Directional Channel Sensing for Unlicensed Carrier Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
In the context of LAA-LTE and NR technology, channel sensing on unlicensed carriers is challenging due to the need for directional beam management and signal transmission variations, which affects the probability of successful data transmission.
Innovation Solution
A method and device for channel sensing on unlicensed carriers that evaluate time domain resources based on specific directions, considering service priority, transmission power, energy detection thresholds, and time lengths for data transmission, allowing for directional precoding to improve channel availability and access.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If channel sensing is performed on unlicensed carrier without directional consideration, then the sensing process is simple, but the probability of successful sensing is low due to interference from other directions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the channel sensing process into multiple directional components. Instead of performing a single omnidirectional sensing operation, the system divides the sensing into multiple LBT (Listen Before Talk) operations, each corresponding to a specific beam direction. This segmentation allows the system to evaluate channel availability independently for each direction, thereby improving the probability of successful sensing by identifying available directional channels even when other directions are occupied.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a directional dimension to the traditional channel sensing process. By associating each LBT operation with a specific beam direction rather than treating the channel as a single omnidirectional resource, the system transforms the sensing from a scalar evaluation to a vector-based evaluation across multiple spatial dimensions. This dimensional expansion enables more nuanced channel assessment and improves successful sensing probability.
2Reliability
If different beam directions are used for signal transmission, then the coverage and reliability are improved, but the channel sensing becomes more complex and difficult to manage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary channel sensing actions by conducting LBT operations for each beam direction before actual data transmission. This preliminary evaluation of channel availability in each direction allows the system to pre-determine which directional channels are suitable for transmission, thereby simplifying the subsequent transmission process and reducing the difficulty of real-time channel management.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the sensing parameters by associating different LBT operations with different beam directions, priorities, and channel access parameters. Each directional sensing operation can use customized parameters such as different energy detection thresholds, contention window sizes, and retry limits, allowing flexible adaptation to the specific characteristics of each directional channel while maintaining manageable complexity through parameterization.
3Measurement precision
If channel sensing is performed for each direction separately, then the sensing accuracy is improved, but the time consumption and resource overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs periodic LBT operations for each beam direction, where channel sensing is performed at regular intervals rather than continuously. This periodic approach allows the system to maintain accurate knowledge of channel availability in each direction while minimizing the time overhead by not performing constant sensing. The periodic sensing rhythm balances measurement precision with time efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs channel sensing for each directional beam, which may be more sensing operations than strictly necessary for basic functionality. This excessive action in terms of sensing operations ensures high measurement precision and accurate channel availability assessment for each direction, accepting the trade-off of increased time consumption as a necessary cost for achieving reliable directional channel knowledge.
Data Source
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AI summary
Provided are a method and device for transmitting information. The method comprises: a network device performing channel sensing on an unlicensed carrier in a first direction so as to determine whether a first time domain resource, used for sending first information, of the network device is available; and the network device sending the first information by using the first time domain resource when the first time domain resource is available.