Exclude resources

Abstract

Exemplary embodiments of this disclosure relate to methods, apparatus, and computer-readable storage media for resource exclusion. In one method, the apparatus determines at least one set of resource blocks (RBs) in which a continuous listen-before-talk (LBT) failure is detected. The apparatus then determines the number of available resource candidates within a time window, and the available resource candidates exclude resource candidates on that at least one set of RBs within the time window.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] Various exemplary embodiments of this disclosure generally relate to the field of telecommunications, and more particularly to methods, apparatus, and computer-readable storage media for resource exclusion. [Background technology]

[0002] The evolution of sidelink in New Radio (NR) in Release 18 (Rel-18) supports sidelink in unlicensed spectrum (SL-U). In the sub-7 GHz unlicensed band, the Listen Before Talking (LBT) channel access mechanism ensures the coexistence of NR systems with other systems, such as IEEE 802.11 systems. In this mechanism, user equipment (UE) attempting to perform sidelink (SL) transmission must first successfully complete an LBT check before it can begin transmitting. LBT may also be called Clear Channel Assessment (CCA) or Channel Access Procedure. A UE may attempt to transmit multiple times, but LBT for transmission on the associated RB set may continuously fail, for example, if the channel is very congested. Such continuous failures may be called consistent LBT (C-LBT or CLBT) failures. [Overview of the project]

[0003] In a first aspect of the present disclosure, an apparatus is provided. The apparatus comprises at least one processor and at least one memory for storing instructions, the instructions, when executed by at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform at least: determine at least one set of resource blocks (RBs) in which a continuous listen-before-talk (LBT) failure is detected; and determine the number of available resource candidates within a time window, wherein the available resource candidates exclude resource candidates on that at least one set of RBs within the time window.

[0004] A second aspect of this disclosure provides a method, which includes determining at least one set of resource blocks (RBs) in which a persistent listen-before-talk (LBT) failure is detected, and determining the number of available resource candidates within a time window, wherein the available resource candidates exclude resource candidates on that at least one set of RBs within the time window.

[0005] A third aspect of the present disclosure provides an apparatus comprising means for determining at least one set of resource blocks (RBs) on which a continuous listen-before-talk (LBT) failure is detected, and means for determining the number of available resource candidates within a time window, wherein the available resource candidates exclude resource candidates on that at least one set of RBs within the time window.

[0006] A fourth aspect of this disclosure provides a computer-readable medium which stores instructions for causing a device to perform at least the method according to the second aspect.

[0007] It should be understood that the summary section of the invention is not intended to identify the main or important features of the embodiments of this disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of this disclosure. Other features of the invention will be readily apparent through the following description.

[0008] Several exemplary embodiments will be described below with reference to the attached drawings. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0009] [Figure 1] This figure shows an exemplary communication environment in which exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented. [Figure 2] This is a flowchart illustrating exemplary methods for excluding resources according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 3] This is a simplified block diagram of a device suitable for carrying out exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 4] This is a block diagram of an exemplary computer-readable medium according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0010] Throughout the drawing, identical or similar reference numbers represent identical or similar elements.

[0011] The principles of this disclosure will be explained below with reference to several exemplary embodiments. These embodiments are described for illustrative purposes only and are intended to assist those skilled in the art in understanding and implementing this disclosure, without implying any limitation on the scope of this disclosure. The embodiments described herein can be implemented in various ways other than those described below.

[0012] In the following description and claims, unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as those generally understood by those skilled in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

[0013] References in this disclosure such as “one embodiment,” “one example embodiment,” or “one exemplary embodiment” indicate that the described embodiments may include certain features, structures, or characteristics, but not all embodiments are required to include such features, structures, or characteristics. Furthermore, such phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Moreover, if certain features, structures, or characteristics are described in relation to one embodiment, it is considered within the knowledge of those skilled in the art that such features, structures, or characteristics may be affected in relation to other embodiments, whether explicitly described or not.

[0014] In this specification, terms such as “first,” “second,” etc., may be used to describe various elements, but it should be understood that these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are used solely to distinguish one element from another. For example, without departing from the scope of the exemplary embodiments, the first element may be called the second element, and similarly, the second element may be called the first element. As used herein, the term “and / or” includes any combination of one or more of the listed terms.

[0015] As used herein, “at least one of the following: <list of two or more elements>” and “at least one of the <list of two or more elements>,” as well as similar wording in which lists of two or more elements are joined by “and” or “or,” mean at least one of those elements, or at least two or more of those elements, or at least all of those elements.

[0016] As used herein, unless expressly stated otherwise, performing a step "in response to A" does not mean that the step is performed immediately after the occurrence of "A", and may include one or more intervening steps.

[0017] The terms used in this specification are for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and are not intended to limit the exemplary embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" shall include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises", "comprising", "has", "having", "includes" and / or "including", when used herein, denote the presence of the stated features, elements and / or components, etc., and do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components, and / or combinations thereof.

[0018] As used in this application, the term "circuit" may refer to one or more or all of the following. (a) Circuit implementations using only hardware (e.g., implementations using only analog and / or digital circuits) (bbb) Combinations of hardware circuits and software. For example, (where applicable): (i) Combinations of analog and / or digital hardware circuits and software / firmware (ii) Any part of a hardware processor (including a digital signal processor), software, and memory that operate in cooperation to perform various functions in a device such as a mobile phone or a server (c) Hardware circuits and / or processors, such as a microprocessor or a part of a microprocessor, that require software (e.g., firmware) for operation, but the software may not exist if not required for operation

[0019] This definition of circuit applies to all uses of this term in this application, including all claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term circuit also covers embodiments of hardware circuitry or processors (or more processors) only, or embodiments of parts of hardware circuitry or processors and the software and / or firmware associated therewith. The term circuit also covers, for example, baseband integrated circuits or processor integrated circuits for mobile devices, or similar integrated circuits in servers, cellular network devices, or other computing devices or network devices, where applicable to a particular claim element.

[0020] As used herein, the term “communication network” refers to a network compliant with any appropriate communication standard, such as New Radio (NR), Long-Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), High-Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA), and Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT). Furthermore, communication between terminal devices and network devices within a communication network may be carried out in accordance with any appropriate generation of communication protocol, including but not limited to first-generation (1G), second-generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, third-generation (3G), fourth-generation (4G), 4.5G, fifth-generation (5G), and sixth-generation (6G) communication protocols, and / or any other protocols currently known or to be developed in the future. Embodiments of this disclosure may be applied to a variety of communication systems. Given the rapid development of communications, there will naturally be future types of communication technologies and systems to which this disclosure may be realized. This should not be considered to limit the scope of this disclosure to the aforementioned systems only.

[0021] As used herein, the term “network device” refers to a node in a communications network from which a terminal device accesses and receives services. Depending on the terminology and technology applied, a network device may also refer to a base station (BS) or access point (AP), such as a node B (NodeB or NB), an evolved node B (eNodeB or eNB), an NR NB (also known as a gNB), a remote radio unit (RRU), a radio header (RH), a remote radio head (RRH), a relay, an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node, a low-power node, such as a femto or pico node, a non-terrestrial network (NTN) or non-ground network device, such as a satellite network device, a low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite, a geosynchronous earth orbit (GEO) satellite, or an aircraft network device. In some exemplary embodiments, the radio access network (RAN) partitioning architecture consists of a centralized unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU) in the IAB donor node. The IAB node consists of a mobile terminal (IAB-MT) portion that behaves like a UE to the parent node and a DU portion of the IAB node that behaves like a base station to the next hop's IAB node.

[0022] The term "terminal device" refers to any end device that may be capable of wireless communication. For example, rather than being limited, terminal devices may also be called communication devices, user equipment (UE), subscriber station (SS), portable subscriber station, mobile station (MS), or access terminal (AT). Terminal devices may include, but are not limited to, mobile phones, cellular phones, smartphones, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, tablets, wearable terminal devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), portable computers, desktop computers, image capture terminal devices such as digital cameras, game terminal devices, music storage and playback devices, in-vehicle wireless terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), USB dongles, smart devices, wireless customer-premises equipment (CPE), Internet of Things (IoT) devices, watches or other wearables, head-mounted displays (HMDs), vehicles, drones, medical devices and applications (e.g., remote surgery), industrial devices and applications (e.g., robots and / or other wireless devices operating in the context of industrial and / or automated processing chains), consumer electronic devices, and devices operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks. Terminal devices may also correspond to the mobile termination (MT) portion of an IAB node (e.g., a relay node). In the following description, the terms “terminal device,” “communication device,” “terminal,” “user equipment,” and “UE” may be used interchangeably.

[0023] As used herein, the terms “resource,” “transmit resource,” “resource block,” “physical resource block” (PRB), “uplink resource,” or “downlink resource” may refer to any resource for performing communication, such as communication between a terminal device and a network device, for example, a time-domain resource, a frequency-domain resource, a spatial-domain resource, a code-domain resource, or any other resource that enables communication. Hereinafter, unless expressly stated otherwise, both frequency-domain and time-domain resources are used as examples of transmit resources to illustrate some exemplary embodiments of this disclosure. It should be noted that the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure are equally applicable to other resources in other domains.

[0024] As mentioned above, in the sub-7GHz unlicensed band, the LBT channel access mechanism ensures the coexistence of NR systems and other systems (e.g., IEEE 802.11 systems). In this mechanism, if the UE passes the LBT check, it observes that the channel is available for several consecutive CCA slots. In the sub-7GHz band, the duration of these slots is 9μs. The UE considers the channel available in that CCA slot if the measured power (i.e., the energy collected during the CCA slot) is below the energy detection threshold (EDT) specified by the rules, which may depend on the transmit power, operating bandwidth, and geographical area.

[0025] When a UE initiates communication (i.e., when the UE acts as the initiating device), the UE must acquire the "right" to access the channel for a certain period of time, referred to in the rules as channel occupancy time (COT). COT can be acquired by applying an "extended" LBT procedure, commonly known as LBT type 1, as defined in the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standards, such as 3GPP TS37.213. The "extended" LBT procedure can be performed within a contention window (CW), and the channel is considered free for the entire duration of the CW.

[0026] The duration of both COT and CW depends on the Channel Access Priority Class (CAPC) associated with the UE traffic. Table 1 below shows, for example, the CAPC for uplinks (UL) according to Table 4.2.1-1 of 3GPP TS37.213.

[0027] [Table 1]

[0028] For example, when p represents CAPC, control plane traffic such as physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) traffic may be transmitted with p=1, while user plane traffic may be p>1. As shown in Table 1, the length of the competition window for the CCA slot associated with each CAPC has a minimum value (CW min,p ) and maximum value (CW max,p ) has. The duration of COT is T ulm cot,p It is given as follows. The details of LBT type 1 for Uu UL are shown in Table 1, but please note that the LBT type 1 parameters for downlink (DL) can also be adopted in SL in principle.

[0029] If an LBT check fails in any CCA slot during the conflict window countdown procedure, the conflict window countdown stops and resumes only if the channel is deemed free during the defer time (i.e., the LBT check is successful). The conflict window countdown procedure may be interrupted if any of the following conditions are met: (a) neither the defer time nor the countdown is interrupted (i.e., the channel is not detected as busy during the sensing slot), (b) the defer time is interrupted (i.e., the channel is detected as busy during the defer time sensing slot), or (c) the conflict window countdown is interrupted (i.e., the channel is detected as busy during the countdown sensing slot).

[0030] A UE initiating a transmission (e.g., the initiating device) successfully completes LBT Type 1 and, while performing the transmission, acquires a COT with a duration associated with the corresponding CAPC. The acquired COT remains valid even if the initiating device pauses the transmission. In this case, if the initiating device wishes to perform a new transmission (within the COT), it is still necessary to perform a “reduced” LBT procedure, commonly known as LBT Type 2 as defined in 3GPP TS37.213, for example.

[0031] LBT Type 2 has the following variations: Type 2A (25μs LBT) - For SL transmissions within a COT acquired by the initiating device (when the gap between two SL transmissions is 25μs or more, and also for SL transmissions following other SL transmissions from other devices such as the responding device). Type 2B (16μs LBT) - For SL transmissions within a COT acquired by the initiating device (this can also be used for SL transmissions following other SLs when the gap is equal to 16μs). Type 2C (No LBT) - This can be used for SL transmissions within a COT acquired by the initiating device and for SL transmissions following other SL transmissions from other devices such as the responding device, when the gap is less than 16μs and the permitted duration of the SL transmission is 584μs or less.

[0032] The initiating device can share the acquired COT with the destination receiver (e.g., the responding device). For this purpose, the initiating device may notify the responding device of the duration of this COT (e.g., via control signaling). The responding device uses this information to determine the type of LBT to apply when the destination receiver performs a transmit as the initiating device. If the responding device's transmit is outside the COT's range, the responding device will acquire a new COT using LBT type 1 with the appropriate CAPC.

[0033] In NR in unlicensed spectrum (NR-U), multi-channel access procedures are supported to enable wider transmit bandwidth and improve data rates. This is also known as transmitting on multiple resource block (RB) sets, where each RB set contains RBs corresponding to channels on which the UE may need to perform LBT for transmission. In NR-U, multi-channel access procedures include Type A and Type B procedures for dynamic channel access. In Type A procedures, the gNB performs a backoff procedure in parallel on each channel. When the backoff counter on a given channel reaches zero, the gNB begins transmitting on that channel. Transmission on multiple channels may begin if the corresponding backoff counters reach zero simultaneously. In Type B procedures, the gNB selects a single primary channel on which to perform the backoff procedure. Once the backoff procedure is complete, the gNB begins transmitting on the primary channel and any other channels detected as idle for a certain period before the backoff was completed. SL-U operation using one or more RB sets is being considered, and multi-channel access procedures are being discussed.

[0034] For SL-U, it is agreed that the Media Access Control (MAC) layer (also called the MAC entity) should support SL-specific continuous LBT (C-LBT) failure detection and recovery procedures. A UE may attempt to transmit multiple times, but LBT for transmission on an associated RB set may continuously fail, such as when the channel is extremely congested. Such a continuous failure may be called a C-LBT failure. In Rel-18 SL-U, it is agreed that the physical (PHY) layer (i.e., L1) (also called the PHY entity or L1 entity) measures LBT failures and reports them to the MAC layer. After a (pre-configured) set of detected LBT failures, the MAC layer declares a continuous LBT failure on a given RB set and indicates this to the PHY layer, i.e., at resource selection. The granularity of SL LBT failure indication may be per SL RB set. When the MAC entity notifies the L1 entity of the RB set in which an SL C-LBT failure has been detected, the L1 entity performs resource exclusion for the RB set in which the SL C-LBT failure was detected.

[0035] There is still room for consideration as to how the PHY layer performs this exclusion in the resource (re)selection procedure. If the exclusion action at the PHY layer is performed in a step (or operation) that excludes resource candidates in unmonitored slots (for example, step 5 of section 8.1.4 of 3GPP TS38.214), then if too many resources are excluded, all resource candidates will be reinitialized (for example, step 5a of section 8.1.4 of 3GPP TS38.214), meaning that the rule for excluding resource candidates in unmonitored slots may not be useful (if it is always avoided by the (re)initialization operation in step 5a). Steps 5 and 5a of section 8.1.4 of 3GPP TS38.214 are described as follows:

[0036] [Table 2]

[0037] Additionally, in the step of excluding resource candidates for slots not to be monitored (for example, step 5), M represents the total number of available resource candidates in the resource candidate selection window. total It will not be updated. M total (or M total A weighted version of this is used to determine whether to increase resource exclusion thresholds, such as the Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) threshold. If resource candidates from an RB set detected or marked as having a persistent LBT failure are still considered part of the initial feasible set, the PHY layer will mistakenly believe that increasing the RSRP threshold will allow it to gather more resources (including those in the RB set indicated as having a persistent LBT failure). Resource candidates from an RB set having a persistent LBT failure should not be considered available candidates and should not be considered part of the initial feasible set.

[0038] An exemplary embodiment of this disclosure proposes a resource exclusion scheme in which the number of available resource candidates within a time window (e.g., a resource candidate selection window) is determined by excluding resource candidates on at least one set of RBs in which a C-LBT failure has been detected within the time window. In the context of this disclosure, a set of RBs in which a C-LBT failure has been detected is also referred to as a set of RBs affected by a C-LBT failure or a set of RBs associated with a C-LBT failure. Furthermore, the initial viable sets and resource exclusion thresholds may be determined based on the number of available resource candidates after excluding resource candidates on at least one set of RBs affected by a C-LBT failure. In this way, the LBT procedure can become more effective and efficient.

[0039] Figure 1 shows an exemplary communication environment 100 in which exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented.

[0040] The communication environment 100 may be part of a communication network and includes a first terminal device 110, a second terminal device 120, and a network device 130 that can communicate with each other. The link from the network device 130 to terminal device 110 or 120 is called a downlink (DL), and the link from terminal device 110 or 120 to network device 130 is called an uplink (UL). In a DL, network device 130 is a transmit (TX) device (or transmitter), and terminal device 110 or 120 is a receive (RX) device (or receiver). In a UL, terminal device 110 or 120 is a TX device (or transmitter), and network device 130 is an RX device (or receiver). The link between the two terminal devices 110 and 120 is called a sidelink (SL). In SL, one of the terminal devices 110 and 120 is the TX device (or transmitter) or initiating device, and the other terminal device 110 and 120 is the RX device (or receiver) or responding device.

[0041] Communication in communication environment 100 may be carried out in accordance with any suitable communication protocol, including but not limited to cellular communication protocols such as first generation (1G), second generation (2G), third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G), fifth generation (5G), and sixth generation (6G), wireless local network communication protocols such as IEEE 802.11, and / or any other protocols currently known or to be developed in the future. Furthermore, communication may utilize any suitable wireless communication technology, including but not limited to code division multiplexing access (CDMA), frequency division multiplexing access (FDMA), time division multiplexing access (TDMA), frequency division duplexing (FDD), time division duplexing (TDD), multiple input multiple output (MIMO), orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM), and / or any other technologies currently known or to be developed in the future.

[0042] Please understand that the number of devices shown in Figure 1 is for illustrative purposes only and does not imply any limitation. The communication environment 100 may include any appropriate number of terminal devices and network devices configured to carry out the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure.

[0043] In some exemplary embodiments, a first terminal device 110 and a second terminal device 120 may communicate via SL-U. For example, in an embodiment where the first terminal device 110 acts as the initiating device and the second device 120 acts as the responding device, the first terminal device 110 may perform LBT detection before transmission (e.g., at the PHY layer). If the PHY layer detects an LBT failure, it may report this failure to the MAC layer of the first terminal device 110. The PHY layer may indicate to the MAC layer which RB sets are experiencing an LBT failure so that the MAC layer can track which RB sets are experiencing a persistent LBT failure. The MAC layer may report to the PHY layer which RB sets will be excluded because they are experiencing a persistent LBT failure. The PHY layer may then exclude resource candidates from the RB sets marked as experiencing a persistent LBT failure.

[0044] The following describes several exemplary embodiments, with reference to the interaction between the PHY layer and the MAC layer (or other upper layers) in the device as an example. It will be understood that the exemplary embodiments described herein are generally applicable to the entire device. In this specification, the terms upper layer and MAC layer may be used synonymously, as may L1, physical layer, and lower layer.

[0045] In various embodiments, the resource candidates in the RB set that are excluded are the total number of available resource candidates (for example, M total ) are not counted. In other words, the total number of resource candidates is equal to all available resource candidates in the resource candidate selection window after excluding all resources in the selection window belonging to the RB set in which a persistent LBT failure has been declared. Several exemplary embodiments are described below with reference to Figure 2.

[0046] Figure 2 shows a flowchart of an exemplary method 200 for resource exclusion according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Method 200 can be implemented in a device which may be a first terminal device 110, a second terminal device 120, or a network device 130 as shown in Figure 1.

[0047] As shown in Figure 2, in block 210, the device determines at least one RB set in which a C-LBT failure is detected. For example, if the LBT procedure for at least one RB set continuously fails over a period of time, that at least one RB set may be determined to be experiencing a C-LBT failure. The determination of the at least one RB set experiencing a C-LBT failure may be performed by the device's PHY layer based on LBT checks, or based on declarations or reports from higher layers such as the MAC layer.

[0048] In one exemplary embodiment, where the PHY layer receives an indication from a higher layer that a particular set of RBs is experiencing a persistent LBT failure, parameters may be introduced to inform the PHY layer which RB sets are experiencing the persistent LBT failure. This can be done each time a higher layer triggers an L1 resource selection for a single transport block (TB), using a set of parameters that may include, for example, a parameter to indicate the exclusion of RB sets experiencing a persistent LBT failure (e.g., ConsistentLBTFailureRBSets).

[0049] Taking the provisions of Section 8.1.4 of 3GPP TS38.214 as an example, the parameter ConsistentLBTFailureRBSets can be defined as follows:

[0050] [Table 3]

[0051] With such parameters, the RB sets excluded due to C-LBT failures can be notified to the PHY layer.

[0052] In block 220, the device determines the number of available resource candidates within a time window (e.g., a selection window), and the available resource candidates exclude resource candidates on at least one RB set within the time window. By excluding resource candidates on at least one RB set affected by C-LBT failures from the count of the total number of available resource candidates, the LBT procedure can be executed more effectively and efficiently by the device.

[0053] In some exemplary embodiments, an RB set can be declared to have experienced continuous LBT failures over a limited period having a duration shorter than the selection window. In this case, resource candidates on at least one RB set during a period (e.g., one or more slots) within the time window can be excluded from the available resource candidates within the time window. Thus, resources within an RB set of a particular slot are excluded only if the RB set is detected or marked as having experienced continuous LBT failures in that SL slot.

[0054] To exclude resource candidates on at least one RB set with C-LBT failures from the total number of available resource candidates, these resource candidates can be determined to be unavailable within the time window. Alternatively, or additionally, these resource candidates can be excluded from the set of available resource candidates within the time window.

[0055] Taking the provisions of section 8.1.4 of 3GPP TS38.214 as an example, the following embodiments can be used to exclude resource candidates from RBs with C-LBT failures. One embodiment is to take candidates from the RB set indicated as being affected by continuous LBT failures in step 1 (M representing the total number of available resource candidates) totalTherefore, it should not be included. Consequently, potential resources from RB sets experiencing persistent LBT failures may be initially determined to be unavailable.

[0056] [Table 4]

[0057] Another embodiment shows a single-slot resource candidate (representing a set of available resource candidates) that excludes resource candidates in the RB set indicated by a continuous LBT failure. A This involves initializing the resource set. This allows resource candidates from RB sets experiencing C-LBT failures to be excluded from the initialized set of available resource candidates.

[0058] [Table 5]

[0059] In further embodiments, the exclusion of resource candidates in an RB set marked as experiencing a persistent LBT failure is performed within the framework of step 5 described above. For example, in step 5, it may be stipulated that resource candidates in an RB set indicated as having a persistent LBT failure are excluded. It will be understood that various embodiments for excluding resource candidates in an RB set with a persistent LBT failure may be performed separately or in combination, depending on the network deployment and embodiment.

[0060] In some exemplary embodiments, to exclude resource candidates on at least one set of resource banks (RBs) affected by a C-LBT failure, the threshold strength for excluding resource candidates on that RB set from the available resource candidates may be set below a baseline threshold strength. In one example, the baseline threshold strength may be a resource exclusion threshold (e.g., one based on RSRP, also called the RSRP threshold) used to exclude candidates from the available resource candidates. In this way, even if the RSRP of resource candidates on at least one set of RBs affected by a C-LBT failure is low, these resource candidates are still excluded from the available resource candidates.

[0061] For example, the threshold intensity for excluding resource candidates belonging to an RB set declared to have a persistent LBT failure may have an offset relative to the baseline threshold intensity. Therefore, all resources belonging to an RB set experiencing a persistent LBT failure may have their measured RSRP increased by the RSRP offset. In this way, if the associated RSRP measurement with the added offset is higher than the RSRP threshold, the resource candidate from the RB set with the persistent LBT failure is excluded.

[0062] It should be understood that threshold strength based on RSRP is merely an example and not an limitation. In some exemplary embodiments, threshold strength may be based on other types of measured strength or power that can be used to assess whether a channel is idle. Measured strengths may include reference signal receiving quality (RSRQ), signal-to-interference plus noise ratio (SINR), and / or similar.

[0063] In some exemplary embodiments, the offset of the threshold intensity to a baseline threshold intensity for excluding resource candidates belonging to an RB set with a persistent LBT failure may be configured (in advance) by a higher layer or network, or may be defined in a 3GPP standard. In one example, the offset may be set to be the same for all RB sets that have a declared persistent LBT failure.

[0064] In another example, the threshold strength offset for excluding a resource candidate (referred to as the second resource candidate for illustrative purposes) from at least one RB set experiencing a C-LBT failure may relate to the channel busy ratio (CBR) associated with the second resource candidate, for example, the RB set to which the second resource candidate belongs. For instance, the offset may be proportional to the CBR measured in the RB set to which the second resource candidate belongs; that is, the higher the CBR, the higher the offset. In this way, RB sets with higher CBRs are excluded with higher priority, which can further improve the efficiency of the LBT procedure.

[0065] In some exemplary embodiments, to address the situation where too many resources are excluded due to an RB set marked as having an LBT failure, in block 230, as shown in Figure 2, the device may determine a resource candidate (referred to as the first resource candidate for illustrative purposes) from among the resource candidates on its at least one RB set as an available resource candidate within a time window. For example, an RB set marked as having a persistent LBT failure may be reinitialized despite being marked. Reintroduction or reinitialization of an RB set having a persistent LBT failure may be triggered based on the fulfillment of at least one condition (referred to as the first condition).

[0066] In some exemplary embodiments, at least one first condition may include the condition that the number of available resource candidates is less than or equal to a threshold number, meaning that there are not enough resources to use. If this condition is met or satisfied, resource candidates from the RB set affected by C-LBT may be reintroduced into the available resource candidates. For example, the number of identified resource candidates (e.g., M total If the threshold is below the configured threshold, the PHY layer may reintroduce resource candidates from the RB set that has been marked as experiencing a persistent LBT failure.

[0067] Alternatively, or furthermore, at least one first condition may include a threshold strength (or resource exclusion threshold) for excluding a candidate from the available resource candidates that is equal to or greater than the threshold strength. For example, if the number of resource candidates in the selection window is small, for example, the total number M. total If the value is less than x% (x = {20, 35, 50}), the baseline threshold intensity (e.g., the RSRP threshold) may be increased by 3 dB. Such increases may be repeated to obtain more available resource candidates. If the baseline threshold intensity is increased beyond a certain level, for example, above a given threshold intensity or by more than X times (where X is any positive integer), resource candidates from RB sets experiencing persistent LBT failures may be reintroduced to the available resource candidates. As an example, resources belonging to an RB set declared to have a persistent LBT failure can only be included in the available resource candidate set if the iterative procedure of increasing the RSRP threshold has occurred more times than configured.

[0068] The first condition described above may be considered or used separately or in combination, and this may depend on the network and terminal embodiment. Again, taking the provision of Section 8.1.4 of 3GPP TS38.214 as an example, if the resource exclusion threshold has increased beyond a certain level (or increased by more than X times) and the PHY layer still cannot find sufficient resources from the available RB set, resource candidates from the RB set experiencing a persistent LBT failure may be reintroduced. The following embodiments may be used to set a threshold number to trigger the reintroduction of resource candidates from the RB set experiencing a persistent LBT failure. One embodiment is to add a note to step 1 as follows:

[0069] [Table 6]

[0070] In this example, the single-slot resource candidate is ymin*M total If the number is less than , single-slot resource candidates within the RB set experiencing continuous LBT failures may be included in the available single-slot resource candidates. Here, the relative threshold ymin*M total This is merely an example, not an limitation. Furthermore, this threshold could be an absolute threshold, such as a threshold expressed as ymin.

[0071] Another embodiment is to add a note to step 7, as shown in 7b) below.

[0072] [Table 7]

[0073] Alternatively, step 7b can be written as follows: "S A The single-slot resource candidate within is zmin*M totalIf the number is less than 1, and the resource exclusion threshold increases beyond a certain level (or increases by more than X times), it is up to the UE embodiment whether to search for additional resources, including single-slot resource candidates in the RB set indicated by sl-ConsistentLBTFailureRBSet. Similar to the number of thresholds added in step 1, the number of thresholds added in step 7 can be an absolute threshold or a relative threshold (zmin or zmin*M). total ) may be either of the above. ymin and zmin may be the same or different depending on the network deployment and embodiment.

[0074] The above embodiments for reintroducing resource candidates from RB sets experiencing C-LBT failures may be performed separately or in combination, depending on the network deployment and embodiment.

[0075] In some exemplary embodiments, after the device decides to include resource candidates from at least one set of RBs that are experiencing a continuous LBT failure, the device may select at least one set of RBs from that set. The device may then determine a first resource candidate on the selected set of RBs as an available resource candidate within a time window.

[0076] The selection of at least one set of RBs from at least one set of RBs experiencing a persistent LBT failure may be performed on the basis that at least one condition (referred to as a second condition) is met. In some exemplary embodiments, the at least one second condition may include the condition that the CBR of the selected set of RBs is less than or equal to a threshold CBR. For example, the device may select RBs having a lower CBR, which is less than the CBR of other sets of RBs not experiencing a persistent LBT failure (these are treated as threshold CBRs), or less than any other threshold CBR. The CBR may be measured in the set of RBs.

[0077] Alternatively, or furthermore, at least one second condition may include the condition that the resource reservation amount on the selected RB set is less than or equal to a threshold amount. For example, the device may select RBs with lower reservation amounts that are less than or equal to the reservation amounts of other RB sets that have not experienced a continuous LBT failure (these are treated as threshold amounts), or that may be less than other threshold amounts.

[0078] Alternatively, or furthermore, at least one second condition may include the condition that the LBT process for the selected RB set was successful. For example, if there have been no recent CCA failures, for example, the PHY layer may perform a fast CCA procedure by sensing the channel between one or a few CCA slots on a channel of an RB set that has been indicated by the MAC layer to be experiencing a continuous LBT failure, and if the PHY layer determines that a portion of the channel is idle at that time, the corresponding resource candidate may be reintroduced into the available resource candidate.

[0079] For example, this condition based on a successful LBT can be used in the framework of step 5 of section 8.1.4 of 3GPP TS38.214. For example, in step 5a, the remaining resources are X·M total If the number is less than 1, it may be stipulated that resource candidates from RB sets considered less affected by C-LBT failures are reintroduced, and the selection of RB sets is left to the UE embodiment. The PHY layer may perform measurements that the MAC layer uses to trigger an indicator that an RB set is experiencing a persistent LBT failure, so the PHY layer may determine or decide which RB sets (or parts of RB sets) are less likely to experience further LBT failures if included in the resource candidate set.

[0080] These second conditions for selecting an RB set from an RB set experiencing a C-LBT failure can be used separately or in combination. Selecting a resource candidate from an RB set where measurements indicate that one or more preferred conditions are met may depend on the network and terminal embodiment.

[0081] In some exemplary embodiments, before triggering the inclusion of resource candidates on at least one RB set experiencing a C-LBT failure, the device may determine whether resource candidates belonging to an RB set experiencing a C-LBT failure are permitted to be included in the available resource candidates within the time window. In one example, the device may be further (pre-)configured regarding whether it is permitted to reintroduce resource candidates from an RB set declared to be experiencing a persistent LBT failure.

[0082] In some exemplary embodiments, whenever a higher layer, such as a MAC layer, can trigger an L1 resource selection for a single TB, the higher layer may inform L1 whether it is permitted to reintroduce resource candidates from a set of RBs where a persistent LBT failure has been declared. In some exemplary embodiments, the higher layer may also inform L1 of any conditions that must be considered before reintroducing resources from such sets of RBs. In some exemplary embodiments, L1 may request the higher layer whether resource candidates can be reintroduced from a particular set of RBs (for example, from a set of RBs where the measurements indicate a good condition, as described above), or it may directly inform the higher layer that resources from those reintroduced sets of RBs will be included in the set of resource candidates.

[0083] In several other exemplary embodiments, this parameter regarding whether L1 is permitted to reintroduce resource candidates from some RB sets where a continuous LBT failure has been declared may be configured by the network or pre-configured. This (pre-configured) configuration may relate to the resource pool configuration.

[0084] Please understand that the names of parameters such as ConsistentLBTFailureRBSets, ymin, zmin, and any configurations or definitions modified or added in the 3GPP standard are for illustrative purposes only and are not limiting. Other names or definitions (or configurations) are also possible.

[0085] Exemplary devices, equipment, and media In some exemplary embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing Method 200 (for example, the first terminal device 110 in Figure 1) may include means for performing each operation of Method 200. These means can be implemented in any suitable form. For example, these means can be implemented in a circuit or a software module. The apparatus may be implemented as the first terminal device 110 in Figure 1, or may be included in the first terminal device 110.

[0086] In some exemplary embodiments, the apparatus comprises means for determining at least one set of resource blocks (RBs) on which a continuous listen-before-talk (LBT) failure is detected, and means for determining the number of available resource candidates within a time window, wherein the available resource candidates exclude resource candidates on that at least one set of RBs within the time window.

[0087] In some exemplary embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for determining a first resource candidate from resource candidates on at least one set of RBs as an available resource candidate within a time window, based on that at least one first condition is met.

[0088] In some exemplary embodiments, at least one first condition includes at least one of the following: the number of available resource candidates is less than or equal to a threshold number; or the threshold strength for excluding candidates from the available resource candidates is greater than or equal to a threshold strength.

[0089] In some exemplary embodiments, means for determining a first resource candidate as an available resource candidate within a time window include means for selecting at least one RB set from at least one RB set on the basis that at least one second condition is met, and means for determining a first resource candidate on the at least one selected RB set as an available resource candidate within a time window, wherein at least one second condition includes at least one of the following: the channel busy rate (CBR) of the at least one selected RB set is less than or equal to a threshold CBR; the amount of resource reservations on the at least one selected RB set is less than or equal to a threshold amount; or the LBT process of the at least one selected RB set has been successful.

[0090] In some exemplary embodiments, means for determining a first resource candidate as an available resource candidate in a time window include, in response to determining that a resource candidate on at least one set of RBs is permitted to be included in the available resource candidates in a time window, means for determining a first resource candidate from a resource candidate on at least one set of RBs as an available resource candidate in a time window, based on the condition that at least one first condition is met.

[0091] In some exemplary embodiments, resource candidates on at least one set of RBs during a period within the time window are excluded from the available resource candidates within the time window.

[0092] In some exemplary embodiments, a candidate resource on at least one RB set is determined to be unavailable within the time window.

[0093] In some exemplary embodiments, resource candidates on at least one RB set are excluded from the set of available resource candidates within the time window.

[0094] In some exemplary embodiments, the threshold intensity for excluding a resource candidate on at least one RB set from the available resource candidates is less than the reference threshold intensity.

[0095] In some exemplary embodiments, the offset of the threshold intensity for excluding a second resource candidate from among resource candidates on at least one set of RBs relative to the baseline threshold intensity is related to the channel busy rate (CBR) associated with the second resource candidate.

[0096] In some exemplary embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for performing other operations in some exemplary embodiments of Method 200. In some exemplary embodiments, the means comprises at least one processor and at least one memory for storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to execute.

[0097] Figure 3 is a simplified block diagram of a device 300 suitable for carrying out exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 300 may be provided to carry out a communication device such as a first terminal device 110, a second terminal device 120, or a network device 130 as shown in Figure 1. As shown in the figure, the device 300 includes one or more processors 310, one or more memories 320 coupled to the processors 310, and one or more communication modules 340 coupled to the processors 310.

[0098] The communication module 340 is for bidirectional communication. The communication module 340 has one or more communication interfaces to facilitate communication with one or more other modules or devices. The communication interfaces may represent any interfaces necessary for communication with other network elements. In some exemplary embodiments, the communication module 340 may include at least one antenna.

[0099] The processor 310 can be any type suitable for a local technology network and, in non-limiting examples, may include one or more of general-purpose computers, dedicated computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs), and processors based on multicore processor architectures. The device 300 may have multiple processors, such as application-specific integrated circuit chips that are time-dependent to a clock that synchronizes the main processor.

[0100] Memory 320 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of non-volatile memories include, but are not limited to, read-only memory (ROM) 324, electrically programmable read-only memory (EPROM), flash memory, hard disks, compact discs (CDs), digital video discs (DVDs), optical discs, laser discs, and other magnetic and / or optical storage. Examples of volatile memories include, but are not limited to, random-access memory (RAM) 322 and other volatile memories that do not persist during power-off periods.

[0101] The computer program 330 contains computer-executable instructions that are executed by the associated processor 310. The instructions in program 330 may include instructions for performing actions / behaviors of some exemplary embodiments of this disclosure. Program 330 may be stored in memory, such as ROM 324. The processor 310 may perform any appropriate actions and processes by loading program 330 into RAM 322.

[0102] Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by program 330, thereby enabling device 300 to perform any of the processes of the present disclosure described with reference to Figures 1 to 5. Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or by a combination of software and hardware.

[0103] In some exemplary embodiments, the program 330 may be tangibly contained in a computer-readable medium that may be contained within device 300 (for example, in memory 320) or in other storage devices accessible by device 300. Device 300 may load the program 330 from the computer-readable medium into RAM 322 and execute it. In some exemplary embodiments, the computer-readable medium may include any type of non-temporary storage medium such as ROM, EPROM, flash memory, hard disk, CD, DVD, etc. The term “non-temporary,” as used herein, refers to the limitations of the medium itself (i.e., tangible rather than signal) rather than limitations on the persistence of data storage (e.g., RAM vs. ROM).

[0104] Figure 4 shows an example of a computer-readable medium 400, which may be in the form of a CD, DVD, or other optical storage disc. The computer-readable medium 400 stores a program 330.

[0105] In general, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or dedicated circuitry, software, logic, or any combination thereof. Some embodiments may be implemented in hardware, while others may be implemented in firmware or software that can be executed by a controller, microprocessor, or other computing device. Various embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described using block diagrams, flowcharts, or other graphical representations, but it should be understood that any blocks, apparatus, systems, techniques, or methods described herein may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, dedicated circuitry or logic, general-purpose hardware or controllers, or other computing devices, or any combination thereof, as non-limiting examples.

[0106] Some exemplary embodiments of this disclosure also provide at least one computer program product tangibly stored in a computer-readable medium, such as a non-temporary computer-readable medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as those contained in a program module, that are executed on a target physical or virtual processor in a device to perform any of the methods described above. Generally, a program module includes routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, etc., that perform a particular task or implement a particular abstract data type. The functionality of a program module may be combined or divided among program modules as needed in various embodiments. The machine-executable instructions of a program module may be executed in a local device or a distributed device. In a distributed device, a program module may reside in both local and remote storage media.

[0107] Program code for performing the methods of this disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. The program code may be provided to a processor or controller of a general-purpose computer, a dedicated computer, or other programmable data processing device, so that when executed by the processor or controller, the program code performs the functions / operations specified in the flowchart and / or block diagrams. The program code may run entirely on a machine, partially on a machine, run as a standalone software package, run partially on a machine and partially on a remote machine, or run entirely on a remote machine or server.

[0108] In the context of this disclosure, computer program code or related data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable a device, apparatus, or processor to perform the various processes and operations described above. Examples of carriers include signals and computer-readable media.

[0109] Computer-readable media may be computer-readable signal media or computer-readable storage media. Computer-readable media may include, but are not limited to, electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor systems, apparatus, or devices, or any suitable combination thereof. More specific examples of computer-readable storage media include electrical connections using one or more wires, portable computer diskettes, hard disks, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), optical fibers, portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), optical storage devices, magnetic storage devices, or any suitable combination thereof.

[0110] Furthermore, although the operations are shown in a specific order, this should not be understood as meaning that such operations must be performed in a specific illustrated order, sequentially, or all illustrated operations must be performed in order to obtain the desired result. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Similarly, although the above description includes some specific implementation details, these should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of this disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Unless expressly stated, certain features described in the context of separate embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, unless expressly stated, various features described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented separately in multiple embodiments or in any suitable subcombination.

[0111] While the present invention is described using language specific to structural features and / or methodological actions, it should be understood that the present invention as defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or actions described above. Rather, the specific features and actions described above are disclosed as exemplary forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

1. At least one processor, At least one memory for storing instructions, A device comprising, where, when the instruction is executed by the at least one processor, the device has at least, To determine at least one set of resource blocks (RBs) where a persistent listen-before-talk (LBT) failure is detected, Determining the number of available resource candidates within a time window, wherein the available resource candidates exclude resource candidates on at least one set of RBs within the time window. A device that performs an action.

2. The at least one memory and the at least one processor are provided in the device. Based on the fact that at least one first condition is met, a first resource candidate is determined from the resource candidates on the at least one RB set as an available resource candidate within the time window. The apparatus according to claim 1, which further performs the following.

3. The aforementioned at least one first condition is, The condition that the number of available resource candidates is less than or equal to a threshold number, or The condition that the threshold strength for excluding candidates from the aforementioned available resource candidates is equal to or greater than the threshold strength. The apparatus according to claim 2, comprising at least one of the following.

4. The at least one memory and the at least one processor are provided in the device. Based on the fact that at least one second condition is met, select at least one RB set from the at least one RB set, Determining the first resource candidate on the at least one selected RB set as the available resource candidate within the time window, Make it run, The aforementioned at least one second condition is, The condition that the channel busy rate (CBR) of at least one selected set of RBs is less than or equal to a threshold CBR, The condition that the amount of resource reservations on at least one selected RB set is less than or equal to a threshold amount, or The condition that the LBT process for at least one selected RB set is successful, The apparatus according to claim 2 or 3, comprising at least one of the following.

5. The at least one memory and the at least one processor are provided in the device. In response to determining that the resource candidate on the at least one RB set is permitted to be included in the available resource candidates within the time window, the first resource candidate from the resource candidates on the at least one RB set is determined to be the available resource candidate within the time window, based on the fact that the at least one first condition is met. The apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 4, which causes to perform the following:

6. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the resource candidates on the at least one set of RBs during the period within the time window are excluded from the available resource candidates within the time window.

7. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein it is determined that the resource candidate on at least one RB set is unavailable within the time window.

8. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the resource candidate on at least one RB set is excluded from the set of available resource candidates within the time window.

9. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the threshold intensity for excluding the resource candidate on the at least one RB set from the available resource candidates is less than the reference threshold intensity.

10. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the offset of the threshold intensity for excluding a second resource candidate from among the resource candidates on the at least one RB set with respect to the reference threshold intensity is related to the channel busy rate (CBR) associated with the second resource candidate.

11. To determine at least one set of resource blocks (RBs) where a persistent listen-before-talk (LBT) failure is detected, Determining the number of available resource candidates within a time window, wherein the available resource candidates exclude resource candidates on at least one set of RBs within the time window. Methods that include...

12. Based on the fact that at least one first condition is met, a first resource candidate is determined from the resource candidates on the at least one RB set as an available resource candidate within the time window. The method according to claim 11, further comprising:

13. The aforementioned at least one first condition is, The condition that the number of available resource candidates is less than or equal to a threshold number, or The condition that the threshold strength for excluding candidates from the aforementioned available resource candidates is equal to or greater than the threshold strength. The method according to claim 12, comprising at least one of the following.

14. Determining the first resource candidate as the available resource candidate within the time window means Based on the fact that at least one second condition is met, select at least one RB set from the at least one RB set, Determining the first resource candidate on the at least one selected RB set as the available resource candidate within the time window, Includes, The aforementioned at least one second condition is, The condition that the channel busy rate (CBR) of at least one selected set of RBs is less than or equal to a threshold CBR, The condition that the amount of resource reservations on at least one selected RB set is less than or equal to a threshold amount, or The condition that the LBT process for at least one selected RB set is successful, The method according to claim 12 or 13, comprising at least one of the following.

15. Determining the first resource candidate as the available resource candidate within the time window means In response to determining that the resource candidate on the at least one RB set is permitted to be included in the available resource candidates within the time window, the first resource candidate from the resource candidates on the at least one RB set is determined to be the available resource candidate within the time window, based on the fact that the at least one first condition is met. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 14, including the method described above.

16. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 15, wherein the resource candidates on the at least one set of RBs during the period within the time window are excluded from the available resource candidates within the time window.

17. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 16, wherein the resource candidate on at least one RB set is determined to be unavailable within the time window.

18. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 17, wherein the resource candidate on at least one RB set is excluded from the set of available resource candidates within the time window.

19. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 18, wherein the threshold intensity for excluding the resource candidate on the at least one RB set from the available resource candidates is less than the reference threshold intensity.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein the offset of the threshold intensity for excluding a second resource candidate from among the resource candidates on the at least one RB set with respect to the reference threshold intensity is related to the channel busy rate (CBR) associated with the second resource candidate.

21. A means for determining at least one set of resource blocks (RBs) where a persistent listen-before-talk (LBT) failure is detected, Means for determining the number of available resource candidates within a time window, wherein the available resource candidates exclude resource candidates on at least one set of RBs within the time window; A device equipped with the following features.

22. A computer-readable medium storing instructions for causing a device to perform at least one of the methods described in claims 11 to 20.

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