Handling transmission on shared resource

Abstract

Example embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to handling transmission on shared resource A method comprises receiving, from a second apparatus, information for scheduling a first radio access technology (RAT) transmission from the first apparatus to the second apparatus; and in accordance with a determination that there is a need to transmit a reservation signal, transmitting based on a first timing advance (TA), a reservation signal to a second RAT cell and the first RAT transmission to the second apparatus, wherein the reservation signal is transmitted prior to the first RAT transmission and the first TA is determined by considering the transmission of the reservation signal.

Description

HANDLING TRANSMISSION ON SHARED RESOURCEFIELDS

[0001] Various example embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of telecommunication and in particular, to methods, devices, apparatuses and computer readable storage medium for handling transmission on shared resource.BACKGROUND

[0002] Due to scarcity of clean spectrum, spectrum sharing is being considered the new approach for enabling new bands for wireless communications. In this new spectrum sharing paradigm the sharing may not only need to be enabled with incumbents of the band (for example fixed services), but also between services (for example, wireless fidelity, Wi-Fi, service and the 3rd generation partnership project, 3GPP, service). These types of approaches are actively being explored to unlock the upper 6 GHz band.SUMMARY

[0003] In a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a first apparatus. The first apparatus comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first apparatus to: receive, from a second apparatus, configuration information for transmitting a reservation signal; and transmit, based on that the configuration information, the reservation signal prior to a first radio access technology (RAT) transmission from the first apparatus to the second apparatus in accordance with a determination that there is a need to transmit the reservation signal to a second RAT cell.

[0004] In a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a second apparatus. The second apparatus comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second apparatus to: transmit, to a first apparatus, information for scheduling a first radio access technology (RAT) transmission from the first apparatus to the second apparatus; and transmit, to the first apparatus, configuration information to be used by the first apparatus to transmit a reservation signal to a second RAT cell prior to the first RAT transmission, wherein the configuration information indicates a resource used for transmitting the reservation signal. i

[0005] In a third aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a first apparatus. The first apparatus comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first apparatus to: receive, from a second apparatus, information for scheduling a first radio access technology (RAT) transmission on a first resource; determine whether there is a need to transmit a reservation signal to a second RAT cell prior to the first RAT transmission based on at least one of the following: whether the first resource is a resource shared by the first RAT and a second RAT, whether a second RAT transmission is allowed on the first resource, whether the presence of the second RAT cell has been detected, a measurement result on the second RAT cell, or a type of the first RAT transmission; and transmit the reservation signal prior to the first RAT transmission in accordance with a determination that there is a need to transmit the reservation signal.

[0006] In a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a first apparatus. The first apparatus comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first apparatus to: receive, from a second apparatus, information for scheduling a first radio access technology (RAT) transmission; and transmit a reservation signal to a second RAT cell prior to the first RAT transmission in accordance with a determination that there is a need to transmit the reservation signal, wherein a transmission duration of the reservation signal is determined based on at least one of the following: a type of the first RAT transmission, a format of the reservation signal, a minimum transmission duration of the reservation signal, a maximum transmission duration of the reservation signal, at least one scaling factor to be applied to the minimum transmission duration or the maximum transmission duration, or a connected discontinuous reception (C-DRX) configuration.

[0007] In a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a second apparatus. The second apparatus comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second apparatus to: transmit, to a first apparatus, information for scheduling a first radio access technology (RAT) transmission; and transmit, to the first apparatus, configuration information to be used by the first apparatus to transmit a reservation signal to a second RAT cell prior to the first RAT transmission, wherein the configuration information indicates at least one of the following: a format of the reservation signal, the minimum transmission duration of the reservation signal, the maximum transmission duration of the reservation signal, orthe at least one scaling factor to be applied to the minimum transmission duration or the maximum transmission duration.

[0008] In a sixth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a first apparatus. The first apparatus comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first apparatus to: receive, from a second apparatus, information for scheduling a first radio access technology (RAT) transmission from the first apparatus to the second apparatus; and in accordance with a determination that there is a need to transmit a reservation signal, transmit, based on a first timing advance (TA), a reservation signal to a second RAT cell and the first RAT transmission to the second apparatus, wherein the reservation signal is transmitted prior to the first RAT transmission and the first TA is determined by considering the transmission of the reservation signal.

[0009] In a seventh aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a second apparatus. The second apparatus comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second apparatus to: generate configuration information to be used by a first apparatus for transmitting a reservation signal to a second radio access technology (RAT) prior to a first RAT transmission, wherein the configuration information indicates at least one of the following: a resource used for transmitting the reservation signal, a format of the reservation signal, at least one transmit power configuration of the reservation signal, a minimum transmission duration of the reservation signal, a maximum transmission duration of the reservation signal, or at least one scaling factor to be applied to the minimum transmission duration or the maximum transmission duration; and transmit the configuration information to the first apparatus.

[0010] In an eighth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a third apparatus. The first apparatus comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the third apparatus to: transmit a first transmission on a first resource occupied by the third apparatus through a contention-based procedure; during the first transmission, monitor a reservation signal transmitted by a first apparatus, the reservation signal used for requesting to occupy the first resource; and based at least in part on monitoring the reservation signal, stop the first transmission.

[0011] In a ninth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method. The method comprises: receiving, from a second apparatus, configuration information for transmitting a reservation signal; and transmitting, based on that the configuration information, the reservation signal prior to a first radio access technology (RAT) transmission from the first apparatus to the second apparatus in accordance with a determination that there is a need to transmit the reservation signal to a second RAT cell.

[0012] In a tenth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method. The method comprises: transmitting, to a first apparatus, information for scheduling a first radio access technology (RAT) transmission from the first apparatus to the second apparatus; and transmitting, to the first apparatus, configuration information to be used by the first apparatus to transmit a reservation signal to a second RAT cell prior to the first RAT transmission, wherein the configuration information indicates a resource used for transmitting the reservation signal.

[0013] In an eleventh aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method. The method comprises: receiving, from a second apparatus, information for scheduling a first radio access technology (RAT) transmission on a first resource; determining whether there is a need to transmit a reservation signal to a second RAT cell prior to the first RAT transmission based on at least one of the following: whether the first resource is a resource shared by the first RAT and a second RAT, whether a second RAT transmission is allowed on the first resource, whether the presence of the second RAT cell has been detected, a measurement result on the second RAT cell, or a type of the first RAT transmission; and transmitting the reservation signal prior to the first RAT transmission in accordance with a determination that there is a need to transmit the reservation signal.

[0014] In a twelfth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method. The method comprises: receiving, from a second apparatus, information for scheduling a first radio access technology (RAT) transmission; and transmitting a reservation signal to a second RAT cell prior to the first RAT transmission in accordance with a determination that there is a need to transmit the reservation signal, wherein a transmission duration of the reservation signal is determined based on at least one of the following: a type of the first RAT transmission, a format of the reservation signal, a minimum transmission duration of the reservation signal, a maximum transmission duration of the reservation signal, at least one scaling factor to be applied to the minimum transmission duration orthe maximum transmission duration, or a connected discontinuous reception (C-DRX) configuration.

[0015] In a thirteenth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method. The method comprises: transmitting, to a first apparatus, information for scheduling a first radio access technology (RAT) transmission; and transmitting, to the first apparatus, configuration information to be used by the first apparatus to transmit a reservation signal to a second RAT cell prior to the first RAT transmission, wherein the configuration information indicates at least one of the following: a format of the reservation signal, the minimum transmission duration of the reservation signal, the maximum transmission duration of the reservation signal, or the at least one scaling factor to be applied to the minimum transmission duration or the maximum transmission duration.

[0016] In a fourteenth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method. The method comprises: receiving, from a second apparatus, information for scheduling a first radio access technology (RAT) transmission from the first apparatus to the second apparatus; and in accordance with a determination that there is a need to transmit a reservation signal, transmitting based on a first timing advance (TA), a reservation signal to a second RAT cell and the first RAT transmission to the second apparatus, wherein the reservation signal is transmitted prior to the first RAT transmission and the first TA is determined by considering the transmission of the reservation signal.

[0017] In a fifteenth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method. The method comprises: generating configuration information to be used by a first apparatus for transmitting a reservation signal to a second radio access technology (RAT) prior to a first RAT transmission, wherein the configuration information indicates at least one of the following: a resource used for transmitting the reservation signal, a format of the reservation signal, at least one transmit power configuration of the reservation signal, a minimum transmission duration of the reservation signal, a maximum transmission duration of the reservation signal, or at least one scaling factor to be applied to the minimum transmission duration or the maximum transmission duration; and transmitting the configuration information to the first apparatus.

[0018] In a sixteenth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method. The method comprises: transmitting a first transmission on a first resource occupied by the third apparatus through a contention-based procedure; during the first transmission,monitoring a reservation signal transmitted by a first apparatus, the reservation signal used for requesting to occupy the first resource; and based at least in part on monitoring the reservation signal, stopping the first transmission.

[0019] In a seventeenth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a first apparatus. The first apparatus comprises means for receiving, from a second apparatus, configuration information for transmitting a reservation signal; and means for transmitting, based on that the configuration information, the reservation signal prior to a first radio access technology (RAT) transmission from the first apparatus to the second apparatus in accordance with a determination that there is a need to transmit the reservation signal to a second RAT cell.

[0020] In an eighteenth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a second apparatus. The second apparatus comprises means for transmitting, to a first apparatus, information for scheduling a first radio access technology (RAT) transmission from the first apparatus to the second apparatus; and means for transmitting, to the first apparatus, configuration information to be used by the first apparatus to transmit a reservation signal to a second RAT cell prior to the first RAT transmission, wherein the configuration information indicates a resource used for transmitting the reservation signal.

[0021] In a nineteenth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a first apparatus. The first apparatus comprises means for receiving, from a second apparatus, information for scheduling a first radio access technology (RAT) transmission on a first resource; means for determining whether there is a need to transmit a reservation signal to a second RAT cell prior to the first RAT transmission based on at least one of the following: whether the first resource is a resource shared by the first RAT and a second RAT, whether a second RAT transmission is allowed on the first resource, whether the presence of the second RAT cell has been detected, a measurement result on the second RAT cell, or a type of the first RAT transmission; and means for transmitting the reservation signal prior to the first RAT transmission in accordance with a determination that there is a need to transmit the reservation signal.

[0022] In a twentieth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a first apparatus. The first apparatus comprises means for receiving, from a second apparatus, information for scheduling a first radio access technology (RAT) transmission; and means for transmitting a reservation signal to a second RAT cell prior to the first RAT transmissionin accordance with a determination that there is a need to transmit the reservation signal, wherein a transmission duration of the reservation signal is determined based on at least one of the following: a type of the first RAT transmission, a format of the reservation signal, a minimum transmission duration of the reservation signal, a maximum transmission duration of the reservation signal, at least one scaling factor to be applied to the minimum transmission duration or the maximum transmission duration, or a connected discontinuous reception (C-DRX) configuration.

[0023] In a twenty-first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a second apparatus. The second apparatus comprises means for transmitting, to a first apparatus, information for scheduling a first radio access technology (RAT) transmission; and means for transmitting, to the first apparatus, configuration information to be used by the first apparatus to transmit a reservation signal to a second RAT cell prior to the first RAT transmission, wherein the configuration information indicates at least one of the following: a format of the reservation signal, the minimum transmission duration of the reservation signal, the maximum transmission duration of the reservation signal, or the at least one scaling factor to be applied to the minimum transmission duration or the maximum transmission duration.

[0024] In a twenty-second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a first apparatus. The first apparatus comprises means for receiving, from a second apparatus, information for scheduling a first radio access technology (RAT) transmission from the first apparatus to the second apparatus; and means for in accordance with a determination that there is a need to transmit a reservation signal, transmitting based on a first timing advance (TA), a reservation signal to a second RAT cell and the first RAT transmission to the second apparatus, wherein the reservation signal is transmitted prior to the first RAT transmission and the first TA is determined by considering the transmission of the reservation signal.

[0025] In a twenty-third aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a second apparatus. The second apparatus comprises means for generating configuration information to be used by a first apparatus for transmitting a reservation signal to a second radio access technology (RAT) prior to a first RAT transmission, wherein the configuration information indicates at least one of the following: a resource used for transmitting the reservation signal, a format of the reservation signal, at least one transmitpower configuration of the reservation signal, a minimum transmission duration of the reservation signal, a maximum transmission duration of the reservation signal, or at least one scaling factor to be applied to the minimum transmission duration or the maximum transmission duration; and means for transmitting the configuration information to the first apparatus.

[0026] In a twenty-fourth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a third apparatus. The first apparatus comprises means for transmitting a first transmission on a first resource occupied by the third apparatus through a contention-based procedure; means for during the first transmission, monitoring a reservation signal transmitted by a first apparatus, the reservation signal used for requesting to occupy the first resource; and means for based at least in part on monitoring the reservation signal, stopping the first transmission.

[0027] In a twenty-fifth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium comprises instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method according to any of the ninth aspect to the eighteenth aspect.

[0028] It is to be understood that the Summary section is not intended to identify key or essential features of embodiments of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become easily comprehensible through the following description.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0029] Some example embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, where:

[0030] FIG. 1 illustrates an example diagram of shared band plan for 3GPP UL and WiFi;

[0031] FIG. 2 illustrates an example communication environment in which example embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented;

[0032] FIG. 3A illustrates a signaling flow of communication in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0033] FIG. 3B illustrates an example diagram of shared band in accordance with someembodiments of the present disclosure;

[0034] FIG. 4 illustrates a signaling flow of communication in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0035] FIG. 5 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a first apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0036] FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a first apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0037] FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a second apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0038] FIG. 8 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a first apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0039] FIG. 9 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a first apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0040] FIG. 10 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a second apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0041] FIG. 11 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a first apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0042] FIG. 12 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a second apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0043] FIG. 13 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a third apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0044] FIG. 14 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a device that is suitable for implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure; and

[0045] FIG. 15 illustrates a block diagram of an example computer readable medium in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0046] Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar element.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0047] Principle of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some example embodiments. It is to be understood that these embodiments are described only for the purpose of illustration and help those skilled in the art to understand and implement the present disclosure, without suggesting any limitation as to the scope of the disclosure. Embodiments described herein can be implemented in various manners other than the ones described below.

[0048] In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skills in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

[0049] References in the present disclosure to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “an example embodiment,” and the like indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but it is not necessary that every embodiment includes the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.

[0050] It shall be understood that although the terms “first,” “second” and the like may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of example embodiments. As used herein, the term “and / or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

[0051] As used herein, “at least one of the following: ” and “at least one of ” and similar wording, where the list of two or more elements are joined by “and” or “or”, mean at least any one of the elements, or at least any two or more of the elements, or at least all the elements.

[0052] As used herein, unless stated explicitly, performing a step “in response to A” iodoes not indicate that the step is performed immediately after “A” occurs and one or more intervening steps may be included.

[0053] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to 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, specify the presence of stated features, elements, and / or components etc., but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components and / or combinations thereof.

[0054] As used in this application, the term “circuitry” may refer to one or more or all of the following:(a) hardware-only circuit implementations (such as implementations in only analog and / or digital circuitry) and(b) combinations of hardware circuits and software, such as (as applicable):(i) a combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuit(s) with software / firmware and(ii) any portions of hardware processor(s) with software (including digital signal processor(s)), software, and memory(ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions) and(c) hardware circuit(s) and or processor(s), such as a microprocessor(s) or a portion of a microprocessor(s), that requires software (e.g., firmware) for operation, but the software may not be present when it is not needed for operation.

[0055] This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term circuitry also covers an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and / or firmware. The term circuitry also covers, for example and if applicable to the particular claim element, a baseband integrated circuit or processor nintegrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in server, a cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

[0056] As used herein, the term “communication network” refers to a network following any suitable communication standards, such as New Radio (NR), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA), Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT) and so on. Furthermore, the communications between a terminal device and a network device in the communication network may be performed according to any suitable generation communication protocols, including, but not limited to, the first generation (1G), the second generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, the third generation (3G), the fourth generation (4G), 4.5G, the fifth generation (5G) communication protocols, the sixth generation (6G) communication protocols, and / or any other protocols either currently known or to be developed in the future. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied in various communication systems. Given the rapid development in communications, there will of course also be future type communication technologies and systems with which the present disclosure may be embodied. It should not be seen as limiting the scope of the present disclosure to only the aforementioned system.

[0057] As used herein, the term “network device” refers to a node in a communication network via which a terminal device accesses the network and receives services therefrom. The network device may refer to a base station (BS) or an access point (AP), for example, a node B (NodeB or NB), an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB), an NR NB (also referred to 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, a pico, a non-terrestrial network (NTN) or non-ground network device such as a satellite network device, a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite and a geosynchronous earth orbit (GEO) satellite, an aircraft network device, and so forth, depending on the applied terminology and technology. In some example embodiments, radio access network (RAN) split architecture comprises a Centralized Unit (CU) and a Distributed Unit (DU) at an IAB donor node. An IAB node comprises a Mobile Terminal (IAB-MT) part that behaves like a UE toward the parent node, and a DU part of an IAB node behaves like a base station toward the next-hop IAB node.

[0058] The term “terminal device” refers to any end device that may be capable ofwireless communication. By way of example rather than limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, user equipment (UE), a Subscriber Station (SS), a Portable Subscriber Station, a Mobile Station (MS), or an Access Terminal (AT). The terminal device may include, but not limited to, a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a smart phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, a tablet, a wearable terminal device, a personal digital assistant (PDA), portable computers, desktop computer, image capture terminal devices such as digital cameras, gaming terminal devices, music storage and playback appliances, vehicle-mounted wireless terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), USB dongles, smart devices, wireless customer-premises equipment (CPE), an Internet of Things (loT) device, a watch or other wearable, a head-mounted display (HMD), a vehicle, a drone, a medical device and applications (e.g., remote surgery), an industrial device and applications (e.g., a robot and / or other wireless devices operating in an industrial and / or an automated processing chain contexts), a consumer electronics device, a device operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, and the like. The terminal device may also correspond to a Mobile Termination (MT) part 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.

[0059] As used herein, the term “resource,” “transmission resource,” “resource block,” “physical resource block” (PRB), “uplink resource,” or “downlink resource” may refer to any resource for performing a communication, for example, a communication between a terminal device and a network device, such as a resource in time domain, a resource in frequency domain, a resource in space domain, a resource in code domain, or any other resource enabling a communication, and the like.

[0060] As discussed above, due to scarcity of clean spectrum, spectrum sharing is being considered the new approach for enabling new bands for wireless communications.

[0061] The current sharing of spectrum between 3GPP radio access technology (RAT) and Wi-Fi RAT is implemented by enforcing channel access contention-based procedures, i.e., Wi-Fi and 3GPP RATs were considered to have the same level of priority in the band.

[0062] Alternative methods to contention-based access methods are required, especially when the 3GPP RAT may have higher priority than the Wi-Fi RAT on the shared band orportions of the shared band. For example, for the upper 6 GHz (U6 GHz), it may assume that 3GPP RAT is the primary (or higher priority) service and Wi-Fi RAT is the secondary (or lower priority) service. Furthermore, in the US 7.125-8.4 GHz band which is actively being pursued for 6G, Wi-Fi is advocating for usage the lower 125 MHz of the band. This could be another sharing scenario between Wi-Fi and 3 GPP RATs.

[0063] Some proposals for sharing in the upper 6 GHz band are based on allowing low power indoor Wi-Fi Access points together with 3GPP in at least parts of the band. Further, in some proposals 3GPP may only schedule uplink (UL) resources in the shared part of the band to further reduce interference to Wi-Fi. Reference is now made to FIG. 1, which illustrates an example diagram of shared band plan for 3GPP UL and Wi-Fi. In the example of FIG. 1, TDD1 and ULI frequency resources / carriers may be allocated for the first operator, TDD2 and UL2 frequency resources / carriers may be allocated for the second operator, and TDD3 and UL3 frequency resources / carriers may be allocated for the third operator. 3GPP UL transmissions in this scenario may not employ not continuous spectrum resources.

[0064] The example configuration in FIG. 1 assumes two-tier regulation on the shared part of the band, where unlicensed operation requires the use of polite protocols (e.g., listen-before-talk, LBT), and licensed operation is based on schedule received via for example the TDD carrier and not subject to LBT. It is normally assumed that 3GPP signals may cause Wi-Fi AP to determine the channel is occupied and initiate the backoff procedures, allowing for UE 3GPP UL transmissions. Hoverer, in some cases, the Wi-Fi transmission (for example, a Wi-Fi AP has already acquired the channel) may interfere the 3GPP transmission (e.g., indoor 3GPP UEs desire to use / or are using the shared band).

[0065] Generally speaking, 3 GPP transmission has a higher priority compared with the Wi-Fi transmission, and thus it is expected to minimize interference to discontinuous or bursty UE UL 3GPP operation. In the other words, it is required to prevent the Wi-Fi transmission from using the shared band when the UEs desire to use / or are using the shared band.

[0066] Further, FIG. 1 also may be viewed as a sharing scheme between different 3GPP nodes with different priorities, such as, indoor 3 GPP nodes with lower power deployed as part of a private network and 3 GPP nodes with high power deployed by a mobile network operator. In this scenario, 3GPP nodes with high power nodes may be assumed to havehigher priority, and thus the interference from the 3 GPP nodes with lower power to the 3GPP nodes with higher power needs to be avoided.

[0067] According to the example of the present discourse, the transmission with lower priority may be prevented from using the shared band by transmitting the reservation signal(s). In this way, when more than one RAT (or more than one RAT node) shares a common band, the RAT transmission with higher priority (or the transmission associated with the RAT node with higher priority) may be enabled based on a scheduling-based mechanism rather than an LBT-based mechanism and the inference to the RAT transmission with higher priority (or the transmission associated with the RAT node with higher priority) may be avoided thereby.

[0068] In the context of the present disclosure, “a band” is as an example resource for describing some specific example embodiments of the present disclosure. It is noted that such example embodiments described are only for the purpose of illustration without suggesting any limitations. In the other words, the term “band” used herein may be replaced by any suitable resource, including but not limited to, time resource, frequency resource (including both inband resource and out-of-band resource), spatial resource and / or code resource.

[0069] In the context of the present disclosure, 3GPP and Wi-Fi are used as example first and second RATs for describing some specific example embodiments of the present disclosure. It is noted that such example embodiments described are only for the purpose of illustration without suggesting any limitations. In fact, the solution discussed herein are applicable to any RATs that share a common resource.

[0070] In the context of the present disclosure, “uplink transmission” is used as an example of the first RAT transmission for describing some specific example embodiments of the present disclosure. It is noted that example embodiments discussed herein are applicable for both uplink and downlink transmissions unless there is an explicit exclusion.Example Environment

[0071] FIG. 2 shows an example communication environment 200 in which example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. The network communication 200 includes a first apparatus 210, a second apparatus 220 and a second RAT node 230 (also called as the third apparatus 230 sometimes).

[0072] In the example of FIG. 2, the second apparatus 220 is operated in the first RAT and the second RAT node 230 is operated in the second RAT. Further, the second apparatuses 220 and the second RAT node 230 may provide one or more coverage areas, also called as cells. For ease of discussion, the cell provided by the second apparatus 220 is called as the first RAT cell and the cell provided by the second RAT node is call as the second RAT cell. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the second apparatus 220 provide the first RAT cell 220-2 and the second RAT node 230 provided the second RAT cell 230-2.

[0073] It is note that although the second apparatus 220 and the second RAT node 230 are illustrated as two separate apparatuses in FIG. 2, in some other cases, the second apparatus 220 and the second RAT node 230 may be integrated as a single apparatus.

[0074] In the example of FIG. 2, the third apparatus 230 are located in the second RAT cell. Example apparatus of the third apparatus 230 includes but is not limited to, Wi-Fi access point, Wi-Fi terminal device.

[0075] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 210 may be comprised in a terminal device / apparatus, e.g., UE, and the second apparatus 220 may be comprised in a network device / apparatus serving the terminal device / apparatus. The network device may be e.g., gNB.

[0076] In the following, for the purpose of illustration, some example embodiments are described with the first apparatus 210 operating as a terminal apparatus and the second apparatus 220 operating as a network apparatus. However, in some example embodiments, operations described in connection with a terminal apparatus may be implemented at a network apparatus or other apparatus, and operations described in connection with a network apparatus may be implemented at a terminal apparatus or other apparatus.

[0077] In some example embodiments, if the first apparatus 210 is a terminal apparatus and the second apparatus 220 is a network apparatus, a link from the second apparatus 220 to the first apparatus 210 is referred to as a downlink (DL), while a link from the first apparatus 210 to the second apparatus 220 is referred to as an uplink (UL). In DL, the second apparatus 220 is a transmitting (TX) apparatus (or a transmitter) and the first apparatus 210 is a receiving (RX) apparatus (or a receiver). In UL, the first apparatus 210 is a TX apparatus (or a transmitter) and the second apparatus 220 is a RX apparatus (or a receiver).

[0078] It is to be understood that the number of devices and their connections shown in first apparatus 210 are only for the purpose of illustration without suggesting any limitation. The communication environment 200 may include any suitable number of devices configured to implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure. Although not shown, it would be appreciated that one or more additional devices may be located in the cell, and one or more additional cells may be deployed in the communication environment 200. It is noted that although illustrated as a network device, the second apparatus 220 may be another device than a network device. Although illustrated as a terminal device, the first apparatus 210 may be another device than a terminal device.

[0079] Communications in the communication environment 200 may be implemented according to any proper communication protocol(s), comprising, but not limited to, cellular communication protocols of the first generation (1G), the second generation (2G), the third generation (3G), the fourth generation (4G), the fifth generation (5G), 5.5G, the sixth generation (6G), and the like, wireless local network communication protocols such as Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 and the like, and / or any other protocols currently known or to be developed in the future. Moreover, the communication may utilize any proper wireless communication technology, comprising but not limited to: Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Duplex (FDD), Time Division Duplex (TDD), Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple (OFDM), Discrete Fourier Transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) and / or any other technologies currently known or to be developed in the future.Work Principle and Example Signaling for Communication

[0080] Details will be discussed with reference to FIG. 3 A, which illustrates a signaling flow 300A of communication in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purposes of discussion, the signaling flow 300A will be discussed with reference to FIG. 2, for example, by using the first apparatus 210 and the second apparatus 220, where the first apparatus 210 may function as a terminal apparatus and the second apparatus 220 may function as a network apparatus.

[0081] Further, for a better understanding, in some example embodiments, the first RAT transmission may be cellular wireless transmission (such as, 3GPP -based transmission)and the second RAT cell 230-2 is a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) cell.

[0082] Alternatively, in some example embodiments, the first RAT transmission is associated with a first RAT node and the second RAT cell is associated with a second RAT node, the first RAT node and the second RAT node being operated in a same RAT and the first RAT node being associated a higher priority compared with the second RAT node. Additionally, the first RAT node may be associated with a 3GPP node with higher power compared with the second RAT node, and the second RAT node is a 3GPP node with lower power compared with the first RAT node.

[0083] It is to be understood that the operations at the first apparatus 210 and the second apparatus 220 should be coordinated. In the other words, the second apparatus 220 and the first apparatus 210 should have a common understanding about configurations, parameters and so on. Such a common understanding may be implemented by any suitable interactions between the second apparatus 220 and the first apparatus 210 or both the second apparatus 220 and the first apparatus 210 applying the same rule, policy, and / or the like.

[0084] In the following, although some operations are described from a perspective of the first apparatus 210, it is to be understood that the corresponding operations should be performed by the second apparatus 220. Similarly, although some operations are described from a perspective of the second apparatus 220, it is to be understood that the corresponding operations should be performed by the first apparatus 210. For example, if the second apparatus 220 transmits a message to the first apparatus 210, it is considered that the first apparatus 210 receives the message. As another example, if the first apparatus 210 receives a message from the second apparatus 220, it is considered that the second apparatus 220 transmits the message. Merely for brevity, some of the same or similar contents are omitted here.

[0085] According to some example embodiments of the present disclosure, the reservation signal(s) may be transmitted to the second RAT cell 230-2 (i.e., the second RAT nodes in the second RAT cell, such as, a Wi-Fi access node and / or a Wi-Fi terminal device), such that the interference to a first RAT transmission may be minimized. The scenario where the first RAT transmission is an uplink transmission will especially benefit from such example embodiments. In the other words, in some example embodiments, the first RAT transmission may comprise at least one of the following: a periodic uplinktransmission, an aperiodic uplink transmission, a semi-static uplink transmission, a dynamic uplink transmission, or a random access channel (RACH) / PRACH transmission.

[0086] As illustrated in FIG. 3 A, the second apparatus 220 (310-1) transmits configuration information for transmitting the reservation signal to the first apparatus 210, and the first apparatus 210 receives (310-2) the configuration accordingly.

[0087] The first apparatus 210 determines (320) whether there is a need to transmit the reservation signal to a second RAT cell 230-2. If the first apparatus 210 determines that there is a need to transmit the reservation signal, the first apparatus 210 transmits (330-1) the reservation signal prior to the first RAT transmission based on that the configuration information, and the second apparatus 220 receives (320-2) the reservation signal accordingly.

[0088] Optionally, in some example embodiments, the first apparatus 210 may inform the second apparatus 220 about whether the first apparatus 210 is to transmit / is transmitting / has transmitted the reservation signal. As illustrated in FIG. 3A, the first apparatus 210 may transmit (340-1) an indication indicating whether the reservation signal is transmitted (or to be transmitted or has been transmitted) by the first apparatus 210 to the second apparatus 220, and the second apparatus 220 receives (340-2) the indication accordingly.

[0089] In some example embodiments, the first RAT transmission may be prescheduled by the second apparatus 220. As illustrated in the FIG. 3 A, the second apparatus 220 may transmit (305-1) information for scheduling the first RAT transmission to the first apparatus 210, and the first apparatus 210 may receive (305-1) the information accordingly.

[0090] For a better understanding, reference is now made to FIG. 3B, which illustrates an example diagram 300B of shared band in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0091] Example diagram 300B provides a high-level depiction of the sharing aspects between Wi-Fi and 3GPP UL. It is assumed that other parts of the band that are not shared could be employed for additional 3GPP UL and DL transmissions. In FIG. 3B, Wi-Fi has initiated transmissions on the shared band. A UE or a set of UEs scheduled to transmit on the band may transmit a reservation signal prior to the transmission of their 3GPP signalin order to ensure Wi-Fi does to acquire the channel during the 3GPP scheduled UL transmissions. The reservation signal may be transmitted within the shared spectrum portion or out of the shared spectrum portion. The provided framework here assumes that the 3GPP network, via e.g., the serving cell provides UE with information of where the reservation signal should be sent and other information for transmitting the reservation signal such as bandwidth.

[0092] As one example embodiments, the second apparatus 220 is a gNB serving the first apparatus 210. In operation, the UL receiver of the gNB may implement Wi-Fi physical layer to detect the interfering Wi-Fi transmissions, such as, detect whether the reservation signal or other first RAT transmissions has prevented the Wi-Fi transmission. In this event, it may not be based on a failed 3GPP reception detection, instead it may be based also on Wi-Fi signal detection from the same received I / Q samples in parallel. Accordingly, if there are Wi-Fi signals present, then they are likely originating close by from the scheduled UEs (i.e. in the same beam), so detection could be one parameter in the closed loop power control.

[0093] In the following, more details about the configuration information will be discussed. First, the configuration information may be comprised in different messages according to different RRC states of the first apparatus 210.

[0094] In some example embodiments, in a case that the first apparatus 210 is in a connected state, the configuration information may be comprised in a (semi-static) radio resource control (RRC) message. Alternatively, in some example embodiments, in a case that the first apparatus 210 is in an idle or inactive state, the configuration information may be comprised in an RRC release message or system information (SI).

[0095] In some example embodiments, the configuration information may indicate at least one of the following: a format of the reservation signal, a waveform type of the reservation signal, resource used for transmitting the reservation signal, or at least one transmit power configuration of the reservation signal.

[0096] In addition to the configuration information, the second apparatus 220 may enable a dynamic configuration by using downlink control information (DCI). It should be noted that, the DCI may be transmitted prior to or after the transmission of reservation signal, and may configure / adjust any suitable dynamic configuration parameter(s).

[0097] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus 220 may transmit the DCI to the first apparatus 210, and the first apparatus 210 may receive the DCI accordingly, where the DCI may comprise at least one transmit power configuration of the reservation signal and / or a format of the reservation signal. As one example, the second apparatus 220 may set the at least one transmit power configuration to a special value to prevent the first apparatus 210 from transmitting the reservation signal. As another example, the second apparatus 220 may increase the transmit power by transmitting a DCI comprising a new transmit power configuration (for example, the second apparatus 220 detects that there is an interference node to the first RAT transmission).

[0098] In some example embodiments, the transmit power configuration comprised in the configuration information and the DCI may comprise an open loop power configuration and / or a closed loop power configuration.

[0099] In some example embodiments, a transmit power of the reservation signal may be different from a transmit power of the first RAT transmission.

[0100] According to some example embodiments of the present disclosure, the first apparatus may determine / adjust a proper transmit power for the reservation signal. In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 210 may determine / adjust the transmit power for the reservation signal based on at least one of the following:• a format of the reservation signal,• a waveform type of the reservation signal,• a capability of the first apparatus 210,• a measurement result of the second RAT cell 230-2, or• at least one transmit power configuration configured by the second apparatus 220.

[0101] In some example embodiments, the reservation signal may be transmitted by using at least one of the following: a lower peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR), or an extended cyclic prefix (CP).

[0102] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 210 may increase a transmit power closed loop offset based on the closed loop power configuration in a case that the first apparatus 210 detects the second RAT cell 230-2 after transmitting the reservation signal.

[0103] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 210 may decrease a transmit power closed loop offset based on the closed loop power configuration in a case that the first apparatus 210 fails to detect the second RAT cell 230-2 after transmitting the reservation signal.

[0104] In some example embodiments, if the first apparatus 210 determines that there is no need to transmit the reservation signal, the first apparatus 210 may ignore the at least one transmit power configuration.

[0105] In some example embodiments, a transmission priority of the reservation signal may be different from a transmission priority of first RAT transmission. Additionally, in a case that if the first apparatus 210 needs to transmit the reservation signal on the shared resources and needs to transmit the first RAT transmission on a non-shared part of the band, there may be certain limitation(s) in the transmit power difference between the reservation signal and the first RAT transmission as discussed below.

[0106] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus 220 / the first apparatus 210 may determine whether to prioritize the reservation signal or the first RAT transmission.

[0107] It is noted that the first apparatus 210 should follow the limitation of the maximum transmit power, for example, any of the reservation signal and the first RAT transmission is not allowed exceeding, e.g., 23 dBm if both are to be transmitted in the same symbols or slot.

[0108] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 210 may transmit both the reservation signal and the first RAT transmission. Further, the first RAT transmission is prioritized, i.e., prioritizing power of the first RAT transmission and transmitting the reservation signal by using the remaining power based on UE capabilities.

[0109] Alternatively, in some example embodiments, the first apparatus 210 may transmit both the reservation signal and the first RAT transmission. Further, the reservation signal transmission is prioritized, i.e., prioritizing power of the reservation signal and transmitting the first RAT transmission by using the remaining power based on UE capabilities.

[0110] Alternatively, in some example embodiments, the first apparatus 210 may transmit both the reservation signal and the first RAT transmission. Further the reservation signal and the first RAT transmission are transmitted with the same transmit powerparameter(s) according to the UE capabilities.

[0111] Alternatively, in some example embodiments, the first apparatus 210 may drop the first RAT transmission, and transmit the reservation signal according to the UE capabilities.

[0112] Alternatively, in some example embodiments, the first apparatus 210 may drop the reservation signal, and transmit the first RAT transmission according to the UE capabilities.

[0113] In some example embodiments, a format of the reservation signal may belong to a plurality of (pre-defined) formats, and different formats of the plurality of formats may be associated with at least one of the following: different service type of the first RAT transmission, different priorities of the first RAT transmission, different transmission durations of reservation signal, or different transmit power of the reservation signal. In operation, the format of the reservation signal may be either configured by the second apparatus 220 or determined by the first apparatus 210.

[0114] In order to ensure the reservation signal(s) is transmitted properly, the first apparatus 210 may determine whether there is a need to transmit a reservation signal to a second RAT cell 230-2 prior to the first RAT transmission based on proper factors. It should be noted that below example embodiments about how to determine whether there is a need to transmit a reservation signal are applicable for the scenario relating to an uplink first RAT transmission and / or a downlink first RAT transmission. In the other words, in some example embodiments, the first RAT transmission may comprise at least one of the following: a periodic uplink / downlink transmission, an aperiodic uplink / downlink transmission, a semi-static uplink / downlink transmission, a dynamic uplink / downlink transmission, or a RACH / PRACH transmission. More example embodiments will be further discussed with reference to FIG. 3A.

[0115] In operation, the first apparatus 210 receive (305-1) information for scheduling the first RAT transmission on a first resource from the second apparatus 220.

[0116] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 210 determines (320) whether there is a need to transmit the reservation signal to the second RAT cell 230-2 prior to the first RAT transmission based on whether the first resource is a resource shared by the first RAT and the second RAT. As one example embodiment, if at least part of the first resourceis a resource shared by the first RAT uplink transmission and the second RAT uplink and / or downlink transmission, the first apparatus 210 may determine that there is a need to transmit the reservation signal.

[0117] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 210 determines (320)whether there is a need to transmit a reservation signal to a second RAT cell 230-2 prior to the first RAT transmission based on whether a second RAT transmission is allowed on the first resource. As one example embodiment, if the second RAT transmission is allowed on at least part of the first resource, the first apparatus 210 may determine that there is a need to transmit the reservation signal.

[0118] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 210 determines (320)whether there is a need to transmit a reservation signal to a second RAT cell 230-2 prior to the first RAT transmission based on whether the presence of the second RAT cell 230-2 has been detected. As one example embodiment, if the second RAT cell 230-2 has been detected, the first apparatus 210 may determine that there is a need to transmit the reservation signal.

[0119] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 210 determines (320)whether there is a need to transmit a reservation signal to a second RAT cell 230-2 prior to the first RAT transmission based on a measurement result on the second RAT cell 230-2. As one example embodiment, if the measurement result indicates that a signal strength value of the second RAT cell 230-2 is larger than or equal to a threshold, the first apparatus 210 may determine that there is a need to transmit the reservation signal. Additionally, in some example embodiments, the threshold may be a pre-defined default value or configured by the second apparatus 220.

[0120] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 210 determines (320)whether there is a need to transmit a reservation signal to a second RAT cell 230-2 prior to the first RAT transmission based on a type of the first RAT transmission. In some example embodiments, the type of the first RAT transmission may indicate at least one of the following: a quality of service (QoS) class identifier of the RAT transmission, the fifth generation QoS identifier (5QI) of the first RAT transmission, a priority of a bearer which carries the first RAT transmission. As one example embodiment, if the first RAT transmission has a higher priority, the first apparatus 210 may determine that there is a need to transmit the reservation signal. Additionally, in example embodiments, the firstapparatus 210 may receive a first indication from the second apparatus 220, where the first indication indicates that the first RAT transmission is associated with a higher priority. Alternatively, in example embodiments, the first apparatus 210 may receive a second indication of a priority value of the first RAT transmission from the second apparatus 220.

[0121] According to some example embodiments of the present disclosure, a transmission duration of the reservation signal may be different according to different cases. It should be noted that below example embodiments about how to determine the transmission duration are applicable for both an uplink first RAT transmission and a downlink first RAT transmission. In the other words, in some example embodiments, the first RAT transmission may comprise at least one of the following: a periodic uplink / downlink transmission, an aperiodic uplink / downlink transmission, a semi-static uplink / downlink transmission, a dynamic uplink / downlink transmission, or a RACH / PRACH transmission. More example embodiments will be further discussed with reference to FIG. 3A.

[0122] In some example embodiments, a transmission duration of the reservation signal may be determined based on a type of the first RAT transmission.

[0123] In some example embodiments, the type of the first RAT transmission may indicate at least one of the following: a quality of service (QoS) class identifier of the RAT transmission, the fifth generation QoS identifier (5QI) of the first RAT transmission, a priority of a bearer which carries the first RAT transmission. In some example embodiments, if the first RAT transmission is associated with a first priority, the first apparatus 210 may determine the transmission duration to be a first transmission duration. Accordingly, if the first RAT transmission is associated with a second priority higher than the first priority, the first apparatus 210 may determine the transmission duration to be a second transmission duration longer than the first transmission duration.

[0124] Alternatively, in some example embodiments, the type of the first RAT transmission may indicate whether the first RAT transmission is an initial transmission or a retransmission.

[0125] In some example embodiments, if the first RAT transmission is an initial transmission, the first apparatus 210 may determine the transmission duration to be a first transmission duration. Accordingly, if the first RAT transmission is a retransmission, thefirst apparatus 210 may determine the transmission duration to be a second transmission duration longer than the first transmission duration.

[0126] In some example embodiments, if the first RAT transmission is the Nth retransmission, the first apparatus 210 may determine the transmission duration to be a first transmission duration. Accordingly, if the first RAT transmission is the Mth retransmission, the first apparatus 210 may determine the transmission duration to be a second transmission duration, where the N and M are integers, the M is larger than the N, and the second transmission duration is longer than the first transmission duration.

[0127] In some example embodiments, a transmission duration of the reservation signal may be determined based on a format of the reservation signal. In some example embodiments, if the resourced signal is configured with a first format, the first apparatus 210 may determine the transmission duration to be a first transmission duration. Accordingly, if the resourced signal is configured with a second format different from the first format, the first apparatus 210 may determine the transmission duration to be a second transmission duration different from the first transmission duration.

[0128] In some example embodiments, a transmission duration of the reservation signal may be determined based on a connected discontinuous reception (C-DRX) configuration. Alternatively, in some example embodiments, a transmission duration of the reservation signal may be determined based on a minimum / maximum transmission duration of the reservation signal and / or at least one scaling factor to be applied to the minimum transmission duration or the maximum transmission duration.

[0129] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 210 may determine the transmission duration by applying a scaling factor to the minimum transmission duration or the maximum transmission duration, where the scaling factor is determined based on at least one of the following: the type of the first RAT transmission, or the C-DRX configuration.

[0130] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 210 may determine the transmission duration to be a longer duration in accordance with a determination that the first apparatus 210 is configured with an active downlink transmission or a monitoring period.

[0131] According to example embodiments of the present disclosure, the first apparatusmay receive (310-2) configuration information from the second apparatus 220, where the configuration information may include any suitable information for transmitting reservation signal.

[0132] In some example embodiments, the configuration information may indicate at least one of the following: a format of the reservation signal, the minimum transmission duration of the reservation signal, the maximum transmission duration of the reservation signal, or the at least one scaling factor to be applied to the minimum transmission duration or the maximum transmission duration.

[0133] As discussed above, the configuration information may be comprised in different messages according to different RRC states of the first apparatus 210.

[0134] In some example embodiments, in a case that the first apparatus 210 is in a connected state, the configuration information may be comprised in an RRC message. Alternatively, in some example embodiments, in a case that the first apparatus 210 is in an idle or inactive state, the configuration information may be comprised in an RRC release message or SI.

[0135] It is well-known that timing advance (TA) is used for enabling uplink transmission synchronization. Thus, if the reservation signal is transmitted by the first apparatus 210, the TA needs to be adjusted such that the uplink transmission synchronization is guaranteed. Details will be further discussed with reference to FIG. 3 A.

[0136] In operation, if the first apparatus 210 determines that there is a need to transmit a reservation signal, the first apparatus 210 would transmit a reservation signal to a second RAT cell 230-2 and the first RAT transmission to the second apparatus 220 based on a first TA, where the first TA is determined by considering the transmission of the reservation signal. It should be noted that the processes about how to determine whether there is a need to transmit the reservation signal have been fully discussed above. Merely for brevity, the same or similar contents are omitted here.

[0137] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 210 may determine a second TA for transmitting the first RAT transmission; and then determine the first TA by increasing the second TA by a TA offset in accordance with a determination that there is a need to transmit the reservation signal. In some example embodiments, the second TA may be provided by the second apparatus 220 or may be determined by the first apparatus210 through a user equipment (UE)-based TA evaluation procedure.

[0138] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 210 may determine a transmission duration of the reservation signal, and then may determine the TA offset based on that the duration.

[0139] It should be noted that the processes about how to determine the transmission duration have been fully discussed above. Merely for brevity, the same or similar contents are omitted here.

[0140] Additionally, the transmission of the reservation signal may be configured by the second apparatus 220 as discussed above. Merely for brevity, the same or similar contents are omitted here.

[0141] According to some example embodiments of the present disclosure, after receiving the reservation signal, the second RAT node 230 (referred to as the third apparatus 230 in the following) may determine whether to stop / discard pending transmission (or determine that the channel is busy).

[0142] In some example embodiments, the third apparatus 230 may be a Wi-Fi terminal device or a Wi-Fi access point. Further, the first apparatus 210 may be one of the following: a 3GPP node, a 3GPP cell or a 3GPP terminal apparatus (e.g., a UE).

[0143] In operation, the third apparatus 230 occupies a first resource through a contention-based procedure. In some example embodiments, the contention-based procedure may be a listen before talk (LBT) procedure.

[0144] Then, the third apparatus 230 transmits a first transmission on the first resource. During the first transmission, the third apparatus 230 monitors a reservation signal transmitted by a first apparatus, the reservation signal used for requesting to occupy the first resource. Then, upon monitoring the reservation signal, the third apparatus 230 stops the first transmission.

[0145] In some example embodiments, the operation of stopping the first transmission is performed conditionally. Such embodiments will be discussed below.

[0146] In some example embodiments, the first transmission may be associated with a second radio access technology (RAT). In a case that the first resource is shared by a first RAT and the second RAT, the third apparatus 230 may stop the first transmission if apriority of the second RAT is lower than a priority of the first RAT.

[0147] In some example embodiments, the first RAT may be a cellular wireless technology (such as, 3GPP), and the second RAT may be a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) technology.

[0148] In some example embodiments, the first transmission may be associated with a first priority, and the reservation signal may be used for requesting to occupy the first resource for transmitting a second transmission associated with a second priority. In this event, the third apparatus 230 may stop the first transmission in accordance with a determination that the second priority is higher than the first priority. For example, the third apparatus 230 is performing a Wi-Fi transmission, and the first apparatus 210 sends the reservation signal for a 3GPP -based transmission. In this event, the third apparatus 230 stops the Wi-Fi transmission.

[0149] In some example embodiments, the third apparatus 230 may determine the reservation signal is used for requesting to occupy the first resource for transmitting a second transmission with the higher second priority based on: an indication comprised in the reservation signal, the indication indicating the second priority. For example, the reservation signal comprises an indication indicating the first apparatus 210 wants to perform a transmission with higher priority (such as, 3GPP transmission). In this event, the third apparatus 230 may stop the first transmission upon receiving the reservation signal.

[0150] Alternatively, in some example embodiments, the third apparatus 230 may determine the reservation signal is used for requesting to occupy the first resource for transmitting a second transmission with the higher second priority based on a specific format of the reservation signal, where the specific format implies the second priority. For example, different formats are associated with different priorities.

[0151] In some example embodiments, the indication may indicate at least one of the following: a quality of service (QoS) class identifier of the RAT transmission, or the fifth generation QoS identifier (5QI) of the first RAT transmission.

[0152] Alternatively, in some example embodiments, the third apparatus 230 may determine the reservation signal is used for requesting to occupy the first resource for transmitting a second transmission with the higher second priority based on: an identityof the first apparatus comprised in the reservation signal, the identity of the first apparatus implying the second priority. For example, the identity is a 3GPP specific UE identity.

[0153] In some example embodiments, the third apparatus 230 may stop the first transmission in accordance with a determination that a signal strength of the reservation signal is larger than or equal to a threshold. Additionally, in some example embodiments, the threshold may a pre-defined default value or configured by the network.

[0154] It should be understood that although some example embodiments are discussed separately, any example embodiments may be implemented in any suitable combination.

[0155] Merely for a better understanding, example embodiments will be further discussed with reference to FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, where FIG. 4 illustrates a signaling flow 400 of communication in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure, and FIG. 5 illustrates a flowchart of a method 500 implemented at a first apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0156] In the examples of FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, the UE is used as an example of the first apparatus 210, the gNB is used as an example of the second apparatus 210, 3GPP UL transmission is used as an example of the first RAT, and Wi-Fi is used as an example of the second RAT.

[0157] At step 1, it is assumed that a UE is in the RRC connected state and its serving cell is employing the upper 6GHz band which has some shared UL allocation with Wi-Fi technology.

[0158] At step 2, the UE receives a configuration from the gNB for a periodic or dynamic UL scheduling. The periodic scheduling may be associated with channel state information (CSI) reports for example or resources for transmitting scheduling requests (SRs) or random-access procedures (RACH / PRACH). The dynamic scheduling for the UL may be based on DCI scheduling.

[0159] At step 3, the UE receives channel reservation information (i.e. the configuration information as discussed above). This configuration information may comprise the following characteristics of the channel reservation signal to be transmitted:• Bandwidth,• Frequency location,• Power: could be based on an open or closed loop criterion. The closed loop power control would enable the network to increase the power of the reservation signal when its e.g. detecting high Block Error Rate (BLER) in some UL transmissions which does not correlate with sounding reference signal (SRS) measurements, and• Minimum duration of the reservation signal: This minimum duration can then be employed by the UE to scale the duration of the reservation signal based on the priority of its 3 GPP UL transmission.

[0160] In addition, a semi-static configuration information of the reservation signal, the gNB may dynamically determine which UEs and how much power each UE should transmit for the reservation signal. This dynamic part can be indicated to the UE via DCI (refer to step 5 for further details) and the semi-static part via RRC procedures or System Information.

[0161] It is noted that, if the semi-static cannel reservation information is provided via dedicated signaling (RRC), the UE UL transmissions may need to be limited to non-shared spectrum during e.g. initial access procedures for at least high priority services / access.

[0162] At step 4, the UE determines whether part of an upcoming UL transmission is within the shared band (i.e., whether there is a need to transmit the reservation signal). The UE may determine this based on one of the below methods:• The rules for the band allow Wi-Fi to transmit in at least part of the 3GPP UL transmission region.• Detecting the presence of a Wi-Fi AP, optionally decoding the capability of the Wi-Fi AP to employ part of the band scheduled for UL transmissions.• Prior measurements or detections of Wi-Fi AP while being served by the same 3GPP serving cell.• Assistance Information or an indication provided by the serving cell which could just indicate a high priority UL transmission is scheduled and hence a reservation signal must be transmitted.

[0163] At step 5, if the UE determines to transmit a reservation signal, UE may proceed to determine the required duration of the reservation signal. The duration of this reservation signal may be based on the priority of the UL transmission which it intends toperform. For example, for Voice traffic or voice related signaling or a retransmission it could increase the duration more than for a transmission with dummy data in response to an allocation which it did not require. The duration may be e.g., scaled on the minimum duration time of the reservation signal obtained in step 3) and a scaling factor derived from the 5QI or (re)transmission number (higher retransmission number larger scaling factor).

[0164] In some example embodiments, the duration may also be a function of the C- DRX state of the UE, i.e., if the UE is not actively receiving any DL data it could initiate the transition to switch to UL transmission sooner.

[0165] In some example embodiments, a larger reservation signal duration may also be enabled during active DL reception or monitoring periods, if for example, DL scheduling for the Special slot was scheduled one slot ahead, i.e., with K2>0. This type of scheduling (K2>0) could be limited to UEs with UL resources configured in the portion of the band shared with Wi-Fi. Alternatively, to enable the UE UL-DL switching time, the DL duration of the special slot could be reduced terms of number of DL symbols for UEs with UL allocations in the shared band.

[0166] In certain scenarios none of the above scheduling restrictions above may be employed unless gNB detects a failure associated with a UE UL transmissions in the shared part of the band. The failure detection could be based on high power received in the UE scheduled resources but not being able to decode the information.

[0167] In some cases, since a 3GPP node may serve more than one UE, it is possible that several UEs transmit the reservation signal simultaneously to ensure a certain upcoming slot is available for 3GPP transmissions. In these cases, the gNB may employ power control for the reservation signal such that the aggregate power employed by the UEs maximizes the possibility of the channel reservation and then this would also help minimize the UE battery drain due to transmission of reservation signals. The power control for the reservation signals could be provided via DCI as per prior art and could include a special value to indicate to abstain from transmitting the reservation signal.

[0168] The gNB may also determine only a subset of UEs (for example one UE) is to transmit the reservation signal even if there are several UEs expected to transmit in an UL sot. This determination is assumed to be part of step 3 and may be dynamically indicated to UE via DCI.

[0169] At Step 6, the UE proceeds to transmit the reservation signal in the resources informed by the network with the duration determined. At step 7, the UE proceeds to transmit the 3GPP UL transmission.

[0170] Note that although the example depicted in FIG. 4 is for a UE in RRC connected state, similar steps could apply for a UE in idle state. For this specific scenario the UE could acquire the channel reservation information via e.g. System Information messages or via RRC release message and it would, e.g., determine how much prior to transmitting on a RACH occasion it needs to send the reservation signal in function of the reason or application that initiated the RACH procedure.

[0171] Further refer to FIG. 5. At block 510, the first apparatus 210 may be configured by its serving cell for UL transmissions. For example, in RRC connected mode, a UE may be provided with a TA to ensure the UL reception of its transmissions are aligned with the UL slot reception window of the BS. Further, UE receives an UL allocation for transmission which may be dynamically scheduled or a preconfigured resource for UL transmissions (e.g., PUCCH or RACH).

[0172] At block 520, the first apparatus 210 may obtain channel reservation information from the network. For example, UE receives a configuration for 3 GPP channel information indication which may include specific resources for transmitting a reservation signal, a transmit power configuration of the reservation signal and how soon to transmit the reservation signal.

[0173] At block 530, the first apparatus 210 determines whether there is overlap among the UL resources it plans to transmit and at least part of the shared band (or whether there is a need to transmit the reservation signal). In the other words, UE determines at least part of the UL transmission resides within spectrum that is potentially shared with Wi-Fi.

[0174] At block 540, the first apparatus 210 determines to transmit a reservation signal and the duration of the reservation signal. For example, UE determines there is a need to transmit the reservation signal and the required duration of the reservation signal. For example, the duration of the reservation signal may be determined based on the type of 5G QoS Identifier (5QI) traffic to be transmitted in the allocated resources. For example, if the UL transmission is for voice / video over new radio (VoNR), the duration may be larger. Accordingly, if the UL transmission is for UL best effort traffic, the duration may be shorter.

[0175] At block 550, the first apparatus 210 trasnmits the reservation signal on the resources indicated by the network. Specifically, UE transmits the reservation signal potentially employing power control parameters different from those which are planned for the 3GPP UL transmission. The power control parameters may be provided by the gNB or self-determined by the UE based on received signal strength indication (RS SI) measurements of Wi-Fi nodes. Optionally, UE modifies its TA to account for the reservation signal transmission prior to the transmission of the UL 3GPP signal. At block 560, the first apparatus 210 transmits 3GPP UL signal (i.e., UE performs transmission of 3 GPP UL signal).

[0176] In some example embodiments, the reservation signal may be transmitted using e.g., a low peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) signal to reduce energy consumption or it may just employ an extended cyclic prefix (CP).

[0177] It is noted that although 3GPP LTE- Licensed Assisted Access (LAA) and 5G New Radio Unlicensed (NR-U) specified “reservation signals” to be used in the LBT procedure, between when the clear channel assessment finishes but before actual data transmission starts. The elements presented in this document differ in the way that in this context, no LBT is necessarily performed, and the trigger to transmit the reservation signal is based on other criteria than LBT timing.

[0178] Furthermore, in the context of the spectrum sharing and the second RAT being associated with a lower priority user for the shared band, the second RAT node / devices are expected to be able to cease transmission upon receiving a request (reservation signal) from a device of the first RAT.Example Method

[0179] FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of an example method 600 implemented at a first apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the method 600 will be described from the perspective of the first apparatus 210 in FIG. 2.

[0180] At block 610, the first apparatus receives, from a second apparatus, configuration information for transmitting a reservation signal.

[0181] At block 620, the first apparatus transmits, based on that the configuration information, the reservation signal prior to a first radio access technology (RAT)transmission from the first apparatus to the second apparatus in accordance with a determination that there is a need to transmit the reservation signal to a second RAT cell.

[0182] In some example embodiments, the configuration information indicates at least one of the following: a format of the reservation signal, a waveform type of the reservation signal, resource used for transmitting the reservation signal, or at least one transmit power configuration of the reservation signal.

[0183] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus may receive, from the second apparatus, downlink control information (DCI) comprising at least one transmit power configuration of the reservation signal and / or a format of the reservation signal.

[0184] In some example embodiments, the at least one transmit power configuration is set to a special value to prevent the first apparatus from transmitting the reservation signal.

[0185] In some example embodiments, in accordance with a determination that there is no need to transmit the reservation signal, the first apparatus may ignore the at least one transmit power configuration.

[0186] In some example embodiments, the transmit power configuration comprises an open loop power configuration and / or a closed loop power configuration.

[0187] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus may increase a transmit power closed loop offset based on the closed loop power configuration in a case that the first apparatus detects the second RAT cell after transmitting the reservation signal.

[0188] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus may decrease a transmit power closed loop offset based on the closed loop power configuration in a case that the first apparatus fails to detect the second RAT cell after transmitting the reservation signal.

[0189] In some example embodiments, a transmit power of the reservation signal is different from a transmit power of the first RAT transmission, and / or a transmission priority of the reservation signal is different from a transmission priority of the first RAT transmission.

[0190] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus may determine a transmit power of the reservation signal based on at least one of the following: a format of the reservation signal, a waveform type of the reservation signal, a capability of the first apparatus, a measurement result of the second RAT cell, or at least one transmit powerconfiguration configured by the second apparatus.

[0191] In some example embodiments, the reservation signal is transmitted by using at least one of the following: a lower peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR), or an extended cyclic prefix (CP).

[0192] In some example embodiments, a format of the reservation signal belongs to a plurality of formats, and different formats of the plurality of formats are associated with at least one of the following: different service type of the first RAT transmission, different priorities of the first RAT transmission, different transmission durations of reservation signal, or different transmit power of the reservation signal.

[0193] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus may transmit, to the second apparatus, an indication indicating whether the reservation signal is transmitted by the first apparatus.

[0194] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus is in a connected state, and the configuration information is comprised in a radio resource control (RRC) message.

[0195] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus is in an idle or inactive state, and the configuration information is comprised in a radio resource control (RRC) release message or system information (SI).

[0196] In some example embodiments, the first RAT transmission comprises at least one of the following: a periodic uplink transmission, an aperiodic uplink transmission, a semi-static uplink transmission, a dynamic uplink transmission, or a random access channel transmission.

[0197] In some example embodiments, the first RAT transmission is a cellular wireless transmission and the second RAT cell is a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) cell.

[0198] In some example embodiments, the first RAT transmission is associated with a first RAT node and the second RAT cell is associated with a second RAT node, the first RAT node and the second RAT node being operated in a same RAT and the first RAT node being associated a higher priority compared with the second RAT node.

[0199] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises a terminal apparatus and the second apparatus comprises a network apparatus.

[0200] FIG. 7 shows a flowchart of an example method 700 implemented at a secondapparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the method 700 will be described from the perspective of the second apparatus 220 in FIG. 2.

[0201] At block 710, the second apparatus transmits, to a first apparatus, information for scheduling a first radio access technology (RAT) transmission from the first apparatus to the second apparatus.

[0202] At block 720, the second apparatus transmits, to the first apparatus, configuration information to be used by the first apparatus to transmit a reservation signal to a second RAT cell prior to the first RAT transmission, wherein the configuration information indicates a resource used for transmitting the reservation signal.

[0203] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus may transmit at least one transmit power configuration of the reservation signal and / or a format of the reservation signal to the first apparatus, wherein the at least one transmit power configuration and / or the format of the reservation signal is comprised in the configuration information or downlink control information (DCI).

[0204] In some example embodiments, the transmit power configuration comprises an open loop power configuration and / or a closed loop power configuration.

[0205] In some example embodiments, the at least one transmit power configuration is comprised in the DCI, and the at least one transmit power configuration is set to a special value to prevent the first apparatus from transmitting the reservation signal.

[0206] In some example embodiments, a format of the reservation signal belongs to a plurality of formats, and different formats of the plurality of formats are associated with at least one of the following: different service type of the first RAT transmission, different priorities of the first RAT transmission, different transmission durations of reservation signal, or different transmit power of the reservation signal.

[0207] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus may receive, from the first apparatus, an indication indicating whether the reservation signal is transmitted by the first apparatus.

[0208] In some example embodiments, a transmit power of the reservation signal is different from a transmit power of the first RAT transmission.

[0209] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus is in a connected state, and the configuration information is comprised in a radio resource control (RRC) message.

[0210] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus is in an idle or inactive state, and the configuration information is comprised in a radio resource control (RRC) release message or system information (SI).

[0211] In some example embodiments, the first RAT transmission comprises at least one of the following: a periodic uplink transmission, an aperiodic uplink transmission, a semi-static uplink transmission, a dynamic uplink transmission, or a random access channel transmission.

[0212] In some example embodiments, the first RAT transmission is a cellular wireless transmission and the second RAT cell is a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) cell.

[0213] In some example embodiments, the first RAT transmission is associated with a first RAT node and the second RAT cell is associated with a second RAT node, the first RAT node and the second RAT node being operated in a same RAT and the first RAT node being associated a higher priority compared with the second RAT node.

[0214] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises a terminal apparatus and the second apparatus comprises a network apparatus.

[0215] FIG. 8 shows a flowchart of an example method 800 implemented at a first apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the method 800 will be described from the perspective of the first apparatus 210 in FIG. 2.

[0216] At block 810, the first apparatus receives, from a second apparatus, information for scheduling a first radio access technology (RAT) transmission on a first resource.

[0217] At block 820, the first apparatus determines whether there is a need to transmit a reservation signal to a second RAT cell prior to the first RAT transmission based on at least one of the following: whether the first resource is a resource shared by the first RAT and a second RAT, whether a second RAT transmission is allowed on the first resource, whether the presence of the second RAT cell has been detected, a measurement result on the second RAT cell, or a type of the first RAT transmission.

[0218] At block 830, the first apparatus transmits the reservation signal prior to the firstRAT transmission in accordance with a determination that there is a need to transmit the reservation signal.

[0219] In some example embodiments, based on that at least part of the first resource is a resource shared by the first RAT uplink transmission and the second RAT uplink and / or downlink transmission, the first apparatus may determine that there is a need to transmit the reservation signal.

[0220] In some example embodiments, based on that the second RAT transmission is allowed on at least part of the first resource, the first apparatus may determine that there is a need to transmit the reservation signal.

[0221] In some example embodiments, based on detecting the second RAT cell, the first apparatus may determine that there is a need to transmit the reservation signal.

[0222] In some example embodiments, based on that the measurement result indicating that a signal strength value of the second RAT cell is larger than or equal to a threshold, the first apparatus may determine that there is a need to transmit the reservation signal.

[0223] In some example embodiments, the threshold is a pre-defined default value or configured by the second apparatus.

[0224] In some example embodiments, based on that the first RAT transmission has a higher priority, the first apparatus may determine that there is a need to transmit the reservation signal.

[0225] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus may receive, from the second apparatus, a first indication that the first RAT transmission is associated with a higher priority or a second indication of a priority value of the first RAT transmission.

[0226] In some example embodiments, the first RAT transmission comprises at least one of the following: a periodic uplink / downlink transmission, an aperiodic uplink / downlink transmission, a semi-static uplink / downlink transmission, a dynamic uplink / downlink transmission, or a random access channel transmission.

[0227] In some example embodiments, the first RAT transmission is a cellular wireless transmission and the second RAT cell is a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) cell.

[0228] In some example embodiments, the first RAT transmission is associated with a first RAT node and the second RAT cell is associated with a second RAT node, the firstRAT node and the second RAT node being operated in a same RAT and the first RAT node being associated a higher priority compared with the second RAT node.

[0229] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises a terminal apparatus and the second apparatus comprises a network apparatus.

[0230] FIG. 9 shows a flowchart of an example method 900 implemented at a first apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the method 900 will be described from the perspective of the first apparatus 210 in FIG. 2.

[0231] At block 910, the first apparatus receives from a second apparatus, information for scheduling a first radio access technology (RAT) transmission.

[0232] At block 920, the first apparatus transmits a reservation signal to a second RAT cell prior to the first RAT transmission in accordance with a determination that there is a need to transmit the reservation signal, wherein a transmission duration of the reservation signal is determined based on at least one of the following: a type of the first RAT transmission, a format of the reservation signal, a minimum transmission duration of the reservation signal, a maximum transmission duration of the reservation signal, at least one scaling factor to be applied to the minimum transmission duration or the maximum transmission duration, or a connected discontinuous reception (C-DRX) configuration.

[0233] In some example embodiments, the type of the first RAT transmission indicates at least one of the following: a quality of service (QoS) class identifier of the RAT transmission, the fifth generation QoS identifier (5QI) of the first RAT transmission, a priority of a bearer which carries the first RAT transmission, or whether the first RAT transmission is an initial transmission or a retransmission.

[0234] In some example embodiments, based on that the first RAT transmission is associated with a first priority, the first apparatus may determine the transmission duration to be a first transmission duration; and based on that the first RAT transmission is associated with a second priority higher than the first priority, the first apparatus may determine the transmission duration to be a second transmission duration longer than the first transmission duration.

[0235] In some example embodiments, based on that the first RAT transmission is an initial transmission, the first apparatus may determine the transmission duration to be afirst transmission duration; and based on that the first RAT transmission is a retransmission, the first apparatus may determine the transmission duration to be a second transmission duration longer than the first transmission duration.

[0236] In some example embodiments, based on that the first RAT transmission is the Nth retransmission, the first apparatus may determine the transmission duration to be a first transmission duration; and based on that the first RAT transmission is the Mth retransmission, the first apparatus may determine the transmission duration to be a second transmission duration, wherein the N and M are integers, the M is larger than the N, and the second transmission duration is longer than the first transmission duration.

[0237] In some example embodiments, based on that the resourced signal is configured with a first format, the first apparatus may determine the transmission duration to be a first transmission duration; and based on that the resourced signal is configured with a second format different from the first format, the first apparatus may determine the transmission duration to be a second transmission duration different from the first transmission duration.

[0238] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus may determine the transmission duration by applying a scaling factor to the minimum transmission duration or the maximum transmission duration, wherein the scaling factor is determined based on at least one of the following: thing type of the first RAT transmission, or thing C-DRX configuration.

[0239] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus may determine the transmission duration to be a longer duration in accordance with a determination that the first apparatus is configured with an active downlink transmission or a monitoring period.

[0240] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus may receive, from the second apparatus, configuration information for transmitting a reservation signal; and transmitting the reservation signal based on that the configuration information.

[0241] In some example embodiments, the configuration information indicates at least one of the following: a format of the reservation signal, the minimum transmission duration of the reservation signal, the maximum transmission duration of the reservation signal, or the at least one scaling factor to be applied to the minimum transmission duration or the maximum transmission duration.

[0242] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus is in a connected state, and the configuration information is comprised in a radio resource control (RRC) message.

[0243] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus is in an idle or inactive state, and the configuration information is comprised in a radio resource control (RRC) release message or system information (SI).

[0244] In some example embodiments, the first RAT transmission comprises at least one of the following: a periodic uplink / downlink transmission, an aperiodic uplink / downlink transmission, a semi-static uplink / downlink transmission, a dynamic uplink / downlink transmission, or a random access channel transmission.

[0245] In some example embodiments, the first RAT transmission is a cellular wireless transmission and the second RAT cell is a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) cell.

[0246] In some example embodiments, the first RAT transmission is associated with a first RAT node and the second RAT cell is associated with a second RAT node, the first RAT node and the second RAT node being operated in a same RAT and the first RAT node being associated a higher priority compared with the second RAT node.

[0247] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises a terminal apparatus and the second apparatus comprises a network apparatus.

[0248] FIG. 10 shows a flowchart of an example method 1000 implemented at a second apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the method 1000 will be described from the perspective of the second apparatus 220 in FIG. 2.

[0249] At block 1010, the second apparatus transmits, to a first apparatus, information for scheduling a first radio access technology (RAT) transmission.

[0250] At block 1020, the second apparatus transmits, to the first apparatus, configuration information to be used by the first apparatus to transmit a reservation signal to a second RAT cell prior to the first RAT transmission, wherein the configuration information indicates at least one of the following: a format of the reservation signal, the minimum transmission duration of the reservation signal, the maximum transmission duration of the reservation signal, or the at least one scaling factor to be applied to the minimum transmission duration or the maximum transmission duration.

[0251] In some example embodiments, a format of the reservation signal belongs to a plurality of formats, and different formats of the plurality of formats are associated with at least one of the following: different service type of the first RAT transmission, different priorities of the first RAT transmission, different transmission durations of reservation signal, or different transmit power of the reservation signal.

[0252] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus is in a connected state, and the configuration information is comprised in a radio resource control (RRC) message.

[0253] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus is in an idle or inactive state, and the configuration information is comprised in a radio resource control (RRC) release message or system information (SI).

[0254] In some example embodiments, the first RAT transmission comprises at least one of the following: a periodic uplink / downlink transmission, an aperiodic uplink / downlink transmission, a semi-static uplink / downlink transmission, a dynamic uplink / downlink transmission, or a random access channel transmission.

[0255] In some example embodiments, the first RAT transmission is a cellular wireless transmission and the second RAT cell is a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) cell.

[0256] In some example embodiments, the first RAT transmission is associated with a first RAT node and the second RAT cell is associated with a second RAT node, the first RAT node and the second RAT node being operated in a same RAT and the first RAT node being associated a higher priority compared with the second RAT node.

[0257] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises a terminal apparatus and the second apparatus comprises a network apparatus.

[0258] FIG. 11 shows a flowchart of an example method 1100 implemented at a first apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the method 1100 will be described from the perspective of the first apparatus 210 in FIG. 2.

[0259] At block 1110, the first apparatus receives, from a second apparatus, information for scheduling a first radio access technology (RAT) transmission from the first apparatus to the second apparatus.

[0260] At block 1120, in accordance with a determination that there is a need to transmita reservation signal, the first apparatus transmits based on a first timing advance (TA), a reservation signal to a second RAT cell and the first RAT transmission to the second apparatus, wherein the reservation signal is transmitted prior to the first RAT transmission and the first TA is determined by considering the transmission of the reservation signal.

[0261] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus may determine a second TA for transmitting the first RAT transmission; and in accordance with a determination that there is a need to transmit the reservation signal, the first apparatus may determine the first TA by increasing the second TA by a TA offset.

[0262] In some example embodiments, the second TA is provided by the second apparatus or determined by the first apparatus through a user equipment (UE)-based TA evaluation procedure.

[0263] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus may determine a transmission duration of the reservation signal; and determine the TA offset based on that the duration.

[0264] In some example embodiments, the duration is determined based on at least one of the following: a format of the reservation signal, a type of the first RAT transmission, a minimum transmission duration of the reservation signal, a maximum transmission duration of the reservation signal, at least one scaling factor to be applied to the minimum transmission duration or the maximum transmission duration, or a connected discontinuous reception (C-DRX) configuration.

[0265] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus may determine whether there is a need to transmit the reservation signal based on at least one of the following: whether the first resource is a resource shared by the first RAT transmission and a second RAT transmission, whether a second RAT transmission is allowed to be transmitted on the first resource, whether present of the second RAT cell has been detected, a measurement result on the second RAT cell, or a type of the first RAT transmission

[0266] In some example embodiments, a format of the reservation signal belongs to a plurality of formats, and different formats of the plurality of formats are associated with at least one of the following: different service type of the first RAT transmission, different priorities of the first RAT transmission, different transmission durations of reservation signal, or different transmit power of the reservation signal.

[0267] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus may receive, from the secondapparatus, configuration information for transmitting a reservation signal; and transmitting the reservation signal based on that the configuration information.

[0268] In some example embodiments, the configuration information indicates at least one of the following: a format of the reservation signal, resource used for transmitting the reservation signal, at least one transmit power configuration of the reservation signal, a minimum transmission duration of the reservation signal, a maximum transmission duration of the reservation signal, or at least one scaling factor to be applied to the minimum transmission duration or the maximum transmission duration.

[0269] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus is in a connected state, and the configuration information is comprised in a radio resource control (RRC) message.

[0270] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus is in an idle or inactive state, and the configuration information is comprised in a radio resource control (RRC) release message or system information (SI).

[0271] In some example embodiments, the first RAT transmission comprises at least one of the following: a periodic uplink transmission, an aperiodic uplink transmission, a semi-static uplink transmission, a dynamic uplink transmission, or a random access channel transmission.

[0272] In some example embodiments, the first RAT transmission is a cellular wireless transmission and the second RAT cell is a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) cell.

[0273] In some example embodiments, the first RAT transmission is associated with a first RAT node and the second RAT cell is associated with a second RAT node, the first RAT node and the second RAT node being operated in a same RAT and the first RAT node being associated a higher priority compared with the second RAT node.

[0274] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises a terminal apparatus and the second apparatus comprises a network apparatus.

[0275] FIG. 12 shows a flowchart of an example method 1200 implemented at a second apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the method 1200 will be described from the perspective of the second apparatus 220 in FIG. 2.

[0276] At block 1210, the second apparatus generates configuration information to beused by a first apparatus for transmitting a reservation signal to a second radio access technology (RAT) prior to a first RAT transmission, wherein the configuration information indicates at least one of the following: a resource used for transmitting the reservation signal, a format of the reservation signal, at least one transmit power configuration of the reservation signal, a minimum transmission duration of the reservation signal, a maximum transmission duration of the reservation signal, or at least one scaling factor to be applied to the minimum transmission duration or the maximum transmission duration.

[0277] At block 1220, the second apparatus transmits the configuration information to the first apparatus.

[0278] In some example embodiments, a format of the reservation signal belongs to a plurality of formats, and different formats of the plurality of formats are associated with at least one of the following: different service type of the first RAT transmission, different priorities of the first RAT transmission, different transmission durations of reservation signal, or different transmit power of the reservation signal.

[0279] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus is in a connected state, and the configuration information is comprised in a radio resource control (RRC) message.

[0280] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus is in an idle or inactive state, and the configuration information is comprised in a radio resource control (RRC) release message or system information (SI).

[0281] In some example embodiments, the first RAT transmission comprises at least one of the following: a periodic uplink transmission, an aperiodic uplink transmission, a semi-static uplink transmission, a dynamic uplink transmission, or a random access channel transmission.

[0282] In some example embodiments, the first RAT transmission is a cellular wireless transmission and the second RAT cell is a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) cell.

[0283] In some example embodiments, the first RAT transmission is associated with a first RAT node and the second RAT cell is associated with a second RAT node, the first RAT node and the second RAT node being operated in a same RAT and the first RAT node being associated a higher priority compared with the second RAT node.

[0284] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises a terminalapparatus and the second apparatus comprises a network apparatus.

[0285] FIG. 13 shows a flowchart of an example method 1300 implemented at a third apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the method 1300 will be described from the perspective of the third apparatus 230 in FIG. 2.

[0286] At block 1310, the third apparatus transmits a first transmission on a first resource occupied by the third apparatus through a contention-based procedure.

[0287] At block 1320, during the first transmission, the third apparatus monitors a reservation signal transmitted by a first apparatus, the reservation signal used for requesting to occupy the first resource.

[0288] At block 1330, based at least in part on monitoring the reservation signal, the third apparatus stops the first transmission.

[0289] In some example embodiments, the first transmission is associated with a second radio access technology (RAT), the first resource is shared by a first RAT and the second RAT, and a priority of the second RAT is lower than a priority of the first RAT.

[0290] In some example embodiments, the first RAT is a cellular wireless technology, and the second RAT is a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) technology.

[0291] In some example embodiments, the first transmission is associated with a first priority, the reservation signal is used for requesting to occupy the first resource for transmitting a second transmission associated with a second priority, and wherein the third apparatus is further caused to, stop the first transmission in accordance with a determination that the second priority is higher than the first priority.

[0292] In some example embodiments, the third apparatus may determine the reservation signal is used for requesting to occupy the first resource for transmitting a second transmission with the higher second priority based on: an indication comprised in the reservation signal, the indication indicating the second priority, a specific format of the reservation signal, the specific format implying the second priority, or an identity of the first apparatus comprised in the reservation signal, the identity of the first apparatus implying the second priority.

[0293] In some example embodiments, the indication indicates at least one of thefollowing: a quality of service (QoS) class identifier of the RAT transmission, or the fifth generation QoS identifier (5QI) of the first RAT transmission.

[0294] In some example embodiments, the third apparatus may stop the first transmission in accordance with a determination that a signal strength of the reservation signal is larger than or equal to a threshold.

[0295] In some example embodiments, the threshold is a pre-defined default value or configured by a network.

[0296] In some example embodiments, the contention-based procedure is a listen before talk (LBT) procedure.

[0297] In some example embodiments, the third apparatus is a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) terminal device or a Wi-Fi Access point.Example Apparatus, Device and Medium

[0298] In some example embodiments, a first apparatus capable of performing any of the method 600 (for example, the first apparatus 210 in FIG. 2) may comprise means for performing the respective operations of the method 600. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module. The first apparatus may be implemented as or included in the first apparatus 210 in FIG. 2.

[0299] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises means for receiving, from a second apparatus, configuration information for transmitting a reservation signal; and means for transmitting, based on that the configuration information, the reservation signal prior to a first radio access technology (RAT) transmission from the first apparatus to the second apparatus in accordance with a determination that there is a need to transmit the reservation signal to a second RAT cell.

[0300] In some example embodiments, the configuration information indicates at least one of the following: a format of the reservation signal, a waveform type of the reservation signal, resource used for transmitting the reservation signal, or at least one transmit power configuration of the reservation signal.

[0301] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: receive, from the second apparatus, downlink control information (DCI) comprising at least onetransmit power configuration of the reservation signal and / or a format of the reservation signal.

[0302] In some example embodiments, the at least one transmit power configuration is set to a special value to prevent the first apparatus from transmitting the reservation signal.

[0303] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: in accordance with a determination that there is no need to transmit the reservation signal, ignore the at least one transmit power configuration.

[0304] In some example embodiments, the transmit power configuration comprises an open loop power configuration and / or a closed loop power configuration.

[0305] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: increase a transmit power closed loop offset based on the closed loop power configuration in a case that the first apparatus detects the second RAT cell after transmitting the reservation signal.

[0306] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: decrease a transmit power closed loop offset based on the closed loop power configuration in a case that the first apparatus fails to detect the second RAT cell after transmitting the reservation signal.

[0307] In some example embodiments, a transmit power of the reservation signal is different from a transmit power of the first RAT transmission, and / or a transmission priority of the reservation signal is different from a transmission priority of the first RAT transmission.

[0308] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: determine a transmit power of the reservation signal based on at least one of the following: a format of the reservation signal, a waveform type of the reservation signal, a capability of the first apparatus, a measurement result of the second RAT cell, or at least one transmit power configuration configured by the second apparatus.

[0309] In some example embodiments, the reservation signal is transmitted by using at least one of the following: a lower peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR), or an extended cyclic prefix (CP).

[0310] In some example embodiments, a format of the reservation signal belongs to aplurality of formats, and different formats of the plurality of formats are associated with at least one of the following: different service type of the first RAT transmission, different priorities of the first RAT transmission, different transmission durations of reservation signal, or different transmit power of the reservation signal.

[0311] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for transmitting, to the second apparatus, an indication indicating whether the reservation signal is transmitted by the first apparatus.

[0312] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus is in a connected state, and the configuration information is comprised in a radio resource control (RRC) message.

[0313] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus is in an idle or inactive state, and the configuration information is comprised in a radio resource control (RRC) release message or system information (SI).

[0314] In some example embodiments, the first RAT transmission comprises at least one of the following: a periodic uplink transmission, an aperiodic uplink transmission, a semi-static uplink transmission, a dynamic uplink transmission, or a random access channel transmission.

[0315] In some example embodiments, the first RAT transmission is a cellular wireless transmission and the second RAT cell is a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) cell.

[0316] In some example embodiments, the first RAT transmission is associated with a first RAT node and the second RAT cell is associated with a second RAT node, the first RAT node and the second RAT node being operated in a same RAT and the first RAT node being associated a higher priority compared with the second RAT node.

[0317] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises a terminal apparatus and the second apparatus comprises a network apparatus.

[0318] In some example embodiments, a second apparatus capable of performing any of the method 700 (for example, the second apparatus 220 in FIG. 2) may comprise means for performing the respective operations of the method 700. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module. The second apparatus may be implemented as or included the second apparatus 220 in FIG. 2.

[0319] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus comprises means for transmitting, to a first apparatus, information for scheduling a first radio access technology (RAT) transmission from the first apparatus to the second apparatus; and means for transmitting, to the first apparatus, configuration information to be used by the first apparatus to transmit a reservation signal to a second RAT cell prior to the first RAT transmission, wherein the configuration information indicates a resource used for transmitting the reservation signal.

[0320] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises: transmit at least one transmit power configuration of the reservation signal and / or a format of the reservation signal to the first apparatus, wherein the at least one transmit power configuration and / or the format of the reservation signal is comprised in the configuration information or downlink control information (DCI).

[0321] In some example embodiments, the transmit power configuration comprises an open loop power configuration and / or a closed loop power configuration.

[0322] In some example embodiments, the at least one transmit power configuration is comprised in the DCI, and the at least one transmit power configuration is set to a special value to prevent the first apparatus from transmitting the reservation signal.

[0323] In some example embodiments, a format of the reservation signal belongs to a plurality of formats, and different formats of the plurality of formats are associated with at least one of the following: different service type of the first RAT transmission, different priorities of the first RAT transmission, different transmission durations of reservation signal, or different transmit power of the reservation signal.

[0324] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises: means for receiving, from the first apparatus, an indication indicating whether the reservation signal is transmitted by the first apparatus.

[0325] In some example embodiments, a transmit power of the reservation signal is different from a transmit power of the first RAT transmission.

[0326] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus is in a connected state, and the configuration information is comprised in a radio resource control (RRC) message.

[0327] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus is in an idle or inactive state, and the configuration information is comprised in a radio resource control (RRC) releasemessage or system information (SI).

[0328] In some example embodiments, the first RAT transmission comprises at least one of the following: a periodic uplink transmission, an aperiodic uplink transmission, a semi-static uplink transmission, a dynamic uplink transmission, or a random access channel transmission.

[0329] In some example embodiments, the first RAT transmission is a cellular wireless transmission and the second RAT cell is a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) cell.

[0330] In some example embodiments, the first RAT transmission is associated with a first RAT node and the second RAT cell is associated with a second RAT node, the first RAT node and the second RAT node being operated in a same RAT and the first RAT node being associated a higher priority compared with the second RAT node.

[0331] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises a terminal apparatus and the second apparatus comprises a network apparatus.

[0332] In some example embodiments, a first apparatus capable of performing any of the method 800 (for example, the first apparatus 210 in FIG. 2) may comprise means for performing the respective operations of the method 800. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module. The first apparatus may be implemented as or included in the first apparatus 210 in FIG. 2.

[0333] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises means for receiving, from a second apparatus, information for scheduling a first radio access technology (RAT) transmission on a first resource; means for determining whether there is a need to transmit a reservation signal to a second RAT cell prior to the first RAT transmission based on at least one of the following: whether the first resource is a resource shared by the first RAT and a second RAT, whether a second RAT transmission is allowed on the first resource, whether the presence of the second RAT cell has been detected, a measurement result on the second RAT cell, or a type of the first RAT transmission; and means for transmitting the reservation signal prior to the first RAT transmission in accordance with a determination that there is a need to transmit the reservation signal.

[0334] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for based on that at least part of the first resource is a resource shared by the first RAT uplinktransmission and the second RAT uplink and / or downlink transmission, determining that there is a need to transmit the reservation signal.

[0335] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for based on that the second RAT transmission is allowed on at least part of the first resource, determining that there is a need to transmit the reservation signal.

[0336] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for based on detecting the second RAT cell, determining that there is a need to transmit the reservation signal.

[0337] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for based on that the measurement result indicating that a signal strength value of the second RAT cell is larger than or equal to a threshold, determining that there is a need to transmit the reservation signal.

[0338] In some example embodiments, the threshold is a pre-defined default value or configured by the second apparatus.

[0339] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for based on that the first RAT transmission has a higher priority, determining that there is a need to transmit the reservation signal.

[0340] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for receiving, from the second apparatus, a first indication that the first RAT transmission is associated with a higher priority or a second indication of a priority value of the first RAT transmission.

[0341] In some example embodiments, the first RAT transmission comprises at least one of the following: a periodic uplink / downlink transmission, an aperiodic uplink / downlink transmission, a semi-static uplink / downlink transmission, a dynamic uplink / downlink transmission, or a random access channel transmission.

[0342] In some example embodiments, the first RAT transmission is a cellular wireless transmission and the second RAT cell is a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) cell.

[0343] In some example embodiments, the first RAT transmission is associated with a first RAT node and the second RAT cell is associated with a second RAT node, the first RAT node and the second RAT node being operated in a same RAT and the first RATnode being associated a higher priority compared with the second RAT node.

[0344] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises a terminal apparatus and the second apparatus comprises a network apparatus.

[0345] In some example embodiments, a first apparatus capable of performing any of the method 900 (for example, the first apparatus 210 in FIG. 2) may comprise means for performing the respective operations of the method 900. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module. The first apparatus may be implemented as or included in the first apparatus 210 in FIG. 2.

[0346] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises means for receiving, from a second apparatus, information for scheduling a first radio access technology (RAT) transmission; and means for transmitting a reservation signal to a second RAT cell prior to the first RAT transmission in accordance with a determination that there is a need to transmit the reservation signal, wherein a transmission duration of the reservation signal is determined based on at least one of the following: a type of the first RAT transmission, a format of the reservation signal, a minimum transmission duration of the reservation signal, a maximum transmission duration of the reservation signal, at least one scaling factor to be applied to the minimum transmission duration or the maximum transmission duration, or a connected discontinuous reception (C-DRX) configuration.

[0347] In some example embodiments, the type of the first RAT transmission indicates at least one of the following: a quality of service (QoS) class identifier of the RAT transmission, the fifth generation QoS identifier (5QI) of the first RAT transmission, a priority of a bearer which carries the first RAT transmission, or whether the first RAT transmission is an initial transmission or a retransmission.

[0348] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for based on that the first RAT transmission is associated with a first priority, determining the transmission duration to be a first transmission duration; and means for based on that the first RAT transmission is associated with a second priority higher than the first priority, determining the transmission duration to be a second transmission duration longer than the first transmission duration.

[0349] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for based on that the first RAT transmission is an initial transmission, determining the transmission duration to be a first transmission duration; and means for based on that the first RAT transmission is a retransmission, determining the transmission duration to be a second transmission duration longer than the first transmission duration.

[0350] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for based on that the first RAT transmission is the Nth retransmission, determining the transmission duration to be a first transmission duration; and means for based on that the first RAT transmission is the Mth retransmission, determining the transmission duration to be a second transmission duration, wherein the N and M are integers, the M is larger than the N, and the second transmission duration is longer than the first transmission duration.

[0351] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for based on that the resourced signal is configured with a first format, determining the transmission duration to be a first transmission duration; and means for based on that the resourced signal is configured with a second format different from the first format, determining the transmission duration to be a second transmission duration different from the first transmission duration.

[0352] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for determining the transmission duration by applying a scaling factor to the minimum transmission duration or the maximum transmission duration, wherein the scaling factor is determined based on at least one of the following: type of the first RAT transmission, or the C-DRX configuration.

[0353] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for determining the transmission duration to be a longer duration in accordance with a determination that the first apparatus is configured with an active downlink transmission or a monitoring period.

[0354] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for receiving, from the second apparatus, configuration information for transmitting a reservation signal; and means for transmitting the reservation signal based on that the configuration information.

[0355] In some example embodiments, the configuration information indicates at least one of the following: a format of the reservation signal, the minimum transmission duration of the reservation signal, the maximum transmission duration of the reservation signal, or the at least one scaling factor to be applied to the minimum transmission duration or the maximum transmission duration.

[0356] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus is in a connected state, and the configuration information is comprised in a radio resource control (RRC) message.

[0357] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus is in an idle or inactive state, and the configuration information is comprised in a radio resource control (RRC) release message or system information (SI).

[0358] In some example embodiments, the first RAT transmission comprises at least one of the following: a periodic uplink / downlink transmission, an aperiodic uplink / downlink transmission, a semi-static uplink / downlink transmission, a dynamic uplink / downlink transmission, or a random access channel transmission.

[0359] In some example embodiments, the first RAT transmission is a cellular wireless transmission and the second RAT cell is a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) cell.

[0360] In some example embodiments, the first RAT transmission is associated with a first RAT node and the second RAT cell is associated with a second RAT node, the first RAT node and the second RAT node being operated in a same RAT and the first RAT node being associated a higher priority compared with the second RAT node.

[0361] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises a terminal apparatus and the second apparatus comprises a network apparatus.

[0362] In some example embodiments, a second apparatus capable of performing any of the method 1000 (for example, the second apparatus 220 in FIG. 2) may comprise means for performing the respective operations of the method 1000. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module. The second apparatus may be implemented as or included in the second apparatus 220 in FIG. 2.

[0363] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus comprises means for transmitting, to a first apparatus, information for scheduling a first radio access technology (RAT) transmission; and means for transmitting, to the first apparatus,configuration information to be used by the first apparatus to transmit a reservation signal to a second RAT cell prior to the first RAT transmission, wherein the configuration information indicates at least one of the following: a format of the reservation signal, the minimum transmission duration of the reservation signal, the maximum transmission duration of the reservation signal, or the at least one scaling factor to be applied to the minimum transmission duration or the maximum transmission duration.

[0364] In some example embodiments, a format of the reservation signal belongs to a plurality of formats, and different formats of the plurality of formats are associated with at least one of the following: different service type of the first RAT transmission, different priorities of the first RAT transmission, different transmission durations of reservation signal, or different transmit power of the reservation signal.

[0365] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus is in a connected state, and the configuration information is comprised in a radio resource control (RRC) message.

[0366] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus is in an idle or inactive state, and the configuration information is comprised in a radio resource control (RRC) release message or system information (SI).

[0367] In some example embodiments, the first RAT transmission comprises at least one of the following: a periodic uplink / downlink transmission, an aperiodic uplink / downlink transmission, a semi-static uplink / downlink transmission, a dynamic uplink / downlink transmission, or a random access channel transmission.

[0368] In some example embodiments, the first RAT transmission is a cellular wireless transmission and the second RAT cell is a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) cell.

[0369] In some example embodiments, the first RAT transmission is associated with a first RAT node and the second RAT cell is associated with a second RAT node, the first RAT node and the second RAT node being operated in a same RAT and the first RAT node being associated a higher priority compared with the second RAT node.

[0370] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises a terminal apparatus and the second apparatus comprises a network apparatus.

[0371] In some example embodiments, a first apparatus capable of performing any of the method 1100 (for example, the first apparatus 210 in FIG.) may comprise means for performing the respective operations of the method 1100. The means may be implementedin any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module. The first apparatus may be implemented as or included in the first apparatus 210 in FIG. 2.

[0372] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises means for receiving, from a second apparatus, information for scheduling a first radio access technology (RAT) transmission from the first apparatus to the second apparatus; and means for in accordance with a determination that there is a need to transmit a reservation signal, transmitting based on a first timing advance (TA), a reservation signal to a second RAT cell and the first RAT transmission to the second apparatus, wherein the reservation signal is transmitted prior to the first RAT transmission and the first TA is determined by considering the transmission of the reservation signal.

[0373] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for determining a second TA for transmitting the first RAT transmission; and means for in accordance with a determination that there is a need to transmit the reservation signal, determining the first TA by increasing the second TA by a TA offset.

[0374] In some example embodiments, the second TA is provided by the second apparatus or determined by the first apparatus through a user equipment (UE)-based TA evaluation procedure.

[0375] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for determining a transmission duration of the reservation signal; and means for determining the TA offset based on that the duration.

[0376] In some example embodiments, the duration is determined based on at least one of the following: a format of the reservation signal, a type of the first RAT transmission, a minimum transmission duration of the reservation signal, a maximum transmission duration of the reservation signal, at least one scaling factor to be applied to the minimum transmission duration or the maximum transmission duration, or a connected discontinuous reception (C-DRX) configuration.

[0377] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: determine whether there is a need to transmit the reservation signal based on at least one of the following: whether the first resource is a resource shared by the first RAT transmission and a second RAT transmission, whether a second RAT transmission is allowed to betransmitted on the first resource, whether present of the second RAT cell has been detected, a measurement result on the second RAT cell, or a type of the first RAT transmission

[0378] In some example embodiments, a format of the reservation signal belongs to a plurality of formats, and different formats of the plurality of formats are associated with at least one of the following: different service type of the first RAT transmission, different priorities of the first RAT transmission, different transmission durations of reservation signal, or different transmit power of the reservation signal.

[0379] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for receiving, from the second apparatus, configuration information for transmitting a reservation signal; and means for transmitting the reservation signal based on that the configuration information.

[0380] In some example embodiments, the configuration information indicates at least one of the following: a format of the reservation signal, resource used for transmitting the reservation signal, at least one transmit power configuration of the reservation signal, a minimum transmission duration of the reservation signal, a maximum transmission duration of the reservation signal, or at least one scaling factor to be applied to the minimum transmission duration or the maximum transmission duration.

[0381] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus is in a connected state, and the configuration information is comprised in a radio resource control (RRC) message.

[0382] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus is in an idle or inactive state, and the configuration information is comprised in a radio resource control (RRC) release message or system information (SI).

[0383] In some example embodiments, the first RAT transmission comprises at least one of the following: a periodic uplink transmission, an aperiodic uplink transmission, a semi-static uplink transmission, a dynamic uplink transmission, or a random access channel transmission.

[0384] In some example embodiments, the first RAT transmission is a cellular wireless transmission and the second RAT cell is a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) cell.

[0385] In some example embodiments, the first RAT transmission is associated with a first RAT node and the second RAT cell is associated with a second RAT node, the first RAT node and the second RAT node being operated in a same RAT and the first RATnode being associated a higher priority compared with the second RAT node.

[0386] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises a terminal apparatus and the second apparatus comprises a network apparatus.

[0387] In some example embodiments, a second apparatus capable of performing any of the method 1200 (for example, the second apparatus 220 in FIG. 2) may comprise means for performing the respective operations of the method 1200. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module. The second apparatus may be implemented as or included in the second apparatus 220 in FIG. 2.

[0388] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus comprises means for generating configuration information to be used by a first apparatus for transmitting a reservation signal to a second radio access technology (RAT) prior to a first RAT transmission, wherein the configuration information indicates at least one of the following: a resource used for transmitting the reservation signal, a format of the reservation signal, at least one transmit power configuration of the reservation signal, a minimum transmission duration of the reservation signal, a maximum transmission duration of the reservation signal, or at least one scaling factor to be applied to the minimum transmission duration or the maximum transmission duration; and means for transmitting the configuration information to the first apparatus.

[0389] In some example embodiments, a format of the reservation signal belongs to a plurality of formats, and different formats of the plurality of formats are associated with at least one of the following: different service type of the first RAT transmission, different priorities of the first RAT transmission, different transmission durations of reservation signal, or different transmit power of the reservation signal.

[0390] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus is in a connected state, and the configuration information is comprised in a radio resource control (RRC) message.

[0391] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus is in an idle or inactive state, and the configuration information is comprised in a radio resource control (RRC) release message or system information (SI).

[0392] In some example embodiments, the first RAT transmission comprises at least one of the following: a periodic uplink transmission, an aperiodic uplink transmission, asemi-static uplink transmission, a dynamic uplink transmission, or a random access channel transmission.

[0393] In some example embodiments, the first RAT transmission is a cellular wireless transmission and the second RAT cell is a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) cell.

[0394] In some example embodiments, the first RAT transmission is associated with a first RAT node and the second RAT cell is associated with a second RAT node, the first RAT node and the second RAT node being operated in a same RAT and the first RAT node being associated a higher priority compared with the second RAT node.

[0395] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises a terminal apparatus and the second apparatus comprises a network apparatus.

[0396] In some example embodiments, a third apparatus capable of performing any of the method 1300 (for example, the third apparatus 2300 in FIG. 2) may comprise means for performing the respective operations of the method 1300. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module. The third apparatus may be implemented as or included in the third apparatus 230 in FIG. 2.

[0397] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises means for transmitting a first transmission on a first resource occupied by the third apparatus through a contention-based procedure; means for during the first transmission, monitoring a reservation signal transmitted by a first apparatus, the reservation signal used for requesting to occupy the first resource; and means for based at least in part on monitoring the reservation signal, stopping the first transmission.

[0398] In some example embodiments, the first transmission is associated with a second radio access technology (RAT), the first resource is shared by a first RAT and the second RAT, and a priority of the second RAT is lower than a priority of the first RAT.

[0399] In some example embodiments, the first RAT is a cellular wireless technology, and the second RAT is a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) technology.

[0400] In some example embodiments, the first transmission is associated with a first priority, the reservation signal is used for requesting to occupy the first resource for transmitting a second transmission associated with a second priority, and wherein the third apparatus is further caused to, stop the first transmission in accordance with adetermination that the second priority is higher than the first priority.

[0401] In some example embodiments, the third apparatus is further caused to determine the reservation signal is used for requesting to occupy the first resource for transmitting a second transmission with the higher second priority based on: an indication comprised in the reservation signal, the indication indicating the second priority, a specific format of the reservation signal, the specific format implying the second priority, or an identity of the first apparatus comprised in the reservation signal, the identity of the first apparatus implying the second priority.

[0402] In some example embodiments, the indication indicates at least one of the following: a quality of service (QoS) class identifier of the RAT transmission, or the fifth generation QoS identifier (5QI) of the first RAT transmission.

[0403] In some example embodiments, the third apparatus is further caused to: means for stopping the first transmission in accordance with a determination that a signal strength of the reservation signal is larger than or equal to a threshold.

[0404] In some example embodiments, the threshold is a pre-defined default value or configured by a network.

[0405] In some example embodiments, the contention-based procedure is a listen before talk (LBT) procedure.

[0406] In some example embodiments, the third apparatus is a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) terminal device or a Wi-Fi Access point.

[0407] FIG. 14 is a simplified block diagram of a device 1400 that is suitable for implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 1400 may be provided to implement a communication device, for example, the first apparatus 210 or the second apparatus 220 as shown in FIG. 2. As shown, the device 1400 includes one or more processors 1410, one or more memories 1420 coupled to the processor 1410, and one or more communication modules 1440 coupled to the processor 1410.

[0408] The communication module 1440 is for bidirectional communications. The communication module 1440 has one or more communication interfaces to facilitate communication with one or more other modules or devices. The communication interfaces may represent any interface that is necessary for communication with other network elements. In some example embodiments, the communication module 1440 may includeat least one antenna.

[0409] The processor 1410 may be of any type suitable to the local technical network and may include one or more of the following: general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs) and processors based on multicore processor architecture, as non-limiting examples. The device 1400 may have multiple processors, such as an application specific integrated circuit chip that is slaved in time to a clock which synchronizes the main processor.

[0410] The memory 1420 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of the non-volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a Read Only Memory (ROM) 1424, an electrically programmable read only memory (EPROM), a flash memory, a hard disk, a compact disc (CD), a digital video disk (DVD), an optical disk, a laser disk, and other magnetic storage and / or optical storage. Examples of the volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a random-access memory (RAM) 1422 and other volatile memories that will not last in the power-down duration.

[0411] A computer program 1430 includes computer executable instructions that are executed by the associated processor 1410. The instructions of the program 1430 may include instructions for performing operations / acts of some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The program 1430 may be stored in the memory, e.g., the ROM 1424. The processor 1410 may perform any suitable actions and processing by loading the program 1430 into the RAM 1422.

[0412] The example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by means of the program 1430 so that the device 1400 may perform any process of the disclosure as discussed with reference to FIG. 2 to FIG. 12. The example embodiments of the present disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or by a combination of software and hardware.

[0413] In some example embodiments, the program 1430 may be tangibly contained in a computer readable medium which may be included in the device 1400 (such as in the memory 1420) or other storage devices that are accessible by the device 1400. The device 1400 may load the program 1430 from the computer readable medium to the RAM 1422 for execution. In some example embodiments, the computer readable medium may include any types of non-transitory storage medium, such as ROM, EPROM, a flash memory, ahard disk, CD, DVD, and the like. The term “non-transitory,” as used herein, is a limitation of the medium itself (i.e., tangible, not a signal) as opposed to a limitation on data storage persistency (e.g., RAM vs. ROM).

[0414] FIG. 15 shows an example of the computer readable medium 1500 which may be in form of CD, DVD or other optical storage disk. The computer readable medium 1500 has the program 1430 stored thereon.

[0415] Generally, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, and other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device. Although various aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flowcharts, or using some other pictorial representations, it is to be understood that the block, apparatus, system, technique or method described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

[0416] Some example embodiments of the present disclosure also provide at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a computer readable medium, such as a non- transitory computer readable medium. The computer program product includes computerexecutable instructions, such as those included in program modules, being executed in a device on a target physical or virtual processor, to carry out any of the methods as described above. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, or the like that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of the program modules may be combined or split between program modules as desired in various embodiments. Machine-executable instructions for program modules may be executed within a local or distributed device. In a distributed device, program modules may be located in both local and remote storage media.

[0417] Program code for carrying out methods of the present 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, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that the program code,when executed by the processor or controller, cause the functions / operations specified in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams to be implemented. The program code may execute entirely on a machine, partly on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the machine and partly on a remote machine or entirely on the remote machine or server.

[0418] In the context of the present disclosure, the computer program code or related data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable the device, apparatus or processor to perform various processes and operations as described above. Examples of the carrier include a signal, computer readable medium, and the like.

[0419] The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable medium may include but not limited to an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of the computer readable storage medium would include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random-access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

[0420] Further, although operations are depicted in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Likewise, although several specific implementation details are contained in the above discussions, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the present disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Unless explicitly stated, certain features that are described in the context of separate embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, unless explicitly stated, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in a plurality of embodiments separately or in any suitable sub-combination.

[0421] Although the present disclosure has been described in languages specific to structural features and / or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the presentdisclosure defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

1. I / We Claim:

1. A first apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first apparatus to: receive, from a second apparatus, information for scheduling a first radio access technology (RAT) transmission from the first apparatus to the second apparatus; and in accordance with a determination that there is a need to transmit a reservation signal, transmit, based on a first timing advance (TA), a reservation signal to a second RAT cell and the first RAT transmission to the second apparatus, wherein the reservation signal is transmitted prior to the first RAT transmission and the first TA is determined by considering the transmission of the reservation signal.

2. The first apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first apparatus is further caused to: determine a second TA for transmitting the first RAT transmission; and in accordance with a determination that there is a need to transmit the reservation signal, determine the first TA by increasing the second TA by a TA offset.

3. The first apparatus of claim 2, wherein the second TA is provided by the second apparatus or determined by the first apparatus through a user equipment (UE)-based TA evaluation procedure.

4. The first apparatus of claim 2 or 3, wherein the first apparatus is further caused to: determine a transmission duration of the reservation signal; and determine the TA offset based on that the duration.

5. The first apparatus of claim 4, wherein the duration is determined based on at least one of the following: a format of the reservation signal, a type of the first RAT transmission, a minimum transmission duration of the reservation signal, a maximum transmission duration of the reservation signal,67at least one scaling factor to be applied to the minimum transmission duration or the maximum transmission duration, or a connected discontinuous reception (C-DRX) configuration.

6. The first apparatus of any of claims 1 to 5, wherein the first apparatus is further caused to: determine whether there is a need to transmit the reservation signal based on at least one of the following: whether the first resource is a resource shared by the first RAT transmission and a second RAT transmission, whether a second RAT transmission is allowed to be transmitted on the first resource, whether present of the second RAT cell has been detected, a measurement result on the second RAT cell, or a type of the first RAT transmission7. The first apparatus of any of claims 1 to 6, wherein a format of the reservation signal belongs to a plurality of formats, and different formats of the plurality of formats are associated with at least one of the following: different service type of the first RAT transmission, different priorities of the first RAT transmission, different transmission durations of reservation signal, or different transmit power of the reservation signal.

8. The first apparatus of any of claims 1 to 7, wherein the first apparatus is further caused to: receive, from the second apparatus, configuration information for transmitting a reservation signal; and transmit the reservation signal based on that the configuration information.

9. The first apparatus of claim 8, wherein the configuration information indicates at least one of the following: a format of the reservation signal, resource used for transmitting the reservation signal, at least one transmit power configuration of the reservation signal, a minimum transmission duration of the reservation signal,68a maximum transmission duration of the reservation signal, or at least one scaling factor to be applied to the minimum transmission duration or the maximum transmission duration.

10. The first apparatus of claim 8 or 9, wherein the first apparatus is in a connected state, and the configuration information is comprised in a radio resource control (RRC) message.

11. The first apparatus of claim 8 or 9, wherein the first apparatus is in an idle or inactive state, and the configuration information is comprised in a radio resource control (RRC) release message or system information (SI).

12. The first apparatus of any of claims 1 to 11, wherein the first RAT transmission comprises at least one of the following: a periodic uplink transmission, an aperiodic uplink transmission, a semi-static uplink transmission, a dynamic uplink transmission, or a random access channel transmission.

13. The first apparatus of any of claims 1 to 12, wherein, the first RAT transmission is a cellular wireless transmission and the second RAT cell is a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) cell, or the first RAT transmission is associated with a first RAT node and the second RAT cell is associated with a second RAT node, the first RAT node and the second RAT node being operated in a same RAT and the first RAT node being associated a higher priority compared with the second RAT node.

14. The first apparatus of any of claims 1 to 13, wherein the first apparatus comprises a terminal apparatus and the second apparatus comprises a network apparatus.

15. A second apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second apparatus to:69generate configuration information to be used by a first apparatus for transmitting a reservation signal to a second radio access technology (RAT) prior to a first RAT transmission, wherein the configuration information indicates at least one of the following: resource used for transmitting the reservation signal, a format of the reservation signal, at least one transmit power configuration of the reservation signal, a minimum transmission duration of the reservation signal, a maximum transmission duration of the reservation signal, or at least one scaling factor to be applied to the minimum transmission duration or the maximum transmission duration; and transmit the configuration information to the first apparatus.

16. The second apparatus of claim 15, wherein a format of the reservation signal belongs to a plurality of formats, and different formats of the plurality of formats are associated with at least one of the following: different service type of the first RAT transmission, different priorities of the first RAT transmission, different transmission durations of reservation signal, or different transmit power of the reservation signal.

17. The second apparatus of claim 15 or 16, wherein the first apparatus is in a connected state, and the configuration information is comprised in a radio resource control (RRC) message.

18. The second apparatus of claim 15 or 16, wherein the first apparatus is in an idle or inactive state, and the configuration information is comprised in a radio resource control (RRC) release message or system information (SI).

19. The second apparatus of any of claims 15 to 18, wherein the first RAT transmission comprises at least one of the following: a periodic uplink transmission, an aperiodic uplink transmission, a semi-static uplink transmission, a dynamic uplink transmission, or a random access channel transmission.7020. The second apparatus of any of claims 15 to 19, wherein, the first RAT transmission is a cellular wireless transmission and the second RAT cell is a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) cell, or the first RAT transmission is associated with a first RAT node and the second RAT cell is associated with a second RAT node, the first RAT node and the second RAT node being operated in a same RAT and the first RAT node being associated a higher priority compared with the second RAT node.

21. The second apparatus of any of claims 15 to 20, wherein the first apparatus comprises a terminal apparatus and the second apparatus comprises a network apparatus.

22. A method comprising: receiving, from a second apparatus, information for scheduling a first radio access technology (RAT) transmission from the first apparatus to the second apparatus; and in accordance with a determination that there is a need to transmit a reservation signal, transmitting based on a first timing advance (TA), a reservation signal to a second RAT cell and the first RAT transmission to the second apparatus, wherein the reservation signal is transmitted prior to the first RAT transmission and the first TA is determined by considering the transmission of the reservation signal.

23. A method comprising: generating configuration information to be used by a first apparatus for transmitting a reservation signal to a second radio access technology (RAT) prior to a first RAT transmission, wherein the configuration information indicates at least one of the following: a resource used for transmitting the reservation signal, a format of the reservation signal, at least one transmit power configuration of the reservation signal, a minimum transmission duration of the reservation signal, a maximum transmission duration of the reservation signal, or at least one scaling factor to be applied to the minimum transmission duration or the maximum transmission duration; and transmitting the configuration information to the first apparatus.7124. A first apparatus comprising: means for receiving, from a second apparatus, information for scheduling a first radio access technology (RAT) transmission from the first apparatus to the second apparatus; and means for in accordance with a determination that there is a need to transmit a reservation signal, transmitting based on a first timing advance (TA), a reservation signal to a second RAT cell and the first RAT transmission to the second apparatus, wherein the reservation signal is transmitted prior to the first RAT transmission and the first TA is determined by considering the transmission of the reservation signal.

25. A second apparatus comprising: means for generating configuration information to be used by a first apparatus for transmitting a reservation signal to a second radio access technology (RAT) prior to a first RAT transmission, wherein the configuration information indicates at least one of the following: a resource used for transmitting the reservation signal, a format of the reservation signal, at least one transmit power configuration of the reservation signal, a minimum transmission duration of the reservation signal, a maximum transmission duration of the reservation signal, or at least one scaling factor to be applied to the minimum transmission duration or the maximum transmission duration; and means for transmitting the configuration information to the first apparatus.

26. A computer readable medium comprising instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus at least to perform the method of claim 22 or the method of claim 23.

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