU may deactivate the DCI-activated DL BWP and activate the DLBWP in which the preparation signal is detected. DL BWP switching via preparation signal detection may only be applied outside of DL bursts. On the other hand, during a DL burst, the WTRU may activate or deactivate a BWP based only on: (1) a DCI message, (2) an RRC message, (3) a fallback due to expiration of an inactivity timer, and / or (4) a switch based on a BWP link.

[0154] Upon detecting a provisioning signal indicating that two or more BWPs have been acquired, the WTRU may select a BWP (e.g., consider such acquired BWPs as active) from a set or subset of BWPs (possibly up to a maximum number of simultaneously active BWPs) to receive the PDCCH based on a prioritization rule, such as:

[0155] - if the preparation signal indicates to the WTRU that it should select the last active BWP, then select the last active BWP,

[0156] – if the last active BWP is not available, then if the provisioning signal indicates that the WTRU should select an initial / default BWP, then select the initial / default BWP,

[0157] – If no initial / default BWP is obtained, then if the provisioning signal indicates to select any of the configured BWPs, then select any of the configured BWPs. The WTRU may further prioritize the BWP with the best DL quality,

[0158] - If no configured BWP is acquired, then any BWP indicated by the provisioning signal is selected. The WTRU may also prioritize the BWP with the best DL quality.

[0159] In an alternative monitoring scheme, the WTRU may determine a new BWP as an aggregation of all BWPs (or subbands) indicated as acquired. For example, the WTRU may determine the BWP for monitoring as a frequency range that accommodates at least the set of acquired subbands. For example, for simplicity, to monitor a contiguous frequency range, the BWP may monitor subbands that span all acquired BWPs but include additional contiguous BWPs that are not indicated as acquired. In another example, the WTRU may determine a new BWP as a set of contiguous acquired BWPs (or subbands), such as the largest set thereof.

[0160] Figure 5 is a flow chart of operations of a WTRU for obtaining information regarding resources related to an upcoming COT in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.

[0161] At 502, the WTRU may monitor one or more BWPs configured for the WTRU for the presence of a preparation signal that signals configuration of an upcoming COT.

[0162] At 504, after receiving the preparation signal, the WTRU may determine the CORESET that it should monitor, for example, by using a mapping between a PRB or a set of PRBs in the BWP in which the preparation signal was received and a CORESET index.

[0163] At 506, the WTRU may decode a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) within the determined CORESET.

[0164] A second aspect of the present disclosure relates to bandwidth part (BWP) linking for the random access (RA) procedure. NR may use a one-to-one BWP linking restriction. In NR, when a WTRU initiates a random access (RA), the WTRU may switch its active DL BWP to a DL BWP with the same BWP-Id as the active UL BWP. This linking was initially introduced for contention-based random access (CBRA) so that the network knows where to send the random access response (RAR) when it receives the preamble of the RA procedure (i.e., Msg1 (RACH request)). For consistency, this linking is extended to contention-free random access (CFRA). However, this static linking may not be applicable to NR-U.

[0165] In NR-U, the linked DL BWP that the WTRU expects to receive DL messages during RA may be busy, while the network may have acquired other configured DL BWPs. Similarly, the WTRU's active UL BWP may be busy, and the WTRU may need to switch its active UL BWP to transmit the preamble.

[0166] Therefore, a mechanism is needed that allows multiple active BWPs and associated behaviors to send and receive RA messages.

[0167] If the WTRU is configured with multiple active BWPs, the one-to-one BWP linking introduced in NR may not be ideal. For multiple active DL BWs, the reception of DL messages during RA may depend on the WTRU's ability to monitor multiple PDCCHs simultaneously or how the WTRU determines in which active DL BW it expects to receive a random access response (RAR).

[0168] The following exemplary link may be an explicit link (e.g., an identifier x of a UL BWP may be linked to an identifier y of a DL BWP) or an implicit link. The link may also be at the level of LBT subband granularity rather than the level of BWP granularity. For the remainder of this document, BWP and LBT subband may be used interchangeably. For example, there may be a link between the reception of a preparatory signal in a first LBT subband and the selection of a second LBT subband for the transmission of a random access preamble. An implicit link may be that a physical random access channel (PRACH) resource or a set of PRACH resources associated with a UL BWP is linked to a CORESET or search space configured in a DL BWP. In this way, a WTRU configured with multiple overlapping DL BWPs does not need to switch its active DL BWP, which may occur when it contains a CORESET associated with the linked uplink PRACH resource in which the WTRU transmits the preamble.

[0169] A first implementation may be a one-to-many link, ie, one UL BWP is linked to one or more DL BWPs.

[0170] According to an example, the WTRU may monitor multiple PDCCHs simultaneously. The WTRU may then receive the RAR in one or more linked active DL BWPs. This may depend on the WTRU capabilities, such as in the case of a WTRU with multiple RF chains.

[0171] According to one example, the WTRU may monitor the control region of one BWP at a time.

[0172] For example, the WTRU may perform a PDCCH monitoring scan in time for RAR reception. The WTRU may be configured with a periodic window for PDCCH monitoring, where a time slot or a group of time slots in the window is associated with a PDCCH within a given DL BWP. The RAR timing in the corresponding DL BWP may further match the allocated time window.

[0173] For example, the WTRU may monitor the RAR in the subband acquired by the gNB only when a COT preamble is received. If multiple DL BWPs are activated, the WTRU may receive the RAR in the DL BWP with the random access search space associated with the lowest frequency band. Alternatively, the WTRU may determine the DL BWP in which it can receive the RAR based on a function. Such a function may use at least one of the frequency of the random access CORESET, the timing of the RA preamble transmission, or the timing of the associated dedicated reference signal (DRS) or synchronization signal block (SSB) as input. The WTRU may also determine the DL BWP in which it can receive the RAR based on the type of random access it is performing and the configuration regarding the associated parameters. For example, for beam failure recovery, among the linked active DL BWPs, the WTRU may monitor the DL BWP configured with the recovery search space.

[0174] According to an example, the WTRU may indicate to the network its preference among the configured active DL BWPs for DL ​​message reception during the RA procedure. Such preference may be based on measurements performed by the WTRU on the set of resources contained in the active DL BWPs to allow the network to be aware of possible hidden nodes, i.e., nodes visible to the WTRU but not to the transmitter performing LBT. For example, the mapping of preambles transmitted by the UE to the DL BWPs may enable the WTRU to transmit RA preambles associated with the DL BWPs in which the WTRU prefers to receive RARs. For example, the WTRU may be configured with random access channel (RACH) opportunities associated with each DL BWP.

[0175] A second implementation may be many-to-one linking, ie, multiple UL BWPs are linked to the same DL BWP.

[0176] If the WTRU is configured with multiple UL BWPs and DL BWPs, it may further be configured with linkage between the multiple UL BWPs and one DL BWP.

[0177] The WTRU may be configured with different types of linkage, but activates the many-to-one linkage only when it evaluates that the channel associated with the DL BWP is acquired.

[0178] This type of linking may be applicable, for example, if a preliminary signal of a COT indication associated with the bandwidth of the linked DL BWP has been transmitted to the WTRU before random access is initiated.

[0179] The WTRU may select any of the UL BWPs for preamble transmission and expect to receive the RAR and subsequent messages in the linked DL BWP. For example, the WTRU may select (e.g., autonomously select) a UL BWP based on a UL BWP selection rule. The rule may include at least one of: the UL BWP with the lowest channel occupancy (or channel occupancy below a threshold), the UL BWP with the highest reference signal received quality (RSRQ), the UL BWP associated with the DRS / SSB, the UL BWP associated with the traffic type, the UL BWP indicated in the random access command. The WTRU may monitor the linked DL BWP for the RAR and subsequent DL messages. The WTRU may also select a UL BWP based on measurements of one or a set of configured SSBs and / or CSI-RS resources associated with the corresponding BWP (e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP), RSRQ, signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR), received signal strength indication (RSSI), channel occupancy (CO)). The WTRU may also select a UL BWP based on the configuration regarding dedicated RACH resources, for example, the WTRU may select a UL BWP with dedicated PRACH resources. The WTRU may also select a UL BWP based on the type of RA and the configuration regarding associated parameters. For example, for a beam failure recovery request, the WTRU may select a UL BWP that is configured with recovery resources. For example, for an SI request, the WTRU may select a UL BWP that is configured with PRACH opportunities and / or random access preambles for SI requests.

[0180] According to another embodiment, the WTRU may select a UL BWP in which to perform RACH based on the characteristics of the linked DL BWP(s). For example, the WTRU may be configured with PRACH resources in multiple UL BWPs. In order to determine which UL BWP to switch to and transmit the preamble, the WTRU may use UL BWP / DL BWP linkage. For example, the WTRU may select a UL BWP(s) linked to a DL BWP(s) acquired by the gNB, for example, based on the reception of a preparation signal. If multiple DL BWPs are acquired, the WTRU may perform UL BWP selection based on the measurement results of the acquired DL BWPs, for example, the WTRU may select the UL BWP linked to the DL BWP with the highest measurement result (e.g., RSRQ). If LBT on the selected UL BWP is not successful, the WTRU may transmit a preamble, such as Msg1, in any acquired UL BWP or subband. The mapping of the preamble and / or PRACH resources may allow the WTRU to indicate the fallback. Priority rules may be used to determine in which DL subband the gNB may subsequently transmit the preparation signal, and the WTRU may monitor the RAR, e.g., the lowest acquired subband in frequency.

[0181] If the linked DL BWP includes only one subband, the WTRU may detect the provisioning signal and may monitor the associated subband for RAR. If the linked DL BWP includes more than one acquired subband (i.e., multiple detected provisioning signals), the WTRU may be configured to monitor more than one subband in the linked DL BWP for RAR.

[0182] In another embodiment, the WTRU may be configured with an association between PRACH resources and / or preambles and subbands in the linked DL BWP to indicate in the preamble transmission the DL subband(s) on which it desires to receive the RAR.

[0183] If there are multiple active BWPs and the WTRU receives an indication of the COT structure of the current DL burst, the WTRU may report the subband identifier of the best BWP / subband for transmitting the DL message in Msg1 or Msg3 (RRC Connection Request). The determination of the best subband may be based on subband measurements. For example, it may be based on channel occupancy to help the network determine the presence of hidden nodes.

[0184] According to a further embodiment, while the network acquires multiple DL BWs based on successful LBT on multiple subbands, it may be beneficial to indicate to the WTRU where to receive DL messages during the random access procedure. This indication may allow the WTRU to monitor the search space for RAR and Msg4 (contention resolution message) in only one DL BWP. This may also allow the gNB to indicate to the WTRU which DL BWPs in the active DL BWPs are acquired by the network while random access is ongoing. For example, if the COT associated with a DL BWP (where the WTRU has received Msg2 (RAR)) expires soon and the network has acquired the subband in another DL BWP, it may be beneficial to indicate in Msg2 (RAR) that the subsequent message will be received in another DL BWP. For load balancing between multiple DL BWPs, it may also be beneficial to be able to signal another DL BWP for RA message reception.

[0185] Similarly, when the WTRU is configured with multiple active DL BWPs, it may be beneficial to allow the WTRU to indicate, based on certain criteria, a preferred DL BWP for reception of RAR and subsequent messages (i.e., Msg4 and possibly other messages such as RRC messages, DCI, SI, etc.). This indication may be based, for example, on measurements performed by the WTRU and may help mitigate the hidden node problem.

[0186] A third aspect of the present disclosure relates to BWP inactivity timer operation and the associated behavior of the WTRU. In practice, other BWP operation procedures (e.g., fallback to the initial / default BWP when the inactivity timer expires, as agreed in NR) may not be applicable to NR-U. Specifically, the inactivity timer may expire frequently due to LBT failures, causing the WTRUs in the system to fall back to the initial BWP multiple times (thus overcrowding that BWP). In addition, due to the LBT mechanism, the initial / default DL BWP may not be available. Therefore, in this case, a new mechanism is needed to specify the behavior of the WTRU. Finally, it has been considered beneficial to allow multiple active DL BWPs in NR-U, and therefore, the inactivity timer operation in this case must be appropriately defined.

[0187] The BWP inactivity timer may often expire due to LBT failure. In addition, since the initial / default DL BWP may not be acquired by the gNB (e.g. due to high channel occupancy), the current behavior in NR where the UE switches to the initial / default downlink bandwidth portion may not be applicable.

[0188] To operate with multiple active DL BWP operations, different configurations for the BWP inactivity timer may be considered.

[0189] In one embodiment, the WTRU may be configured with a single inactivity timer for all active DL BWPs. If an additional DL BWP is activated for the WTRU, the inactivity timer may be restarted.

[0190] In another embodiment, the WTRU may be configured with an inactivity timer for one or more DL BWPs of a set. The DL BWP set may have resources overlapping with at least one LBT subband. Once the inactivity timer for a set of DL BWPs expires, the WTRU may consider the DL BWP to be inactive. In addition, if there are no other currently active DL BWPs, the WTRU may switch to (or activate) the initial DL BWP.

[0191] Depending on the status of the COT signaled to the WTRU, the BWP inactivity timer may be started / restarted / stopped / paused. Such a timer may be considered as an inactivity timer based on the COT duration. For example, the WTRU may only run the inactivity timer for the DL BWP if there is an active COT in all, some, or at least one of the LBT subbands associated with the DLBWP. If the above conditions are not met, the WTRU may suspend or suspend the inactivity timer for that DLBWP or set of DL BWPs. The WTRU may restart the suspended inactivity timer upon determining that all, some, or at least one of the LBT subbands are acquired by the gNB (e.g., upon receipt of a preparation signal).

[0192] The WTRU may maintain more than one timer. For example, on top of the conventional BWP-specific inactivity timer as in NR, the WTRU may be configured with an additional timer for BWP inactivity during the COT (e.g., an inactivity timer based on the COT duration). The two timers may also be associated with different behaviors of the WTRU when they expire, as described in the following paragraphs. For example, the WTRU may maintain two BWP inactivity timers, one during the COT and one outside the COT, and may determine which timer to use based on the detection of the preparation signal.

[0193] An inactivity timer based on the COT duration associated with a DL BWP or a set of DL BWPs may be started or restarted at the start of the COT. For example, the WTRU may start the timer when it has received a COT preparation signal or a DCI indicating the capture of the associated DL BWP. If the COT duration has been explicitly signaled, the WTRU may stop or pause the timer at the end of the COT. Otherwise, the WTRU may stop the timer at the end of the specified maximum channel occupancy time or any other predetermined duration.

[0194] If the WTRU is configured with more than one active DL BWP, and if the BWP inactivity timer associated with one of the active DL BWPs expires, the WTRU may autonomously deactivate the corresponding DL BWP.

[0195] If the WTRU has only one active DL BWP and the inactivity timer expires (e.g., if the inactivity timer based on the COT duration expires, but the regular inactivity timer is still running), the WTRU may switch to another configured DL BWP for which the WTRU has received an indication of channel acquisition (e.g., a COT preparation signal). The determination of the target DL BWP may depend on any one or more of the following.

[0196] In one embodiment, if the WTRU has received a preparation signal / DCI indicating the start of COT in an inactive DL BWP, the WTRU may switch its active DL BWP to that BWP.

[0197] In one embodiment, if the gNB has acquired multiple BWPs, the WTRU may switch to the DLBWP with the highest measured RSSI.

[0198] In one embodiment, if the gNB has acquired multiple BWPs, the WTRU may switch to the DL BWP with the highest number of best beams (e.g., above a predefined threshold).

[0199] If the WTRU has autonomously switched to a DL BWP that is different from the initial / default DL BWP, the WTRU may inform the network of the switch. For example, the WTRU may transmit an UL message (eg, uplink control information (UCI)) to indicate the newly activated DL BWP.

[0200] A fourth aspect of the present disclosure relates to selecting UL and DL BWPs for reception and / or transmission in an unlicensed environment. In NR-U, when multiple UL and DL BWPs are available for reception and / or transmission, the WTRU may need to select a BWP to activate or transmit an indication to the network as to which DL BWP must be used for DL ​​transmission. This indication is particularly useful in handling hidden node problems, where the network may have acquired multiple DL BWPs, but one particular band may be more beneficial for a given WTRU (e.g., with respect to interference and / or channel conditions for receiving DL messages).

[0201] The WTRU may be configured with BWP specific measurement events and reports in order to help the network configure the active DL BWP and / or activate / deactivate the BWP.

[0202] A WTRU may be configured with one or a set of CSI-RS resources restricted to a specific frequency band.

[0203] In one embodiment, one or a set of CSI-RS resources are configured on each configured DL BWP.

[0204] In one embodiment, one or a set of CSI-RS resources are configured on each active DL BWP.

[0205] In one embodiment, one or a set of CSI-RS resources are configured on each of the LBT subbands.

[0206] The WTRU may also be configured with measurement events that allow triggering of measurement reports when a CSI-RS or a set of configured CSI-RS resources meets a given measurement result criterion. The criterion may be any one of RSRP, RSRQ, SINR, RSSI, channel occupancy, or any combination thereof.

[0207] In one embodiment, if a measurement quantity or a combination of measurement quantities associated with a DL BWP is above a threshold, a measurement report may be triggered. For example, if the RSRP and RSSI of the CSI-RS measured in any configured DL BWP are above a threshold, a measurement report may be triggered.

[0208] If the measurement quantity or a set of measurement quantities associated with a CSI-RS resource on one DL BWP is offset better than the measurement quantity in the resource on another configured DL BWP, for example, higher by a certain number of dB, a measurement report may be triggered. For example, if the RSSI associated with a set of CSI-RS resources on an inactive DL BWP is offset lower than the measured RSSI associated with the CSI-RS resource on the active DL BWP, i.e., lower by a certain number of dB, a report may be triggered.

[0209] If the WTRU has received an indication (eg, a COT preparation signal) that a given BWP has been acquired by the network, the WTRU may report measurements associated with the CSI-RS resources in the associated DL BWP.

[0210] The measurement report may include measurement results associated with BWP-specific measurements.

[0211] The WTRU may maintain or perform measurements on the CSI-RS associated with a BWP only when it is notified that the BWP has been acquired by the gNB.

[0212] A fifth aspect of the present disclosure relates to the operation of the supplementary uplink (SUL) and fallback to SUL in NR-U. In NR-U, although the diversity of BWP and associated LBT subbands in a wideband carrier can allow the network to increase the chances of channel acquisition and successful UL / DL transmission, the channel may be loaded or experience high levels of interference due to different nodes potentially from different operators sharing the channel.

[0213] Supplementary uplink (SUL) has been introduced in NR to cope with limited uplink coverage in high frequency scenarios, but an additional uplink carrier for UL transmission fallback is also beneficial in unlicensed environments where channels in a conventional carrier are shared by different uncoordinated nodes.

[0214] Selecting the SUL based on received power in the DL may also be affected by the WTRU maintaining multiple active DL BWPs and may require specific behavior to trigger a fallback to a more reliable uplink. Additionally, if LBT is performed per subband, different BWPs may experience different levels of interference and / or the reference signal used as a path loss reference may not be sent at RA initiation.

[0215] In one embodiment, if the regular uplink (RUL) in the cell is assessed to be unreliable for uplink transmission, the WTRU may switch its active UL carrier to a supplementary uplink carrier (SUL).

[0216] The SUL may operate in any of the following deployment scenarios:

[0217] – SUL in unlicensed and RUL / DL in unlicensed;

[0218] – SUL in licensed, RUL / DL in unlicensed: Such a deployment is beneficial to allow the WTRU to select a licensed UL carrier if the RUL is loaded or if the WTRU cannot successfully transmit in the UL due to high interference levels;

[0219] – SUL in licensed, RUL in unlicensed, DL in licensed;

[0220] – SUL in licensed, RUL in licensed, DL in unlicensed.

[0221] The WTRU may need to estimate the DL reception of a cell to trigger the selection of a SUL for a RA procedure. The estimation may be based on a path loss reference which may be performed in a DL BWP or in multiple DL BWPs if the WTRU is configured in multiple configured BWPs.

[0222] The triggering condition may be based on measurements performed by the WTRU. In one embodiment, the WTRU may switch to the SUL based on one or a combination of the following conditions:

[0223] – The WTRU is unable to perform a successful CCA in the UL carrier. For example, the WTRU is unable to successfully acquire a channel in any UL BWP within a certain amount of time;

[0224] – The channel load (e.g., RSSI and / or channel occupancy) of the RUL carrier is above a threshold;

[0225] – the channel load associated with the active UL BWP in the RUL is above a threshold;

[0226] – The average value of the channel load in all active UL BWPs in the RUL is above the threshold;

[0227] – the channel load associated with the SUL carrier is below a threshold and the channel load associated with the RUL is above a threshold;

[0228] - an average channel load associated with a configured UL BWP in the SUL is lower than the average channel load associated with an active UL BWP in the RUL by an offset;

[0229] – the RSRP and / or RSRQ and / or SINR of the DL frequency carrier is below a threshold;

[0230] - The RSRP and / or RSRQ and / or SINR of the DL BWP and / or the average of the measurements of all active DL BWPs is below a threshold.

[0231] The WTRU may be configured with a set of rules to evaluate the downlink signal quality and determine whether SUL selection is required.

[0232] In an embodiment, the WTRU may determine the DL reference path loss and link quality based on measurements of any DL BWP where the WTRU has received an indication of a successful LBT (eg, based on reception of a COT preparation signal as described above).

[0233] In one embodiment, the WTRU may perform such an evaluation based on measurements of DL BWP(s) linked to configured active BWP(s) in the RUL carrier. Such a configuration may be specifically received by the WTRU in a radio resource control (RRC) configuration. Such a linkage may be based on the LBT subbands associated with the UL and DL BWPs. For example, in order to select a SUL for its UL transmission, the WTRU may determine that the measurement results in the DL BWP(s) including the same LBT subband(s) as the active UL BWP(s) are below a threshold Th.

[0234] In an embodiment, the WTRU may be configured with one or a set of reference signals associated with each UL BWP in the RUL carrier. The WTRU may select SUL if the measurement results of all reference signals are below a predefined threshold, or if the average measurement results of all reference signals associated with all active UL BWPs are below a threshold, or if the reference signal associated with a UL BWP that has successfully performed LBT is below a threshold, the UE may select SUL.

[0235] Figure 6 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of the operation of a WTRU switching from a RUL to a SUL.

[0236] At 602, the WTRU may be operating on a regular uplink carrier (RUL), which may be in or out of a licensed spectrum. Additionally, the WTRU may continuously measure multiple channel conditions.

[0237] At 604, the WTRU, in response to one or more measurements, may determine that channel conditions have changed sufficiently to warrant a possible switch from the RUL to a supplemental uplink carrier (SUL).

[0238] At 606, in response to such a determination, the WTRU may switch its active UL carrier to the SUL, which may be in a licensed spectrum or an unlicensed spectrum.

[0239] At 608, the WTRU may begin operating on the SUL.

[0240] in conclusion

[0241] Although the features and elements are described above in specific combinations, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that each feature or element may be used alone or in any combination with the other features and elements. In addition, the methods described herein may be implemented in a computer program, software, or firmware incorporated into a computer-readable medium for execution by a computer or processor. Examples of non-transitory computer-readable media include, but are not limited to, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), registers, buffer memory, semiconductor storage devices, magnetic media (e.g., internal hard disks and removable disks), magneto-optical media, and optical media (e.g., CD-ROM disks and digital versatile disks (DVDs)). A processor associated with the software may be used to implement a radio frequency transceiver for use in a WTRU 102, UE, terminal, base station, RNC, or any computer host.

[0242] In addition, in the above embodiments, processing platforms, computing systems, controllers, and other devices (including constraint servers and assembly points / servers containing processors) are mentioned. These devices may include at least one central processing unit ("CPU") and memory. According to the practice of technicians in the field of computer programming, references to behaviors or symbolic representations of operations or instructions may be performed by different CPUs and memories. Such behaviors and operations or instructions may be referred to as "running", "computer running", or "CPU running".

[0243] Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that actions and symbolically represented operations or instructions include manipulation of electronic signals by a CPU. The electronic system represents data bits that may cause electronic signals to be transformed or reduced thereby, and stores the data bits in memory locations in a memory system, thereby reconfiguring or otherwise altering the data bits for CPU operations and other signal processing. The memory locations that hold data bits are physical locations that have specific electrical, magnetic, optical, or organic properties that correspond to or represent the data bits. It should be understood that the representative embodiments herein are not limited to the above-mentioned platforms or CPUs, and other platforms and CPUs may also support the provided methods.

[0244] The data bits may also be stored on a computer-readable medium, including a magnetic disk, an optical disk, or any other volatile (e.g., random access memory ("RAM")) or non-volatile (e.g., read-only memory ("ROM")) mass storage system that can be read by the CPU. The computer-readable medium may include cooperating or interconnected computer-readable media that may exist alone on a processing system or distributed among multiple interconnected processing systems that are local or remote to the processing system. It should be understood that these representative embodiments are not limited to the above-mentioned memories, and other platforms and memories may also support the described methods.

[0245] In an illustrative embodiment, any operations, processes, etc. described herein may be implemented as computer-readable instructions stored on a computer-readable medium. The computer-readable instructions may be executed by a processor of a mobile unit, a network component, and / or any other computing device.

[0246] There is almost no difference between hardware and software embodiments of various aspects of the system. Whether to use hardware or software is usually (for example, but not always, because in some contexts, the choice between hardware and software may be important) a design choice that represents a compromise between cost and efficiency. The processes and / or systems and / or other techniques described herein can be implemented by various carriers (for example, hardware, software and / or firmware), and the preferred carrier can change with the context in which the processes and / or systems and / or other techniques are deployed. For example, if the implementation determines that speed and accuracy are primary, then the implementer may tend to use primarily hardware and / or firmware carriers. If flexibility is primary, then the implementer may tend to use primarily software embodiments. Alternatively, the implementer can choose some combination of hardware, software and / or firmware.

[0247] The above specific embodiments have been described in detail with reference to different embodiments of the device and / or process using block diagrams, flow charts and / or examples. Just as such block diagrams, flow charts and / or examples contain one or more functions and / or operations, those skilled in the art will understand that each function and / or operation within such block diagrams, flow charts or examples can be implemented individually and / or collectively by a wide range of hardware, software, firmware or nearly any combination thereof. As an example, suitable processors include general-purpose processors, special-purpose processors, conventional processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors associated with a DSP core, controllers, microcontrollers, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), application-specific standard products (ASSPs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) circuits, any other type of integrated circuits (ICs), and / or state machines.

[0248] Although the features and elements in a specific combination are described above, it will be recognized by those skilled in the art that each feature or element can be used alone or in any combination with other features and elements. The present disclosure is not limited in accordance with the embodiments described in the present application, wherein the purpose of the embodiments is to illustrate different aspects. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that numerous modifications and changes are possible without departing from the essence and scope. Unless provided in an explicit manner, the elements, behaviors or instructions used in the specification of the present application should not be interpreted as being essential to the present invention. In addition to the methods and devices enumerated here, those skilled in the art can clearly understand from the above description that the functionally equivalent methods and devices within the scope of the present disclosure. Such modifications and changes should all fall within the scope of the appended claims. The present disclosure is limited only in accordance with the appended claims and the full range of equivalents that such claims have. It should be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to a specific method or system.

[0249] It should also be understood that the terms used herein are used only to describe specific embodiments and are not intended to be limiting. When referred to herein, the terms "station" and its abbreviation "STA", "user equipment" and its abbreviation "UE" used herein may refer to (i) a wireless transmit and / or receive unit (WTRU) as described below; (ii) any of the multiple embodiments of the WTRU described below; (iii) a device with wireless capabilities and / or wired capabilities (e.g., connectable), in particular, the device is configured with some or all of the structures and functions of the WTRU described above; (iii) a device with wireless capabilities and / or wired capabilities configured with relatively fewer structures and functions than all of the structures and functions of the WTRU described above; or (iv) a similar device. Details of an exemplary WTRU that may represent any UE described herein are described below in conjunction with the attached Figures 1A-1D and is provided.

[0250] In certain representative embodiments, several portions of the subject matter described herein may be implemented with the aid of an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a digital signal processor (DSP), and / or other integrated formats. However, those skilled in the art will recognize that some aspects of the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented in whole or in part in an integrated circuit in an equivalent manner, as one or more computer programs running on one or more computers (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more computer systems), as one or more programs running on one or more processors (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more microprocessors), as firmware, or as nearly any combination thereof, and that circuit design and / or code writing for software and / or firmware are also within the technical scope of those skilled in the art in accordance with the present disclosure. In addition, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the mechanisms of the subject matter described herein may be distributed in various forms as a program product, and that the illustrative embodiments of the subject matter described herein are applicable regardless of the particular type of signal-bearing medium used to actually perform the distribution. Examples of signal bearing media include, but are not limited to, the following: recordable media, such as floppy disks, hard drives, CDs, DVDs, digital tapes, computer memory, etc., and transmission-type media, such as digital and / or analog communication media (e.g., optical cables, waveguides, wired communication links, wireless communication links, etc.).

[0251] The subject matter described here sometimes shows different components contained in or connected to other different components.It should be understood that the architecture described in this way is only some examples, and other numerous architectures for implementing the same function are actually all implementable.Conceptually, any arrangement of the components that realize the same function is effectively "associated", so that the desired function can be realized.Therefore, any two components that are combined here to realize a specific function can be considered to be "associated" with each other, so that the desired function will be realized, without considering architecture or intermediate components.Similarly, any two components associated in this way can also be considered to be "operably connected" or "operably coupled" to each other, so as to realize the desired function, and any two components that can be associated in this way can also be considered to be "operably coupled" to each other, so as to realize the desired function.About the specific example that can be operably coupled, include but are not limited to components that can be physically paired and / or physically interacted and / or components that can be wirelessly interacted and / or wirelessly interacted and / or components that can be logically interacted and / or components that can be logically interacted.

[0252] As for the use of substantially any plural and / or singular terms herein, those skilled in the art may appropriately convert from the plural to the singular and / or from the singular to the plural, depending on the context and / or application. For the sake of clarity, various singular / plural permutations may be explicitly set forth herein.

[0253] Those skilled in the art will understand that, in general, terms used herein, and particularly in the appended claims (e.g., the bodies of the appended claims), should generally be treated as "open" terms (for example, the term "including" should be interpreted as "including but not limited to," the term "having" should be interpreted as "having at least," the term "comprising" should be interpreted as "including but not limited to," etc.). Those skilled in the art will further understand that if an introduced claim recitation is directed to a specific quantity, such intent should be expressly recited in the claim, and if such recitation is absent, such intent is absent. For example, if only one item is intended, the term "single" or similar language may be used. As an aid to understanding, subsequent appended claims and / or the description herein may include the use of the introductory phrases "at least one" and "one or more" to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed as a way of introducing claim recitations by the indefinite article "a" or "an" to limit any particular claim containing claim recitations introduced in this manner to embodiments containing only one such recitation, even if the same claim contains the introductory phrases "one or more" or "at least one" and an indefinite article such as "a" or "an" (e.g., "a" and / or "an" should be construed to mean "at least one" or "one or more"). The same is true for the use of definite articles to introduce claim recitations. Furthermore, even if a specific number of claim recitations introduced is explicitly recited, one skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should be construed to refer to at least the recited number (e.g., an unmodified recitation of "two recitations" without other modifiers means at least two recitations or two or more recitations).

[0254] Furthermore, in these examples, if a convention similar to "at least one of A, B, and C, etc." is used, such a structure should generally have the meaning of the convention understood by those skilled in the art (e.g., "a system having at least one of A, B, and C" would include but not be limited to systems having only A, only B, only C, A and B, A and C, B and C, and / or A, B, and C, etc.). In examples where a convention similar to "at least one of A, B, or C, etc." is used, such a structure should generally have the meaning of the convention understood by those skilled in the art (e.g., "a system having at least one of A, B, or C" would include but not be limited to systems having only A, only B, only C, A and B, A and C, B and C, and / or A, B, and C, etc.). Those skilled in the art will further understand that almost any disjunctive word and / or phrase that proposes two or more alternatives, whether in the specification, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibility of including one, any, or both of these items. For example, the phrase "A or B" will be understood to include the possibilities of "A" or "B" or "A and B." In addition, the term "any" as used herein followed by a list of multiple items and / or multiple categories of items is intended to include "any," "any combination," "any plurality," and / or "any combination of plurality" of the items and / or categories of items, alone or in combination with other items and / or other categories of items. In addition, the terms "set" or "group" as used herein shall include any number of items, including zero. In addition, the term "number" as used herein is intended to include any number, including zero.

[0255] In addition, where features or aspects of the disclosure are described in terms of Markush groups, those skilled in the art will recognize that the disclosure is thereby described in terms of any individual member or subgroup of members of the Markush group.

[0256] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that, for any and all purposes (e.g., in providing a written description), all ranges disclosed herein also include any and all possible sub-ranges and combinations of sub-ranges thereof. Any range listed can be easily considered to fully describe and enable the same range to be decomposed into at least two equal parts, three equal parts, four equal parts, five equal parts, ten equal parts, etc. As a non-limiting example, each range discussed herein can be easily decomposed into a lower third, a middle third, and an upper third range. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that all languages ​​such as "at most", "at least", "greater than", "less than", etc. include the narrated numbers and refer to ranges that can be subsequently decomposed into sub-ranges as described above. Finally, as those skilled in the art understand, a range includes each individual member. Thus, for example, a group having 1-3 cells refers to a group having 1, 2, or 3 cells. Similarly, a group having 1-5 cells refers to a group having 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 cells, and so on.

[0257] Furthermore, unless otherwise indicated, the claims should not be misconstrued as limited to the described order or elements. In addition, the term "means for..." used in any claim is intended to invoke 35 U.S.C. §112, or to mean a "means-plus-function" claim format, and any claim without the word "means" shall not have such a meaning.

[0258] A processor in association with software may be used to implement a radio frequency transceiver for use in a wireless transmit receive unit (WTRU), user equipment (UE), terminal, base station, mobility management entity (MME) or evolved packet core (EPC) or any host computer. The WTRU may be used in conjunction with modules implemented in hardware and / or software, including software defined radio (SDR) and other components such as a camera, a video camera module, a videophone, a speaker amplifier, a vibration device, a speaker, a microphone, a television transceiver, a hands-free headset, a keyboard, a module, a frequency modulation (FM) radio unit, a near field communication (NFC) module, a liquid crystal display (LCD) display unit, an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display unit, a digital music player, a media player, a video game console module, an Internet browser and / or any wireless local area network (WLAN) or ultra-wideband (UWB) module.

[0259] Although the present invention has been described in terms of a communication system, it is contemplated that the system may be implemented in software on a microprocessor / general purpose computer (not shown). In some embodiments, one or more of the functions of the various components may be implemented in software controlling a general purpose computer.

[0260] Furthermore, while the invention has been shown and described herein with reference to specific embodiments, the invention is not limited to the details shown. Rather, various modifications may be made to the details within the range of equivalents of the claims and without departing from the invention.

[0261] Throughout the disclosure, a skilled artisan will appreciate that certain representative embodiments may be used instead of or in combination with other representative embodiments.

[0262] Although the features and elements are described above in specific combinations, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that each feature or element may be used alone or in any combination with the other features and elements. In addition, the methods described herein may be implemented in a computer program, software, or firmware that is incorporated into a computer-readable medium for execution by a computer or processor. Examples of non-transitory computer-readable storage media include, but are not limited to, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), registers, buffer memory, semiconductor storage devices, magnetic media (e.g., internal hard disks and removable disks), magneto-optical media, and optical media (e.g., CD-ROM discs and digital versatile discs (DVDs)). A processor associated with the software may be used to implement a radio frequency transceiver used in a WTRU, UE, terminal, base station, RNC, or any computer host.

[0263] In addition, processing platforms, computing systems, controllers, and other devices containing processors are described in the above embodiments. These devices may include at least one central processing unit ("CPU") and memory. According to the practice of technicians in the field of computer programming, references to the behavior or symbolic representation of operations or instructions may be performed by different CPUs and memories. Such behaviors and operations or instructions may be referred to as "running", "computer running", or "CPU running".

[0264] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the actions and symbolically represented operations or instructions include the manipulation of electronic signals by the CPU. The electronic system represents data bits that may cause the electronic signals to be transformed or reduced thereby, and the data bits to be stored in memory locations in the memory system, thereby reconfiguring or otherwise altering the CPU operations and other signal processing data bits. The memory locations that hold data bits are physical locations that have specific electrical, magnetic, optical, or organic properties that correspond to or represent the data bits.

[0265] The data bits may also be stored on a computer-readable medium, wherein the medium includes a disk, an optical disk, and any other volatile (e.g., random access memory ("RAM")) or non-volatile (e.g., read-only memory ("ROM")) mass storage system readable by the CPU. The computer-readable medium may include cooperating or interconnected computer-readable media, which may exist alone on a processing system or distributed among multiple interconnected processing systems located locally or remotely from the processing system. It is understood that these representative embodiments are not limited to the above-mentioned memories, and other platforms and memories may also support the described methods.

[0266] By way of example, suitable processors include a general purpose processor, a special purpose processor, a conventional processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors associated with a DSP core, a controller, a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an application specific standard product (ASSP); a field programmable gate array (FPGA) circuit, any other type of integrated circuit (IC), and / or a state machine.

[0267] Although the present invention has been described in terms of a communication system, it is contemplated that the system may be implemented in software on a microprocessor / general purpose computer (not shown). In some embodiments, one or more of the functions of the various components may be implemented in software controlling a general purpose computer.

[0268] Furthermore, while the invention has been shown and described herein with reference to specific embodiments, the invention is not limited to the details shown. Rather, various modifications may be made to the details within the range of equivalents of the claims and without departing from the invention.

Claims

1. A wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU), comprising: The transceiver, memory and processor are configured to: Monitor one or more frequency bands, receiving information related to an upcoming channel occupancy time (COT) in one of the one or more frequency bands, and At least one resource for operation of the WTRU during the COT is determined based on the received information.

2. The WTRU of claim 1 , wherein: The information related to the upcoming COT includes signaling information of occupied channels in the frequency domain during the COT.

3. The WTRU of claim 1 , wherein: The information related to the upcoming COT includes a duration of the COT.

4. The WTRU of claim 1 , wherein: The at least one resource comprises a control resource set (CORESET) associated with operation of the WTRU during the COT.

5. The WTRU of claim 1 , wherein: Determining the at least one resource for operation of the WTRU during the COT includes determining to switch from a first downlink (DL) bandwidth part (BWP) to a second DL BWP.

6. The WTRU of claim 1 , wherein: Determining the at least one resource for operation of the WTRU during the COT includes selecting an uplink (UL) bandwidth part (BWP) or a listen-before-talk (LBT) subband set.

7. The WTRU of claim 1 , wherein: The transceiver, memory and processor are configured to: An inactivity timer associated with at least one DL BWP is configured.

8. The WTRU of claim 1 , wherein: The transceiver, memory and processor are configured to: If no inactivity timer of the DL BWP is suspended, triggering the inactivity timer at the beginning of the first COT; pausing the inactivity timer when the first COT ends, If a second COT starts while the inactivity timer of the DL BWP is suspended, restarting the suspended inactivity timer, and When the inactivity timer expires, the at least one DL BWP is deactivated.

9. A wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU), comprising: The transceiver, memory and processor are configured to: receiving information related to the upcoming channel occupancy time (COT), and Determine at least one resource for operation of the WTRU during the COT based on the received information, wherein the at least one resource for operation of the WTRU includes at least one of a downlink bandwidth part (DL BWP) and a listen-before-talk (LBT) subband set.

10. The WTRU of claim 9, wherein: The information related to the upcoming COT is received in at least one of: a random access channel (RACH) preamble, a system information block (SIB), a master information block (MIB), and downlink control information (DCI).

11. The WTRU of claim 9, wherein: The selection is based on at least one measurement performed by the WTRU.

12. The WTRU of claim 11 wherein: The transceiver, memory, and processor are configured to trigger a measurement report when the at least one measurement associated with the DL BWP satisfies one or more conditions.

13. A wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU), comprising: The transceiver, memory and processor are configured to: Determine the active uplink (UL) bandwidth part (BWP), switching from a first downlink (DL) BWP to one or more second DL BWPs based on association with the active UL BWP, and A random access (RA) procedure is performed using the one or more second DL BWPs.

14. The WTRU of claim 13 wherein: The transceiver, memory and processor are configured to: The RA procedure is performed, the RA procedure comprising sending a preamble in one of the second DL BWPs.

15. The WTRU of claim 13 wherein: The transceiver, memory and processor are configured to: The RA procedure is performed, the RA procedure comprising monitoring an RA response in any of the one or more second DL BWPs.

16. The WTRU of claim 13 wherein: The transceiver, memory and processor are configured to: One or more second DL BWPs are determined based on an association of the one or more second DL BWPs with an identifier of the active UL BWP.

17. The WTRU of claim 13 wherein: The transceiver, memory and processor are configured to: The one or more second DL BWPs are determined based on an association of RA resources of the one or more second DL BWPs with the active UL BWP.

18. The WTRU of claim 13 wherein: The one or more second DL BWPs each include one or more listen-before-talk (LBT) subbands.

19. The WTRU of claim 13 wherein: The active UL BWP is associated with wideband operation of the WTRU.

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