CN114747247A - Electronic device, wireless communication method, and computer-readable storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

An electronic device, a wireless communication method, and a computer-readable storage medium. The electronic device includes processing circuitry configured to: performing an LBT procedure in a transmission direction from the electronic device to the user equipment and in a direction opposite to the transmission direction; in case that the LBT procedure in the transmission direction and the direction opposite to the transmission direction are both successful, sending indication information to the user equipment to instruct the user equipment to perform the LBT procedure in a receiving direction from the user equipment to the electronic equipment and a direction opposite to the receiving direction; and performing a data transmission procedure with the user equipment using the transmission direction in case the LBT procedure in both the reception direction and the direction opposite to the reception direction is successful.

Description

Electronic device, wireless communication method, and computer-readable storage medium

The present application claims priority from chinese patent application entitled "electronic device, wireless communication method, and computer-readable storage medium," filed at 20/1/2020, having application number 202010064639.1, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to the field of wireless communications, and in particular, to electronic devices, wireless communication methods, and computer-readable storage media. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to an electronic device as a network side device in a wireless communication system, an electronic device as a user device in a wireless communication system, a wireless communication method performed by a network side device in a wireless communication system, a wireless communication method performed by a user device in a wireless communication system, and a computer-readable storage medium.

Background

As the development of wireless networks evolves, more and more services are carried, and thus additional spectrum resources are required to support a large amount of data transmission. In an LAA (Licensed Assisted Access) communication mode in a wireless communication network, channel detection can reduce interference and waste of frequency band use. The Channel detection may be implemented by means of LBT (list before talk) that checks whether a Channel is idle by means of Clear Channel Assessment (CCA) before using the Channel or carrier, and the Channel may be accessed when the Channel is idle and may not be accessed when the Channel is occupied.

In addition, the network side device may utilize beamforming to directionally transmit information to the user side device during downlink transmission. In this case, the network-side device may determine whether the channel in the transmission direction is idle through channel detection before determining the transmission direction. However, such directional channel detection brings more hidden nodes, thereby affecting the reception of the user equipment.

Therefore, there is a need to provide a technical solution to improve the detection mechanism of hidden nodes in LAA communication system, so as to improve the channel quality.

Disclosure of Invention

This section provides a general summary of the disclosure, and is not a comprehensive disclosure of its full scope or all of its features.

An object of the present disclosure is to provide an electronic device, a wireless communication method, and a computer-readable storage medium to improve a detection mechanism of a hidden node in an LAA communication system, thereby improving channel quality.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an electronic device comprising processing circuitry configured to: performing a listen before talk, LBT, procedure in a transmission direction from the electronic device to a user equipment and in a direction opposite to the transmission direction; transmitting, to the user equipment, indication information to instruct the user equipment to perform an LBT procedure in a receiving direction from the user equipment to the electronic equipment and a direction opposite to the receiving direction, if the LBT procedure in the transmitting direction and the direction opposite to the transmitting direction are both successful; and performing a data transmission procedure with the user equipment using the transmission direction, in case the LBT procedure in both the reception direction and a direction opposite to the reception direction is successful.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an electronic device comprising processing circuitry configured to: performing a listen before talk, LBT, procedure in a receiving direction from the electronic device to a network side device and in a direction opposite to the receiving direction; and sending results of the LBT procedure in the receiving direction and a direction opposite to the receiving direction to the network side device.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a wireless communication method performed by an electronic device, including: performing a listen before talk, LBT, procedure in a transmission direction from the electronic device to a user equipment and in a direction opposite to the transmission direction; transmitting, to the user equipment, indication information to instruct the user equipment to perform an LBT procedure in a receiving direction from the user equipment to the electronic equipment and a direction opposite to the receiving direction, if the LBT procedure in the transmitting direction and the direction opposite to the transmitting direction are both successful; and performing a data transmission procedure with the user equipment using the transmission direction, in case the LBT procedure in both the reception direction and a direction opposite to the reception direction is successful.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a wireless communication method performed by an electronic device, including: performing a listen before talk, LBT, procedure in a receiving direction from the electronic device to a network side device and in a direction opposite to the receiving direction; and sending results of the LBT procedure in the receiving direction and a direction opposite to the receiving direction to the network side device.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium comprising executable computer instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a wireless communication method according to the present disclosure.

With the electronic device, the wireless communication method, and the computer-readable storage medium according to the present disclosure, the electronic device as the network-side device may perform the LBT procedure in a transmission direction in which downlink data is transmitted to the electronic device as the user-side device only if all four LBT procedures are successful, and the electronic device as the user-side device may perform the LBT procedure in a reception direction in which the electronic device as the network-side device transmits the LBT procedure in a direction opposite to the transmission direction. In this way, through the four LBT procedures, the existence of hidden nodes can be prevented, so that the channel quality between the electronic device as the network side device and the electronic device as the user side device is improved.

Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. The description and specific examples in this summary are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

Drawings

The drawings described herein are for illustrative purposes only of selected embodiments and not all possible implementations, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. In the drawings:

fig. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a scenario of directional LBT;

fig. 2(a) is a schematic diagram illustrating a scenario in which a hidden node is present in case of directional LBT;

fig. 2(b) is a schematic diagram illustrating a scenario in which a hidden node is present in case of directional LBT;

fig. 3(a) is a schematic diagram illustrating a scenario in which a hidden node is present in case of directional LBT;

fig. 3(b) is a schematic diagram illustrating a scenario in which a hidden node is present in case of directional LBT;

fig. 4(a) is a schematic diagram illustrating a scenario in which a hidden node exists in case of directional LBT;

fig. 4(b) is a schematic diagram showing a scenario in which a hidden node is present in the case of directional LBT;

fig. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of an electronic device for a network side according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a scenario in which a gNB and a UE perform forward and reverse LBT according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 7 is a signaling flow diagram illustrating a process for data transmission after forward and reverse LBT by the gNB and the UE in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure;

fig. 8 is a signaling flow diagram illustrating a procedure for determining whether to allow UE access by directionally measuring channel quality in a cell access phase according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of an electronic device for a user side according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a wireless communication method performed by an electronic device for a network side according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a wireless communication method performed by an electronic device for a user side according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 12 is a block diagram showing a first example of a schematic configuration of an eNB (Evolved Node B);

fig. 13 is a block diagram showing a second example of a schematic configuration of an eNB;

fig. 14 is a block diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a smartphone; and

fig. 15 is a block diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a car navigation apparatus.

While the disclosure is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the description herein of specific embodiments is not intended to limit the disclosure to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the disclosure. It is noted that throughout the several views, corresponding reference numerals indicate corresponding parts.

Detailed Description

Examples of the present disclosure will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. The following description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the present disclosure, application, or uses.

Example embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough, and will fully convey the scope to those skilled in the art. Numerous specific details are set forth such as examples of specific components, devices, and methods to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that specific details need not be employed, that example embodiments may be embodied in many different forms, and that neither should be construed to limit the scope of the disclosure. In certain example embodiments, well-known processes, well-known structures, and well-known technologies are not described in detail.

The description will be made in the following order:

1. a description of a scene;

2. a configuration example of a network side device;

3. a configuration example of a user equipment;

4. a method embodiment;

5. application examples.

<1. description of the scene >

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a scenario of directional LBT. As shown in fig. 1, as indicated by an arrow labeled (1), the gNB desires to send downlink information to a UE (User Equipment) within its coverage area. As indicated by the arrow labeled (2), an AP (Access Point) is transmitting information to STAs (stations) within its coverage area. As shown by the arrow labeled (3), if the gNB transmits downlink information to the UE in the direction of arrow (1), information from the AP can reach the UE, thus causing interference to the UE.

As described previously, before the gNB sends downlink information to the UE in the direction of arrow (1) (i.e., the transmit direction), the gNB may perform an LBT procedure in the transmit direction to sense whether other devices are sending information in the transmit direction. The dashed oval in fig. 1 shows the desired transmit direction of the gNB, the size of the oval depending on the sensing range of the gNB. Here, the gNB performing the LBT procedure in the transmit direction means that the gNB can detect signals from other devices in the transmit direction (i.e., to the right of the gNB in fig. 1) that are within the sensing range. That is, the gNB directionally receives signals in the transmit direction to determine whether there are signals from other devices. In the present disclosure, the LBT process performed by the gNB in a fixed direction is also referred to as a directional LBT process. As shown in fig. 1, the AP is in the sensing range of the gNB, and the signal transmitted by the AP points in the direction of the gNB, so that the gNB can sense the presence of the AP by performing the directional LBT procedure in the transmission direction, and thus the gNB does not use the transmission direction to send downlink information to the UE, considering that the directional LBT is unsuccessful.

Fig. 2(a) is a schematic diagram illustrating a scenario in which a hidden node exists in the case of performing directional LBT. As shown in fig. 2(a), the AP is located on the left side of the gNB, the UE and the STA are located on the right side of the gNB, the gNB desires to transmit downlink information to the UE in its coverage area, the AP is transmitting information to the STA in its coverage area, and there is a possibility that information from the AP may reach the UE, thereby causing interference to the UE. At this time, since the AP is located on the left side of the gNB, which performs directional LBT only in the transmission direction with the UE, no signal from the AP is sensed, which is referred to as a hidden node at this time. The signaling from the AP is not sensed by the gNB, so the directional LBT procedure is considered successful and the UE is sent downlink information using the transmission direction, causing interference to the UE.

Fig. 2(b) is a schematic diagram illustrating a scenario in which a hidden node exists in the case of directional LBT. As shown in fig. 2(b), the AP and the STA are located on the left side of the gNB, the UE is located on the right side of the gNB, the gNB desires to transmit downlink information to the UE in its coverage area, the AP is transmitting information to the STA in its coverage area, and there is a possibility that information from the AP may reach the UE, thereby causing interference to the UE. At this point, since the AP is located to the left of the gNB, which only performs directional LBT in the transmit direction with the UE, no signal from the AP is sensed, which is referred to as a hidden node at this point. The signaling from the AP is not sensed by the gNB, so the directional LBT procedure is considered successful and the UE is sent downlink information using the transmission direction, causing interference to the UE.

As shown in fig. 3(a), the AP, the UE and the STA are located at the right side of the gNB, the gNB desires to transmit downlink information to the UE in its coverage area, the AP is transmitting information to the STA in its coverage area, and information from the AP may be able to reach the UE, thus causing interference to the UE. No signal from the AP, which is referred to as a hidden node at this time, is sensed because the AP's signal is toward the right, while the gNB performs directional LBT only in the transmit direction with the UE. Since the gNB does not sense a signal from the AP, it considers that the directional LBT procedure is successful and uses the transmission direction to transmit downlink information to the UE, thereby causing the UE to be interfered.

As shown in fig. 3(b), the AP, UE and STA are located on the right side of the gNB, which desires to transmit downlink information to the UE in its coverage area, the AP is transmitting information to the STA in its coverage area, and information from the AP may reach the UE, thus causing interference to the UE. No signal from the AP, which is referred to as a hidden node at this time, is sensed because the AP's signal is toward the right, while the gNB performs directional LBT only in the transmit direction with the UE. The signaling from the AP is not sensed by the gNB, so the directional LBT procedure is considered successful and the UE is sent downlink information using the transmission direction, causing interference to the UE.

As shown in fig. 4(a), the AP, UE and STA are located on the right side of the gNB, which desires to transmit downlink information to the UE in its coverage area, the AP is transmitting information to the STA in its coverage area, and information from the AP may reach the UE, thereby causing interference to the UE. At this time, although the AP is to the right of the gNB and the signal from the AP is to the left, the gNB does not sense the signal from the AP because the AP is too far from the gNB to be outside the sensing range of the gNB, which is referred to as a hidden node at this time. The signaling from the AP is not sensed by the gNB, so the directional LBT procedure is considered successful and the downlink information is sent to the UE using the transmission direction, causing the UE to be interfered.

As shown in fig. 4(b), the AP, UE and STA are located on the right side of the gNB, which desires to transmit downlink information to the UE in its coverage area, the AP is transmitting information to the STA in its coverage area, and information from the AP may reach the UE, thereby causing interference to the UE. At this time, although the AP is to the right of the gNB and the signal from the AP is to the left, the gNB does not sense the signal from the AP because the AP is too far from the gNB to be outside the sensing range of the gNB, which is referred to as a hidden node at this time. The signaling from the AP is not sensed by the gNB, so the directional LBT procedure is considered successful and the UE is sent downlink information using the transmission direction, causing interference to the UE.

As described above, in the case where the gNB performs the directed LBT procedure, the gNB is likely to not sense the presence of some nodes that are transmitting information. For example, in the case of a UE located to the right of the gNB, the gNB can only sense the presence of other nodes located to the right of the gNB, with the transmit direction facing to the left, and within the sensing range of the gNB. Whereas for the cases of fig. 2(a) -4 (b), the presence of an AP is not detected by the gNB. It is noted that although fig. 2(a) -4 (b) show some examples of hidden nodes, this is not limiting but merely exemplary. For convenience of illustration, in fig. 2(a) -4 (b), the gNB, the AP, the UE, and the STA are located on the same straight line, and in an actual scenario, since directions of an optimal transmit beam and an optimal receive beam have a certain offset in the beamforming technology, the gNB, the AP, the UE, and the STA are not necessarily located on the same straight line and may have a certain offset.

The present disclosure proposes an electronic device in a wireless communication system, a wireless communication method performed by the electronic device in the wireless communication system, and a computer-readable storage medium for such a scenario to improve a detection mechanism of a hidden node in an LAA communication system, thereby improving channel quality.

The wireless communication system according to the present disclosure may be an LAA communication system, in particular a 60GHz LAA communication system.

The network side device according to the present disclosure may be any type of base station device, for example, eNB, or gNB (base station in 5 th generation communication system).

The user equipment according to the present disclosure may be a mobile terminal such as a smart phone, a tablet Personal Computer (PC), a notebook PC, a portable game terminal, a portable/cryptographic dog-type mobile router, and a digital camera device, or a vehicle-mounted terminal such as a car navigation apparatus. The user equipment may also be implemented as a terminal (also referred to as a Machine Type Communication (MTC) terminal) that performs machine-to-machine (M2M) communication. Further, the user equipment may be a wireless communication module (such as an integrated circuit module including a single chip) mounted on each of the above-described terminals.

<2. configuration example of network-side device >

Fig. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of an electronic device 500 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The electronic device 500 may be a network side device in a wireless communication system, and specifically may be a base station device in the wireless communication system.

As shown in fig. 5, the electronic device 500 may include a sensing unit 510, a processing unit 520, a generating unit 530, and a communication unit 540.

Here, the units of the electronic device 500 may be included in a processing circuit. The electronic device 500 may include one processing circuit or may include a plurality of processing circuits. Further, the processing circuitry may include various discrete functional units to perform various different functions and/or operations. It should be noted that these functional units may be physical entities or logical entities, and units called differently may be implemented by the same physical entity.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the sensing unit 510 may perform an LBT procedure including sensing energy or power of signals from other electronic devices in the surroundings. Other electronic devices herein include, but are not limited to, APs in Wifi systems. Further, sensing unit 510 may perform the omni-directional LBT procedure according to any known manner in the art. Furthermore, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the sensing unit 510 may perform a directional LBT procedure, i.e., the sensing unit 510 may perform the LBT procedure in a transmission direction from the electronic device 500 to the user equipment and in a direction opposite to the transmission direction.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the processing unit 520 may process the sensing result of the sensing unit 510 to determine whether the LBT procedure is successful to determine whether the channel is idle. Further, the processing unit 520 may also determine a beam direction for transmitting downlink information to the user equipment.

In case the processing unit 520 determines that the LBT procedure in both the transmission direction and the direction opposite to the transmission direction is successful, the generating unit 530 may generate indication information for indicating the user equipment to perform the LBT procedure in the receiving direction from the user equipment to the electronic equipment 500 and the direction opposite to the receiving direction, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the electronic device 500 may transmit the indication information generated by the generation unit 530 to the user equipment through the communication unit 540.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, in case that the LBT procedure of the user equipment in the receiving direction and the direction opposite to the receiving direction is successful, the processing unit 520 may determine to perform the data transmission procedure with the user equipment using the transmitting direction.

As described above, according to the electronic apparatus 500 of the embodiment of the present disclosure, the LBT procedure may be performed in the transmission direction and the direction opposite to the transmission direction, and the user equipment may perform the LBT procedure in the reception direction and the direction opposite to the reception direction, and the electronic apparatus 500 may transmit downlink data to the user equipment in the transmission direction only if all four LBT procedures are successful. In this way, through the above four LBT procedures, the existence of hidden nodes can be prevented, so that the channel quality between the electronic device 500 and the user equipment is improved.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the sensing unit 510 performing the LBT procedure in the transmission direction (also referred to as a forward LBT procedure of the electronic device 500 in the present disclosure) means that the sensing unit 510 may sense the energy or power of the signal from other electronic devices of the transmission direction. That is, the sensing unit 510 can sense the energy or power of the signal of the other electronic device only if the other electronic device that transmits the signal is in the transmission direction, the other electronic device transmits the signal in the direction toward the electronic device 500, and the other electronic device is within the sensing range of the electronic device 500. Similarly, the sensing unit 510 performing the LBT procedure in the direction opposite to the transmission direction (also referred to as a reverse LBT procedure of the electronic device 500 in the present disclosure) means that the sensing unit 510 may sense energy or power of a signal from other electronic devices in the direction opposite to the transmission direction. That is, the sensing unit 510 can sense the energy or power of the signal of the other electronic device only if the other electronic device that transmits the signal is in the opposite direction to the transmission direction, the other electronic device transmits the signal toward the electronic device 500, and the other electronic device is within the sensing range of the electronic device 500.

Further, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the user equipment performing the LBT procedure in the receiving direction (also referred to as a forward LBT procedure of the user equipment in the present disclosure) means that the user equipment may sense energy or power of signals from other electronic devices of the receiving direction. That is, the user device can sense the energy or power of the signal of the other electronic device only if the other electronic device that transmitted the signal is in the receiving direction, the direction in which the other electronic device transmitted the signal is toward the user device, and the other electronic device is within the sensing range of the user device. Similarly, the user equipment performing the LBT procedure in the direction opposite to the receiving direction (also referred to as a reverse LBT procedure of the user equipment in the present disclosure) means that the user equipment may sense energy or power of signals from other electronic devices in the direction opposite to the receiving direction. That is, the user device can sense the energy or power of the signal of the other electronic device only if the other electronic device that transmitted the signal is in a direction opposite to the receiving direction, the other electronic device transmits the signal in a direction toward the user device, and the other electronic device is within the sensing range of the user device.

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a scenario in which a gNB and a UE perform forward and reverse LBT according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In fig. 6, the transmission direction of the gNB is a direction from the gNB toward the UE, i.e., a right-side direction of the gNB, and a direction opposite to the transmission direction is a right-left direction of the gNB. The receiving direction of the UE is a direction pointing from the UE to the gNB, i.e., a right left direction of the UE, and a direction opposite to the receiving direction is a right direction of the UE. As shown in fig. 6, region a shows a sensing range in which the gNB performs the LBT procedure in the transmission direction, and region B shows a sensing range in which the gNB performs the LBT procedure in the direction opposite to the transmission direction. Similarly, region C shows a sensing range in which the UE performs the LBT procedure in the reception direction, and region D shows a sensing range in which the UE performs the LBT procedure in a direction opposite to the reception direction.

In the example shown in fig. 2(a) and 2(b), since the AP is located at the left side of the gNB, the gNB cannot sense a signal from the AP through the forward LBT procedure. According to the embodiment of the disclosure, the reverse LBT process is performed by the gNB, that is, the gNB performs the LBT process in the direction opposite to the transmission direction, and the gNB can sense the signal from the AP, so that the hidden node AP can be found, and therefore the reverse LBT process is considered to be unsuccessful, and the downlink signal is transmitted to the UE without using the transmission direction in the diagram, and the UE is prevented from being interfered.

In the examples shown in fig. 3(a) and 3(b), since the signal from the AP is not directed to the gNB, the gNB cannot sense the signal from the AP through the forward LBT procedure and the reverse LBT procedure. According to the embodiment of the disclosure, the UE performs the forward LBT process, that is, the UE performs the LBT process in the receiving direction, and the UE can sense the signal from the AP, so that the hidden node AP can be found, and thus the gNB considers that the forward LBT process of the UE is unsuccessful, and does not use the transmitting direction in the diagram to send the downlink signal to the UE, thereby avoiding the UE from being interfered.

In the examples shown in fig. 4(a) and 4(b), since the AP is located outside the sensing range of the gNB, the gNB cannot sense a signal from the AP through the forward LBT procedure and the reverse LBT procedure. According to the embodiment of the disclosure, the UE performs the reverse LBT procedure, that is, the UE performs the LBT procedure in the direction opposite to the receiving direction, and the UE can sense the signal from the AP, so that the hidden node AP can be found, and thus the gNB considers that the reverse LBT procedure of the UE is unsuccessful, and does not use the transmitting direction in the diagram to send the downlink signal to the UE, thereby avoiding the UE from being interfered.

In summary, according to the embodiments of the present disclosure, the existence of hidden nodes may be prevented through the forward LBT procedure and the reverse LBT procedure of the electronic device 500 and the user equipment, so that the channel quality between the electronic device 500 and the user equipment is improved.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the LBT procedure may include: an LBT procedure that does not include a random backoff procedure (Cat 2 LBT procedure), an LBT procedure that includes a random backoff procedure with a constant contention window (Cat 3 LBT procedure), and an LBT procedure that includes a random backoff procedure with a variable contention window (Cat 4 LBT procedure). The sensing unit 510 may select one of the LBT procedures, and the ue may also select one of the LBT procedures.

Optionally, in order to reduce the execution time of the LBT procedure, the sensing unit 510 may optionally select one LBT procedure from the above LBT procedures when performing the forward LBT procedure, and adopt an LBT procedure that does not include a random backoff procedure when performing the reverse LBT procedure, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Similarly, the user equipment also employs an LBT procedure that does not include a random backoff procedure when performing the forward LBT procedure and the reverse LBT procedure. Here, the LBT procedure not including the random backoff procedure may be a channel detection procedure including only the CCA procedure.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the processing unit 520 may determine whether the LBT procedure is successful according to the sensing result of the sensing unit 510. For example, the processing unit 520 may determine whether the LBT procedure is successful according to the received power sensed by the sensing unit 510.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, if the power received by the sensing unit 510 in the transmission direction is less than a predetermined threshold, the processing unit 520 may determine that there is no other electronic device transmitting signals in the transmission direction or that there is other electronic device transmitting signals but causing interference to the user equipment within an acceptable range, so that it may be determined that the LBT procedure in the transmission direction is successful. Conversely, if the power received by the sensing unit 510 in the transmission direction is not less than the above-mentioned predetermined threshold, the processing unit 520 may determine that the LBT procedure in the transmission direction is unsuccessful. Similarly, if the power received by the sensing unit 510 in the direction opposite to the transmission direction is less than a predetermined threshold, the processing unit 520 may determine that the LBT procedure in the direction opposite to the transmission direction was successful; if the power received by the sensing unit 510 in the direction opposite to the transmission direction is not less than the above-mentioned predetermined threshold, the processing unit 520 may determine that the LBT procedure in the direction opposite to the transmission direction is unsuccessful. Here, the electronic device 500 may determine the predetermined threshold according to actual conditions, and the predetermined threshold of the received power for the transmission direction may be the same as or different from the predetermined threshold of the received power for the direction opposite to the transmission direction.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the electronic device 500 may receive the results of the LBT procedure in the reception direction and the direction opposite to the reception direction from the user equipment through the communication unit 540. Further, the processing unit 520 may determine whether the LBT procedure of the user equipment in the receiving direction and the direction opposite to the receiving direction is successful according to the result.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the result of the LBT procedure in the receiving direction received by the electronic device 500 includes a received power in the receiving direction, the result of the LBT procedure in the direction opposite to the receiving direction includes a received power in the direction opposite to the receiving direction, and the processing unit 520 may determine whether the LBT procedure is successful according to the received power.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, if the received power in the receive direction is less than a predetermined threshold, the processing unit 520 may determine that the LBT procedure in the receive direction is successful; if the received power in the receive direction is not less than the predetermined threshold, processing unit 520 may determine that the LBT procedure in the receive direction was unsuccessful. Similarly, if the received power in the direction opposite to the receiving direction is less than the predetermined threshold, the processing unit 520 may determine that the LBT procedure in the direction opposite to the receiving direction is successful; if the received power in the direction opposite to the receiving direction is not less than the predetermined threshold, the processing unit 520 may determine that the LBT procedure in the direction opposite to the receiving direction is unsuccessful. Here, the electronic device 500 may determine the predetermined threshold value according to actual conditions, and the predetermined threshold value of the reception power for the transmission direction, the predetermined threshold value of the reception power for the direction opposite to the transmission direction, the predetermined threshold value of the reception power for the reception direction, and the predetermined threshold value of the reception power for the direction opposite to the reception direction may be the same or may be different from each other.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, in case the processing unit 520 determines that the LBT procedure in the transmission direction, and/or the LBT procedure in the direction opposite to the transmission direction, is unsuccessful (failure), the processing unit 520 may determine not to perform the data transmission procedure with the user equipment using the transmission direction, i.e. without sending indication information to the user equipment.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, in case that the LBT procedure in the receiving direction, and the LBT procedure in the direction opposite to the receiving direction are both successful, the processing unit 520 may determine to perform the data transmission procedure with the user equipment using the transmitting direction. Further, in case the LBT procedure in the receiving direction, and/or the LBT procedure in the direction opposite to the receiving direction is unsuccessful (failure), the processing unit 520 may determine not to perform the data transmission procedure with the user equipment using the transmitting direction.

That is, in case that the LBT procedure in the transmission direction, the LBT procedure in the direction opposite to the transmission direction, the LBT procedure in the reception direction, and the LBT procedure in the direction opposite to the reception direction are all successful, the processing unit 520 may determine to perform the data transmission procedure with the user equipment using the transmission direction. The processing unit 520 may determine not to perform a data transmission procedure with the user equipment using the transmission direction in case of failure of at least one of an LBT procedure in the transmission direction, an LBT procedure in a direction opposite to the transmission direction, an LBT procedure in the reception direction, and an LBT procedure in a direction opposite to the reception direction.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 5, the electronic device 500 may further include a timing unit 550 for setting a timer.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, after the LBT procedure in the transmission direction is successful, the timing unit 550 may start a timer (first timer) and perform the LBT procedure in a direction opposite to the transmission direction. Further, if the result of the LBT procedure in the receiving direction and the direction opposite to the receiving direction is received from the user equipment before the timer expires, the processing unit 520 determines whether the LBT procedure in the receiving direction and the direction opposite to the receiving direction is successful according to the result based on the manner as described above.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, if the result of the LBT procedure in the reception direction and the direction opposite to the reception direction is not received from the user equipment before the timer expires, the processing unit 520 may determine not to perform the data transmission procedure with the user equipment using the transmission direction. Here, if the result from the user equipment is not received before the timer expires, there may be a case where the hidden node is transmitting a signal to cause interference to the user equipment, resulting in a failure of the result of the user equipment to transmit to the electronic device 500. In this case, the processing unit 520 considers that a hidden node exists so as not to perform data transmission with the user equipment using the transmission direction. On the other hand, since the timer expires without receiving the result from the user equipment, even if there is no hidden node but the result from the user equipment is delayed due to other reasons, the time taken by the electronic device 500 for performing the data transmission may be severely shortened due to the long time taken before the data transmission is performed, thereby affecting the data transmission. In this case, the processing unit 520 considers that the remaining time is insufficient to perform data transmission so as not to perform data transmission with the user equipment using the transmission direction.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the timing unit 550 may set a duration of the timer to be less than or equal to a length of an MCOT (Maximum Channel occupancy Time).

As described above, according to the embodiments of the present disclosure, by setting the timer, while a hidden node is more effectively determined, it is possible to prevent failure to receive a result of an LBT procedure from a user equipment due to the existence of the hidden node, while also ensuring that sufficient time is reserved for a data transmission procedure.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 5, the electronic device 500 may further include a determining unit 560 for determining whether to perform an LBT procedure in a direction opposite to the transmission direction and whether to transmit indication information to the user equipment to instruct the user equipment to perform forward and reverse LBT procedures.

According to the embodiment of the present disclosure, the problem that the hidden node is not discovered only when the electronic device 500 sends downlink information to the user equipment in a beamforming manner so that the electronic device 500 performs the directional LBT process occurs. Accordingly, if the electronic apparatus 500 performs the LBT procedure in an omni-directional manner, the electronic apparatus 500 does not need to perform the LBT procedure in a direction opposite to the transmission direction, and the user equipment does not need to perform the LBT procedure. In this case, the determination unit 560 may determine that the indication information does not need to be transmitted to the user equipment.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the determining unit 560 may also determine whether to perform the LBT procedure in a direction opposite to the transmission direction and whether to transmit the indication information to the user equipment according to a traffic type of data with the user equipment. Here, the determining unit 560 may determine whether to perform the LBT procedure in a direction opposite to the transmission direction and whether to transmit the indication information to the user equipment according to tolerance of the traffic to packet loss. For example, if the traffic type of the data between the electronic device 500 and the user equipment indicates that the traffic has a relatively high tolerance for packet loss (e.g., video traffic, audio traffic, etc.), the determining unit 560 may determine that the LBT procedure is not required to be performed in a direction opposite to the transmission direction, and the indication information is not required to be transmitted to the user equipment. If the traffic type of the data between the electronic device 500 and the user equipment indicates that the traffic has a low tolerance for packet loss (e.g., pure data traffic, etc.), the determining unit 560 may determine that the LBT procedure needs to be performed in a direction opposite to the transmission direction and also needs to send an indication information to the user equipment.

Fig. 7 is a signaling flow diagram illustrating a procedure for data transmission after forward and reverse LBT by the gNB and the UE in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure. In fig. 7, the gNB may be implemented with an electronic device 500. As shown in fig. 7, in step S701, the gNB performs an LBT procedure in the transmit direction. Next, in step S702, in case the LBT procedure in the transmit direction is successful, the gNB starts a timer. Meanwhile, in step S703, the gNB performs an LBT procedure in the direction opposite to the transmission direction. Next, if the reverse LBT procedure in step S703 is successful, the gNB transmits indication information to the UE to instruct the UE to perform the forward LBT procedure and the reverse LBT procedure in step S704. Next, in step S705, the UE performs an LBT procedure in a reception direction and a direction opposite to the reception direction. Next, in step S706, the UE transmits the result of the LBT procedure to the gNB. Next, in step S707, if the gNB receives the result of the LBT procedure from the UE before the timer expires, the gNB determines whether to use the transmission beam according to the result. In the case where the gNB determines to use the transmit beam, the gNB transmits downlink data to the UE using the transmit beam in step S708. Further, in case the LBT procedure of step S701 fails, the procedure is directly ended without using the transmission beam. In case the LBT procedure of step S703 fails, the procedure is directly as a result, without using the transmit beam. The transmit beam is also not used in the event that the result from the UE is not received before the timer expires. Thus, through the forward and reverse LBT procedures of the gNB and the UE, the gNB may avoid the presence of hidden nodes causing interference to the UE.

The embodiments described in the foregoing may be used in a situation where the user equipment has been accessed into the electronic device 500, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The following will describe a situation before the user equipment accesses the electronic equipment 500.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, before the user equipment accesses the electronic equipment 500, the electronic equipment 500 may receive channel quality measurement information from the user equipment through the communication unit 540. Here, the channel quality measurement information represents channel quality measured in a reception direction from the user equipment to the electronic device 500 and a direction opposite to the reception direction.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 5, the electronic device 500 may further include an access determining unit 570 for determining whether to allow the user equipment to access the electronic device 500. Here, the access determining unit 570 may determine whether to allow the user equipment to access the electronic device 500 according to the received channel quality measurement information.

In the art, since the electronic device 500 desires to directionally transmit downlink information to the user equipment in a beamforming manner, it is obviously no longer reasonable to use the channel quality measured by the user equipment in an omni-directional manner as a criterion for determining whether to allow the user equipment to access. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the user equipment may measure channel quality only in the reception direction and the direction opposite to the reception direction, and thus the access determination unit 570 may determine whether to allow the user equipment to access according to the channel quality in the reception direction and the direction opposite to the reception direction. In this way, it can be more reasonably determined whether the ue is allowed to access the electronic device 500, so as to avoid the access of the interfered ue as much as possible and improve the probability of the ue accessing the electronic device 500.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the channel Quality measurement information received from the user equipment may include RSRP (Reference Signal Receiving Power) or RSRQ (Reference Signal Receiving Quality). The following description will be made separately for these two kinds of information.

In the case where the channel quality measurement information includes RSRP, the RSRP represents reference signal received power measured in a reception direction and a direction opposite to the reception direction. Further, the electronic device 500 may transmit synchronization signals (a primary synchronization signal and a secondary synchronization signal) to the user equipment through the communication unit 540. The user equipment obtains the value of RSRP by calculating a linear average of received power over REs (Resource elements) carrying synchronization signals in the reception direction and in the direction opposite to the reception direction.

When the channel quality measurement information includes RSRQ, the RSRQ is obtained from RSRP and RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indication). The RSRP represents the reference signal received power in the receiving direction and the direction opposite to the receiving direction, i.e. the user equipment obtains the value of RSRP by calculating a linear average of the received power over the REs carrying the synchronization signals in the receiving direction and the direction opposite to the receiving direction. Further, RSSI represents the received signal strength indication in the receive direction and the direction opposite to the receive direction. The user equipment obtains the value of RSSI by calculating a linear average of the power of all signals (including interference signals, noise signals, etc.) received in the measurement bandwidth of N RBs (Resource blocks) in the reception direction and in the direction opposite to the reception direction. Further, the user equipment may obtain the value of RSRQ by the formula RSRQ ═ N × RSRP/RSSI, where N is the number of RBs in the measurement bandwidth of RSSI.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the access determination unit 570 may determine whether to allow the user equipment to access the electronic device 500 according to a comparison of the channel quality with a predetermined threshold. Specifically, when the channel quality is not greater than the predetermined threshold, the access determination unit 570 may determine that the channel quality between the user equipment and the electronic device 500 in the reception direction and the direction opposite to the reception direction is not good, and it is highly likely that there is another electronic device transmitting a signal, and thus may determine that the user equipment is not allowed to access the electronic device 500; the access determination unit 570 may determine to allow the user equipment to access the electronic device 500 when the channel quality is greater than a predetermined threshold. Here, the electronic device 500 may set the same or different predetermined thresholds for RSRP and RSRQ.

The timing unit 550 may also set a second timer according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Likewise, the timing unit 550 may set the duration of the second timer to be less than or equal to the length of the MCOT.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the sensing unit 510 may perform an LBT procedure in a transmission direction from the electronic device 500 to the user equipment. The LBT procedure may be any one of an LBT procedure including no random backoff procedure, an LBT procedure including a random backoff procedure and a contention window being constant, and an LBT procedure including a random backoff procedure and a contention window being variable.

And the timing unit 550 may start the second timer after the processing unit 520 determines that the LBT procedure in the transmit direction is successful. In addition, the electronic device 500 may transmit synchronization signals, such as a primary synchronization signal and a secondary synchronization signal, to the user equipment through the communication unit 540.

Further, if channel quality measurement information is received from the user equipment before the second timer expires, the access determining unit 570 determines whether to allow the user equipment to access the electronic device 500 according to the channel quality measurement information based on the embodiment as described above.

Further, if channel quality measurement information is not received from the user equipment before the second timer expires, the processing unit 520 may determine that the user equipment is not allowed to access the electronic device 500. Here, if the channel quality measurement information from the user equipment is not received before the timer expires, there may be a case where other electronic devices are transmitting signals to cause interference to the user equipment, resulting in that the channel quality measurement information of the user equipment cannot be transmitted to the electronic device 500. In this case, the processing unit 520 considers the channel quality to be too poor to allow the user equipment access.

As described above, according to the embodiments of the present disclosure, by setting the timer, it is possible to prevent that channel quality measurement information from the user equipment cannot be received due to too poor channel quality.

Fig. 8 is a signaling flow diagram illustrating a procedure for determining whether to allow a UE access by directionally measuring channel quality in a cell access phase according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In fig. 8, the gNB may be implemented by the electronic device 500. In step S801, the gNB performs an LBT procedure in the transmit direction. In step S802, if the LBT procedure in the transmit direction is successful, the gNB starts a second timer. Meanwhile, in step S803, the gNB transmits a synchronization signal to the UE. Next, in step S804, the UE determines RSRP or RSRQ in the reception direction and the direction opposite to the reception direction through measurement of the synchronization signal. Next, in step S805, the UE transmits RSRQ or RSRQ to the gNB. Next, in step S806, the gNB determines whether to allow the UE to access the gNB according to the received RSRP or RSRQ. Next, in step S807, the gNB transmits information of permission of access or rejection of access to the UE. Here, if the LBT procedure in S801 is unsuccessful, the gNB directly determines that the UE is not allowed to access the gNB. Further, if no RSRP or RSRQ is received from the UE before the timer expires, the gNB also does not allow the UE to access the gNB. As described above, the gNB determines whether to allow the UE access according to channel qualities in the reception direction and the direction opposite to the reception direction.

As can be seen, according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, after the ue accesses the electronic device 500, the LBT procedure may be performed in the transmission direction and the direction opposite to the transmission direction, and the ue may perform the LBT procedure in the reception direction and the direction opposite to the reception direction, and the electronic device 500 may send downlink data to the ue in the transmission direction only if all four LBT procedures are successful. In this way, through the above four LBT procedures, the existence of hidden nodes can be prevented, so that the channel quality between the electronic device 500 and the user equipment is improved. Further, before the ue accesses the electronic device 500, the ue may measure the channel quality only in the receiving direction and the direction opposite to the receiving direction, so that the electronic device 500 may more reasonably determine whether to allow the ue to access the electronic device 500, thereby avoiding the access of the interfered ue as much as possible and improving the probability of the ue accessing the electronic device 500.

<3. configuration example of user equipment >

Fig. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a structure of an electronic device 900 serving as a user equipment in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in fig. 9, the electronic device 900 may include a sensing unit 910, a generating unit 920, and a communication unit 930.

Here, various units of the electronic device 900 may be included in the processing circuit. The electronic device 900 may include one or more processing circuits. Further, the processing circuitry may include various discrete functional units to perform various different functions and/or operations. It should be noted that these functional units may be physical entities or logical entities, and that units called differently may be implemented by the same physical entity.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the sensing unit 910 may perform an LBT procedure. Specifically, the sensing unit 910 may perform the LBT procedure in a receiving direction from the electronic device 900 to the network-side device and a direction opposite to the receiving direction.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the generating unit 920 may generate a result of the LBT procedure including a result of the LBT procedure in a receiving direction and a result of the LBT procedure in a direction opposite to the receiving direction according to the sensing result of the sensing unit 910.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the electronic device 900 may transmit the result of the LBT procedure in the receiving direction and the direction opposite to the receiving direction, generated by the generating unit 920, to the network side device through the communication unit 930, so that the network side device may determine whether to transmit data to the electronic device 900 in the transmitting direction corresponding to the receiving direction according to the result of the LBT procedure in the receiving direction and the direction opposite to the receiving direction of the electronic device 900.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the electronic device 900 may receive indication information from the network-side device through the communication unit 930, so as to perform an LBT procedure in a reception direction and a direction opposite to the reception direction in response to the indication information.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the sensing unit 910 performing an LBT procedure in the receiving direction (also referred to as a forward LBT procedure of the electronic device 900 in the present disclosure) means that the sensing unit 910 may sense energy or power of signals from other electronic devices of the receiving direction. That is, the electronic device 900 can sense the energy or power of the signal of the other electronic device only if the other electronic device that transmitted the signal is in the receive direction, the direction in which the other electronic device transmitted the signal is toward the electronic device 900, and the other electronic device is within the sensing range of the electronic device 900. Similarly, the sensing unit 910 performs the LBT procedure in the direction opposite to the receiving direction (also referred to as a reverse LBT procedure of the electronic device 900 in the present disclosure) means that the sensing unit 910 may sense energy or power of signals from other electronic devices in the direction opposite to the receiving direction. That is, the electronic device 900 can sense the energy or power of a signal of another electronic device that transmits the signal only if the other electronic device is in a direction opposite to the receiving direction, the other electronic device transmits the signal in a direction toward the electronic device 900, and the other electronic device is within the sensing range of the electronic device 900.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the LBT procedure may include: an LBT procedure that does not include a random backoff procedure (Cat 2 LBT procedure), an LBT procedure that includes a random backoff procedure with a constant contention window (Cat 3 LBT procedure), and an LBT procedure that includes a random backoff procedure with a variable contention window (Cat 4 LBT procedure). The sensing unit 910 may select one LBT procedure from the above-described LBT procedures. Alternatively, in order to reduce the execution time of the LBT procedure, the sensing unit 910 may employ an LBT procedure that does not include a random backoff procedure when performing the forward LBT procedure and the reverse LBT procedure, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the result of the LBT procedure in the receiving direction generated by the generating unit 920 may include a received power in the receiving direction, and the result of the LBT procedure in the direction opposite to the receiving direction may include a received power in the direction opposite to the receiving direction.

As described above, according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, after the electronic device 900 accesses the network-side device, the electronic device 900 may perform the forward LBT procedure and the reverse LBT procedure, and send the result of the LBT procedure to the network-side device, so as to assist the network-side device in determining the hidden node, so that the channel quality between the electronic device 900 and the network-side device is improved.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 9, the electronic device 900 may further include a measuring unit 940 for measuring channel quality between the network side device and the electronic device 900.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, before the electronic device 900 accesses the network side device, the measurement unit 940 may measure the channel quality in a reception direction from the electronic device 900 to the network side device and a direction opposite to the reception direction. The channel quality here may be represented by RSRP or RSRQ.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 9, the electronic device 900 may further include a generating unit 950 for generating channel quality measurement information according to the measurement result of the measuring unit 940. Further, the electronic device 900 may send the channel quality measurement information to the network side device through the communication unit 930, so that the network side device determines whether to allow the electronic device 900 to access the network side device according to the channel quality measurement information.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, in case that the channel quality is represented by RSRP, the generating unit 950 may determine RSRP according to reference signal received power in a receiving direction and a direction opposite to the receiving direction. Here, the electronic device 900 may receive synchronization signals (primary synchronization signal and secondary synchronization signal) from the network-side device through the communication unit 930, and then the generation unit 950 obtains the value of RSRP by calculating a linear average of received power on REs carrying the synchronization signals in the reception direction and the direction opposite to the reception direction.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, in case the channel quality is represented by RSRQ, the generating unit 950 may determine RSRP according to reference signal received power in the receiving direction and a direction opposite to the receiving direction, determine RSSI according to received signal strength indication in the receiving direction and a direction opposite to the receiving direction, and determine RSRQ according to RSRP and RSSI.

Specifically, the generating unit 950 obtains the value of RSRP by calculating a linear average of the received power on the REs carrying the synchronization signals in the receiving direction and the direction opposite to the receiving direction. The generating unit 950 obtains the value of RSSI by calculating a linear average of the total power received in the measurement bandwidths of the N RBs in the receiving direction and the direction opposite to the receiving direction. Further, the generating unit 950 may obtain the value of RSRQ by the formula RSRQ ═ N × RSRP/RSSI, where N is the number of RBs in the measurement bandwidth of RSSI.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the electronic device 900 may receive information allowing access or denying access from the network-side device through the communication unit 930.

As described above, according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, before the electronic device 900 accesses the network side device, the electronic device 900 may measure the channel quality in the receiving direction and the direction opposite to the receiving direction and transmit the measurement result of the channel quality to the network side device, so that the network side device may determine whether to allow the electronic device 900 to access according to the measurement result. Since the measurement result of the channel quality only reflects the receiving direction and the channel quality in the direction opposite to the receiving direction, the determination of the network side device is more accurate, and the probability that the electronic device 900 accesses the network side device is improved.

The electronic device 500 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure may be used as a network-side device, and the electronic device 900 may be used as a user device, that is, the electronic device 500 may provide services for the electronic device 900, so all the embodiments described in the foregoing regarding the electronic device 500 are applicable here.

<4. method example >

Next, a wireless communication method performed by the electronic apparatus 500 as a network side apparatus in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail.

Fig. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a wireless communication method performed by the electronic apparatus 500 as a network-side apparatus in the wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

As shown in fig. 10, in step S1010, an LBT procedure is performed in a transmission direction from the electronic device 500 to the user equipment and a direction opposite to the transmission direction.

Next, in step S1020, in case that the LBT procedure in both the transmission direction and the direction opposite to the transmission direction is successful, indication information is sent to the user equipment to instruct the user equipment to perform the LBT procedure in the reception direction from the user equipment to the electronic equipment 500 and the direction opposite to the reception direction.

Next, in step S1030, in case that the LBT procedure in both the reception direction and the direction opposite to the reception direction is successful, a data transmission procedure with the user equipment is performed using the transmission direction.

Preferably, the wireless communication method further includes: receiving, from the user equipment, results of the LBT procedure in a reception direction and a direction opposite to the reception direction; and determining whether the LBT procedure is successful in the reception direction and a direction opposite to the reception direction according to the result.

Preferably, the result of the LBT procedure in the reception direction comprises a received power in the reception direction, the result of the LBT procedure in the direction opposite to the reception direction comprises a received power in the direction opposite to the reception direction, and wherein determining whether the LBT procedure in the reception direction was successful comprises: determining that the LBT procedure in the receive direction is successful if the receive power in the receive direction is less than a predetermined threshold; and determining whether the LBT procedure in the direction opposite to the receiving direction was successful comprises: if the received power in the direction opposite to the receiving direction is less than a predetermined threshold, it is determined that the LBT procedure in the direction opposite to the receiving direction is successful.

Preferably, the wireless communication method further includes: after the LBT procedure in the transmit direction is successful, starting a timer and performing the LBT procedure in a direction opposite to the transmit direction; if the result of the LBT procedure in the receiving direction and the direction opposite to the receiving direction is received from the user equipment before the timer expires, determining whether the LBT procedure in the receiving direction and the direction opposite to the receiving direction is successful according to the result; and performing a data transmission procedure with the user equipment without using the transmission direction if a result of the LBT procedure in the reception direction and a direction opposite to the reception direction is not received from the user equipment before the timer expires.

Preferably, the duration of the timer is less than or equal to the length of the MCOT.

Preferably, the wireless communication method further includes: in case of failure of at least one of an LBT procedure in a transmission direction, an LBT procedure in a direction opposite to the transmission direction, an LBT procedure in a reception direction, an LBT procedure in a direction opposite to the reception direction, a data transmission procedure with the user equipment is performed without using the transmission direction.

Preferably, the LBT procedure in the direction opposite to the transmission direction, the LBT procedure in the reception direction, and the LBT procedure in the direction opposite to the reception direction are LBT procedures not including a random backoff procedure, and wherein the LBT procedure in the transmission direction is any one of an LBT procedure not including a random backoff procedure, an LBT procedure including a random backoff procedure and a contention window being constant, and an LBT procedure including a random backoff procedure and a contention window being variable.

Preferably, the wireless communication method further includes: whether to perform an LBT procedure in a direction opposite to a transmission direction and whether to transmit indication information to the user equipment are determined according to a traffic type of data with the user equipment.

Preferably, before the user equipment accesses the electronic equipment 500, the wireless communication method further includes: receiving channel quality measurement information from the user equipment, the channel quality measurement information representing channel qualities measured in a reception direction from the user equipment to the electronic apparatus 500 and a direction opposite to the reception direction; and determining whether to allow the user equipment to access the electronic device 500 according to the channel quality measurement information.

Preferably, the channel quality measurement information includes RSRP or RSRQ, the RSRP representing reference signal received power in the receiving direction and a direction opposite to the receiving direction, and the RSRQ being derived from RSRP representing reference signal received power in the receiving direction and a direction opposite to the receiving direction and RSSI representing received signal strength indication in the receiving direction and a direction opposite to the receiving direction.

Preferably, the wireless communication method further includes: performing an LBT procedure in a transmission direction from the electronic device 500 to the user equipment; starting a second timer after the LBT procedure in the transmit direction is successful; if the channel quality measurement information from the user equipment is received before the second timer expires, determining whether to allow the user equipment to access the electronic device 500 according to the channel quality measurement information; and not allowing the user equipment to access the electronic equipment 500 if the channel quality measurement information is not received from the user equipment before the second timer expires.

Preferably, determining whether to allow the user device to access the electronic device 500 comprises: when the channel quality is greater than a predetermined threshold, the user equipment is allowed to access the electronic device 500.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the main body performing the above method may be the electronic device 500 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, and thus all the embodiments regarding the electronic device 500 in the foregoing are applicable thereto.

Next, a wireless communication method performed by the electronic apparatus 900 as a user equipment in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail.

Fig. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a wireless communication method performed by an electronic device 900 as a user equipment in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

As shown in fig. 11, in step S1110, an LBT procedure is performed in a receiving direction from the electronic device 900 to the network-side device and a direction opposite to the receiving direction.

Next, in step S1120, the result of the LBT procedure in the receiving direction and the direction opposite to the receiving direction is transmitted to the network side device.

Preferably, the wireless communication method further comprises: receiving indication information from a network side device to perform an LBT procedure in a receiving direction and a direction opposite to the receiving direction.

Preferably, the result of the LBT procedure in the receiving direction comprises a received power in the receiving direction and the result of the LBT procedure in the direction opposite to the receiving direction comprises a received power in the direction opposite to the receiving direction.

Preferably, the LBT procedure in the reception direction and the LBT procedure in the direction opposite to the reception direction are LBT procedures that do not include a random backoff procedure.

Preferably, before the electronic device 900 accesses the network-side device, the wireless communication method further includes: measuring channel quality in a receiving direction from the electronic device 900 to the network-side device and a direction opposite to the receiving direction; and sending the channel quality measurement information to the network side device, so that the network side device determines whether to allow the electronic device 900 to access the network side device according to the channel quality measurement information.

Preferably, the channel quality measurement information includes RSRP, and the wireless communication method further includes: determining an RSRP from reference signal received powers in a receiving direction and a direction opposite to the receiving direction, or wherein the channel quality measurement information comprises an RSRQ, and the wireless communication method further comprises: the method comprises determining RSRP from reference signal received power in and opposite to a receive direction, determining RSSI from received signal strength indications in and opposite to the receive direction, and determining RSRQ from RSRP and RSSI.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the main body performing the above method may be the electronic device 900 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, and thus all the embodiments regarding the electronic device 900 in the foregoing are applicable thereto.

<5. application example >

The techniques of this disclosure can be applied to a variety of products.

For example, the network side device may be implemented as any type of TRP. The TRP may have a transmitting and receiving function, and may receive information from or transmit information to, for example, a user equipment and a base station apparatus. In a typical example, the TRP may provide a service to the user equipment and be controlled by the base station apparatus. Further, the TRP may have a structure similar to that of the base station device described below, or may have only a structure related to transmission and reception of information in the base station device.

The network side device may also be implemented as any type of base station device, such as a macro eNB and a small eNB, and may also be implemented as any type of gNB (base station in a 5G system). The small eNB may be an eNB that covers a cell smaller than a macro cell, such as a pico eNB, a micro eNB, and a home (femto) eNB. Alternatively, the base station may be implemented as any other type of base station, such as a NodeB and a Base Transceiver Station (BTS). The base station may include: a main body (also referred to as a base station apparatus) configured to control wireless communication; and one or more Remote Radio Heads (RRHs) disposed at a different place from the main body.

The user equipment may be implemented as a mobile terminal such as a smart phone, a tablet Personal Computer (PC), a notebook PC, a portable game terminal, a portable/cryptographic dog-type mobile router, and a digital camera, or a vehicle-mounted terminal such as a car navigation apparatus. The user equipment may also be implemented as a terminal (also referred to as a Machine Type Communication (MTC) terminal) that performs machine-to-machine (M2M) communication. Further, the user equipment may be a wireless communication module (such as an integrated circuit module including a single die) mounted on each of the user equipments described above.

< application example with respect to base station >

(first application example)

Fig. 12 is a block diagram showing a first example of a schematic configuration of an eNB to which the technique of the present disclosure can be applied. The eNB 1200 includes one or more antennas 1210 and a base station apparatus 1220. The base station apparatus 1220 and each antenna 1210 may be connected to each other via an RF cable.

Each of the antennas 1210 includes a single or multiple antenna elements (such as multiple antenna elements included in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna), and is used for the base station apparatus 1220 to transmit and receive wireless signals. As shown in fig. 12, eNB 1200 may include multiple antennas 1210. For example, the multiple antennas 1210 may be compatible with multiple frequency bands used by the eNB 1200. Although fig. 12 shows an example in which eNB 1200 includes multiple antennas 1210, eNB 1200 may also include a single antenna 1210.

Base station apparatus 1220 includes a controller 1221, memory 1222, a network interface 1223, and a wireless communication interface 1225.

The controller 1221 may be, for example, a CPU or a DSP, and operates various functions of higher layers of the base station apparatus 1220. For example, the controller 1221 generates a data packet from data in a signal processed by the wireless communication interface 1225 and transfers the generated packet via the network interface 1223. The controller 1221 may bundle data from the plurality of baseband processors to generate a bundle packet, and deliver the generated bundle packet. The controller 1221 may have a logic function of performing control as follows: such as radio resource control, radio bearer control, mobility management, admission control and scheduling. The control may be performed in connection with a nearby eNB or core network node. The memory 1222 includes a RAM and a ROM, and stores programs executed by the controller 1221 and various types of control data (such as a terminal list, transmission power data, and scheduling data).

The network interface 1223 is a communication interface for connecting the base station apparatus 1220 to the core network 1224. The controller 1221 may communicate with a core network node or a further eNB via a network interface 1223. In this case, the eNB 1200 and a core network node or other enbs may be connected to each other through a logical interface, such as an S1 interface and an X2 interface. The network interface 1223 may also be a wired communication interface or a wireless communication interface for a wireless backhaul. If network interface 1223 is a wireless communication interface, network interface 1223 may use a higher frequency band for wireless communication than the frequency band used by wireless communication interface 1225.

The wireless communication interface 1225 supports any cellular communication scheme, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) and LTE-advanced, and provides wireless connectivity via an antenna 1210 to terminals located in the cell of the eNB 1200. The wireless communication interface 1225 may generally include, for example, a baseband (BB) processor 1226 and RF circuitry 1227. The BB processor 1226 may perform, for example, encoding/decoding, modulation/demodulation, and multiplexing/demultiplexing, and perform various types of signal processing of layers such as L1, Medium Access Control (MAC), Radio Link Control (RLC), and Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP). The BB processor 1226 may have a part or all of the above-described logic functions, instead of the controller 1221. The BB processor 1226 may be a memory storing a communication control program, or a module including a processor configured to execute a program and related circuits. The update program may cause the function of the BB processor 1226 to change. The module may be a card or blade that is inserted into a slot of the base station apparatus 1220. Alternatively, the module may be a chip mounted on a card or blade. Meanwhile, the RF circuit 1227 may include, for example, a mixer, a filter, and an amplifier, and transmit and receive a wireless signal via the antenna 1210.

As shown in fig. 12, wireless communication interface 1225 may include a plurality of BB processors 1226. For example, the plurality of BB processors 1226 may be compatible with a plurality of frequency bands used by the eNB 1200. As shown in fig. 12, wireless communication interface 1225 may include a plurality of RF circuits 1227. For example, the plurality of RF circuits 1227 may be compatible with a plurality of antenna elements. Although fig. 12 shows an example in which wireless communication interface 1225 includes a plurality of BB processors 1226 and a plurality of RF circuits 1227, wireless communication interface 1225 may also include a single BB processor 1226 or a single RF circuit 1227.

(second application example)

Fig. 13 is a block diagram illustrating a second example of a schematic configuration of an eNB to which the technology of the present disclosure may be applied. The eNB 1330 includes one or more antennas 1340, base station equipment 1350, and RRHs 1360. RRH 1360 and each antenna 1340 may be connected to each other via an RF cable. The base station device 1350 and the RRH 1360 may be connected to each other via a high-speed line such as an optical fiber cable.

Each of the antennas 1340 includes a single or multiple antenna elements (such as multiple antenna elements included in a MIMO antenna) and is used for the RRH 1360 to transmit and receive wireless signals. As shown in fig. 13, the eNB 1330 may include multiple antennas 1340. For example, the multiple antennas 1340 may be compatible with multiple frequency bands used by the eNB 1330. Although fig. 13 shows an example in which the eNB 1330 includes multiple antennas 1340, the eNB 1330 may also include a single antenna 1340.

Base station device 1350 includes a controller 1351, memory 1352, a network interface 1353, a wireless communication interface 1355, and a connection interface 1357. The controller 1351, the memory 1352, and the network interface 1353 are the same as the controller 1221, the memory 1222, and the network interface 1223 described with reference to fig. 12.

The wireless communication interface 1355 supports any cellular communication scheme (such as LTE and LTE-advanced) and provides wireless communication via RRHs 1360 and antennas 1340 to terminals located in a sector corresponding to the RRHs 1360. The wireless communication interface 1355 may generally include, for example, a BB processor 1356. The BB processor 1356 is identical to the BB processor 1226 described with reference to fig. 12, except that the BB processor 1356 is connected to the RF circuitry 1364 of the RRH 1360 via a connection interface 1357. As shown in fig. 13, wireless communication interface 1355 can comprise a plurality of BB processors 1356. For example, the plurality of BB processors 1356 may be compatible with a plurality of frequency bands used by the eNB 1330. Although fig. 13 shows an example in which the wireless communication interface 1355 includes a plurality of BB processors 1356, the wireless communication interface 1355 may also include a single BB processor 1356.

The connection interface 1357 is an interface for connecting the base station apparatus 1350 (wireless communication interface 1355) to the RRH 1360. The connection interface 1357 may also be a communication module for communication in the above-described high-speed line connecting the base station apparatus 1350 (wireless communication interface 1355) to the RRH 1360.

The RRH 1360 includes a connection interface 1361 and a wireless communication interface 1363.

The connection interface 1361 is an interface for connecting the RRH 1360 (wireless communication interface 1363) to the base station apparatus 1350. The connection interface 1361 may also be a communication module for communication in the above-described high-speed line.

The wireless communication interface 1363 transmits and receives wireless signals via the antenna 1340. Wireless communication interface 1363 may generally include, for example, RF circuitry 1364. The RF circuitry 1364 may include, for example, mixers, filters, and amplifiers, and transmit and receive wireless signals via the antenna 1340. As shown in fig. 13, wireless communication interface 1363 may include a plurality of RF circuits 1364. For example, multiple RF circuits 1364 may support multiple antenna elements. Although fig. 13 illustrates an example in which the wireless communication interface 1363 includes multiple RF circuits 1364, the wireless communication interface 1363 may include a single RF circuit 1364.

In the eNB 1200 and the eNB 1330 illustrated in fig. 12 and 13, the sensing unit 510, the processing unit 520, the generating unit 530, the timing unit 550, the determining unit 560, and the access determining unit 570 described by using fig. 5 may be implemented by the controller 1221 and/or the controller 1351. At least a portion of the functionality may also be implemented by the controller 1221 and the controller 1351. For example, the controller 1221 and/or the controller 1351 may perform the functions of sensing energy, determining whether a transmission direction is idle, generating indication information indicating the user equipment to perform LBT, starting a timer, determining whether reverse LBT needs to be performed and the user equipment to perform LBT procedure, and determining whether the UE is allowed to access by executing instructions stored in a corresponding memory.

< application example with respect to terminal device >

(first application example)

Fig. 14 is a block diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a smartphone 1400 to which the technology of the present disclosure may be applied. The smart phone 1400 includes a processor 1401, memory 1402, storage device 1403, external connection interface 1404, camera device 1406, sensor 1407, microphone 1408, input device 1409, display device 1410, speaker 1411, wireless communication interface 1412, one or more antenna switches 1415, one or more antennas 1416, bus 1417, battery 1418, and secondary controller 1419.

The processor 1401 may be, for example, a CPU or a system on a chip (SoC), and controls functions of an application layer and another layer of the smartphone 1400. The memory 1402 includes a RAM and a ROM, and stores data and programs executed by the processor 1401. The storage device 1403 may include a storage medium such as a semiconductor memory and a hard disk. The external connection interface 1404 is an interface for connecting an external device such as a memory card and a Universal Serial Bus (USB) device to the smartphone 1400.

The image pickup device 1406 includes an image sensor such as a Charge Coupled Device (CCD) and a Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS), and generates a captured image. The sensor 1407 may include a set of sensors such as a measurement sensor, a gyro sensor, a geomagnetic sensor, and an acceleration sensor. The microphone 1408 converts sound input to the smartphone 1400 into an audio signal. The input device 1409 includes, for example, a touch sensor, a keypad, a keyboard, a button, or a switch configured to detect a touch on the screen of the display device 1410, and receives an operation or information input from the user. The display device 1410 includes a screen, such as a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) and an Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) display, and displays an output image of the smart phone 1400. The speaker 1411 converts an audio signal output from the smartphone 1400 into sound.

The wireless communication interface 1412 supports any cellular communication scheme (such as LTE and LTE-advanced) and performs wireless communication. The wireless communication interface 1412 may generally include, for example, a BB processor 1413 and RF circuitry 1414. The BB processor 1413 can perform, for example, encoding/decoding, modulation/demodulation, and multiplexing/demultiplexing, and perform various types of signal processing for wireless communication. Meanwhile, the RF circuit 1414 may include, for example, a mixer, a filter, and an amplifier, and transmits and receives a wireless signal via the antenna 1416. Wireless communication interface 1412 may be one chip module with BB processor 1413 and RF circuitry 1414 integrated thereon. As shown in fig. 14, the wireless communication interface 1412 may include a plurality of BB processors 1413 and a plurality of RF circuits 1414. Although fig. 14 shows an example in which the wireless communication interface 1412 includes multiple BB processors 1413 and multiple RF circuits 1414, the wireless communication interface 1412 may also include a single BB processor 1413 or a single RF circuit 1414.

Further, the wireless communication interface 1412 may support another type of wireless communication scheme, such as a short-range wireless communication scheme, a near field communication scheme, and a wireless Local Area Network (LAN) scheme, in addition to the cellular communication scheme. In this case, the wireless communication interface 1412 may include a BB processor 1413 and an RF circuit 1414 for each wireless communication scheme.

Each of the antenna switches 1415 switches a connection destination of the antenna 1416 between a plurality of circuits (for example, circuits for different wireless communication schemes) included in the wireless communication interface 1412.

Each of the antennas 1416 includes a single or multiple antenna elements (such as multiple antenna elements included in a MIMO antenna) and is used for the wireless communication interface 1412 to transmit and receive wireless signals. As shown in fig. 14, the smart phone 1400 may include multiple antennas 1416. Although fig. 14 shows an example in which the smartphone 1400 includes multiple antennas 1416, the smartphone 1400 may also include a single antenna 1416.

Further, the smartphone 1400 may include an antenna 1416 for each wireless communication scheme. In this case, the antenna switch 1415 may be omitted from the configuration of the smart phone 1400.

The bus 1417 connects the processor 1401, the memory 1402, the storage device 1403, the external connection interface 1404, the image pickup device 1406, the sensor 1407, the microphone 1408, the input device 1409, the display device 1410, the speaker 1411, the wireless communication interface 1412, and the auxiliary controller 1419 to each other. The battery 1418 provides power to the various blocks of the smartphone 1400 shown in fig. 14 via a feed line, which is partially shown in the figure as a dashed line. The secondary controller 1419 operates the minimum necessary functions of the smartphone 1400, for example, in a sleep mode.

In the smart phone 1400 shown in fig. 14, the sensing unit 910, the generating unit 920, the measuring unit 940, and the generating unit 950 described by using fig. 9 may be implemented by the processor 1401 or the auxiliary controller 1419. At least a portion of the functionality may also be implemented by the processor 1401 or the secondary controller 1419. For example, the processor 1401 or secondary controller 1419 may perform the functions of sensing energy, generating the results of the LBT procedure, measuring channel quality, and generating measurements of channel quality by executing instructions stored in the memory 1402 or storage 1403.

(second application example)

Fig. 15 is a block diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a car navigation device 1520 to which the technique of the present disclosure can be applied. The car navigation device 1520 includes a processor 1521, a memory 1522, a Global Positioning System (GPS) module 1524, sensors 1525, a data interface 1526, a content player 1527, a storage medium interface 1528, an input device 1529, a display device 1530, a speaker 1531, a wireless communication interface 1533, one or more antenna switches 1536, one or more antennas 1537, and a battery 1538.

The processor 1521 may be, for example, a CPU or a SoC, and controls the navigation function and another function of the car navigation device 1520. The memory 1522 includes a RAM and a ROM, and stores data and programs executed by the processor 1521.

The GPS module 1524 measures the position (such as latitude, longitude, and altitude) of the car navigation device 1520 using GPS signals received from GPS satellites. The sensors 1525 may include a set of sensors, such as a gyroscope sensor, a geomagnetic sensor, and an air pressure sensor. The data interface 1526 is connected to, for example, an in-vehicle network 1541 via a terminal not shown, and acquires data generated by a vehicle (such as vehicle speed data).

The content player 1527 reproduces content stored in a storage medium (such as a CD and a DVD) inserted into the storage medium interface 1528. The input device 1529 includes, for example, a touch sensor, a button, or a switch configured to detect a touch on the screen of the display device 1530, and receives an operation or information input from a user. The display device 1530 includes a screen such as an LCD or OLED display, and displays an image of a navigation function or reproduced contents. The speaker 1531 outputs the sound of the navigation function or the reproduced content.

The wireless communication interface 1533 supports any cellular communication scheme (such as LTE and LTE-advanced) and performs wireless communication. The wireless communication interface 1533 may generally include, for example, a BB processor 1534 and RF circuitry 1535. The BB processor 1534 may perform, for example, encoding/decoding, modulation/demodulation, and multiplexing/demultiplexing, and perform various types of signal processing for wireless communication. Meanwhile, the RF circuit 1535 may include, for example, a mixer, a filter, and an amplifier, and transmit and receive a wireless signal via the antenna 1537. The wireless communication interface 1533 may also be one chip module with the BB processor 1534 and the RF circuit 1535 integrated thereon. As shown in fig. 15, the wireless communication interface 1533 may include a plurality of BB processors 1534 and a plurality of RF circuits 1535. Although fig. 15 shows an example in which the wireless communication interface 1533 includes multiple BB processors 1534 and multiple RF circuits 1535, the wireless communication interface 1533 may also include a single BB processor 1534 or a single RF circuit 1535.

Also, the wireless communication interface 1533 may support another type of wireless communication scheme, such as a short-range wireless communication scheme, a near field communication scheme, and a wireless LAN scheme, in addition to the cellular communication scheme. In this case, the wireless communication interface 1533 may include a BB processor 1534 and RF circuitry 1535 for each wireless communication scheme.

Each of the antenna switches 1536 switches a connection destination of the antenna 1537 between a plurality of circuits (such as circuits for different wireless communication schemes) included in the wireless communication interface 1533.

Each of the antennas 1537 includes a single or multiple antenna elements (such as multiple antenna elements included in a MIMO antenna) and is used for the wireless communication interface 1533 to transmit and receive wireless signals. As shown in fig. 15, the car navigation device 1520 may include a plurality of antennas 1537. Although fig. 15 shows an example in which the car navigation device 1520 includes a plurality of antennas 1537, the car navigation device 1520 may also include a single antenna 1537.

Further, the car navigation device 1520 may include an antenna 1537 for each wireless communication scheme. In this case, the antenna switch 1536 may be omitted from the configuration of the car navigation device 1520.

The battery 1538 supplies power to the respective blocks of the car navigation device 1520 shown in fig. 15 via a feeder line, which is partially shown as a dotted line in the drawing. The battery 1538 accumulates electric power supplied from the vehicle.

In the car navigation apparatus 1520 shown in fig. 15, the sensing unit 910, the generating unit 920, the measuring unit 940, and the generating unit 950 described by using fig. 9 may be implemented by the processor 1521. At least a portion of the functionality may also be implemented by the processor 1521. For example, processor 1521 may perform the functions of sensing energy, generating results of LBT procedures, measuring channel quality, and generating measurements of channel quality by executing instructions stored in memory 1522.

The techniques of this disclosure may also be implemented as an in-vehicle system (or vehicle) 1540 that includes one or more blocks of the car navigation device 1520, the in-vehicle network 1541, and the vehicle module 1542. The vehicle module 1542 generates vehicle data (such as vehicle speed, engine speed, and fault information) and outputs the generated data to the vehicle-mounted network 1541.

The preferred embodiments of the present disclosure are described above with reference to the drawings, but the present disclosure is of course not limited to the above examples. Various changes and modifications within the scope of the appended claims may be made by those skilled in the art, and it should be understood that these changes and modifications naturally will fall within the technical scope of the present disclosure.

For example, the units shown in the functional block diagrams in the figures as dashed boxes each indicate that the functional unit is optional in the corresponding apparatus, and the respective optional functional units may be combined in an appropriate manner to implement the required functions.

For example, a plurality of functions included in one unit may be implemented by separate devices in the above embodiments. Alternatively, a plurality of functions implemented by a plurality of units in the above embodiments may be implemented by separate devices, respectively. In addition, one of the above functions may be implemented by a plurality of units. Needless to say, such a configuration is included in the technical scope of the present disclosure.

In this specification, the steps described in the flowcharts include not only the processes performed in time series in the described order but also the processes performed in parallel or individually without necessarily being performed in time series. Further, even in the steps processed in time series, needless to say, the order can be changed as appropriate.

Although the embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, it should be understood that the above-described embodiments are merely illustrative of the present disclosure and do not constitute a limitation of the present disclosure. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the above-described embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, the scope of the disclosure is to be defined only by the claims appended hereto, and by their equivalents.

Claims (37)

1. An electronic device comprising processing circuitry configured to:

   performing a listen before talk, LBT, procedure in a transmission direction from the electronic device to a user equipment and in a direction opposite to the transmission direction;

   on a condition that the LBT process in the transmitting direction and the direction opposite to the transmitting direction is successful, sending indication information to the user equipment to indicate the user equipment to execute the LBT process in a receiving direction from the user equipment to the electronic equipment and the direction opposite to the receiving direction; and

   performing a data transmission procedure with the user equipment using the transmit direction, if the LBT procedure in both the receive direction and a direction opposite to the receive direction is successful.
2. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:

   receiving, from the user equipment, results of an LBT procedure in the reception direction and a direction opposite to the reception direction; and

   determining whether the LBT procedure in the receiving direction and a direction opposite to the receiving direction is successful according to the result.
3. The electronic device of claim 2, wherein a result of an LBT procedure in the receive direction comprises a receive power in the receive direction, a result of an LBT procedure in a direction opposite to the receive direction comprises a receive power in a direction opposite to the receive direction, and

   wherein the processing circuit is further configured to: determining that an LBT procedure in the receive direction is successful if the received power in the receive direction is less than a predetermined threshold; and determining that the LBT procedure in the direction opposite to the reception direction is successful if the reception power in the direction opposite to the reception direction is less than the predetermined threshold.
4. The electronic device of claim 2, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:

   after the LBT procedure in the transmit direction is successful, starting a timer and performing the LBT procedure in a direction opposite to the transmit direction;

   if a result of an LBT procedure in the receiving direction and a direction opposite to the receiving direction is received from the user equipment before a timer expires, determining whether the LBT procedure in the receiving direction and the direction opposite to the receiving direction is successful according to the result; and

   performing a data transmission procedure with the user equipment without using the transmission direction if a result of an LBT procedure in the reception direction and a direction opposite to the reception direction is not received from the user equipment before expiration of a timer.
5. The electronic device of claim 4, wherein a duration of the timer is less than or equal to a length of a Maximum Channel Occupancy Time (MCOT).
6. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:

   performing a data transmission procedure with the user equipment without using the transmission direction in case of failure of at least one of an LBT procedure in the transmission direction, an LBT procedure in a direction opposite to the transmission direction, an LBT procedure in the reception direction, an LBT procedure in a direction opposite to the reception direction.
7. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the LBT procedure in the direction opposite to the transmit direction, the LBT procedure in the receive direction, and the LBT procedure in the direction opposite to the receive direction are LBT procedures that do not include a random backoff procedure, and

   the LBT process in the transmitting direction is any one of an LBT process without a random backoff process, an LBT process with a random backoff process and a constant contention window, and an LBT process with a random backoff process and a variable contention window.
8. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:

   and determining whether to perform an LBT procedure in a direction opposite to the transmission direction and whether to transmit the indication information to the user equipment according to a traffic type of data between the user equipment and the user equipment.
9. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:

   receiving channel quality measurement information from the user equipment before the user equipment accesses the electronic equipment, the channel quality measurement information representing channel quality measured in a reception direction from the user equipment to the electronic equipment and a direction opposite to the reception direction; and

   and determining whether the user equipment is allowed to access the electronic equipment or not according to the channel quality measurement information.
10. The electronic device of claim 9,

    the channel quality measurement information comprises reference signal received power RSRP or reference signal received quality RSRQ,

    the RSRP represents reference signal received power in the receive direction and a direction opposite to the receive direction, and

    the RSRQ is derived from an RSRP representing a reference signal received power in the receive direction and a direction opposite to the receive direction and a received signal strength indication, RSSI, representing a received signal strength indication in the receive direction and a direction opposite to the receive direction.
11. The electronic device of claim 9, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:

    performing an LBT procedure in a transmission direction from the electronic device to a user equipment;

    starting a second timer after the LBT procedure in the transmission direction is successful;

    if channel quality measurement information from the user equipment is received before the second timer expires, determining whether to allow the user equipment to access the electronic equipment according to the channel quality measurement information; and

    not allowing the user equipment to access the electronic equipment if the channel quality measurement information is not received from the user equipment before the second timer expires.
12. The electronic device of claim 9, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:

    and when the channel quality is greater than a preset threshold value, allowing the user equipment to access the electronic equipment.
13. An electronic device comprising processing circuitry configured to:

    performing a listen before talk, LBT, procedure in a receiving direction from the electronic device to a network side device and in a direction opposite to the receiving direction; and

    and sending the result of the LBT process in the receiving direction and the direction opposite to the receiving direction to the network side equipment.
14. The electronic device of claim 13, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:

    receiving indication information from the network side device to perform an LBT procedure in the receiving direction and a direction opposite to the receiving direction.
15. The electronic device of claim 13, wherein a result of an LBT procedure in the receive direction comprises a receive power in the receive direction and a result of an LBT procedure in a direction opposite the receive direction comprises a receive power in a direction opposite the receive direction.
16. The electronic device of claim 13, wherein the LBT procedure in the receive direction and the LBT procedure in the direction opposite to the receive direction are LBT procedures that do not include a random backoff procedure.
17. The electronic device of claim 13, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:

    before the electronic equipment accesses the network side equipment, measuring channel quality in a receiving direction from the electronic equipment to the network side equipment and a direction opposite to the receiving direction; and

    and sending the channel quality measurement information to the network side equipment so that the network side equipment can determine whether to allow the electronic equipment to access the network side equipment according to the channel quality measurement information.
18. The electronic device of claim 17, wherein the channel quality measurement information comprises Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), and the processing circuitry is further configured to: determining the RSRP from reference signal received powers in the receive direction and a direction opposite to the receive direction, or

    Wherein the channel quality measurement information comprises a reference signal received quality, RSRQ, and the processing circuitry is further configured to: determining an RSRP from a reference signal received power in the receive direction and a direction opposite to the receive direction, determining a received signal strength indication, RSSI, from a received signal strength indication in the receive direction and a direction opposite to the receive direction, and determining the RSRQ from an RSRP and an RSSI.
19. A wireless communication method performed by an electronic device, comprising:

    performing a listen before talk, LBT, procedure in a transmission direction from the electronic device to a user equipment and in a direction opposite to the transmission direction;

    in a case where the LBT procedure in the transmission direction and a direction opposite to the transmission direction are both successful, transmitting indication information to the user equipment to instruct the user equipment to perform the LBT procedure in a reception direction from the user equipment to the electronic equipment and a direction opposite to the reception direction; and

    performing a data transmission procedure with the user equipment using the transmit direction, if the LBT procedure in both the receive direction and a direction opposite to the receive direction is successful.
20. The wireless communication method of claim 19, wherein the wireless communication method further comprises:

    receiving, from the user equipment, results of an LBT procedure in the reception direction and a direction opposite to the reception direction; and

    determining whether an LBT procedure in the receiving direction and a direction opposite to the receiving direction is successful according to the result.
21. The wireless communication method of claim 20, wherein the result of the LBT procedure in the receive direction comprises a receive power in the receive direction, the result of the LBT procedure in a direction opposite to the receive direction comprises a receive power in a direction opposite to the receive direction, and

    wherein determining whether the LBT procedure in the receive direction is successful comprises: determining that an LBT procedure in the receive direction is successful if the received power in the receive direction is less than a predetermined threshold; and determining whether the LBT procedure in a direction opposite to the receiving direction was successful comprises: determining that the LBT procedure in a direction opposite to the reception direction is successful if the reception power in the direction opposite to the reception direction is less than the predetermined threshold.
22. The wireless communication method of claim 20, wherein the wireless communication method further comprises:

    after the LBT procedure in the transmission direction is successful, starting a timer and performing the LBT procedure in a direction opposite to the transmission direction;

    if a result of an LBT procedure in the receiving direction and a direction opposite to the receiving direction is received from the user equipment before expiration of a timer, determining whether the LBT procedure in the receiving direction and the direction opposite to the receiving direction is successful according to the result; and

    performing a data transmission procedure with the user equipment without using the transmission direction if a result of an LBT procedure in the reception direction and a direction opposite to the reception direction is not received from the user equipment before expiration of a timer.
23. The wireless communications method of claim 22, wherein the duration of the timer is less than or equal to a length of a Maximum Channel Occupancy Time (MCOT).
24. The wireless communication method of claim 19, wherein the wireless communication method further comprises:

    performing a data transmission procedure with the user equipment without using the transmission direction in case of failure of at least one of an LBT procedure in the transmission direction, an LBT procedure in a direction opposite to the transmission direction, an LBT procedure in the reception direction, an LBT procedure in a direction opposite to the reception direction.
25. The wireless communication method of claim 19, wherein the LBT procedure in the direction opposite to the transmission direction, the LBT procedure in the reception direction, and the LBT procedure in the direction opposite to the reception direction are LBT procedures that do not include a random backoff procedure, and

    the LBT process in the transmission direction is any one of an LBT process without a random backoff process, an LBT process with a random backoff process and a constant contention window, and an LBT process with a random backoff process and a variable contention window.
26. The wireless communication method of claim 19, wherein the wireless communication method further comprises:

    and determining whether to perform an LBT procedure in a direction opposite to the transmission direction and whether to transmit the indication information to the user equipment according to a traffic type of data between the user equipment and the user equipment.
27. The wireless communication method of claim 19, wherein prior to the user device accessing the electronic device, the wireless communication method further comprises:

    receiving channel quality measurement information from the user equipment, the channel quality measurement information representing channel quality measured in a reception direction from the user equipment to the electronic device and a direction opposite to the reception direction; and

    and determining whether the user equipment is allowed to access the electronic equipment or not according to the channel quality measurement information.
28. The wireless communication method of claim 27,

    the channel quality measurement information comprises reference signal received power RSRP or reference signal received quality RSRQ,

    the RSRP represents reference signal received power in the receive direction and a direction opposite to the receive direction, and

    the RSRQ is derived from an RSRP representing a reference signal received power in the receive direction and a direction opposite to the receive direction and a received signal strength indication, RSSI, representing a received signal strength indication in the receive direction and a direction opposite to the receive direction.
29. The wireless communication method of claim 27, wherein the wireless communication method further comprises:

    performing an LBT procedure in a transmission direction from the electronic device to a user equipment;

    starting a second timer after the LBT procedure in the transmit direction is successful;

    if channel quality measurement information is received from the user equipment before the second timer expires, determining whether to allow the user equipment to access the electronic equipment according to the channel quality measurement information; and

    not allowing the user equipment to access the electronic equipment if the channel quality measurement information is not received from the user equipment before the second timer expires.
30. The wireless communication method of claim 27, wherein determining whether to allow the user device to access the electronic device comprises:

    and when the channel quality is greater than a preset threshold value, allowing the user equipment to access the electronic equipment.
31. A wireless communication method performed by an electronic device, comprising:

    performing a listen before talk, LBT, procedure in a receiving direction from the electronic device to a network side device and in a direction opposite to the receiving direction; and

    and sending the result of the LBT process in the receiving direction and the direction opposite to the receiving direction to the network side equipment.
32. The wireless communication method of claim 31, wherein the wireless communication method further comprises:

    receiving indication information from the network side device to perform an LBT procedure in the receiving direction and a direction opposite to the receiving direction.
33. The wireless communication method of claim 31, wherein the result of an LBT procedure in the receive direction comprises a receive power in the receive direction and the result of an LBT procedure in a direction opposite to the receive direction comprises a receive power in a direction opposite to the receive direction.
34. The wireless communication method of claim 31, wherein the LBT procedure in the receive direction and the LBT procedure in the direction opposite to the receive direction are LBT procedures that do not include a random backoff procedure.
35. The wireless communication method of claim 31, wherein before the electronic device accesses the network-side device, the wireless communication method further comprises:

    measuring channel quality in a reception direction from the electronic device to the network-side device and in a direction opposite to the reception direction; and

    and sending the channel quality measurement information to the network side equipment so that the network side equipment can determine whether to allow the electronic equipment to access the network side equipment according to the channel quality measurement information.
36. The wireless communication method of claim 35, wherein the channel quality measurement information comprises reference signal received power, RSRP, and further comprising: determining the RSRP from reference signal received powers in the receive direction and a direction opposite to the receive direction, or

    Wherein the channel quality measurement information comprises reference signal received quality, RSRQ, and the wireless communication method further comprises: determining an RSRP from a reference signal received power in the receive direction and a direction opposite to the receive direction, determining a received signal strength indication, RSSI, from a received signal strength indication in the receive direction and a direction opposite to the receive direction, and determining the RSRQ from an RSRP and an RSSI.
37. A computer readable storage medium comprising executable computer instructions that when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform the wireless communication method of any of claims 19-36.

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