BR112017019849B1 - PROGRAMMING ENHANCEMENT FOR CONTAINMENT-BASED SHARED FREQUENCY SPECTRUM EMPLOYING UPLINK CROSS-CARRIER PROGRAMMING - Google Patents

Abstract

SHARED FREQUENCY SPECTRUM PROGRAMMING RESOURCES BASED ON ACCESS CONTAINMENT USING UPWARD CARRIER PROGRAMMING. Channel availability is uncertain when employing an unlicensed carrier. In particular, it may be difficult to schedule concessions in advance due to the uncertainty associated with future channel availability. Therefore, programming UL and/or DL grants exclusively using self-scheduling or exclusively using cross-carriage programming to use an unlicensed carrier may result in wasted communication opportunities. Aspects described herein whereby an eNB may utilize licensed and unlicensed carriers to communicate downlink grants and uplink grants to an unlicensed bearer to a UE. In one aspect, the eNB may use an unlicensed bearer to communicate downlink grants for downlink communication on the unlicensed bearer, and may use a licensed bearer to communicate uplink grants for uplink communication on the unlicensed bearer. In particular, while Uplink grants on the unlicensed secondary bearer are transmitted through appropriate DCIs on the primary bearer component, which corresponds to a (...).

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED REQUEST(S)

[0001] This application claims the benefit of US Provisional Patent Application No. 62/134,487, entitled "Sheduling enhancements for LTE-U" and filed on March 17, 2005, 2015, and US Patent Application No. 15/061,953 , entitled "SCHEDULING ENHANCES FOR CONTAINMENT-BASED SHARED FREQUENCY SPECTRUM" and deposited on March 4, 2016, which are expressly incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

FUNDAMENTALS Field

[0002] Field of the invention The present invention generally relates to communication systems, and more particularly, to mitigating loss of inter-base station resynchronization in Long Term Evolution (LTE)/LTE-Advanced (LTE-Advanced) networks. A) operating in shared frequency spectrum based on contention.

Background

[0003] Wireless communication systems are widely implemented to provide various telecommunications services, such as telephony, video, data, messaging and broadcasting. Typical wireless communication systems may employ multiple access technologies capable of supporting communication with multiple users sharing available system resources. Examples of such multiple access technologies include code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access systems (OFDMA), single carrier frequency division multiple access systems (SC-FDMA), and time division synchronous code division multiple access systems (TD-SCDMA).

[0004] These multiple access technologies have been adopted into various telecommunications standards to provide a common protocol that allows different wireless devices to communicate on a city, regional, regional, and even global level. An example of a telecommunications standard is Long Term Evolution (LTE) LTE is a set of enhancements to the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) mobile standard promulgated by the Third Generation Partnership (3 GPP) project LTE is Designed to support mobile broadband access through improved spectral efficiency, reduced costs, and enhanced services using downlink OFDMA, uplink SC-FDMA, and multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna technology. However, as demand for mobile broadband access continues to increase, there is a need for additional improvements to LTE technology. These enhancements may also be applicable to other multiple access technologies and telecommunications standards that employ those technologies.

[0005] Some communication modes may enable communications between a base station and a UE over a shared contention-based radio frequency spectrum band, or over different radio frequency spectrum bands (e.g., a licensed radio frequency spectrum band or a unlicensed radio frequency spectrum band) of a cellular network. With the increase in data traffic on cellular networks that use a licensed radio frequency spectrum band, offloading at least some data traffic to an unlicensed radio frequency spectrum band may provide a cellular operator with opportunities for transmission capacity improved data. An unlicensed radio frequency spectrum band may also provide service in areas where access to a licensed radio frequency spectrum band is not available. When using an unlicensed carrier, channel availability may be uncertain. Thus, various difficulties may arise due to uncertainty of channel availability when an unlicensed carrier is used.

SUMMARY

[0006] The following presents a simplified summary of one or more aspects in order to provide a basic understanding of such aspects. This summary is not an extensive overview of all aspects covered, and is intended to neither identify key or critical elements of all aspects nor delineate the scope of any or all aspects. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

[0007] Channel availability is uncertain when using an unlicensed carrier. In particular, programming concessions in advance can be difficult because of the uncertainty associated with the future availability of channels. Consequently, grants of uplink (UL) and/or downlink (DL) scheduling exclusively using self-scheduling or exclusively using cross-carrier scheduling to utilize an unlicensed carrier may result in wasted communication opportunities. Aspects described herein whereby an eNode B (eNB) may utilize licensed and unlicensed carriers to communicate downlink grants and uplink grants to an unlicensed bearer to a UE.

[0008] In one aspect of the present disclosure, a method of wireless communication by a user equipment (UE) includes receiving a DL grant for a secondary carrier and a UL grant for the secondary carrier. In one aspect, the DL grant is received on the secondary bearer and the UL grant is received on a primary bearer. The method further includes receiving DL data on the secondary carrier after receiving the DL grant on the secondary carrier. The method further includes transmitting UL data on the secondary carrier after receiving the UL grant on the primary carrier.

[0009] In one aspect, a UE includes means for receiving a downlink (DL) grant for a secondary carrier and an uplink (UL) grant for the secondary carrier, where the DL grant is received on the same secondary carrier and the UL grant is received on a primary carrier. The UE further includes means for receiving DL data on the secondary bearer after receiving the DL grant on the secondary bearer. The UE further includes means for transmitting UL data on the secondary carrier after receiving the UL grant on the primary carrier.

[00010] In one aspect, a UE includes a memory and at least one processor coupled to the memory. The at least one processor is configured to: receive a downlink (DL) grant for a secondary carrier and an uplink (UL) grant for the secondary carrier, where the DL grant is received on the same secondary carrier and the UL is received on a primary carrier, receive DL data on the secondary carrier after receiving the DL grant on the secondary carrier, and transmit UL data on the secondary carrier after receiving the UL grant on the primary carrier.

[00011] In one aspect, a computer-readable medium stores computer-executable code for wireless communication by a UE. The computer-readable medium includes code for: receiving a downlink (DL) grant for a secondary carrier and an uplink (UL) grant for the secondary carrier, where the DL grant is received on the same secondary carrier and the UL is received on a primary carrier, receive DL data on the secondary carrier after receiving the DL grant on the secondary carrier, and transmit UL data on the secondary carrier after receiving the UL grant on the primary carrier. In one aspect, the computer-readable medium may be a non-transitory computer-readable medium.

[00012] In another aspect of the present disclosure, a method of wireless communication by a base station includes sending a DL grant to a secondary carrier and a UL grant to the secondary carrier. In one aspect, the DL grant is transmitted on the secondary carrier and the UL grant is transmitted on a primary carrier. The method further includes sending DL data on the secondary bearer after sending the DL grant on the secondary bearer. The method further includes receiving UL data on the secondary carrier after sending the UL grant on the primary carrier.

[00013] In one aspect, a UE includes means for sending a DL grant to a secondary bearer and a UL grant to the secondary bearer, where the DL grant is transmitted on the secondary bearer and the UL grant is transmitted on a primary carrier. The UE also includes means for sending DL data on the secondary bearer after sending the DL grant on the secondary bearer. The UE further includes means for receiving UL data on the secondary carrier after sending the UL grant on the primary carrier.

[00014] In one aspect, a UE includes a memory and at least one processor coupled to the memory. The at least one processor is configured to: send a DL grant to a secondary carrier and a UL grant to the secondary carrier, where the DL grant is transmitted on the secondary carrier and the UL grant is transmitted on a primary carrier, send DL data on the secondary carrier after sending the DL grant on the secondary carrier, and receive UL data on the secondary carrier after sending the UL grant on the primary carrier.

[00015] In one aspect, a computer-readable medium stores computer-executable code for wireless communication by a UE. The computer-readable medium includes code for: sending a DL grant to a secondary carrier and a UL grant to the secondary carrier, where the DL grant is transmitted on the secondary carrier and the UL grant is transmitted on a primary carrier, send DL data on the secondary carrier after sending the DL grant on the secondary carrier, and receive UL data on the secondary carrier after sending the UL grant on the primary carrier. In one aspect, the computer-readable medium may be a non-transitory computer-readable medium.

[00016] For carrying out the foregoing and related purposes, the one or more aspects comprise the characteristics hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims. The following description and the attached drawings present in detail certain illustrative aspects of one or more aspects. These features are indicative, however, of only some of the various ways in which principles of various aspects may be employed, and this description is intended to include all such aspects and their equivalents.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[00017] Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a wireless communication system and an access network

[00018] Figures 2A, 2B, 2C and 2D are diagrams illustrating LTE examples of a DL frame structure, DL channels within the DL frame structure, a UL frame structure, and UL channels within the frame of UL framework respectively.

[00019] Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of an evolved Node B (eNB) and user equipment (UE) in an access network.

[00020] Figure 4 is an illustration of an example of a wireless communication over an unlicensed radio frequency spectrum band, in accordance with various aspects of the present description.

[00021] Figure 5A illustrates an example diagram of a self-programming mode.

[00022] Figure 5B illustrates an example diagram of a cross-carrier programming mode.

[00023] Figure 6A and Figure 6B are example diagrams illustrating uses of a primary service cell served by a PCC and a secondary service cell served by an SCC for uplink communication.

[00024] Figure 7 is an example diagram illustrating self-scheduling and cross-carrier programming in accordance with one aspect of the disclosure.

[00025] Figure 8 is a flowchart of a wireless communication method.

[00026] Figure 9A is a flowchart of a wireless communication expansion method from the flowchart of Figure 1, in accordance with an aspect of the disclosure.

[00027] Figure 9B is a flowchart of a wireless communication expansion method from the flowchart of Figure 1, in accordance with an aspect of the disclosure.

[00028] Figure 10A is a flowchart of a wireless communication expansion method from the flowchart of Figure 1, in accordance with an aspect of the disclosure.

[00029] Figure 10B is a flowchart of a wireless communication expansion method from the flowchart of Figure 1, in accordance with an aspect of the disclosure.

[00030] Figure 11 is a conceptual data flowchart illustrating the flow of data between different media/components in an exemplary apparatus

[00031] Figure 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for an apparatus employing a processing system

[00032] Figure 13 is a flowchart of a wireless communication method

[00033] Figure 14A is a flowchart of a wireless communication expansion method from the flowchart of Figure 16, in accordance with an aspect of the disclosure.

[00034] Figure 14B is a flowchart of a wireless communication expansion method from the flowchart of Figure 16, in accordance with an aspect of the disclosure.

[00035] Figure 15A is a flowchart of a wireless communication expansion method from the flowchart of Figure 16, in accordance with an aspect of the disclosure.

[00036] Figure 15B is a flowchart of a method of wireless communication expanding from the flowchart of Figure 16, in accordance with an aspect of the disclosure.

[00037] Figure 16 is a conceptual data flowchart illustrating the flow of data between different media/components in an exemplary apparatus

[00038] Figure 17 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for an apparatus employing a processing system

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[00039] The detailed description presented below in connection with the accompanying drawings is intended as a description of various configurations and is not intended to represent the only configurations in which the concepts described herein can be practiced. The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing a complete understanding of various concepts. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that these concepts can be practiced without these specific details. In some cases, well-known structures and components are shown in block diagram form to avoid obscuring such concepts.

[00040] Various aspects of telecommunications systems will now be presented with reference to various apparatus and methods. These apparatus and methods will be described in the following detailed description and illustrated in the accompanying drawings by various blocks, components, circuits, processes, algorithms, etc. (collectively referred to as "elements"). These elements can be implemented using electronic hardware, computer software, or any combination thereof. Whether such elements are implemented as hardware or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the overall system.

[00041] By way of example, an element, or any portion of an element, or any combination of elements can be implemented as a "processing system" that includes one or more processors. Examples of processors include microprocessors, microcontrollers, graphics processing units (GPUs), central processing units (CPUs), application processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processors, systems in a chip (STC), baseband processors, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), state machines, gate logic, discrete hardware circuits, and other suitable hardware configured to perform the various functionalities described throughout this description. One or more processors in the processing system may execute software. Software shall be interpreted broadly to mean instructions, sets of instructions, code, code segments, program code, programs, subprograms, software components, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executables, execution threads, procedures, functions, etc. 0, whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise.

[00042] Consequently, in one or more exemplary embodiments, the described functions can be implemented in hardware, software, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, functions may be stored in or encoded as one or more instructions or code in a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes computer storage media. Storage media can be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media may comprise a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), optical disk storage, magnetic disk, other magnetic storage devices, combinations of the aforementioned types of computer-readable media, or any other medium that can be used to store computer-executable code in the form of instructions or data structures that can be accessed by a computer .

[00043] Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a wireless communication system and an access network 100. The wireless communication system (also referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) includes base stations 102, UEs 104, and an Evolved Package Core (EPC) 160. The base stations 102 may include macro cells (high-power cellular base station) and/or small cells (low-power cellular base station). Macro cells include eNBs. Small cells include femtocells, picocells, and microcells.

[00044] The base stations 102 (collectively referred to as the Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (e-UTRAN)) interface with the EPC 160 via backhaul links 132 (e.g., SI interface) In addition to other functions, the base stations 102 may perform one or more of the following functions: user data transfer, radio channel encoding and deciphering, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover , dual link), inter-cell interference coordination, connection setup and release, load balancing, distribution to non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, radio access network (RAN) sharing , multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and equipment trace, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning and warning message delivery. The base stations 102 may communicate directly or indirectly (e.g., via the EPC 160) with each other via the backhaul links 134 (e.g., the X2 interface). The backhaul links 134 may be wired or wireless.

[00045] The base stations 102 may communicate wirelessly with the UEs 104. Each of the base stations 102 may provide communications coverage for a respective geographic coverage area 110. There may be overlapping geographic coverage areas 110. For example, the small cell 102' may have a coverage area 110' that overlaps the coverage area 110 of one or more macro base stations 102. A network that includes both small cells and macro cells may be known as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include Home Evolved Nodes (eBs) (HeNBs), which can provide service to a restricted group known as a closed subscriber group (CSG). Communication links 120 between base stations 102 and UEs 104 may include uplink (UL) (also referred to as reverse link transmissions) from a UE 104 to a base station 102 and/or downlink (DL) (also referred to as as direct link transmission) from a base station 102 to a UE 104. The communication links 120 may use MIMO antenna technology, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and/or transmission diversity. Communication links can be through one or more carriers. The base stations 102/UEs 104 may utilize spectrum up to Y MHz (e.g., 5,10, 15, 20 MHz) bandwidth per carrier allocated in a carrier aggregation of up to a total of Yx MHz (x carrier components) used for transmission in each direction. The carriers may or may not be adjacent to each other. Carrier allocation may be asymmetric with respect to DL and UL (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated to DL than to UL). The component carriers may include a primary component carrier and one or more secondary component carriers. A primary component carrier may be referred to as a primary cell (Pcell) and a secondary component carrier may be referred to as a secondary cell (SCell).

[00046] The wireless communication system may further include a Wi-Fi access point (AP) 15. Communicating with Wi-Fi stations (STAs) 152 via communication links 154 in an unlicensed frequency spectrum of 5 GHz. When communicating in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, the STAs 152/AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) before communicating for the purpose of determining whether the channel is available.

[00047] The small cell 102' may operate in a licensed and/or unlicensed frequency spectrum. When operating in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, the small cell 102' may employ LTE and use the same unlicensed 5 GHz frequency spectrum as used by the Wi-Fi AP 150. The Small Cell 102', employ LTE in a spectrum unlicensed frequency band, may increase coverage for and/or increase the capacity of the access network. LTE in an unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as LTE-unlicensed (LTE-U), licensed assisted access (LAA), or multimer.

[00048] The EPC 160 may include a Mobility Management Entity (MME) 162, other MMEs 164, a Service Portal 166, a Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service Portal (MBMS) 168, a Multicast Service Center (BM-SC) 170, and a Packet Data Network (PDN) Connection Point 172. The MME 162 may be in communication with a Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 174. The MME 162 is the control that processes signaling between the UEs 104 and the EPC 160. Generally, the MME 162 provides bearer and connection management. All user Internet Protocol (IP) packets are transferred through Service Port 166, which itself is connected to PDN port 172. PDN Port 172 provides UE IP address allocation as well as other functions. The PDN portal 172 and the BM-SC 170 are connected to IP services 176. IP Services 176 may include the Internet, an intranet, an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), a PS Streaming Service (PSS), and/or others IP services. The BM-SC 170 can provide functions for provisioning and delivering MBMS user services. The BM-SC 170 can serve as an entry point for the content provider's MBMS transmission, can be used to authorize and initiate MBMS Bearer Services within a public land mobile network (PLMN), and can be used to schedule MBMS transmissions . The MBMS Gateway 168 may be used to distribute MBMS traffic to base stations 102 belonging to a Multi-Broadcast Single Frequency Network (MBSFN) area that broadcasts a particular service, and may be responsible for session management (start/ stop) and to collect load information related to the MBMS.

[00049] The base station may also be referred to as a Node B, an evolved Node B (eNB), an access point, a base transceiver station, a radio base station, radio transceiver, a transceiver function, a set of services basic services (BSS), an extended service set (ESS), or some other suitable terminology. The base station 102 provides an access point for the EPC 160 to a UE 104. Examples of UEs 104 include a cell phone, a smart phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a laptop, a personal digital assistant ( PDA), a satellite radio, a global positioning system, a multimedia device, a video device, a digital audio player (e.g., an MP3 player), a camera, a game console, a tablet, a smart device, a useful device, or any other similarly functioning device. The UE 104 may also be referred to as a station, a mobile station, a subscriber station, a mobile unit, a subscriber unit, a wireless unit, a remote unit, a mobile device, a wireless device, a wireless communication, a remote device, a mobile subscriber station, an access terminal, a mobile terminal, a wireless terminal, a remote terminal, a telephone handset, a user agent, a mobile client, a client, or some other suitable terminology.

[00050] Referring again to Figure 1, in certain aspects, the UE 104 may receive, on an unlicensed carrier, downlink concessions from the eNB 102 for downlink communication on the unlicensed carrier, and may receive, on a carrier licensed, uplink grants from the eNB 102 for uplink communication on the unlicensed bearer (198).

[00051] Figure 2A is a diagram 200 illustrating an example of a DL frame structure in LTE. Figure 2B is a diagram 230 illustrating an example of channels within the DL frame structure in LTE. Figure 2C is a diagram 250 illustrating an example of a UL frame structure in LTE. Figure 2D is a diagram 280 illustrating an example of channels within the UL frame structure in LTE. Other wireless communication technologies may have a different frame structure and/or different channels. In LTE, a frame (10 ms) can be divided into 10 equally sized subframes. Each subframe can include two consecutive time slots. A resource grid can be used to represent the two time windows, each time partition including one or more blocks of concurrent time resources (RBs) (also referred to as physical RBs (PRBs)). The resource grid is divided into multiple Resource elements (REs). In LTE, for a normal cyclic prefix, an RB contains 12 consecutive sub-carriers in the frequency domain and 7 consecutive symbols (for DL, OFDM symbols; for UL symbols, SC-FDMA) in the time domain, for a total of 84 REs for an extended cyclic prefix, an RB contains 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and 6 consecutive symbols in the time domain, for a total of 72 Res. The number of bits carried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme.

[00052] As illustrated in Figure 2A, some of the REs carry DL (pilot) reference signals (DL-RS) for channel estimation in the UE. DL-RS may include cell-specific reference signals (CRS) (also sometimes called common RS), UE-specific reference signals (UE-RS), and channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS). ) Figure 2A illustrates the CRS for antenna ports 0, 1, 2, and 3 (denoted as R0, R1, R2, and R3, respectively), UE-RS for antenna port 5 (denoted as R5), and CSI-RS to antenna port 15 (indicated as R) FIG. 2B illustrates an example of multiple channels within a DL subframe of a structure. The physical control format indicator channel (PCFICH) is within symbol 0 of slot 0, and carries a control format indicator (CFI) that indicates whether the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) occupies 1, 2, or 3 symbols (Figure 2B illustrates a PDCCH that occupies 3 symbols). The PDCCH carries downlink control information (DCI) within one or more control channel elements (CCEs), each CCE including nine RE Groups (REGs), each REG including four Consecutive groups in an OFDM Symbol. A UE can be configured with a UE-specific enhanced PDCCH (ePDCCH) that also ports DCI. The ePDCCH can have 2, 4, or 8 RB pairs (Figure 2B shows two RB pairs, each subset including one RB pair). The physical hybrid (ARQ) automatic repeat request indicator channel (HARQ) (PHICH) is also within symbol 0 of partition 0 and carries the HARQ indicator (Hl) which indicates HARQ confirmation feedback (ACK)/negative ACK (NACK ) based on physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). The primary synchronization channel (PSCH) is within symbol 6 of slot 0 within subframes 0 and 5 of a frame, and carries a primary synchronization signal (PSS) that is used by a UE to determine subframe timing and a physical layer identity. The secondary synchronization channel (SSCH) is within symbol 5 of slot 0 within subframes 0 and 5 of a frame, and carries a secondary synchronization signal (SSS) that is used by a UE to determine an identity group number of physical layer cell. Based on the physical layer identity and the physical layer cell identity group number, the UE can determine a physical cell identifier (PCI). Based on the PCI, the UE can determine the locations of the aforementioned DL-RS. The physical broadcast channel (PBCH) is within symbols 0,1,2, 3 of slot 1 of subframe 0 of a structure, and carries a master information block (MIB). The MIB provides a number of RBs in bandwidth system DL, a PHICH Configuration, and a System Frame Number (SFN). The physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) carries user data, broadcast system information not transmitted over the PBCH, such as system information blocks (SIBs) and paging messages.

[00053] As illustrated in Figure 2C, some of the REs carry demodulation reference signals (DM-RS) for channel estimation in the eNB. The UE may additionally transmit sound reference signals (SRS) in the last symbol of a subframe. The SRS may have a comb structure, and a UE may transmit SRS in one of the combs. The SRS can be used by an eNB for channel quality estimation to enable frequency-dependent scheduling in the UL. Figure 2D illustrates an example of multiple channels within a UL subframe of a structure. A physical random access channel (PRACH) can be within one or more subframes within a frame based on the PRACH configuration. The PRACH can include six consecutive RB pairs within a subframe. PRACH allows the UE to perform initial system access and obtain UL Synchronization. A physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) can be located at the bandwidth edges of the UL system. The PUCCH carries uplink control information (UCI), such as scheduling requests, a channel quality indicator (CQI), a precoding matrix indicator (PMI), a classification indicator (RI), and ACK/NACK HARQ feedback. The PUC transports the data, and can additionally be used to transport a temporary storage status report (BSR), a power headroom report (PHR), and/or UCI.

[00054] Figure 3 is a block diagram of an eNB 310 communicating with a UE 350 in an access network. In the DL, IP packets from the EPC 160 may be provided to a controller/processor 375. The controller/processor 375 implements Layer 3 and Layer 2 functionality. Layer 3 includes a radio resource control (RRC) layer, and the 2 includes a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, and a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer. Controller/processor 375 provides RRC layer functionality associated with disseminating system information (e.g., MIB, SIBs), RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, modifying of RRC connection, and RRC connection release), radio access technology (RAT) mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression/decompression, security (encryption, decryption, Integrity Protection, Integrity Check), and handover support functions; RLC layer functionality associated with the transfer of upper layer packet data units (PDUs), error correction through ARQ, concatenation, segmentation and reassembly of RLC service data units (SDUs), re-segmentation of RLC Data PDUs, and reordering of RLC Data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing MAC SDUs over transport blocks (TBs), demultiplexing MAC SDUs from TBs, programming programming information, error correction through HARQ, handling priority, and logical channel prioritization.

[00055] The transmit (TX) processor 316 and the receive receiver (RX) processor 370 implement layer 1 functionality associated with various signal processing functions. Layer 1, which includes a physical layer (PHY), may include error detection on transport channels, forward error correction (FEC) encoding/decoding of transport channels, interleaving, rate matching, mapping onto physical channels, physical channel modulation/demodulation and MIMO antenna processing. The TX 316 processor handles mapping to signal constellations based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), M phase shift keying ( M-PSK), M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM)). The encoded and modulated symbols can then be split into parallel streams. Each stream can then be mapped to an OFDM subcarrier, multiplexed with a reference signal (e.g. Pilot) in the time and/or frequency domain, and then combined together using an Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) to produce a channel physique that carries a stream of time-domain OFDM symbols. The OFDM stream is spatially pre-coded to produce multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from a channel estimator 374 can be used to determine the coding and modulation scheme, as well as for spatial processing. The channel estimate may be derived from a reference signal and/or channel condition feedback transmitted by the UE 350. Each spatial stream may then be provided to a different antenna 320 via a separate transmitter 318 TX. Each 318 TX transmitter can modulate an RF carrier with a respective spatial flow for transmission.

[00056] In the UE 350, each RX receiver 354 receives a signal through the respective antenna of the receiver 352. Each RX receiver 354 retrieves information modulated on an RF carrier and provides the information to the receiver (RX) processor 356. TX 368 Processor and RX 356 Processor implement layer 1 functionality associated with various signal processing functions. The RX processor 356 may perform spatial processing on the information to recover any spatial streams destined for the UE 350. If multiple spatial streams are destined for the UE 350, the multiple spatial streams may be combined by the RX processor 356 into a single symbol stream. OFDM. The RX 356 processor then converts the stream of OFDM symbols from the time domain to the frequency domain using a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). The frequency domain signal comprises a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbols on each subcarrier, and the reference signal, are recovered and demodulated by determining the most likely signal constellation points transmitted by the eNB 310. These soft decisions can be based on the channel estimates computed by the channel estimator 358. soft decisions are then decoded and deinterleaved to recover the data and control signals that were originally transmitted by the eNB 310 on the physical channel. The data and control signals are then provided to the controller/processor 359, which implements layer 3 and layer 2 functionality.

[00057] Controller/processor 359 may be associated with a memory 360 that stores program codes and data. Memory 360 may be referred to as a computer-readable medium. In UL, the controller/processor 359 provides demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the EPC 160. The controller/processor 359 also is responsible for error detection using an ACK and/or NACK protocol to support HARQ operations.

[00058] Similar to the functionality described in connection with DL transmission by eNB 310, controller/processor 359 provides RRC layer functionality associated with system information (e.g., MIB, SIBs) acquisition, RRC connections, and reporting. measurement; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression/decompression, and security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity checking); RLC layer functionality associated with the transfer of upper layer PDUs, error correction through ARQ, concatenation, segmentation and reassembly of RLC SDUs, re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and the reordering of RLC data PDUs. RLC; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing MAC SDUs into TBs, demultiplexing MAC SDUs from TBs, reporting scheduling information, error correction via HARQ, priority handling, and prioritization logical channel.

[00059] Channel estimates derived by a channel estimator 358 from a reference or feedback signal transmitted by the eNB 310 may be used by the TX processor 368 to select appropriate coding and modulation schemes, and to facilitate spatial processing. . The spatial streams generated by the TX processor 368 can be provided to different antenna 352 through separate TX transmitters 354. Each 354 TX transmitter can modulate an RF carrier with a respective spatial flow for transmission.

[00060] The UL transmission is processed in the eNB 310 in a manner similar to that described in connection with the receiver function in the UE 350. Each receiver 318 RX receives a signal through the respective receiver antenna 320. Each receiver 318 RX retrieves information modulated on an RF carrier and provides the information to an RX 370 Processor.

[00061] The controller/processor 375 may be associated with a memory 376 that stores program codes and data. Memory 376 may be referred to as a computer-readable medium. In UL, the controller/processor 375 provides demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, control signal processing to retrieve IP packets from the UE 350. IP packets from the controller /processor 375 may be provided for the EPC 160. The controller/processor 375 is also responsible for error detection using an ACK and/or NACK protocol to support HARQ operations.

[00062] Figure 4 is an illustration of an example 400 of a wireless communication 410 over an unlicensed radio frequency spectrum band, in accordance with various aspects of the present description. In some examples, a listen-before-talk (LBT) radio frame 415 may have a duration of ten milliseconds and include a number of downlink (D) subframes 420, a number of uplink (U) subframes 425, and two types of special subframes, an S' subframe 430 and an S' subframe 435. The S' subframe 430 can provide a transition between downlink subframes 420 and uplink subframes 425, while the S' subframe 435 can provide a transition between uplink subframes 425 and downlink subframes 420 and, in some examples, a transition between LBT radio frames.

[00063] During subframe S' 435, a downlink free channel assessment (CCA) procedure 445 may be performed by one or more base stations, such as one or more of the base stations 102 described with reference to Figure 1, to reserve, for a period of time, a channel of the contention-based shared radio frequency spectrum band over which wireless communication 410 occurs. Following a successful downlink CCA procedure 445 by a base station, the base station may transmit a preamble, such as a channel usage beacon signal (CUBS) (e.g., a CUBS downlink (D-CUBS 450)) to provide an indication to other base stations or apparatus (e.g., UEs, points WiFi access, etc.) that the base station has reserved the channel. In some examples, a D-CUBS 450 may be transmitted using a plurality of interleaved resource blocks. Transmitting a D-CUBS 450 in this manner may allow the D-CUBS 450 to occupy at least a certain percentage of the available frequency bandwidth of the contention-based shared radio frequency spectrum band and satisfy one or more regulatory requirements (e.g., a requirement that transmissions over an unlicensed radio frequency spectrum band occupy at least 80% of the available frequency bandwidth) The D-CUBS 450 may, in some examples, take a form similar to that of a reference signal LTE/LTE-A cell specific (CRS) or a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) When the CCA procedure on the downlink 445 fails, the D-CUBS 450 may not be transmitted.

[00064] Subframe S' 435 may include a plurality of OFDM symbol periods (e.g., OFDM symbol periods 14). A first portion of subframe S' 435 may be used by a number of UEs as a shortened uplink (U) period 440. A second portion of subframe S' 435 may be used for the CCA procedure on downlink 445. A The third portion of subframe S' 435 may be used by one or more base stations that successfully account for channel access from the contention-based shared radio frequency spectrum band to transmit the D-CUBS 450.

[00065] During subframe S 430, an uplink CCA procedure 465 may be performed by one or more UEs, such as one or more of the UEs 104 described above with reference to Figure 1, to reserve, for a period of time , the channel over which wireless communication 410 occurs. Following a successful uplink CCA procedure 465 by a UE, the UE may transmit a preamble such as an uplink CBS (U-CUBS470) to provide a indication to other UEs or devices (e.g. base stations, WiFi access points, etc. 0 ) that the UE has reserved the channel. In some examples, a U-CUBS 470 may be transmitted using a plurality of interleaved resource blocks. Transmitting a U-CUBS 470 in this manner may allow the U-CUBS 470 to occupy at least a certain percentage of the available frequency bandwidth of the contention-based radio frequency spectrum band and satisfy one or more regulatory requirements (e.g., the requirement that transmissions through the containment- the radio frequency spectrum band based on at least 80% of the available frequency bandwidth) The U-CUBS 470 may, in some examples, take a form similar to that of an LTE CRS /LTE-A or CSI-RS. When the uplink CCA procedure 465 fails, the U-CUBS 470 may not be transmitted.

[00066] Subframe S 430 may include a plurality of OFDM symbol periods (e.g., 14 OFDM symbol periods). A first portion of the S subframe 430 may be used by a number of base stations as a shortened downlink (D) period 455. A second portion of the S subframe 430 may be used as a protection period (GP) 460. A third portion of the S subframe 430 may be used for the uplink CCA procedure 465. A fourth portion of the S subframe 430 may be used by one or more UEs that have successfully contained access to the contention-based radio frequency spectrum band channel. as an uplink pilot time partition (UpPTS) or to transmit U-CUBS 470.

[00067] In some examples, the downlink CCA procedure 445 or the uplink CCA procedure 465 may include the performance of a single CCA procedure. In other examples, the downlink CCA procedure 445 or the uplink CCA procedure 465 may include performance of an extended CCA procedure. The extended CCA procedure may include a random number of CCA procedures, and in some examples may include a plurality of CCA procedures.

[00068] As indicated above, Figure 4 is provided as an example. Other examples are possible and may differ from what has been described in connection with Figure 4.

[00069] In LTE networks with one licensed carrier and one or more unlicensed carriers, DL grants and UL grants can generally be scheduled using a self-scheduling mode and/or a cross-carrier scheduling mode. In self-scheduling mode, the UE uses the same carrier to receive a data communication grant and to schedule a data communication resource based on the grant. In particular, the UE is configured to receive a DL grant and to receive DL data based on the DL grant on the same bearer, and the UE is configured to receive a UL grant and to transmit UL data based on the DL grant on the same bearer, and the UE is configured to receive a UL grant and to transmit UL data based on the DL grant on the same bearer. UL on the same carrier. Thus, in the self-programming mode, the reception of a DL grant and a UL grant, and the communication of DL data and UL data is carried out on the same carrier. In cross-carrier scheduling mode, the UE can use one carrier to receive a grant and use another bearer to schedule a resource for data communication based on the grant. In particular, the UE may be configured to receive a DL grant and a UL grant on one carrier (e.g., a first carrier), and may be configured to receive DL data on a different carrier (e.g., a second carrier). carrier) and transmit UL data on a different carrier (for example, the second carrier or a third carrier). Thus, in the cross-carrier programming mode, the reception of a DL grant and DL data communication are carried out on different carriers, and the reception of a UL grant and UL data communication are carried out on different carriers.

[00070] Figure 5A illustrates an example diagram 500 of a self-programming mode. Diagram 500 Primary Component Bearer (PCC), the UE receives a grant (e.g., a UL grant or a DL grant) in the PCC control region 512 and communicates data (e.g., UL Data based on the UL grant or DL data based on DL grant) in the PCC data region 514, as indicated by arrow 516. In the secondary component carrier (SCC) of diagram 500, the UE receives a grant (e.g., a UL grant or a DL grant) in the SCC control region 522 and communicates data (e.g., UL data based on the UL grant or DL data based on the DL grant) in the SCC data region 524 , as indicated by arrow 526.

[00071] Figure 5B illustrates an example diagram 550 of a cross-carrier programming mode. In the PCC of diagram 550, the UE receives a grant (e.g., a UL grant or a DL grant) in the PCC control region 562. After receiving the grant in the PCC control region 562, the UE may communicate data (e.g., UL data based on the UL grant or DL data based on the DL grant) in the SCC data region 574, thereby mode performing cross-carrier scheduling of data communication between the PCC and the SCC, as indicated by arrow 576. The SCC may include a control region 572 or may not include any control region. Optionally, the UE may be further configured to communicate data in the PCC data region 564 based on the grant received.

[00072] As discussed above, CCs can be aggregated together by carrier aggregation and can be configured with either an FDD configuration or a TDD configuration. For a cross-carrier scheduling mode in an SCC Using an FDD PCC, if a DL grant is received in subframe n of the PCC, DL data is received in subframe n of the SCC based on the DL grant. Additionally, for a cross-carrier scheduling mode in an SCC Using an FDD PCC, if a UL grant is received in subframe n -4 of the PCC, UL data is received in subframe n of the SCC based on the grant. from UL. For a cross-carrier programming mode in an SCC using PCC, a DL grant to receive DL data in subframe n of the SCC can be programmed into the PCC when a DL subframe is present in the PCC. For a cross-carrier scheduling mode in an SCC Using TDD PCC, the UL grant to transmit UL data in subframe n of the SCC may be received in subframe n-4, n-5, n-6, etc., depending on of the PCC TDD configuration.

[00073] Note that channel availability may not be determined when using an unlicensed carrier. In particular, advance programming grants can be difficult because of determining available channels. For at least these reasons, scheduling UL and/or DL grants in advance may not be feasible when using an unlicensed carrier or may result in wasted RBs and/or underutilization of RBs even when UL grants and/or DL are programmed in advance. Therefore, a new programming scheme to improve the utilization of an unlicensed carrier may be desired.

[00074] Figure 6A and Figure 6B are example diagrams illustrating uses of a primary service cell served by a PCC and a secondary service cell served by an SCC for uplink communication. The PCC may be a component carrier operating in licensed spectrum, and the SCC may be a carrier operating in unlicensed spectrum. However, in other implementations it may be licensed or unlicensed.

[00075] Figure 6A is an example diagram 600 illustrating a mismatch that may result from DL cross-carrier scheduling using the primary serving cell (the Pcell) to communicate DL grants to a secondary serving cell (the SCell). Pcélula is served by PCC, and SCell is served by SCC. Example diagram 600 illustrates a situation where the TDD configuration of the primary serving cell prevents the eNB from scheduling a DL grant to the SCC of the SCell. Specifically, in this example, since the timing of UL subframes (e.g., UL subframes 602, 604, and 606) in the PCell overrides the timing of DL Subframes (e.g., DL Subframes 612, 614, e616) in SCell, the eNB cannot provide DL grants in UL Subframes 602, 604, and 606 for DL communication in DL subframes 612, 614, and 616, respectively. Since the UE cannot receive a DL grant in UL subframes (602, 604, and 606) in PCell, the UE cannot perform data communication in DL Subframes 612, 614, and 616 and thus loses an opportunity of data communication.

[00076] Figure 6B is an example diagram 650 that illustrates both UL 666 cross-carrier programming and UL 652 self-programming.

[00077] When using auto-programming (e.g., UL652 auto-programming), channel availability can be determined by performing a two-level verification procedure. In a first level of the verification procedure, the eNB checks for an available channel for transmitting a grant, and transmits the grant using the available channel. In a second level of the verification procedure, after the UE receives the grant, the UE checks for an available channel for data communication based on the grant. When using UL 652 self-programming, if none of subframes 654,656,658, 660 and 662 are available for the UE to receive a UL grant from the eNB, then the UE will be unable to perform UL communication in UL subframe 664 due to lack of a UL grant. Furthermore, since the UE may need to receive the UL grant at least 4 subframes before UL communication, the lack of an available channel in subframes 654 and 656 may cause the UE to miss an opportunity for UL transmission in the UL 664 subframe.

[00078] An alternative to UL 652 self-scheduling is to use UL 666 cross-carrier scheduling. In UL 666 cross-carrier scheduling, the UE receives a UL grant from the Pcell, and transmits UL data to the SCell based on UL grant. When using cross-carrier scheduling 666, the UE receives a UL grant in a subframe 668 of the Pcell. As the Pcélula PCC is a licensed carrier, the eNB does not need to check for a channel that is available for transmission of the UL grant. Therefore, in cross-carrier programming, the first level of the check procedure for an available channel may not be necessary. After receiving the UL grant in Pcell subframe 668, the UE can transmit UL data in UL subframe 664 to the SCell.

[00079] According to the description, the UE and the eNB can use a combination of self-scheduling and cross-carrier scheduling. DL cross-carry scheduling may experience the following issue when both a licensed carrier and an unlicensed carrier are used. When the eNB (e.g., during cross-carrier scheduling) transmits a DL grant on a licensed carrier (e.g., the PCC), the eNB does not know whether a channel is available on an unlicensed carrier (e.g., the SCC) for DL No SCC communication. If no channel is available for DL communication in the SCC When the DL grant is received by the UE, the UE may not be able to receive the DL communication. Thus, the eNB maintains scheduling a DL grant and the UE repeatedly tries to receive the DL communication until successful DL communication is performed on an available channel, which may not be desirable for the UE. Therefore, for DL communication, self-scheduling may be more advantageous than cross-carrier scheduling. On the other hand, for UL communication, UL cross-carrier scheduling may not experience the same problem as DL cross-carry scheduling. In particular, the eNB sends a UL grant some time before receiving a UL communication (e.g., 4 ms before receiving the UL communication) and thus the eNB may have sufficient time to allocate an available channel for the UL communication. UL. For example, for UL cross-carrier scheduling, because the eNB has sufficient time to allocate an available channel for UL communication after sending the UL grant, the UE may not need to repeatedly attempt UL communication until UL communication is reached. UL successful on an available channel. The UE receives the UL grant on the licensed bearer and performs UL communication on an unlicensed bearer. Thus, for example, the eNB may not need to check channel availability when sending the UL grant on the licensed carrier.

[00080] Therefore, according to one aspect of the disclosure, a self-scheduling mode can be used for DL grants and a cross-carrier scheduling mode can be used for UL grants. In particular, according to the aspect, for DL communication using the self-scheduling mode, the UE can receive a DL grant and subsequently receive DL data on the same carrier. For UL communication using the cross-carrier scheduling mode, the UE can receive a UL grant on one carrier and can transmit UL data to the eNB on another carrier. For example, the UE can be configured to receive, on a secondary bearer, a DL grant for the secondary bearer, and receive DL data on the secondary bearer based on the DL grant, according to the auto-programming mode. Furthermore, according to the cross-carrier programming mode, the UE can be configured to receive, on a primary carrier, a UL grant for the secondary carrier and transmit UL data on the secondary carrier based on the UL grant. For example, the primary carrier may be a licensed carrier (e.g., a PCC) and the secondary carrier may be an unlicensed carrier (e.g., an SCC).

[00081] Figure 7 is an example diagram 700 illustrating self-scheduling and cross-carrier programming in accordance with one aspect of the disclosure. A PCC in Figure 7 has a control region 712 and a data region 714, and an SCC in Figure 7 has a control region 722 and a data region 724. A UE (e.g., UE752) may utilize the cross-carrier programming for UL communication. In particular, the UE 752 may receive at 762, from the eNB 754, a UL grant in the PCC control region 712, where the UL grant is for UL communication in the SCC. After receiving the UL grant at the PCC, the UE 752 may transmit at 764 to the eNB 754, based on the UL grant, UL Data in the SCC data region 724, as indicated by arrow 7266. The UE 752 may use the self-programming mode for DL Communication. In particular, the UE 752 may receive at 772, from the eNB 754, a DL grant in the SCC control region 722, where the DL grant is for DL communication in the SCC. After receiving the DL grant in the SCC, the UE 752 may receive at 774 from the eNB 754 the DL data in the SCC data region 724 based on the DL grant, as indicated by the arrow 728.

[00082] Aspects of disclosure can provide several advantages as follows. First, when the eNB self-schedules a DL communication on a secondary carrier that is an unlicensed carrier, the UE will be able to receive the DL grant on the secondary bearer as long as the eNB has access to a channel to communicate the grant. from DL to UE. If the eNB does not have access to a channel, the eNB may not schedule the DL grant. Because the eNB may determine to schedule the DL grant based on whether the eNB already has access to a channel, the eNB does not attempt to use the secondary carrier for the DL grant unless the eNB determines whether the eNB has access to a channel for DL communication, which reduces cases of invalid leases being used in the UE. Furthermore, using the secondary carrier to receive the DL grant can save resources on the same primary bearer that is a licensed bearer and can reduce the granting overhead on the primary bearer. Second, because the eNB transmits the UL grant on the primary carrier which is a licensed carrier, the eNB may not need to check for channel availability. In other words, unlike transmitting the concession on an unlicensed carrier, the eNB, when scheduling a UL concession for transmission on a licensed carrier, does not need to check channel availability. Therefore, the transmission of UL data does not depend on the availability of a channel to receive the UL grant.

[00083] In one aspect of disclosure, the complexity of the UE can be reduced using a disclosure approach. UE complexity may increase as the number of UE searches for downlink control information (DCI) format sizes (DCI message format sizes) increases. Thus, depending on the aspect, the complexity of the UE can be reduced by reducing the number of UE searches. If both a DL grant and a UL grant are communicated on the same bearer, the UE may search for a format size of a DCI message to obtain the UL grant AND/or the DL grant on the same bearer. If a DL grant is communicated on a first bearer and a UL grant is communicated on a second bearer other than the first bearer, the UE may seek a format size from a DCI message for the DL grant on the first bearer and additionally fetch a format size of a DCI message for the UL grant on the second carrier. For example, when programming in the PCC, a DL grant and a UL grant may correspond to the same format size of a DCI message, and thus the UE can find the DL grant and the UL grant by searching for the same DCI message format size. If the DL grant is communicated in the SCC and the UL grant is communicated in the PCC, then the UE searches for a format size of a DCI message for the DL grant in the SCC and additionally searches for a format size of a message of DCI for granting UL In PCC, which can increase the complexity of the UE. In such a case, the UE may search the SCC for a format size of a DCI message that is specific to a transmission mode (TM) and also fetch a format size of an emergency mode of a DCI message (e.g. format1 grant of Format 0/1A) when searching for a DL grant. It is noted that the IA format of the DCI message can be used as an emergency mode for DL programming. For example, if a UE is configured to operate in TM 4, the UE may search for two format sizes in the SCC (for example, when searching for a DL grant). One format size to be searched for may be a DCI format size corresponding to TM 4, which is DCI format 2. The other format size to be searched for may be a DCI format size corresponding to DCI format 1A. The UE may also look over the PCC for a format size of a DCI format (e.g., format 0 grant of format 0/1A) when searching for a UL grant. Note that DCI message format 0 can be used for UL programming. In one aspect, to reduce the complexity of the UE, the following two approaches can be used.

[00084] According to a first aspect approach, in order to monitor UL granting and/or DL granting, the UE may be configured to fetch the SCC for a DCI format size that is specific to a TM , without fetching an emergency mode format size from a DCI message. For example, according to the first aspect approach, if a UE is configured to operate with TM 4, the UE may seek a DCI format size corresponding to TM 4, which is DCI format 2, and may not seek by a size corresponding to the DCI IA format Associated with an emergency mode. In the first aspect approach, the UE can assume that there is no fallback mode in the SCC, and perform a TM-specific size search. Because the first approach reduces the number of searches performed by the UE, by limiting the search to the DCI format size Specific to a TM Without searching the emergency mode format size of a DCI message, the first approach can reduce the UE complexity.

[00085] According to a second aspect approach, the eNB may provide the UE with blind decoding information in a number of blind decoders (e.g., a maximum number of blind decoders) to perform per subframe, to detect a grant of UL and/or a DL grant. The eNB can provide the UE with such blind decoding information semi-statically. In particular, according to the blind decoding information, the UE may decode all candidates for a UL grant and/or a DL grant in some subframes, and may decode a subset of candidates for a UL grant and/or a DL grant in other subframes, based on the number of blind decoders specified in the blind decoding information. For example, the UE may decode both a DL grant and a UL grant in some subframes if the blind decoding information provides a maximum number of blind decoders, and it may decode a DL grant or a UL grant in the subframes if the Blind decoding information provide fewer number of blind decoders. In the second approach, the complexity of the UE can be reduced because not all candidates are decoded for each subframe, unlike a configuration where all candidates are decoded for each subframe.

[00086] In another aspect of the disclosure, a cross-carrier indicator may be communicated to a UE on a carrier to indicate that a grant will be sent on another carrier. For example, in self-scheduling for DL communication, the eNB may send a cross-carrier indicator to the UE at the PCC to indicate that a DL grant will be sent at the SCC. Note that transmitting a DL grant on the PCC for DL data communication on the SCC may incur more overhead on the PCC. In this aspect of the disclosure, because an eNB does not send the DL grant at the PCC, the amount of overhead at the PCC and/or a number of blind decodes performed by the UE can be reduced. Since the presence or absence of a DL grant in the SCC is indicated in the cross-carrier indicator received at the PCC, the UE can monitor the DL grant in the SCC based on the cross-carrier indicator. Using the cross-carrier indicator instead of transmitting a DL grant in the PCC can reduce UE complexity (for example, by reducing the number of decoders blinded by the UE). Furthermore, the use of the cross-carrier indicator can reduce the adverse impact of signal interference causing the same UE to fail to use a DL grant for DL communication. For example, if the UE attempts to receive a DL grant in an SCC for DL data communication. In the SCC, the UE may not be able to decode the DL grant due to high signal interference. The UE may not report a message indicating acknowledgment/negative acknowledgment (ACK/NACK) of a DL grant when the UE fails to decode the DL grant and thus does not receive the DL grant. This, in turn, may cause the UE and eNB to be out of synchronization. Because a licensed spectrum is more reliable than an unlicensed spectrum, the UE can successfully receive the cross-carrier indicator in the licensed spectrum, e.g., the PCC, to indicate the presence of the DL grant in the SCC. The UE can report to the eNB an ACK/NACK message for the DL grant in the SCC, based on the cross-carrier indicator received at the PCC, even if the UE does not receive the DL grant in the SCC due to high signal interference. This can reduce the chances of the UE and eNB falling out of synchronization.

[00087] Various approaches can be used to indicate cross-carrier indication to the UE. According to one approach, the eNB may include the cross-carrier indicator in a new DCI message with a new format and transmit the new DCI message with the new format in the PCC in a common search space. The cross-carrier indicator can be protected with a new RNTI that is known to a group of UEs. The size of the new DCI message with the new DCI format can be the same as the size of an Existing DCI message. The eNB may indicate to each UE through an RRC configuration that certain bits in the new DCI message in the PCC may be monitored for the cross-carrier indicator to determine whether a DL grant is communicated.

[00088] According to another approach, instead of a group indication of a concession, the eNB may indicate separately for each UE whether a concession exists or not. In particular, the eNB may provide a separate indication to each UE by sending a DCI message by including a cross-carrier indicator in each UE's corresponding UE-specific search space, rather than sending the DCI message in the common search space. .

[00089] In another aspect of the disclosure, the eNB can configure the programming mode as a function of a TDD subframe configuration. Table 1 illustrates example TDD DL/UL subframe configurations that can be used for PCell and/or SCell. Table 1: LTE TDD DL/UL Subframe Configurations

[00090] In particular, scheduling for UL communication may depend on whether the TDD subframe configuration used by the SCell is a DL-heavy configuration or a UL-heavy configuration. A subframe configuration with more DL subframes than other types of subframes can be considered a DL-heavy TDD configuration. A subframe configuration with more UL subframes than other types of subframes can be considered a UL-heavy TDD configuration. For example, subframe configuration #5 can be considered a DL-heavy TDD configuration because there are eight DL subframes out of ten subframes. For example, subframe configuration #0 can be considered a UL-heavy TDD configuration because there are six UL subframes out of ten subframes. S for UL communication, If the SCell uses a DL-heavy configuration, the SCell can schedule UL data communication on an unlicensed carrier using a UL grant on the unlicensed carrier (for example, 0, (c self- Programming for UL). Note that for DL communication, auto-programming is used regardless of whether the SCell uses a DL-heavy configuration or a UL-heavy configuration. DL-heavy TDD by SCell results in self-scheduling for UL and DL communications. Conversely, for UL communication, if the SCell uses a UL-heavy TDD Configuration, the Pcell may utilize cross-carrier scheduling for UL Communication. For DL communication, as discussed above, self-scheduling is used regardless of whether SCell uses a DL-heavy configuration or a UL-heavy configuration. Thus, the use of the UL-heavy TDD configuration by SCell results in cross-thread scheduling. for UL communication and self-programming for DL communication.

[00091] In one aspect, the eNB can configure the programming mode for each of the carriers independently, where the carriers can include a licensed carrier (e.g., The PCC) and one or more unlicensed carriers (e.g., one or more SCCs). The eNB can configure the scheduling mode independently for each of the carriers based on the signal interference and channel occupancy observed on each carrier. For example, the eNB may first perform a CCA procedure to clear a channel to transmit information (e.g., a grant) to the UE. A channel can be cleared if an observed energy in the channel is less than an energy threshold. For example, if the channel is occupied by another device or experiences strong interference, the channel may observe high energy above the power threshold and thus the eNB may not be able to clear the channel. Signal interference and channel occupancy on a channel can be reflected by whether a channel can be cleared for communication. It is noted that some eBs (e.g., eBs with multi-antenna receivers) may be able to receive UL data from the UE even if no channels are cleared. In such a case, the eNB may still send the UL grant on a licensed carrier (e.g., PCC) and receive UL data on an unlicensed bearer (e.g., SCC) and thus may not be affected by interference or occupancy of channels.

[00092] In another aspect of the disclosure, a UL grant transmitted in the PCC may be mapped to a group of unlicensed carriers for transmission of UL data based on the UL grant. When the UE receives a UL grant, the UE may be configured to determine whether the UL grant is mapped to an unlicensed carrier group. The UE may transmit the UL data on any available (e.g., clear) channel among the group of unlicensed carriers mapped to the UL grant. The UE may select a carrier to transmit the UL data from the group of unlicensed carriers based on channel availability and/or carrier priority. Channel availability may depend on whether a channel is cleared or not (e.g., CCA procedure), as discussed above. For example, if three channels corresponding to three unlicensed carriers are deleted, the UE may select a channel associated with an unlicensed carrier of the highest priority, and transmit the UL data on the unlicensed carrier corresponding to the selected channel. The eNB can be blinded to detect the unlicensed carrier that the UE uses to transmit the UL data.

[00093] In another aspect of the disclosure, a scalable enhanced PCCH (EPDCCH) can be used. An EPDCCH can be used for the allocation of control channel information resources. In particular, the eNB can assign resource blocks (Rsbs) to the EPDCCH. When the UE receives the EPDCCH from the eNB, the UE may determine, based on the EPDCCH, a certain set of RBs to monitor for subframes carrying UL Grants. The number of RBs to monitor can be semi-statically fixed by the eNB. The number of grants that a subframe carries can vary depending on the subframe. Some DL subframes may carry more leases than other subframes if those leases are used to schedule UL subframes for multiple carriers in an unlicensed spectrum. For example, if a subframe has a large number of UL grants, more search space may be required. For example, when using a TDD subframe configuration with two or three DL subframes (thus eight or seven UL subframes), each DL subframe can carry multiple UL grants to multiple subframes, which can benefit from greater storage space. search and more resources to monitor UL grants. Therefore, according to one aspect of the disclosure, a scalable EPDCCH design is used such that an eNB can adjust the same numbers of RBs/candidates to be monitored by the UE for a predetermined set of subframes carrying UL grants. The number of RBs and candidates (e.g., candidates for grants and/or a PDCCH) to monitor may be a function of the TDD configuration and/or the number of active unlicensed carriers. Depending on the TDD subframe configuration, the search space for the UL grant can be increased or reduced. For example, if the TDD configuration is a UL-heavy configuration having more UL subframes than other subframes, the eNB can assign more resource blocks to the EPDCCH, thereby increasing the Search space for UL grants. On the contrary, if the TDD configuration is a DL-heavy configuration having more DL subframes than other subframes, the eNB may allocate fewer resource blocks to the EPDCCH, thereby reducing a Search space for UL grants. Additionally, the eNB may configure a number of candidates or aggregation levels to monitor on a PDCCH, and may additionally configure at least one of a number of sets of EPDCCHs, a number of resource blocks (RBs) for each set of EPDCCHs. , an EPDCCH type, or a number of candidates or Aggregation levels for EPDCCH monitoring.

[00094] Figure 8 is a flowchart 800 of a wireless communication method. The method may be performed by a UE (e.g., the UE 104, the UE 752, the equipment 1102/1102'). In block 801, one or more additional methods discussed below may be performed. Blocks with dotted lines can include optional features or steps.

[00095] In one aspect, in block 802, the UE may receive, on the primary carrier, a DL grant indicator, where the DL grant indicator indicates whether the UE should monitor at least one of the primary carrier or the secondary carrier for granting DL. In one aspect, the DL grant indicator is received in a DCI message on the primary bearer a common search space and is protected with an RNTI that is known to a group of UEs. In such aspect, the UE monitors for the DL grant indicator in the DCI message on the primary carrier based on an RRC configuration. In one aspect, the DL grant indicator is received on the primary carrier a search space that is specific to a user equipment.

[00096] For example, as discussed above, in self-scheduling for DL communication, the eNB may send a cross-carrier indicator to the UE at the PCC to indicate that a DL grant will be sent at the SCC. For example, as discussed above, because the presence or absence of a DL grant in the SCC is indicated in the cross-carrier indicator received at the PCC, the UE can monitor the DL grant in the SCC based on the cross-carrier indicator. For example, as discussed above, the eNB may include the cross-carrier indicator in a new DCI message with a new format and transmit the new DCI message with the new format in the PCC in the common search space, and the carrier indicator crossover can be protected with a new RNTI that is known to a group of UEs. For example, as discussed above, the eNB may provide a separate indication to a UE by sending a DCI message including a cross-carrier indicator in a UE-specific search space, rather than sending the DCI message in the search space. common.

[00097] In block 804, the UE receives a DL grant for a secondary bearer and a UL grant for the secondary bearer, where the DL grant is received on the secondary bearer and the UL grant is received on a primary bearer. For example, as discussed above, the UE may be configured to receive, on a secondary carrier, a DL grant for the secondary carrier, and to receive, on a primary carrier, a UL grant for the secondary carrier. For example, referring back to Figure 7, the UE 752 may receive, at 762, a UL grant in the PCC control region 712, where the UL grant is for UL communication in the SCC, and may receive, at 772, a DL grant in the SCC control region 722, where the DL grant is for DL communication in the SCC.

[00098] In block 806, the UE can receive DL data on the secondary carrier after receiving the DL grant on the secondary carrier. For example, as discussed above, the UE can be configured to receive DL data on the secondary carrier based on the DL grant in accordance with the self-scheduling mode. For example, referring back to Figure 7, after receiving the DL grant in the SCC, the UE 752 may at 774 receive DL data in the SCC data region 724 based on the DL grant, as indicated by the arrow. 728.

[00099] In block 808, the UE can transmit UL data on the secondary carrier after receiving the UL grant on the primary carrier. For example, as discussed above, according to the cross-carrier scheduling mode, the UE can be configured to receive, on a primary carrier, a UL grant for the secondary carrier and transmit UL data on the secondary carrier based on the UL grant. For example, referring back to Figure 7, after receiving the UL grant at the PCC, the UE 752 may transmit, at 764, based on the UL grant, UL data in the SCC data region 724, as indicated by arrow 726.

[000100] In one aspect, the primary carrier is a licensed carrier and the secondary carrier is an unlicensed carrier. In one aspect, the DL grant and the UL grant are received from a base station using a configuration where DL grants are received by the UE on the secondary carrier and the UL grants are received by the UE on the primary carrier. In one aspect, the DL grant and the UL grant are received from a base station using a configuration where DL grants are scheduled by self-scheduling on the secondary carrier and UL grants are scheduled by cross-carrier scheduling on the carrier. primary. For example, as discussed above, the primary carrier may be a licensed carrier (e.g., a PCC) and the secondary carrier may be an unlicensed carrier (e.g., an SCC).

[000101] Figure 9A is a flowchart 900 of a wireless communication method that expands from the flowchart 800 of Figure 8, in accordance with an aspect of the disclosure. The method may be performed by a UE (e.g., the UE 104, the UE 752, the equipment 1102/1102'). Flowchart 900 expands from block 801 of Figure 8. For example, the method in flowchart 900 may be performed to monitor a DL grant and/or a UL grant, so that the UE can receive the DL grant and the UL grant in block 804 of Figure 8. In one aspect, the UE can continue in block 802 or block 804 of Figure 8, after carrying out the characteristics of flowchart 900.

[000102] In block 902, the UE may receive information about at least one of a set of DCI formats or DCI format size of respective DCI messages to Monitor in each subframe on each carrier. For example, as discussed above, if a DL grant is communicated on a first bearer and a UL grant is communicated on a second bearer other than the first bearer, the UE may seek a format size from a DCI message for the grant. of DL on the first bearer and additionally fetch a format size of a DCI message for the grant of UL on the second carrier. For example, in one aspect, the UE may receive information about the at least one of a set of DCI formats or DCI format sizes from respective DCI messages by analyzing the DCI messages received by the UE.

[000103] In block 904, the UE monitors at least one of the UL grant or DL grant based on the information. In one aspect, each of the DCI format sizes of the respective DCI messages is specific to a transmission mode. For example, as discussed above, the UE can be configured to search the SCC for a DCI format size that is specific to a TM, so as to monitor UL granting and/or DL granting, without searching for a size emergency mode format of a DCI message. For example, as discussed above, the UE may assume that there is no fallback mode in the SCC, and perform a TM-specific size search.

[000104] Figure 9B is a flowchart 950 of a method of wireless communication that expands from the flowchart 800 of Figure 8, in accordance with an aspect of the disclosure. The method may be performed by a UE (e.g., the UE 104, the UE 752, the equipment 1102/1102'). Flowchart 950 expands from block 801 of Figure 8. For example, the method in flowchart 950 may be performed to detect a DL grant and/or a UL grant, so that the UE can receive the DL grant and the UL grant in block 804 of Figure 8. In one aspect, the UE can continue in block 802 or block 804 of Figure 8, after carrying out the operations in flowchart 950.

[000105] In block 952, the UE may receive information about a number of blind decoders to execute per subframe. For example, as discussed above, the UE may receive from the eNB blind decoding information into a number of blind decoders (e.g., a maximum number of blind decoders) to perform per subframe, to detect a UL grant and/or a granting of DL. For example, as discussed above, the UE may receive such semi-statically blind decoding information from the eNB.

[000106] In block 954, the UE may be decoded based on the number of blind decoders to detect at least one of the DL grant or the UL grant. For example, as discussed above, according to the blind decoding information, the UE can decode all candidates in some subframes, and can decode a subset of candidates, based on the number of blind decoders specified in the blind decoding information. For example, as discussed above, the UE may decode both a DL grant and a UL grant for some subframes if the blind decoding information provides a maximum number of blind decoders, and may decode a DL grant or a UL grant if blind decoding information provide fewer number of blind decoders.

[000107] Figure 10A is a flowchart 1000 of a wireless communication expansion method from the flowchart 800 of Figure 8, in accordance with an aspect of the disclosure. The method may be performed by a UE (e.g., the UE 104, the UE 752, the equipment 1102/1102'). to select a carrier to transmit UL data so that the UE can transmit the UL data in block 808 of Figure 8. In one aspect, the UE may continue to block 802 or block 804 of Figure 8 after performing the characteristics of flowchart 1000.

[000108] In block 1002, where the UL grant received on the primary carrier corresponds to a plurality of unlicensed carriers, the UE selects a carrier from among the plurality of unlicensed carriers as the secondary carrier to transmit the UL data. In one aspect, the UE selects the bearer from among the plurality of unlicensed carriers by determining channel availability of channels associated with the plurality of unlicensed carriers, where a channel is available when a channel energy is lower than a threshold. power, and select the carrier associated with the channel for transmitting the UL data based on at least one of channel availability or a carrier priority.

[000109] For example, as discussed above, when the UE receives a UL grant, the UE may be configured to determine whether the UL grant is mapped to an unlicensed carrier group. For example, as discussed above, the UE may select a carrier to transmit the same UL Data from among the group of unlicensed carriers based on channel availability and/or carrier priority, where channel availability may depend on whether a channel is clean or not.

[000110] Figure 10B is a flowchart 1050 of a wireless communication method that expands from the flowchart 800 of Figure 8, in accordance with an aspect of the disclosure. The method may be performed by a UE (e.g., the UE 104, the UE 752, the equipment 1102/1102'). Flowchart 1050 expands from block 801 of Figure 8. For example, the method in flowchart 1050 may be performed to monitor for a UL grant, so that the UE can receive the UL grant in block 804 of Figure 8. In one aspect, the UE may continue to block 802 or block 804 of Figure 8, after realizing the characteristics of the flowchart 1050.

[000111] In block 1052, the UE may receive configuration information from a serving base station setting a number of resource blocks to monitor for receiving the UL grant. For example, as discussed above, a scalable EPDCCH design can be used such that the serving base station (e.g., an eNB) can adjust the number of Rsbs/candidates to be monitored by the UE for a defined set of subframes that can carry UL Grants. For example, as discussed above, when the UE receives the EPDCCH from the eNB, the UE determines, based on the EPDCCH, a certain set of RBs to monitor for subframes that can carry UL Grants.

[000112] In block 1054, the UE monitors for the UL grant based on the block configuration information received by adjusting the number of resource blocks to monitor for receiving the UL grant. For example, as discussed above, depending on the configuration of the TDD subframe, the search space for the UL grant can be increased or reduced. For example, as discussed above, if the TDD configuration has more UL subframes than other subframes, more resource blocks can be assigned to the EPDCCH, thereby increasing the Search space for UL grants. For example, as discussed above, if the TDD configuration has more DL subframes than other subframes, fewer resource blocks can be assigned to the EPDCCH, thereby reducing Search space for UL grants.

[000113] Figure 11 is a conceptual data flowchart 1100 that illustrates the flow of data between different media/components in an exemplary apparatus 1102. The Apparatus may be a UE. The apparatus includes a receive component 1104, a transmit component 1106, a lease management component 1108, a data communication component 1110, a lease indicator component 1112, a carrier selection component 1114, and a resource management 1116.

[000114] The grant management component 1108 receives from the eNB 1150 at 1152 and 1154, via the receiving component 1104, a DL grant for a secondary bearer and a UL grant for the secondary bearer, where the DL grant is received on the secondary carrier and the UL grant is received on a primary carrier. The data communication component 1110 receives from the eNB 1150 at 1152 and 1156, via the receiving component 1104, DL data on the secondary carrier after receiving the DL grant on the secondary carrier via 1158. The data communication component 1110 transmits to The eNB 1150 at 1160 and 1162, through the transmission component 1106, UL data on the secondary carrier after receiving the grant of UL on the primary carrier by 1158. In one aspect, the primary carrier is a licensed carrier and the secondary carrier is a licensed carrier. unlicensed. In one aspect, the DL grant and the UL grant are received from a base station using a configuration where DL grants are received by the UE on the secondary carrier and the UL grants are received by the UE on the primary carrier. In one aspect, the DL grant and the UL grant are received from a base station using a configuration where DL grants are scheduled by self-scheduling on the secondary carrier and UL grants are scheduled by cross-carrier scheduling on the carrier. primary.

[000115] The grants management component 1108 receives at 1152 and 1154 via the receiving component 1104 information about at least one of a set of DCI formats or DCI format formats of respective DCI messages to Monitor in each subframe in each carrier. The grant management component 1108 monitors through 1152 and 1154 for at least one of the UL grant or DL grant based on the information. In one aspect, each of the DCI format sizes of the respective DCI messages is specific to a transmission mode.

[000116] The grant management component 1108 receives at 1154 through the receiving component 1104 information at 1152 (from the eNB1150) in a number of blind decoders to execute per subframe. The grant management component 1108 decodes the blind decoders based on the number of blind decoders to detect at least one of the DL grant or the UL grant.

[000117] The grant indicator component 11 12 may receive at 1 164, through the receive component 1 104 at 1152, on the primary bearer, a DL Grant Indicator, where the DL Grant Indicator indicates whether the UE should monitor (e.g., at 1166 through the grant management component 1108) at least one of the primary bearer or the secondary bearer for the DL grant. In one aspect, the DL grant indicator is received in a DCI message on the primary bearer a common search space and is protected with an RNTI that is known to a group of UEs. In this aspect, the grant indicator component 1 112 monitors through 1 152 and 1164 thereto the DL grant indicator in the DCI message on the primary carrier based on an RRC configuration. In one aspect, the DL grant indicator is received on the primary carrier a search space that is specific to a user equipment.

[000118] Where the UL grant received on the primary carrier corresponds to a plurality of unlicensed carriers, the carrier selection component 11 14 selects a carrier from among the plurality of unlicensed carriers as the secondary carrier to transmit the UL data, wherein information about the unlicensed carriers may be provided by the receiving component 1104 in 1168. In one aspect, the carrier selection component 1114 selects the carrier from among the plurality of unlicensed carriers by determining the channel availability of channels associated with the plurality of unlicensed carriers, where a channel is available when a channel power is lower than a power threshold, and selecting the carrier associated with the channel for transmission of the UL data (e.g., at 1168 and 1170 through of data communication component 1 110) based on at least one of channel availability or a carrier priority.

[000119] The resource management component 1 116 receives at 1172, via the receiving component 1 104 at 1152, configuration information from a serving base station (e.g., eNB 1 150) to adjust a number of resource blocks to monitor to receive the UL grant (e.g., at 1174 via the grants management component 1108). The grant management component 1 108 monitors the UL grant based on the received configuration information by adjusting the number of resource blocks to monitor to receive the UL Grant per 1174.

[000120] The apparatus may include additional components that perform each of the algorithm blocks in the aforementioned flowcharts of Figures 8-10. As such, each block in the aforementioned flowcharts of Figures 810 may be realized by a component and the apparatus may include one or more of these components. The components may be one or more hardware components specifically configured to perform the established processes/algorithm, implemented by a processor configured to perform the established processes/algorithm, stored within a computer-readable medium for implementation by a processor, or some combination of the same.

[000121] Figure 12 is a diagram 1200 illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for an apparatus 1102' employing a processing system 1214. The processing system 1214 may be implemented with a bus architecture, generally represented by bus 1224 Bus 1224 may include any number of interconnect buses and bridges depending on the specific application of processing system 1214 and overall design constraints. The bus 1224 connects together various circuits including one or more processors and/or hardware components, represented by the processor 1204, the components 1104,1106,1108, 1110,1112,1114, 1116, and the computer-readable medium/memory 1206. Bus 1224 can also connect various other circuits, such as timing supplies, peripherals, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art, and therefore will not be described below.

[000122] The processing system 1214 may be coupled to a transceiver 1210. The transceiver 1210 is coupled to one or more antennas 1220. The transceiver 1210 provides a means for communicating with various other devices via a transmission medium. The transceiver 1210 receives a signal from one or more antennas 1220, extracts information from the received signal, and provides the extracted information to the processing system 1214, specifically the receiving component 1104. Additionally, the transceiver 1210 receives information from the system processing system 1214, specifically, the transmission component 1106, and based on the information received, generates a signal to be applied to one or more antennas 1220. The processing system 1214 includes a processor 1204 coupled to a computer readable medium/memory 1206. The processor 1204 is responsible for general processing, including the execution of software stored on the computer-readable medium/memory 1206. The software, when executed by the processor 1204, causes the processing system 1214 to perform the various functions described above to any particular device. The computer-readable medium/memory 1206 may also be used to store data that is manipulated by the processor 1204 when executing software. The processing system 1214 further includes at least one of the components 1104,1106,1108, 1110,1112,1114, 1116. The components may be software components running on the processor 1204, resident/stored in the computer readable medium/memory 1206 , one or more hardware components coupled to processor 1204, or some combination thereof. The processing system 1214 may be a component of the UE 350 and may include the memory 360 and/or at least one of the TX processor 368, the RX processor 356, and the controller/processor 359.

[000123] In one configuration, the apparatus 1102/1102' for wireless communication includes means for receiving a DL grant for a secondary carrier and a UL grant for the secondary carrier, where the DL grant is received on the secondary carrier and the UL grant is received on a primary carrier, means for receiving DL data on the secondary carrier after receiving the DL grant on the secondary carrier, and means for transmitting UL data on the secondary carrier after receiving the UL grant on the primary carrier. The apparatus 1102/1102' further includes means for receiving information about at least one of a set of DCI formats or DCI format sizes of respective DCI messages for Monitor in each subframe on each carrier, and means for monitoring at least one between granting UL or granting DL based on the information. The apparatus 1102/1102' further includes means for receiving information about a number of blind decoders to perform per subframe, and means for blind decoding based on the number of blind decoders to detect at least one of the DL grant or the UL grant. . The apparatus 1102/1102' further includes means for receiving, on the primary carrier, a DL grant indicator, wherein the DL grant indicator indicates whether the UE should monitor at least one of the primary carrier or the secondary carrier for the granting of DL. The apparatus 1102/1102' further includes means for selecting a carrier from among the plurality of unlicensed carriers as the secondary carrier for transmitting the UL data, where the UL grant received on the primary carrier corresponds to a plurality of unlicensed carriers. The equipment 1102/1102' further includes means for receiving configuration information from a serving base station by setting a number of resource blocks to monitor for receiving the UL grant, and means for monitoring the UL grant based on the UL grant information. configuration received by adjusting the number of resource blocks to monitor to receive the UL grant.

[000124] The aforementioned means may be one or more of the aforementioned components of the apparatus 1102 and/or the processing system 1214 of the apparatus 1102' configured to perform the aforementioned functions by the aforementioned means. As described above, the processing system 1214 may include the TX processor 368, the RX processor 356, and the controller/processor 359. As such, in one configuration, the aforementioned means may be the TX processor 368, the RX processor 356 , and the controller/processor 359 configured to perform the aforementioned functions by the aforementioned means.

[000125] Figure 13 is a flowchart 1300 of a wireless communication method. The method may be performed by a base station (e.g., the base station 102, the eNB 754 104, the apparatus 1602/1602'.) In block 1301, one or more additional methods discussed below may be performed. Blocks with dotted lines can include optional features or steps.

[000126] In one aspect, in block 1302, the eNB may send, on the primary carrier, a DL grant indicator, where the DL grant indicator indicates whether the UE should monitor at least one of the primary carrier or the secondary carrier for granting DL. In one aspect, the DL grant indicator is sent in a DCI message. On the primary bearer a common search space is protected with an RNTI that is known to a group of user equipment. In one aspect, the DL grant indicator is received on the primary carrier a search space that is specific to a user equipment.

[000127] For example, as discussed above, in self-scheduling for DL communication, the eNB may send a cross-carrier indicator to the UE at the PCC to indicate that a DL grant will be sent at the SCC. For example, as discussed above, because the presence or absence of a DL grant in the SCC is indicated in the cross-carrier indicator received at the PCC, the UE can monitor the DL grant in the SCC based on the cross-carrier indicator. For example, as discussed above, the eNB may include the cross-carrier indicator in a new DCI message with a new format and transmit the new DCI message with the new format in the PCC in the common search space, and the carrier indicator crossover can be protected with a new RNTI that is known to a group of UEs. For example, as discussed above, the eNB may provide separate indication to the UE by sending a DCI message including a cross-carrier indicator in a UE-specific search space, rather than sending the DCI message in the common search space.

[000128] In block 1304, the eNB sends a DL grant to a secondary carrier and a UL grant to the secondary carrier, where the DL grant is transmitted on the secondary carrier and the UL grant is transmitted on a primary carrier. For example, as discussed above, the eNB may transmit, on a secondary carrier, a DL grant to the secondary carrier, and transmit, on a primary carrier, a UL grant to the secondary carrier. For example, referring back to Figure 7, the eNB 754 may send, at 762, a UL grant to the UE 752 in the PCC control region 712, where the UL grant is for UL communication in the SCC. and may send, at 772, a DL grant to the UE 752 in the SCC control region 722, where the DL grant is for DL communication in the SCC.

[000129] In block 1306, the eNB sends DL data on the secondary carrier after sending the DL grant on the secondary carrier. For example, as discussed above, the eNB can send DL data on the secondary carrier based on the DL grant according to the self-scheduling mode. For example, referring back to Figure 7, after sending the DL grant in the SCC, the eNB 754 may at 774 send DL data in the SCC data region 724 based on the DL grant, as indicated by the arrow. 728.

[000130] In block 1308, the eNB receives UL data on the secondary carrier after sending the same UL grants on the primary carrier. For example, as discussed above, according to the cross-carrier scheduling mode, the eNB can send, on a primary carrier, a UL grant to the secondary carrier and send UL data on the secondary carrier based on the UL grant. . For example, referring back to Figure 7, after sending the UL grant in the PCC, the eNB 754 may receive, at 764, based on the UL grant, UL data in the SCC data region 724, as per indicated by arrow 726.

[000131] In one aspect, the primary carrier is a licensed carrier, and the secondary carrier is an unlicensed carrier. In one aspect, the DL grant and the UL grant are transmitted from the eNB using a configuration where the DL grants are communicated on the secondary carrier and the UL grants are communicated on the primary carrier. In one aspect, the DL grant and the UL grant are transmitted from the eNB using a configuration where DL grants are scheduled by self-scheduling on the secondary carrier and UL grants are scheduled by cross-carrier scheduling on the primary carrier. For example, as discussed above, the primary carrier may be a licensed carrier (e.g., a PCC) and the secondary carrier may be an unlicensed carrier (e.g., an SCC)

[000132] In one aspect, the secondary carrier for receiving the UL data is a carrier selected from a plurality of unlicensed carriers, and the UL grant sent on the primary carrier is specified for the plurality of unlicensed carriers. In such aspect, the eNB is configured to blindly detect the selected carrier. For example, as discussed above, when the UE receives a UL grant, the UE may be configured to determine whether the UL grant is mapped to an unlicensed carrier group. For example, as discussed above, the eNB may be blinded to detect the unlicensed carrier that the UE uses to transmit the UL data.

[000133] Figure 14A is a flowchart 1400 of a method of wireless communication that expands from the flowchart 1300 of Figure 13, in accordance with an aspect of the disclosure. The method may be performed by a base station (e.g., base station 102, eNB 754, apparatus 1602/1602'). Flowchart 1400 expands from block 1301 of Figure 13. For example, the method in flowchart 1400 may be performed to provide information used to monitor for a DL grant and/or a UL grant so that the UE can receive the DL grant and UL grant When the DL grant and UL grant are sent in block 1304 of Figure 13, in one aspect, the base station may continue to block 1302 or block 1304 of Figure 13 after performing the features of flowchart 1400 .

[000134] In block 1402, the eNB sends information about a set of DCI formats or DCI format size to monitor in each subframe on each carrier. In one aspect, each of the DCI format sizes is specific to a transmission mode. For example, as discussed above, if a DL grant is communicated on a first bearer and a UL grant is communicated on a second bearer other than the first bearer, the UE may seek a format size from a DCI message for the grant. of DL on the first bearer and additionally fetch a format size of a DCI message for the grant of UL on the second bearer. For example, in one aspect, the UE may receive information about the at least one of a set of DCI formats or DCI format sizes from respective DCI messages by analyzing the DCI messages received by the UE. For example, as discussed above, the UE can be configured to search the SCC for a DCI format size that is specific to a TM, so as to monitor UL granting and/or DL granting, without searching for a size emergency mode format of a DCI message.

[000135] Figure 14B is a flowchart 1450 of a method of wireless communication that expands from the flowchart 1300 of Figure 13, in accordance with an aspect of the disclosure. The method may be performed by a base station (e.g., base station 102, eNB 754, apparatus 1602/1602'). Flowchart 1450 expands from block 1301 of Figure 13. For example, the method in flowchart 1450 may be performed to provide configuration for the UE to perform blind decodes to detect a DL grant and/or a UL grant, so that the UE can receive the DL grant and the UL grant when the DL grant and the UL grant UL are sent in block 1304 of Figure 13. In one aspect, the base station may continue to block 1302 or block 1304 of Figure 13 after performing the characteristics of flowchart 1450.

[000136] In block 1452, the eNB sends configuration information, indicating that a maximum number of blind decoders are executed in the UE per subframe to detect at least one of the DL grant or the UL grant. For example, as discussed above, the eNB may provide the UE with blind decoding information on a number of blind decoders (e.g., a maximum number of blind decoders) to perform per subframe, to detect a UL grant and/or a grant by DL. For example, as discussed above, according to the blind decoding information, the UE can decode all candidates in some subframes, and can decode a subset of candidates, based on the number of blind decoders specified in the blind decoding information.

[000137] Figure 15A is a flowchart 1500 of a method of wireless communication that expands from the flowchart 1300 of Figure 13, in accordance with an aspect of the disclosure. The method may be performed by a base station (e.g., the base station 102, the eNB 754, the apparatus 1602/1602'). configuring the transmission of a UL grant and a DL grant in block 1304 of Figure 13. In one aspect, the base station may continue in block 1302 or block 1304 of Figure 13 after performing the characteristics of flowchart 1500.

[000138] In block 1504, the eNB selects a UL/DL grant configuration based on a TDD subframe configuration. In such an aspect, the UL/DL grant configuration includes sending DL grants on the secondary carrier and UL grants on the primary carrier when the TDD subframe configuration includes more UL subframes than DL subframes, and the TDD grant configuration UL/DL includes sending DL grants on the secondary carrier and UL grants on the secondary carrier when the TDD subframe configuration includes more UL subframes than DL subframes. In one aspect, a programming mode is independently configured for each of the available carriers including the primary carrier and the secondary carrier. In one aspect, the scheduling mode is configured based on at least one interference or channel availability on each of the available carriers. In one aspect, a programming mode is configured independently for each of the available carriers including the primary carrier and the secondary carrier, and independently for the UL grant and the DL grant.

[000139] For example, as discussed above, the eNB may configure the programming mode as a function of the TDD subframe configuration. For example, as discussed above, if SCell uses a DL-heavy configuration (for example, a configuration with more DL subframes than other types of subframes), SCell may schedule UL data communication on an unlicensed carrier using a UL grant on the unlicensed carrier. For example, as discussed above, if the SCell uses a UL-heavy TDD configuration (for example, the configuration with more UL subframes than other types of subframes), the Pcell may utilize cross-carrier scheduling for UL Communication. For example, as discussed above, the eNB may configure the programming mode independently for each of the carriers, where the carriers may include a licensed carrier (e.g., the PCC) and one or more unlicensed carriers (e.g., the SCC ). For example, as discussed above, the eNB can configure the scheduling mode independently for each of the carriers based on the signal interference and channel occupancy observed on each carrier.

[000140] Figure 15B is a flowchart 1550 of a method of wireless communication that expands from the flowchart 1300 of Figure 13, in accordance with an aspect of the disclosure. The method may be performed by a base station (e.g., base station 102, eNB 754, apparatus 1602/1602'). Flowchart 1550 expands from block 1301 of Figure 13. For example, the method in flowchart 1550 may be performed to provide the UE with information used to monitor for a UL grant, so that the UE can receive the UL grant when the UL grant is sent in block 1304 of Figure. In one aspect, the base station can continue in the block 1302 or block 1304 of Figure 13 after performing the characteristics of flowchart 1550.

[000141] In block 1552, the eNB sends configuration information setting a number of resources that the UE must monitor for granting UL. For example, as discussed above, a scalable EPDCCH design can be used such that an eNB can adjust the number of RBs/candidates to be monitored by the UE for a defined set of subframes carrying UL Grants. For example, as discussed above, when the UE receives the EPDCCH from the eNB, the UE determines, based on the EPDCCH, a certain set of RBs to monitor for subframes that can carry UL Grants.

[000142] In block 1554, the eNB configures a number of candidates or aggregation levels to monitor in a PDCCH. For example, as discussed above, the eNB may configure a number of candidates or aggregation levels to monitor in a PDCCH. Based on the number of applicants or aggregation levels, the UE can monitor for UL granting.

[000143] In block 1556, the eNB configures at least one of a number of sets of EPDCCHs, a number of RBs for each set of EPDCCHs, a type of EPDCCH, or a number of candidates or aggregation levels for EPDCCH monitoring. In one aspect, the number of resources to monitor depends on at least one of a TDD subframe configuration or a number of active unlicensed carriers. For example, as discussed above, the eNB may configure at least one of a number of sets of EPDCCHs, a number of RBs for each set of EPDCCHs, a type of EPDCCH, or a number of candidates or aggregation levels for EPDCCH monitoring. .

[000144] Figure 16 is a conceptual data flowchart 1600 that illustrates the flow of data between different media/components in an exemplary apparatus 1602. The Apparatus may be an eNB. The apparatus includes a receive component 1604, a transmit component 1606, a lease management component 1608, a data communication component 1610, a lease indicator component 1612, a lease configuration component 1614, and a resource management 1616.

[000145] The grant management component 1608 sends to the UE 1650 at 1652 and 1654, via the transmission component 1606, a DL grant for a secondary bearer and a UL grant for the secondary bearer, where the DL grant is transmitted on the secondary carrier and the UL grant is transmitted on a primary carrier. The data communication component 1610 sends to the UE 1650 at 1656 and 1654, via the transmission component 1606, DL data on the secondary carrier after sending the DL grant on the secondary carrier. In one aspect, the data communications component 1610 may communicate with the lease management component 1608 at 1674 to schedule transmission of DL Data. The data communication component 1610 receives from the UE 1650 1658 and 1660, via the receiving component 1604, UL data on the secondary carrier after sending the UL grant on the primary carrier. In one aspect, the primary carrier is a licensed carrier, and the secondary carrier is an unlicensed carrier. In one aspect, the DL grant and the UL grant are transmitted from the eNB using a configuration where the DL grants are communicated on the secondary carrier and the UL grants are communicated on the primary carrier. In one aspect, the DL grant and the UL grant are transmitted from the eNB using a configuration where DL grants are scheduled by self-scheduling on the secondary carrier and UL grants are scheduled by cross-carrier scheduling on the primary carrier.

[000146] In one aspect, the secondary carrier for receiving the UL data is a carrier selected from a plurality of unlicensed carriers, and the UL grant sent on the primary carrier is specified for the plurality of unlicensed carriers. In such an aspect, the grants management component 1608 is configured to blindly detect the selected bearer.

[000147] The lease management component 1608 sends through the transmission component 1606 at 1652 and 1954 information about a set of DCI formats or DCI format sizes to Monitor in each subframe on each carrier. In one aspect, each of the DCI format sizes is specific to a transmission mode. The grant management component 1608 sends a configuration through the transmit component 1606 at 1652 and 1654, indicating a maximum number of blind decodes to be performed on the UE per subframe to detect at least one of the DL grant or the UL grant. .

[000148] The grant indicator component 1612 may send through the grant management component 1608 and the transmission component 1606 at 1662, 1652 and 1654, on the primary carrier, a DL grant indicator, where the DL grant indicator indicates whether the UE must monitor at least one of the primary bearer or the secondary bearer for granting DL. In one aspect, the DL grant indicator is sent in a DCI message. On the primary bearer a common search space is protected with an RNTI that is known to a group of user equipment. In one aspect, the DL grant indicator is received on the primary carrier a search space that is specific to a user equipment.

[000149] The lease configuration component 1614 selects a UL/DL lease configuration based on a TDD subframe configuration by 1664 and 1668. In such aspect, the UL/DL lease configuration includes sending DL leases on the secondary carrier and UL grants on the primary carrier when the TDD subframe configuration includes more UL subframes than DL subframes, AND the UL/DL grant configuration includes sending DL grants on the secondary carrier and UL grants on the secondary carrier when the TDD subframe configuration includes more UL subframes than DL subframes. In one aspect, a programming mode is independently configured for each of the available carriers including the primary carrier and the secondary carrier. In one aspect, the scheduling mode is configured based on at least one interference or channel availability on each of the available carriers. In one aspect, a programming mode is configured independently for each of the available carriers including the primary carrier and the secondary carrier, and independently for the UL grant and the DL grant.

[000150] The resource management component 1616 sends at 1670 and 1654 via the transmission component 1606 configuration information setting a number of resources that the UE must monitor for granting UL. The resource management component 1616 configures (e.g., through 1672) a number of candidates or aggregation levels to monitor in a PDCCH. The resource management component 1616 configures (e.g., via 1672) at least one of a number of sets of EPDCCHs, a number of RBs for each set of EPDCCHs, a type of EPDCCH, or a number of candidates or levels of Aggregation for EPDCCH monitoring. In one aspect, the number of resources to monitor depends on at least one of a TDD subframe configuration or a number of active unlicensed carriers.

[000151] The apparatus may include additional components that perform each of the algorithm blocks in the flowcharts mentioned above in Figures 13-15. As such, each block in the aforementioned flowcharts of Figures 13-15 may be realized by a component and the apparatus may include one or more of these components. The components may be one or more hardware components specifically configured to perform the established processes/algorithm, implemented by a processor configured to perform the established processes/algorithm, stored within a computer-readable medium for implementation by a processor, or some combination of the same.

[000152] Figure 17 is a diagram 1700 illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for an apparatus 1602' that employs a processing system 1714. The processing system 1714 may be implemented with a bus architecture, generally represented by the bus 1724. Bus 1724 may include any number of interconnect buses and bridges depending on the specific application of processing system 1714 and overall design constraints. The bus 1724 connects together various circuits including one or more processors and/or hardware components, represented by the processor 1704, the components 1604, 1606, 1608, 1610, 1612, 1614, 1616, and the computer-readable medium/memory 1706. Bus 1724 can also connect various other circuits, such as timing supplies, peripherals, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art, and therefore will not be described below.

[000153] The processing system 1714 may be coupled to a transceiver 1710. The Transceiver 1710 is coupled to one or more antennas 1720. The transceiver 1710 provides a means for communicating with various other devices via a transmission medium. The transceiver 1710 receives a signal from one or more antennas 1720, extracts information from the received signal, and provides the extracted information to the processing system 1714, specifically the receiving component 1604. Additionally, the transceiver 1710 receives information from the system processing system 1714, specifically, the transmission component 1606 and based on the information received, generates a signal to be applied to one or more antennas 1720. The processing system 1714 includes a processor 1704 coupled to a computer readable medium/memory 1706. Processor 1704 is responsible for general processing, including executing software stored on the computer-readable medium/memory 1706. The software, when executed by processor 1704, causes processing system 1714 to perform the various functions described above for any device particular. The computer-readable medium/memory 1706 may also be used to store data that is manipulated by the processor 1704 when executing software. The processing system 1714 further includes at least one of the components 1604,1606,1608, 1610,1612,1614, 1616. The components may be software components running on the processor 1704, resident/stored in the computer-readable medium/memory 1706, one or more hardware components coupled to the processor 1704, or some combination thereof. The processing system 1714 may be a component of the eNB 310 and may include memory 376 and/or at least one of the TX processor 316, the RX processor 370, and the controller/processor 375.

[000154] In one configuration, the apparatus 1602/1602' for wireless communication includes means for sending a DL grant to a secondary carrier and a UL grant to the secondary carrier, where the DL grant is transmitted on the secondary carrier and the UL grant is transmitted on a primary carrier, means for sending DL data on the secondary carrier after sending the DL grant on the secondary carrier, and means for receiving UL data on the secondary carrier after sending the UL grant on the primary carrier. The apparatus 1602/1602' further includes means for sending information about a set of DCI formats or DCI format sizes to Monitor in each subframe on each carrier. The apparatus 1602/1602' also includes means for sending configuration information indicating a maximum number of blind decoders to be performed in the UE per subframe to detect at least one of the DL grant or the UL grant. The apparatus 1602/1602' further includes means for sending, on the primary carrier, a DL grant indicator, wherein the DL grant indicator indicates whether the UE should monitor at least one of the primary carrier or the secondary carrier for the granting of DL. The apparatus 1602/1602' further includes means for selecting a UL/DL grant configuration based on a TDD subframe configuration. The apparatus 1602/1602' further includes means for sending configuration information setting a number of resources that the UE must monitor for granting UL. The apparatus 1602/1602' further includes means for configuring a number of candidates or aggregation levels to monitor in a PDCCH, and means for configuring at least one of a number of sets of EPDCCHs, a number of RBs for each set of EPDCCHs, a type of EPDCCH, or a number of candidates or Aggregation levels for EPDCCH monitoring.

[000155] The aforementioned means may be one or more of the aforementioned components of the apparatus 1602 and/or the processing system 1714 of the apparatus 1602' configured to perform the aforementioned functions by the aforementioned means. As described above, the processing system 1714 may include the TX processor 316, the RX processor 370, and the controller/processor 375. As such, in one configuration, the aforementioned means may be the TX processor 316, the RX processor 370 , and the controller/processor 375 configured to perform the aforementioned functions by the aforementioned means.

[000156] It is understood that the specific order or hierarchy of blocks in the described processes/flowcharts is an illustration of exemplary approaches. Based on design preferences, it is understood that the specific order or hierarchy of blocks in the processes/flowcharts can be rearranged. Additionally, some blocks can be combined or omitted. The attached method claims the present elements of the various blocks in a sample order, and are not intended to be limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented.

[000157] The foregoing description is provided to enable anyone skilled in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. Various modifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other aspects. Accordingly, the claims are not intended to be limited to the aspects shown herein, but the full scope consistent with the language claims must be agreed, in which reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean "one and only one", the unless specifically mentioned otherwise, but rather one or more. "The word "exemplary" is used here to mean "serving as an example, case, or illustration." "Any aspect described herein as "exemplary" should not necessarily be considered as preferred or advantageous over other aspects. Unless specifically stated otherwise, the term "some" refers to one or more combinations such as " at least one of A, B, or C, "one or more of A, B, or C," at least one of A, B, and C, "one or more of A, B, and C," and "A, B , C, or any combination thereof, including any combination of A, B, and/or C, and may include multiples of A, multiples of B, or multiples of C. Specifically, combinations such as "at least one of A, B , or C," one or more of A, B, or C, "at least one of A, B, and C," one or more of A, B, and C, "and" A, B, C, or any combination of the same may be Only A, B, C, A and B, A and C, B and C, or A and B and C, where any of these combinations may contain one or more members or members of A, B or C All Structural and functional equivalents to elements of the various aspects described throughout this description that are known or subsequently become known to those skilled in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the claims. Furthermore, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public, regardless of whether such description is explicitly recited in the claims. The terms “module”, “mechanism”, “element”, “device”, “similar” may not be a substitute for the word “means”. As such, no claim element should be construed as a means plus function unless the same element is expressly cited using the phrase “means to”.

Claims (12)

1. Method for wireless communication by a base station, characterized by the fact that it comprises the steps of: determining that the base station has access to a channel of a secondary unlicensed carrier; sending a downlink grant, DL, to the secondary carrier and an uplink grant, UL, to the secondary carrier, wherein the DL grant is transmitted on the secondary carrier and the UL grant is transmitted on a primary carrier; sending DL data on the secondary bearer after sending the DL grant on the secondary bearer; and receive UL data on the secondary carrier after sending the UL grant on the primary carrier. 2. Method according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that the DL grant and the UL grant are transmitted from the base station using a configuration where DL grants are programmed by self-scheduling on the secondary carrier and grants UL are cross-carrier programmed by programming on the primary carrier. 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending information about a set of downlink control information formats, DCI, or DCI format sizes for monitoring in each subframe on each carrier. 4. Method, according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that it further comprises sending configuration information, indicating a maximum number of blind decoders to be carried out in a user equipment, UE, per subframe to detect at least one of the DL grant or UL grant. 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending configuration information setting a number of resources the UE is to monitor for granting UL. 6. Method according to claim 3, characterized by the fact that each of the DCI format sizes is specific to a transmission mode. 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the scheduling mode is further configured based on at least one of the interference or channel availability on each of the available carriers. 8. Method according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that the base station is configured to blindly detect the secondary carrier. 9. The method of claim 5, further comprising: configuring a number of candidates or aggregation levels to monitor on a physical downlink control channel, PDCCH; configure at least one of a number of sets of enhanced PDCCHs, EPDCCHs, a number of resource blocks, RBs, for each set of EPDCCHs, a type of EPDCCH, or a number of candidates or aggregation levels for EPDCCH monitoring. 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the number of resources to monitor depends on at least one of a time division duplex, TDD, subframe configuration, or a number of active unlicensed carriers. 11. Base station for wireless communication, characterized in that it comprises: means for determining that the base station has access to a channel of a secondary unlicensed carrier; means for sending a downlink grant, DL, to the secondary carrier and an uplink grant, UL, to the secondary carrier, wherein the DL grant is transmitted on the secondary carrier and the UL grant is transmitted on a secondary carrier primary; means for sending DL data on the secondary bearer after sending the DL grant on the secondary bearer; and means for receiving UL data on the secondary carrier after sending the UL grant on the primary carrier. 12. Memory characterized by the fact that it comprises instructions stored therein which, when executed, carry out the method as defined in any one of claims 1 to 10.