CN110167187B

CN110167187B - Method, device and readable medium for configuring LBT policy in unlicensed spectrum

Info

Publication number: CN110167187B
Application number: CN201810153230.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 王化磊
Original assignee: Spreadtrum Communications Shanghai Co Ltd
Current assignee: Spreadtrum Communications Shanghai Co Ltd
Priority date: 2018-02-13
Filing date: 2018-02-13
Publication date: 2021-08-17
Anticipated expiration: 2038-02-13
Also published as: CN110167187A

Abstract

A method, a device and a readable medium for configuring an LBT policy in an unlicensed spectrum are provided, wherein the configuration method comprises the following steps: when determining that the channel can not be accessed all the time by using the first LBT strategy within the configured using time, returning to access by using the second LBT strategy; wherein the second LBT policy has the same spatial configuration as a preset reference signal resource. By adopting the scheme, the signal coverage can be enlarged, and the signal service quality can be improved.

Description

Method, device and readable medium for configuring LBT policy in unlicensed spectrum

Technical Field

The embodiment of the invention relates to the technical field of communication, in particular to a method, equipment and a readable medium for configuring an LBT strategy in an unlicensed spectrum.

Background

Research on unlicensed spectrum communication under cellular access has been carried out by the 3GPP as early as in the RP-141646 document, mainly for the purpose of improving the quality of communication service. So far, licensed spectrum assisted access/enhanced licensed spectrum assisted access (LAA/eLAA) based on LTE protocol has had many new features. With the evolution of communication technology, unlicensed spectrum communication technology based on New Radio (NR) technology of 5G becomes a research hotspot.

In the process of 5G NR, the content of a specific study on an unlicensed spectrum is officially determined on the 3GPP congress in japan in 9 months in 2017. In particular, large bandwidth communications at 5GHz, 37GHz and 60GHz will be primarily investigated. In addition, a Dual Connectivity (DC) scenario between the NR LAA and the LTE carrier is also studied. Further, 5G NR will also investigate independence based on NR LAA

(standalon).

In LTE LAA/eLAA, a specific procedure for UpLink/DownLink (DL/UL) channel access is given, where the most core part is Listen Before Talk (LBT). LBT is by far one of the best techniques known in the art to enable fair coexistence between devices of different communication technologies. In the study of NR LAA, new NR-based LBT techniques are also further studied, so that NR LAA may be a good neighbor for other techniques on unlicensed spectrum.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the invention provides a configuration method, equipment and a readable medium of an LBT strategy in an unlicensed spectrum, so as to improve the quality of service of a signal.

A method for configuring an LBT policy in an unlicensed spectrum comprises the following steps: when determining that the channel can not be accessed all the time by using the first LBT strategy within the configured using time, returning to access by using the second LBT strategy; wherein the second LBT policy has the same spatial configuration as a preset reference signal resource.

Optionally, the configured usage duration is a time window or a timer duration configured by the base station.

Optionally, the user equipment is a self, and the channel accessed by using the first LBT policy and the channel accessed by using the second LBT policy are both uplink channels.

Optionally, the configured usage duration is obtained from the base station through configuration information carried by at least one of a PDCCH, a MAC-CE, and a higher layer signaling on a physical layer.

Optionally, the first LBT policy is independent of reference signal resources; the second LBT strategy has the same spatial configuration as a preset reference signal resource.

Optionally, the first LBT policy has the same spatial configuration as a preset unique reference signal resource; the second LBT strategy has the same spatial configuration as at least one of a preset plurality of reference signal resources.

Optionally, the first LBT policy is independent of reference signal resources; the second LBT strategy has the same spatial configuration as a preset unique reference signal resource.

Optionally, the first LBT policy is independent of reference signal resources; the second LBT strategy has the same spatial configuration as at least one of a preset plurality of reference signal resources.

Optionally, the preset reference signal resource is one of the following: CSI-RS resources, a set of CSI-RS resources, CSI-RS, TRS resources, a set of TRS resources, TRS, SSB, DRS resources, a set of DRS resources.

Optionally, the base station is a base station, and the channel accessed by using the first LBT policy and the channel accessed by using the second LBT policy are both downlink channels.

Optionally, the configuration method further includes: and the base station sends configuration information to indicate the configured service time of the user equipment.

Optionally, the base station issues the configuration information through at least one of PDCCH, MAC-CE, and higher layer signaling on the physical layer.

Optionally, the channel access priority when accessing using the first LBT policy is followed by falling back to when accessing using a second LBT policy.

A method for configuring an LBT policy in an unlicensed spectrum comprises the following steps: the base station configures and informs the user equipment of the type of the LBT strategy adopted on the specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier, wherein the type of the LBT strategy is obtained by classifying the relation between the spatial configuration based on the preset reference signal resource.

Optionally, the configuration method further includes: the base station configures and informs the user equipment of a valid time period for using the type of LBT policy on the particular NR LAA secondary cell carrier accordingly.

Optionally, the valid time period is characterized by a preset time window or a timer duration.

Optionally, the configuration method further includes: the base station configures and informs the user equipment of the channel access priority using the type of LBT policy on the specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier accordingly.

Optionally, the base station sub-carrier (carrier), sub-carrier part (bandwidth part), or sub-user specific (UE-specific) part configures a type of LBT policy used by the user equipment on a specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier.

Optionally, the base station notifies the user equipment of the configuration information in at least one of the following manners: configuration information loaded on a PDCCH is carried on an authorized main cell carrier or an unauthorized auxiliary cell carrier; configuration information carried by the MAC-CE; configuration information carried by higher layer signaling above the physical layer.

Optionally, the base station configures and informs the user equipment of the type of downlink LBT policy used on a particular NR LAA secondary cell carrier.

Optionally, the base station configures and informs the user equipment of the type of downlink LBT policy used on the specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier as follows: a downlink LBT policy independent of the reference signal resource, or a downlink LBT policy having the same spatial configuration as the preset reference signal resource.

Optionally, the base station configures and informs the user equipment of the type of downlink LBT policy used on the specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier as follows: a downlink LBT policy having the same spatial configuration as a preset unique reference signal resource or a downlink LBT policy having the same spatial configuration as at least one of a preset plurality of reference signal resources.

Optionally, the base station configures and informs the user equipment of the type of downlink LBT policy used on the specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier as follows: a reference signal resource-independent LBT policy for a downlink, a downlink LBT policy having the same spatial configuration as a preset unique reference signal resource, or a downlink LBT policy having the same spatial configuration as at least one of a preset plurality of reference signal resources.

Optionally, the base station configures and informs the user equipment of the type of uplink LBT policy used on a particular NR LAA secondary cell carrier.

Optionally, the base station configures and informs the user equipment of the type of uplink LBT policy used on the specific NR LAA secondary cell as follows: an uplink LBT policy independent of the reference signal resource, or an uplink LBT policy having the same spatial configuration as the preset reference signal resource.

Optionally, the type of the uplink LBT policy configured and notified by the base station to the user equipment to use on the specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier is: an uplink LBT policy having the same spatial configuration as a preset unique reference signal resource or an uplink LBT policy having the same spatial configuration as at least one of a preset plurality of reference signal resources.

Optionally, the base station configures and informs the user equipment of the type of uplink LBT policy used on the specific NR LAA secondary cell as follows: an LBT policy of an uplink independent of a reference signal resource, an uplink LBT policy having a same spatial configuration as a preset unique reference signal resource, or an uplink LBT policy having a same spatial configuration as at least one of a preset plurality of reference signal resources.

A communication device, comprising: a determining unit, adapted to determine whether the communication device itself has failed to access a channel using a first LBT policy within a configured usage duration; a fallback unit adapted to fallback to access using a second LBT policy when the determining unit determines that the communication device itself cannot access using the first LBT policy within the configured usage duration; wherein the second LBT policy has the same spatial configuration as a preset reference signal resource.

Optionally, the communication device is a user equipment, and both a channel accessed by using the first LBT policy and a channel accessed by using the second LBT policy are uplink channels.

Optionally, the communication device is a base station, and both the channel using the first LBT policy and the channel using the second LBT policy are downlink channels.

Optionally, the communication device further comprises: and the sending unit is suitable for sending the configuration information to indicate the configured service time of the user equipment.

Optionally, the sending unit is adapted to issue the configuration information through at least one of PDCCH, MAC-CE, and higher layer signaling above the physical layer.

Optionally, the communication device may continue to use the channel access priority when accessing using the first LBT policy until accessing using the second LBT policy.

A base station, comprising: a configuration unit adapted to configure a type of LBT policy employed by the user equipment on a specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier; a notification unit adapted to notify the user equipment of the information configured by the configuration unit.

Optionally, the configuring unit is further adapted to configure the valid time period for the user equipment to employ the type of LBT policy on the specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier accordingly.

Optionally, the configuring unit is further adapted to configure the channel access priority of the user equipment adopting the type of LBT policy on the specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier accordingly.

Optionally, the configuring unit is adapted to configure the type of LBT policy adopted by the user equipment on a specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier by a carrier (carrier), a sub-carrier part (bandwidth part), or a sub-user-specific (UE-specific) part.

Optionally, the notifying unit is adapted to notify the user equipment of the information configured by the configuring unit in at least one of the following manners: configuration information loaded on a PDCCH is carried on an authorized main cell carrier or an unauthorized auxiliary cell carrier; configuration information carried by the MAC-CE; configuration information carried by higher layer signaling above the physical layer.

Optionally, the configuration unit is adapted to configure and inform the user equipment of the type of downlink LBT strategy employed on a particular NR LAA secondary cell carrier.

Optionally, the configuring unit is adapted to configure the type of downlink LBT policy adopted by the user equipment on the specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier as: a downlink LBT policy independent of the reference signal resource, or a downlink LBT policy having the same spatial configuration as the preset reference signal resource.

Optionally, the configuring unit is adapted to configure the type of downlink LBT policy adopted by the user equipment on the specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier as: a downlink LBT policy having the same spatial configuration as a preset unique reference signal resource or a downlink LBT policy having the same spatial configuration as at least one of a preset plurality of reference signal resources.

Optionally, the configuring unit is adapted to configure the type of downlink LBT policy adopted by the user equipment on the specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier as: a reference signal resource-independent LBT policy for a downlink, a downlink LBT policy having the same spatial configuration as a preset unique reference signal resource, or a downlink LBT policy having the same spatial configuration as at least one of a preset plurality of reference signal resources.

Optionally, the configuring unit is adapted to configure the type of uplink LBT policy employed by the user equipment on a particular NR LAA secondary cell carrier.

Optionally, the configuring unit is adapted to configure the type of uplink LBT policy adopted by the user equipment on the specific NR LAA secondary cell as: an uplink LBT policy independent of the reference signal resource, or an uplink LBT policy having the same spatial configuration as the preset reference signal resource.

Optionally, the configuring unit is adapted to configure the type of uplink LBT policy adopted by the user equipment on the specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier to be: an uplink LBT policy having the same spatial configuration as a preset unique reference signal resource or an uplink LBT policy having the same spatial configuration as at least one of a preset plurality of reference signal resources.

Optionally, the configuring unit is adapted to configure the type of uplink LBT policy adopted by the user equipment on the specific NR LAA secondary cell as: an LBT policy of an uplink independent of a reference signal resource, an uplink LBT policy having a same spatial configuration as a preset unique reference signal resource, or an uplink LBT policy having a same spatial configuration as at least one of a preset plurality of reference signal resources.

A computer readable storage medium, having stored thereon computer instructions adapted to run on a base station or a user equipment, the computer instructions when executed performing the steps of the method for configuring an LBT policy in an unlicensed spectrum according to the above embodiments.

Compared with the prior art, the technical scheme of the embodiment of the invention has the following beneficial effects:

when determining that the first LBT strategy cannot be used for accessing within the configured using time length, returning to the second LBT strategy for accessing, and because the second LBT strategy and the preset reference signal resource have the same spatial configuration, returning to the second LBT strategy for accessing when the first LBT strategy cannot be used for accessing, and concentrating transmission on a channel using the second LBT strategy, the signal coverage range can be expanded, and the signal service quality can be improved.

Since the first LBT policy is a channel independent of the reference signal resource, and the second LBT policy has the same spatial configuration as the preset reference signal resource, the access possibility using the second LBT policy is greater than that using the first LBT policy, and therefore, when the first LBT policy cannot be used for access, the signal coverage range can be expanded by returning to access using the second LBT policy.

Since the first LBT policy has the same spatial configuration as a preset unique reference signal resource, and the second LBT policy has the same spatial configuration as at least one of a plurality of preset reference signal resources, the access probability using the second LBT policy is greater than that using the first LBT policy, and therefore, when the first LBT policy cannot be used for access, the signal coverage can be expanded by returning to access using the second LBT policy.

Since the first LBT policy is a channel independent of reference signal resources, and the second LBT policy has the same spatial configuration as a preset unique reference signal resource, the access probability using the second LBT policy is greater than that using the first LBT policy, and when the access cannot be performed using the first LBT policy, the signal coverage can be expanded by backing to access using the second LBT policy.

Since the first LBT policy is independent of reference signal resources, and the second LBT policy has the same spatial configuration as at least one of a plurality of preset reference signal resources, the access probability using the second LBT policy is greater than that using the first LBT policy, and therefore, when access cannot be performed using the first LBT policy, fallback to access using the second LBT policy can expand signal coverage.

In the embodiment of the invention, the base station configures and informs the user equipment of the type of the LBT strategy adopted on the specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier, and the type of the LBT strategy is obtained by classification based on the relation between the LBT strategy and the spatial configuration of the preset reference signal resource, so that a channel with higher access possibility can be selected for access according to the channel quality, the signal coverage range is expanded, and the signal service quality is improved.

Further, by correspondingly configuring and notifying the effective time period of the type of LBT policy used by the user equipment on the specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier by the base station, when the effective time period of the type of LBT policy is ended and cannot be accessed, the user equipment can be timely switched to a channel using other types of LBT policies for transmission, so that the signal coverage can be expanded, and the signal service quality can be improved.

The base station correspondingly configures and informs the user equipment of using the channel access priority of the type of LBT strategy on the specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier, so that the resource configuration can be further optimized, and the signal service quality is improved.

The base station sub-carrier (carrier), sub-carrier part (bandwidth part) or sub-user specific (UE-specific) part configures the type of LBT policy used by the UE on the specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier, so that the channel resource can be more fully utilized and the utilization rate of the channel resource is improved.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a flowchart of a method for configuring an LBT policy in an unlicensed spectrum according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a flowchart of another method for configuring an LBT policy in an unlicensed spectrum according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device in an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of a base station according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of another base station in the embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

In current LTE LAA/eLAA studies, the LBT procedure does not take into account the direction information. In the embodiment of the present invention, the LBT procedure is adopted in consideration of the direction information. Specifically, the LBT policy used for channel access in the unlicensed spectrum may have the same spatial configuration as the preset reference signal resource, and concentrate transmission in a certain beam (beam) direction. The influence of high-frequency channel fading is great, transmission is concentrated in a certain beam direction, and the coverage range can be improved.

In the embodiment of the present invention, for an unlicensed spectrum, whether a data Channel (including an Uplink Channel and/or a Downlink Channel) or a Control Channel (including a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), at least one of a Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH), a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), and a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PUSCH)) may be used, the communication device (the user equipment or the base station) may use an LBT policy that is independent of a reference signal resource, or may use an LBT policy that has the same spatial configuration as a preset reference signal resource. More specifically, the LBT policy having the same spatial configuration as the preset reference signal resource may be an LBT policy having the same spatial configuration as the preset unique reference signal resource, or an LBT policy having the same spatial configuration as at least one of the preset multiple reference signal resources.

In the NR scenario, data transmission may be based on multiple beams, which may be distinguished by the type and sequence number of Reference Signals (RSs) carrying the beams. The beam directions of the different beams are different. The beam directions in the embodiments of the present invention can be distinguished by spatial configuration of reference signal resources corresponding to corresponding carriers. Specifically, the beam direction in the embodiment of the present invention may be distinguished by spatial configuration (spatial configuration) of resources carrying any one or more of a channel state information Reference Signal (CSI-RS), a channel Sounding Signal (SRS), a Tracking Reference Signal (TRS), a synchronization Signal and broadcast channel Block (SS/PBCH Block, SSB), and a Discovery Reference Signal (DRS).

For example, the PDCCH, PDSCH, PRACH, PUCCH, or PUSCH may be associated with any one or more of the above-mentioned reference signals, and indicate that they have the same spatial configuration (spatial configuration), so that the transmission or reception beam direction thereof may be determined. In addition, the spatial configuration (spatial configuration) of any one of the resources in the reference signal may be associated with the spatial configuration (spatial configuration) of another one of the resources in the reference signal, indicating that they have the same spatial configuration (spatial configuration), and may determine the transmission or reception beam direction. The following directions related to transmission or reception of channels PDCCH, PDSCH, PRACH, PUCCH, PUSCH, uplink transmission, downlink transmission and various reference signals may be determined by their associated CSI-RS resources (or CSI-RS resource set or CSI-RS), TRS resources (or TRS resource set or TRS), SSBs, SRS resources (or SRS resource set or SRS) or DRSs (or DRS resource set).

For clarity and simplicity of description, the LBT policy independent of the reference signal resource is hereinafter referred to as a non-beam-based LBT policy, and the LBT policy having the same spatial configuration as the preset reference signal resource is hereinafter referred to as a beam-based LBT policy. Further, according to the uplink channel and the downlink channel, the uplink LBT policy based on the beam and the downlink LBT policy based on the beam, the non-beam based uplink LBT policy and the non-beam based downlink LBT policy may be divided. According to the beam type based, the beam-based LBT strategy may be further subdivided into a Single-beam (Single-beam) based uplink LBT strategy, a Multi-beam (Multi-beam) based uplink LBT strategy, a Single-beam based downlink LBT strategy, and a Multi-beam based downlink LBT strategy.

In the embodiment of the invention, when the communication equipment adopts one LBT strategy to access the channel in the unlicensed spectrum, the communication equipment can be switched to the channel adopting another LBT strategy to access according to the requirement through the configuration of the LBT strategy so as to expand the signal coverage and improve the signal service quality.

In order to make the aforementioned objects, features and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention more comprehensible, specific embodiments accompanied with figures are described in detail below.

In particular implementations, the manner of the specific handover may employ a Fallback mechanism (Fallback Scheme) or an activation mechanism (otherwise referred to as an indication mechanism).

The fallback mechanism is that when it is determined that the channel cannot be accessed by itself within the configured usage duration using the first LBT policy, the access can be reverted to using the second LBT policy. Wherein the second LBT policy has the same spatial configuration as a preset reference signal resource.

Referring to fig. 1, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for configuring an LBT policy in an unlicensed spectrum, including:

s11, determining whether the self can not access the channel by using the first LBT strategy in the configured using time length, if so, executing the step S12; if not, the flow ends.

In a specific implementation, the base station may configure the duration of using a certain LBT policy, for example, the base station may configure the duration of using a certain LBT policy by configuring a Time Window (Time Window) or a Timer duration (Timer). The time window or the timer may be configured through a higher layer signaling (e.g., Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling) or a Media Access Control-Control Element (MAC-CE) or a PDCCH.

For the downlink, the base station can use the corresponding LBT strategy for channel access within the self-configured use duration, and can directly determine whether the corresponding LBT strategy cannot be used for channel access within the self-configured use duration; for the uplink, the base station may send the configured usage duration using a certain LBT policy to the user equipment, and the user equipment accesses the channel using the corresponding LBT policy within the usage duration, and determines whether the user equipment can not access the channel within the configured usage duration.

In a specific implementation, the configured usage duration may be transmitted to the user equipment in multiple ways, for example, the base station may send the configuration information carried on a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) to the user equipment, may send the configuration information carried on the MAC-CE to the user equipment, and may send the configuration information carried on a higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC signaling) on a Physical layer to the user equipment. For example, the configured usage duration Information may be transmitted through Downlink Control Information (DCI) carried by the PDCCH.

For convenience and clarity of description, different types of LBT strategies are hereinafter distinguished by "first LBT strategy", "second LBT strategy", etc., and "first", "second", etc., do not by themselves define a specific LBT strategy type or characteristic. The specific LBT policy is presented according to the application scenario and feature description or implementation scheme, etc.

S12, fallback to using the second LBT policy for access.

Wherein the second LBT-based channel has the same spatial configuration as a preset reference signal resource.

In a specific implementation, for an uplink, the preset reference signal resource may be one of the following: CSI-RS resource/CSI-RS resource set/CSI-RS, TRS resource/TRS resource set/TRS, SSB or DRS/DRS resource set.

In LTE-LAA, DRS exists for the purpose of user equipment Synchronization or Channel measurement, and in LTE-LAA, DRS may include Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS), Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS), Cell Reference Signal (CRS), and Channel State indication Reference Signal (CSI-RS). In the 5G NR LAA, DRS may be a combination of PSS, SSS, TRS, SSS, PBCH, TRS, PSS, SSS, PBCH, CSI-RS, or a combination of PSS, SSS, PBCH, and CSI-RS, or other reference signal combinations.

In the 5G NR, PSS, SSs, and PBCH together form an SSB, which occupies 4 OFDM symbols in the time domain and 240 subcarriers (20 Physical resource blocks, PRBs) in the frequency domain). For downlink, the preset reference signal resource may be a CSI-RS resource/a CSI-RS resource set/a CSI-RS, a TRS resource/a TRS resource set/a TRS, an SSB, or a DRS/DRS resource/a DRS resource set.

In order to enable those skilled in the art to better understand and implement the embodiments of the present invention, the following detailed description is provided in conjunction with specific application scenarios.

In the following four embodiments, the channel accessed by the user equipment using the first LBT policy and the second LBT policy is configured by the user equipment, and is an Uplink (UL) channel.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the first LBT policy is independent of reference signal resources, i.e. the first LBT policy is a non-beam-based UL LBT policy; the second LBT policy has the same spatial configuration as a preset reference signal resource, that is, the second LBT policy is a beam-based UL LBT policy. Since the influence of fading in a high frequency channel is great, and transmission is concentrated in a certain beam direction, the signal coverage can be enlarged, therefore, in a specific implementation, the following LBT policy configuration method can be adopted to perform the switching of the LBT policy: if the time for the user equipment to use the non-beam-based UL LBT strategy exceeds the use duration configured by the base station (for example, exceeds the maximum value of the time window configured by the base station or the timer expires), the user equipment cannot access the channel all the time, and then the user equipment backs to use the beam-based UL LBT strategy.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the first LBT policy and the preset unique reference signal resource have the same spatial configuration, that is, the first LBT policy is a single beam-based UL LBT policy; the second LBT strategy has the same spatial configuration as at least one of the preset plurality of reference signal resources, i.e. the second LBT strategy is a multi-beam based UL LBT strategy. In specific implementation, the following LBT policy configuration method may be adopted to perform the switching of the LBT policy: and if the time for the user equipment to use the single-beam-based UL LBT strategy exceeds the use duration configured by the base station (for example, exceeds the maximum value of the time window configured by the base station or the timer expires), the user equipment cannot access the channel, and the user equipment backs to use the multi-beam-based UL LBT strategy for channel access. Because the multi-beam-based LBT strategy has a larger coverage area and thus more access possibilities than the single-beam-based LBT strategy, when the single-beam-based UL LBT strategy cannot perform channel access, the multi-beam-based UL LBT strategy is backed off, so that the signal service quality can be improved.

In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the first LBT policy is independent of reference signal resources, i.e. the first LBT policy is a non-beam-based UL LBT policy; the second LBT policy has the same spatial configuration as a preset unique reference signal resource, that is, the second LBT policy is a single beam-based UL LBT policy. In specific implementation, the following LBT policy configuration method may be adopted to perform the switching of the LBT policy: if the time for the user equipment to use the non-beam-based UL LBT strategy exceeds the use duration configured by the base station (for example, exceeds the maximum value of the time window configured by the base station or the timer expires), the user equipment cannot access the channel, and then the user equipment backs to use the single-beam-based UL LBT strategy for channel access. Because the single beam-based LBT policy has a wider coverage area than the non-beam-based LBT policy, when the non-beam-based UL LBT policy cannot be used for channel access, the method backs to the single beam-based UL LBT policy, which has a higher access possibility, so that the signal quality of service can be improved.

In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the first LBT policy is independent of reference signal resources, i.e. the first LBT policy is a non-beam-based UL LBT policy; the second LBT strategy has the same spatial configuration as at least one of the preset plurality of reference signal resources, i.e. the second LBT strategy is a multi-beam based UL LBT strategy. In specific implementation, the following LBT policy configuration method may be adopted to perform the switching of the LBT policy: and if the time for the user equipment to use the non-beam-based UL LBT strategy exceeds the use duration configured by the base station (for example, exceeds the maximum value of a time window configured by the base station or a timer expires), the user equipment cannot access the channel, and the user equipment backs to use the multi-beam-based UL LBT strategy for channel access. Because the multi-beam-based LBT strategy has a wider coverage range than the non-beam-based LBT strategy, when the non-beam-based UL LBT strategy cannot be used for channel access, the multi-beam-based UL LBT strategy is backed to, so that the access possibility is higher, and the signal service quality can be improved.

In the following four embodiments, the base station configures that both the channel accessed by using the first LBT policy and the channel accessed by using the second LBT policy are downlink channels. Correspondingly, the base station sends configuration information to indicate the configured service time of the user equipment. In a specific implementation, the base station may issue the configuration information through at least one of PDCCH, MAC-CE, and higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC signaling) above the physical layer. The configured usage duration information may be transmitted through DCI carried by the PDCCH.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the first LBT policy is independent of reference signal resources, i.e. the first LBT policy is a non-beam-based DL LBT policy; the second LBT policy has the same spatial configuration as a preset reference signal resource, that is, the second LBT policy is a beam-based DL LBT policy. In a specific implementation, if the time that the base station uses the non-beam-based DL LBT policy exceeds the usage duration configured by the base station (e.g., exceeds the maximum time window configured by the base station or the timer expires) and the channel cannot be accessed, the base station falls back to using the beam-based DL LBT policy.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the first LBT policy and the preset unique reference signal resource have the same spatial configuration, that is, the first LBT policy is a DL LBT policy based on a single beam; the second LBT strategy has the same spatial configuration as at least one of the preset plurality of reference signal resources, i.e. the second LBT strategy is a multi-beam based DL LBT strategy. In specific implementation, the following LBT policy configuration method may be adopted to perform the switching of the LBT policy: and if the time for the base station to use the single-beam-based DL LBT strategy exceeds the use duration configured by the base station (for example, exceeds the maximum value of the time window configured by the base station or the timer expires), the base station cannot access the channel, and the base station backs to use the multi-beam-based DL LBT strategy for channel access. Because the multi-beam based LBT strategy has a larger coverage area and thus more access possibilities than the single-beam based LBT strategy, when the single-beam based DL LBT strategy cannot perform channel access, the signal service quality can be improved by backing to the multi-beam based DL LBT strategy.

In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the first LBT policy is independent of reference signal resources, i.e. the first LBT policy is a non-beam-based DL LBT policy; the second LBT policy has the same spatial configuration as a preset unique reference signal resource, that is, the second LBT policy is a DL LBT policy based on a single beam. In specific implementation, the following LBT policy configuration method may be adopted to perform the switching of the LBT policy: and if the time for the base station to use the non-beam-based DL LBT strategy exceeds the use duration configured by the base station (for example, the time exceeds the maximum value of the time window configured by the base station or the timer expires), the base station cannot access the channel, and the base station backs to use the single-beam-based DL LBT strategy for channel access. Because the single beam-based LBT strategy has a wider coverage area than the non-beam-based LBT strategy, when the non-beam-based DL LBT strategy cannot be used for channel access, the method backs to the single beam-based DL LBT strategy, so that the access possibility is higher, and the signal service quality can be improved.

In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the first LBT policy is independent of reference signal resources, i.e. the first LBT policy is a non-beam-based DL LBT policy; the second LBT strategy has the same spatial configuration as at least one of the preset plurality of reference signal resources, i.e. the second LBT strategy is a multi-beam based DL LBT strategy. In specific implementation, the following LBT policy configuration method may be adopted to perform the switching of the LBT policy: and if the time for the base station to use the non-beam-based DL LBT strategy exceeds the use duration configured by the base station (for example, exceeds the maximum value of a time window configured by the base station or a timer expires), the base station cannot access the channel, and the base station backs to use the multi-beam-based DL LBT strategy for channel access. Because the multi-beam-based LBT strategy has a wider coverage range than the non-beam-based LBT strategy, when the channel access cannot be performed by using the non-beam-based DL LBT strategy, the channel access method backs to the multi-beam-based DL LBT strategy, so that the access possibility is higher, and the signal service quality can be improved.

In the above embodiments, falling back to using the second LBT policy for access may be to follow the channel access priority when accessing using the first LBT policy.

In the above, a method for performing LBT policy handover in an unlicensed spectrum by using a fallback mechanism is introduced through a specific embodiment, and in a specific implementation, an activation mechanism (indication mechanism) may also be used to directly configure an LBT policy in an unlicensed spectrum. The following describes a configuration method for performing LBT policy handover in an unlicensed spectrum by an activation mechanism (indication mechanism) according to a specific embodiment and an application scenario with reference to the drawings.

Referring to fig. 2, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for configuring an LBT policy in an unlicensed spectrum, including:

s21, the base station configures the type of LBT policy employed by the user equipment on the particular NR LAA secondary cell carrier.

Wherein the type of the LBT policy can be classified based on a relationship with a preset spatial configuration of reference signal resources. For example, the LBT policy may be a non-beam-based LBT policy or a beam-based LBT policy, and the LBT policy types may be divided into a beam-based uplink LBT policy and a beam-based downlink LBT policy, a non-beam-based uplink LBT policy and a non-beam-based downlink LBT policy according to an uplink channel and a downlink channel. According to the beam type based, the beam-based LBT strategy may be further subdivided into a Single-beam (Single-beam) based uplink LBT strategy, a Multi-beam (Multi-beam) based uplink LBT strategy, a Single-beam based downlink LBT strategy, and a Multi-beam based downlink LBT strategy.

S22, the base station informs the user equipment of the type information of the configured LBT policy to be adopted on the specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier.

The base station configures and informs the user equipment of the type of the LBT strategy adopted on the specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier, and the type of the LBT strategy can be obtained by classifying the relation between the spatial configuration based on the preset reference signal resource, so that a channel with higher access possibility can be selected according to the channel quality for access, the signal coverage range is expanded, and the signal service quality is improved.

In a specific implementation, the base station may further configure and notify the ue in the specific NR LAA secondary cell accordinglyAn effective time period on the carrier for employing the type of LBT policy. The valid period of time may pass through a predetermined time window (T)_w) Or a Timer duration (Timer) characterization.

In a specific implementation, the base station may further configure and notify the user equipment of a channel access priority for adopting the type of LBT policy on the specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier.

In a specific implementation, to fully utilize channel resources and improve channel resource utilization, the base station may configure the type of LBT policy that the UE employs on a specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier by using a carrier (carrier), a sub-carrier part (bandwidth part), or a UE-specific part.

In a specific implementation, the configuration information may be uniformly sent to the ue through one message, or may be sent to the ue through different messages, or part of the configuration information may be sent to the ue through the same message, and part of the configuration information may be sent to the ue separately.

In particular implementations, the base station may inform the user device of the configuration information in a variety of ways. For example, the configuration information may be notified to the user equipment in at least one of the following ways:

notifying DCI carried on a PDCCH to user equipment on a Licensed primary cell carrier (Licensed Pcell carrier) or an unlicensed secondary cell carrier (unlicensed Scell carrier);

the configuration information is carried and notified to the user equipment through the MAC-CE;

the configuration information notification is carried by higher layer signaling above the physical layer (e.g., RRC signaling) to the user equipment.

The following is described in detail by specific application scenarios.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the base station may configure and notify the user equipment of the type of DL LBT policy adopted on a specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the type of the downlink LBT policy configured and notified by the base station to the user equipment on the specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier is: a DL LBT policy independent of the reference signal resource (i.e., a non-beam-based DL LBT policy), or a downlink LBT policy having the same spatial configuration as the preset reference signal resource (i.e., a beam-based DL LBT policy).

In a specific implementation, when the DCI information of the PDCCH is used for carrying, the indicated DL LBT policy Type may be characterized by CIF field information and a Channel Access Type (Channel Access Type) field therein. Wherein, the CIF field is 0 bit or 3 bit, if not Cross Carrier Scheduling (Cross Carrier Scheduling), the field may not exist or is 0 bit; the Channel Access Type (Channel Access Type) field may be 1 bit, where a beam-based DL LBT policy may be represented by 0 and a non-beam-based DL LBT policy may be represented by 1 (as those skilled in the art will understand, vice versa, and other identifiers may be used for characterization).

In another embodiment of the present invention, the type of the downlink LBT policy that the base station configures and notifies the user equipment to adopt on the specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier is: a downlink LBT strategy having the same spatial configuration as a preset unique reference signal resource (i.e., a single beam-based DL LBT strategy), or a downlink LBT strategy having the same spatial configuration as at least one of a preset plurality of reference signal resources (i.e., a multi-beam-based DL LBT strategy).

In a specific implementation, when the DCI information of the PDCCH is used for carrying, the indicated DL LBT policy Type may be characterized by CIF field information and a Channel Access Type (Channel Access Type) field therein. Wherein, the CIF field is 0 bit or 3 bit, if not Cross Carrier Scheduling (Cross Carrier Scheduling), the field may not exist or is 0 bit; the Channel Access Type (Channel Access Type) field may be 1 bit, where 0 may be used to indicate a DL LBT policy based on a single beam and 1 may be used to indicate a DL LBT policy based on a multi-beam (it will be understood by those skilled in the art that, conversely, other identifiers may be used for characterization).

In another embodiment of the present invention, the type of the downlink LBT policy that the base station configures and notifies the user equipment to use on the specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier is: a downlink LBT policy independent of the reference signal resource (i.e., a non-beam-based DL LBT policy), a downlink LBT policy having the same spatial configuration as a preset unique reference signal resource (i.e., a single-beam-based DL LBT policy), or a downlink LBT policy having the same spatial configuration as at least one of a preset plurality of reference signal resources (i.e., a multi-beam-based DL LBT policy).

In a specific implementation, when the DCI information of the PDCCH is used for carrying, the indicated DL LBT policy Type may be characterized by CIF field information and a Channel Access Type (Channel Access Type) field therein. Wherein, the CIF field is 0 bit or 3 bit, if not Cross Carrier Scheduling (Cross Carrier Scheduling), the field may not exist or is 0 bit; the Channel Access Type (Channel Access Type) field may be 2 bits, and for example, the DL LBT policy based on a single beam may be represented by 00, the DL LBT policy based on a multi-beam may be represented by 01, and the DL LBT policy based on a non-beam may be represented by 10. Those skilled in the art will understand that the above rules are not necessarily adopted for setting, as long as different DL LBT policy types can be distinguished.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the base station may configure and notify the user equipment of the type of the UL LBT policy adopted on a specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the type of the uplink LBT policy configured and notified by the base station to the user equipment on the specific NR LAA secondary cell is: an uplink LBT policy independent of the reference signal resource (i.e., a non-beam-based UL LBT policy), or an uplink LBT policy having the same spatial configuration as the preset reference signal resource (i.e., a beam-based UL LBT policy).

In a specific implementation, when the DCI information of the PDCCH is used for carrying, the indicated UL LBT policy Type may be characterized by CIF field information and a Channel Access Type (Channel Access Type) field therein. Wherein, the CIF field is 0 bit or 3 bit, if not Cross Carrier Scheduling (Cross Carrier Scheduling), the field may not exist or is 0 bit; the Channel Access Type (Channel Access Type) field may be 1 bit, where 0 may be used to indicate the non-beam-based UL LBT policy and 1 may be used to indicate the beam-based UL LBT policy (it will be understood by those skilled in the art that, conversely, other identifiers may be used for characterization).

In another embodiment of the present invention, the type of the uplink LBT policy configured and informed by the base station to the user equipment on the specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier is: an uplink LBT policy having the same spatial configuration as a preset unique reference signal resource (i.e., a single beam-based UL LBT policy), or an uplink LBT policy having the same spatial configuration as at least one of a preset plurality of reference signal resources (i.e., a multi-beam-based UL LBT policy).

In a specific implementation, when the DCI information of the PDCCH is used for carrying, the indicated UL LBT policy Type may be characterized by CIF field information and a Channel Access Type (Channel Access Type) field therein. Wherein, the CIF field is 0 bit or 3 bit, if not Cross Carrier Scheduling (Cross Carrier Scheduling), the field may not exist or is 0 bit; the Channel Access Type (Channel Access Type) field may be 1 bit, where 0 may be used to indicate a single beam based UL LBT policy and 1 may be used to indicate a multi-beam based UL LBT policy (it will be understood by those skilled in the art that, vice versa, other identifiers may be used for characterization).

In another embodiment of the present invention, the type of the uplink LBT policy configured and informed by the base station to the user equipment on the specific NR LAA secondary cell is: an uplink LBT policy that is independent of the reference signal resource (i.e., a non-beam-based UL LBT policy), an uplink LBT policy that has the same spatial configuration as a preset unique reference signal resource (i.e., a single-beam-based UL LBT policy), or an uplink LBT policy that has the same spatial configuration as at least one of a preset plurality of reference signal resources (i.e., a multi-beam-based UL LBT policy).

In a specific implementation, when the DCI information of the PDCCH is used for carrying, the indicated UL LBT policy Type may be characterized by CIF field information and a Channel Access Type (Channel Access Type) field therein. Wherein, the CIF field is 0 bit or 3 bit, if not Cross Carrier Scheduling (Cross Carrier Scheduling), the field may not exist or is 0 bit; the Channel Access Type (Channel Access Type) field may be 2 bits, and for example, 00 may be used to indicate a single beam-based UL LBT policy, 01 may be used to indicate a multi-beam-based UL LBT policy, and 10 may be used to indicate a non-beam-based UL LBT policy. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the above rules are not necessarily adopted for setting, as long as different UL LBT policy types can be distinguished.

In order that those skilled in the art may better understand and implement the embodiments of the present invention, some specific LBT strategies are described below by way of specific examples.

The non-beam-based DL LBT strategy employed in an embodiment of the present invention is as follows: at a predetermined transmission delay T_dAfter detecting that the channel is idle for the first time in the time slot of (1), and after the counter N is 0 in the following step 4), the base station (eNB) may transmit a transmission information including a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH)/a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH)/an Enhanced Physical Downlink Control Channel (EPDCCH) on a carrier for transmitting information in the LAA secondary cell. The counter N may be corrected by detecting a channel for an additional slot duration according to the following steps:

1) setting N as N_initIn which N is_initIs uniformly distributed in the range of 0 to CW_pAnd performing step 4);

2) if N is more than 0, the base station selects the counter to be decreased by one, and sets N to be N-1;

3) detecting a channel for an additional time slice and if the additional time slice is free, performing step 4); otherwise, executing step 5);

4) if N is equal to 0, stopping execution; otherwise step 2) is performed.

5) Detecting the channel until an additional time delay T_dIn which a busy time slot is detected, or in which the extra delay T is detected_dAll time slots in the system are in an idle state;

6) if the channel is at the extra delay T_dAll time slots in the system are in an idle state, and step 4) is executed; otherwise, executing step 5);

after step 4) in the above procedure, if the base station does not transmit a transmission information containing PDSCH/PDCCH/EPDCCH on the carrier of LAA secondary cell transmission information transmission, then if the base station is ready to transmit the transmission information containing PDSCH/PDCCH/EPDCCH in at least one slot duration (T) T_slDetecting that the channel is free and a time delay T before this transmission_dIf the channels are detected to be idle in all time slots, the base station can transmit transmission information containing PDSCH/PDCCH/EPDCCH on the carrier; when the base station is ready to detect the channel for the first time after transmission, if the channel is in a time slice T_slWithout detection of idle, or a time delay T before this transmission_dIs not idle, the base station detects that the channel is in the time delay T_dIs free in all time slots of (1) is performed.

In particular implementation, the time delay T_dFrom m_pA continuous time slice T_slAnd a time delay T following it_fThe composition is as follows: t is_d＝m_p*T_sl+T_fWherein, T_sl＝9μs，T_f16 mus, and T_fAt the beginning, an idle time slice T is included_sl. If the base station is in a time slice T_slDetecting the channel internally, if the power detected by the base station is less than the power detection threshold X by at least 4 mu s_ThreshThen it is considered in time slice T_slThe channel is idle; otherwise, the channel is considered to be in the time slice T_slBusy.

Wherein CW_pCW as a contention window_min,p≤CW_p≤CW_max,p，CW_pThe adjustment can be made using subclause 15.1.3 described in LTE-LAA. CW_min,pAnd CW_max,pIt may be selected before step 1) above.

m_p、CW_min,pAnd CW_max,pMay be based on communicating information with the base stationThe associated channel access priority settings are shown in table 1.

X_ThreshSee the description of subclause 15.1.4 of LTE-LAA, which is not repeated.

In the above procedure, when N > 0, if Discovery Reference Signal (DRS) transmission information transmitted by the base station does not include PDSCH/PDCCH/EPDCCH, N is not reduced for a time slice overlapping the discovery signal transmission information.

If T as shown in Table 1 is exceeded_mcot,pAfter a period of time, the base station does not adopt the carrier wave carrying the transmission information of the LAA secondary cell for continuous transmission.

When p-3 and p-4, T is equal to T if no other technology can be guaranteed to share the carrier for a long period of time (e.g., regular degree)_mcot,p10ms, otherwise, T_mcot,p＝8ms。

TABLE 1 channel Access priority

The embodiment of the present invention further provides another LBT policy, which may be referred to as single use (One Shot) LBT, and the following description takes a DRS that does not include a PDSCH as an example.

At least one detection duration T when channel idle is detected_drsAfter 25 μ s and provided that the transmission delay is less than 1ms, the base station may immediately transmit transmission information including a discovery signal (DRS) on a carrier carrying LAA secondary cell transmission information, but the DRS does not include a PDSCH. T is_drsBy a single time delay T_sl9 mus and T immediately after_f16 mus, and T_fIncluding an idle time slice T in the start segment_sl. If at T_drsIs detected to be idle, namely the channel is considered to be in T_drsAnd (4) idle in.

The non-beam-based UL LBT strategy adopted in the embodiment of the invention can be a UL LBT strategy provided in LTE-LAA, the implementation mode is similar to the non-beam-based DL LBT strategy, the implementation mode can be realized by referring to LTE-LAA protocol, and the description is not repeated. It should be noted that specific parameter values of parameters appearing in the configuration in LTE are merely exemplary descriptions, and the present invention is not limited thereto, and in the case of satisfying the above similar rules, values of related parameters are other parameter values, which also belongs to the protection scope of the present invention.

The beam-based LBT policy for unlicensed spectrum in the embodiment of the present invention may be set in a manner similar to the beam-based transmission scheme in 5G NR. On the unlicensed spectrum, a DL beam management procedure and an UL beam management procedure may be set.

Specifically, for downlink DL beam management, it is possible to indicate whether all CSI-RS resources within a corresponding CSI-RS resource set use the same transmission beam (or referred to as the same spatial configuration) by setting repetition on/off configuration information (repetition on/off) in signaling for each of one or more CSI-RS resource sets (which contain a plurality of CSI-RS resources) by transmitting the set. Where on corresponds to using the same transmission beam and off corresponds to using a different transmission beam.

Uplink UL beam management may be achieved by triggering one or more SRS resource sets or multiple SRS resources. Wherein, the transmission beam of each SRS resource can be derived by uniquely assigning a corresponding downlink CSI-RS resource by the base station. The specific implementation method may be that the user equipment is configured to receive a transmission beam corresponding to a reception beam of the designated CSI-RS resource as a transmission beam of the corresponding SRS resource. In addition, the transmission beam for each SRS resource can be derived by uniquely assigning a corresponding SRS resource by the base station, wherein the assigned SRS resource corresponds to the last transmission.

The embodiment of the present invention further provides a communication device corresponding to the configuration method, and the following detailed description is made by using specific embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Referring to the schematic structural diagram of the communication device shown in fig. 3, the communication device 30 according to the embodiment of the present invention may include:

a determining unit 31 adapted to determine whether the communication device 30 itself has been unable to access the channel using the first LBT policy within the configured usage duration;

a fallback unit 32, adapted to fallback to access using a second LBT policy when the determining unit 31 determines that the communication device 30 itself cannot access using the first LBT policy within the configured usage duration;

wherein the second LBT policy has the same spatial configuration as a preset reference signal resource.

In a specific implementation, the configured usage duration may be a time window configured by the base station or a timer duration.

In a specific implementation, the communication device may be a user equipment, and both a channel accessed using the first LBT policy and a channel accessed using the second LBT policy are uplink channels.

In a specific implementation, the configured usage duration may be obtained in various manners, for example, the configuration information carried in at least one manner of PDCCH, MAC-CE, and higher layer signaling (such as RRC signaling) above the physical layer may be obtained from the base station.

The following embodiments provide unlicensed spectrum LBT policy configuration for user equipment.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the first LBT policy is independent of reference signal resources; the second LBT strategy has the same spatial configuration as a preset reference signal resource.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the first LBT policy has the same spatial configuration as a preset unique reference signal resource; the second LBT strategy has the same spatial configuration as at least one of a preset plurality of reference signal resources.

In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the first LBT policy is independent of reference signal resources; the second LBT strategy has the same spatial configuration as a preset unique reference signal resource.

In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the first LBT policy is independent of reference signal resources; the second LBT strategy has the same spatial configuration as at least one of a preset plurality of reference signal resources.

In a specific implementation, the preset reference signal resource may be one of the following: CSI-RS resources, a set of CSI-RS resources, CSI-RS, TRS resources, a set of TRS resources, TRS, SSB, DRS resources, a set of DRS resources.

In a specific implementation, the communication device may also be a base station, and the channel accessed using the first LBT policy and the channel accessed using the second LBT policy are both downlink channels.

In a specific implementation, as shown in fig. 4, a base station 40 in the embodiment of the present invention may include a determining unit 41 and a fallback unit 42, and the functions and the specific implementation of the determining unit and the fallback unit may refer to the communication device described in the foregoing embodiment, which is not described again. In addition, the method can also comprise the following steps: a sending unit 43 adapted to issue configuration information indicating the configured duration of use of the user equipment. Specifically, the transmitting unit 43 may issue the configuration information through at least one of PDCCH, MAC-CE, and higher layer signaling (e.g. RRC signaling) above the physical layer.

The following describes the configuration of the LBT policy in the unlicensed spectrum by the base station.

In yet another embodiment of the invention, the first LBT strategy is independent of reference signal resources; the second LBT strategy has the same spatial configuration as at least one of a preset plurality of reference signal resources.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the communication device (base station or user equipment) may continue to use the channel access priority when accessing using the first LBT policy after returning to access using the second LBT policy.

The embodiment of the present invention further provides a base station corresponding to the above-mentioned indication mechanism, and referring to the schematic structural diagram of the base station shown in fig. 5, a base station 50 in an embodiment of the present invention includes:

a configuration unit 51 adapted to configure the type of LBT policy adopted by the user equipment on a specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier; the type of the LBT strategy is obtained by classifying based on the relation between the LBT strategy and the spatial configuration of a preset reference signal resource;

a notifying unit 52 adapted to notify the user equipment of the information configured by the configuration unit 51.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the configuring unit may further configure the valid time period for the user equipment to use the type of LBT policy on the specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier accordingly. In a specific implementation, the valid time period may be characterized by a preset time window or a timer duration.

In a specific implementation, the configuring unit 51 is further adapted to configure the channel access priority of the user equipment adopting the type of LBT policy on the specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier accordingly.

In a specific implementation, to fully utilize the channel resources, the configuring unit 51 may configure the type of LBT policy adopted by the ue on a specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier by carrier, carrier component, or user specific component.

In a specific implementation, the notifying unit 52 is adapted to notify the user equipment of the information configured by the configuring unit in at least one of the following manners:

configuration information loaded on a PDCCH is carried on an authorized main cell carrier or an unauthorized auxiliary cell carrier;

configuration information carried by the MAC-CE;

configuration information carried by higher layer signaling above the physical layer.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the configuring unit 51 is adapted to configure and inform the user equipment of the type of downlink LBT policy employed on a specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier.

For example, the configuration unit 51 is adapted to configure the type of downlink LBT policy adopted by the user equipment on a specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier to be: a downlink LBT policy independent of the reference signal resource, or a downlink LBT policy having the same spatial configuration as the preset reference signal resource.

Or, for example, the configuring unit 51 is adapted to configure the type of downlink LBT policy adopted by the user equipment on the specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier to be: a downlink LBT policy having the same spatial configuration as a preset unique reference signal resource or a downlink LBT policy having the same spatial configuration as at least one of a preset plurality of reference signal resources.

As another example, the configuration unit 51 is adapted to configure the type of downlink LBT policy adopted by the user equipment on the specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier to be: a reference signal resource-independent LBT policy for a downlink, a downlink LBT policy having the same spatial configuration as a preset unique reference signal resource, or a downlink LBT policy having the same spatial configuration as at least one of a preset plurality of reference signal resources.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the configuring unit 51 is also adapted to configure the type of uplink LBT policy adopted by the user equipment on a specific NRLAA secondary cell carrier.

For example, the configuration unit 51 is adapted to configure the type of uplink LBT policy adopted by the user equipment on a specific NR LAA secondary cell as follows: an uplink LBT policy independent of the reference signal resource, or an uplink LBT policy having the same spatial configuration as the preset reference signal resource.

Or, for example, the configuring unit 51 is adapted to configure the type of the uplink LBT policy adopted by the user equipment on the specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier to be: an uplink LBT policy having the same spatial configuration as a preset unique reference signal resource or an uplink LBT policy having the same spatial configuration as at least one of a preset plurality of reference signal resources.

As another example, the configuration unit 51 is adapted to configure the type of uplink LBT policy adopted by the user equipment on the specific NR LAA secondary cell as: an LBT policy of an uplink independent of a reference signal resource, an uplink LBT policy having a same spatial configuration as a preset unique reference signal resource, or an uplink LBT policy having a same spatial configuration as at least one of a preset plurality of reference signal resources.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a computer-readable storage medium, where a computer instruction is stored, and the computer instruction can be executed on a base station or a user equipment, and when the computer instruction is executed, the step of the method for configuring an LBT policy in an unlicensed spectrum according to any of the above embodiments is executed.

Although the present invention is disclosed above, the present invention is not limited thereto. Various changes and modifications may be effected therein by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for configuring an LBT policy in an unlicensed spectrum, comprising:

when determining that the channel can not be accessed all the time by using the first LBT strategy within the configured using time, returning to access by using the second LBT strategy; wherein the second LBT policy has the same spatial configuration as a preset reference signal resource.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the configured duration of use is a time window or a timer duration configured by a base station.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the base station is a user equipment, and the channel accessed using the first LBT policy and the channel accessed using the second LBT policy are both uplink channels.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the configured duration of use is obtained from the base station through configuration information carried in at least one of a PDCCH, a MAC-CE, and a higher layer signaling above a physical layer.

5. The method of configuring an LBT policy in unlicensed spectrum according to claim 3, wherein the first LBT policy is independent of reference signal resources; the second LBT strategy has the same spatial configuration as a preset reference signal resource.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein the first LBT policy has the same spatial configuration as a preset unique reference signal resource; the second LBT strategy has the same spatial configuration as at least one of a preset plurality of reference signal resources.

7. The method of configuring an LBT policy in unlicensed spectrum according to claim 3, wherein the first LBT policy is independent of reference signal resources; the second LBT strategy has the same spatial configuration as a preset unique reference signal resource.

8. The method of configuring an LBT policy in unlicensed spectrum according to claim 3, wherein the first LBT policy is independent of reference signal resources; the second LBT strategy has the same spatial configuration as at least one of a preset plurality of reference signal resources.

9. The method for configuring the LBT policy in the unlicensed spectrum according to any one of claims 3-8, wherein the predetermined reference signal resource is one of: CSI-RS resources, a set of CSI-RS resources, CSI-RS, TRS resources, a set of TRS resources, TRS, SSB, DRS resources, a set of DRS resources.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the base station is the self, and the channel accessed by using the first LBT policy and the channel accessed by using the second LBT policy are both downlink channels.

11. The method for configuring LBT policy in unlicensed spectrum according to claim 10, further comprising: and the base station sends configuration information to indicate the configured service time of the user equipment.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the base station issues the configuration information through at least one of PDCCH, MAC-CE, and higher layer signaling over physical layer.

13. The method of configuring the LBT policy in the unlicensed spectrum of claim 10, wherein the first LBT policy is independent of reference signal resources; the second LBT strategy has the same spatial configuration as a preset reference signal resource.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the first LBT policy has the same spatial configuration as a preset unique reference signal resource; the second LBT strategy has the same spatial configuration as at least one of a preset plurality of reference signal resources.

15. The method of configuring the LBT policy in the unlicensed spectrum of claim 10, wherein the first LBT policy is independent of reference signal resources; the second LBT strategy has the same spatial configuration as a preset unique reference signal resource.

16. The method of configuring the LBT policy in the unlicensed spectrum of claim 10, wherein the first LBT policy is independent of reference signal resources; the second LBT strategy has the same spatial configuration as at least one of a preset plurality of reference signal resources.

17. The method of any of claims 10-16, wherein the predetermined reference signal resource is one of the following: CSI-RS resources, a set of CSI-RS resources, CSI-RS, TRS resources, a set of TRS resources, TRS, SSB, DRS resources, a set of DRS resources.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein fallback to access using a second LBT policy is to follow a channel access priority when accessing using the first LBT policy.

19. A method for configuring an LBT policy in an unlicensed spectrum, comprising:

the base station configures and informs the user equipment of the type of the LBT strategy adopted on the specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier, wherein the type of the LBT strategy is obtained by classifying the relation between the spatial configuration based on the preset reference signal resource.

20. The method for configuring LBT policy in unlicensed spectrum according to claim 19, further comprising: the base station configures and informs the user equipment of a valid time period for using the type of LBT policy on the particular NR LAA secondary cell carrier accordingly.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the valid period is characterized by a predetermined time window or a timer duration.

22. The method for configuring LBT policy in unlicensed spectrum according to claim 19, further comprising: the base station configures and informs the user equipment of the channel access priority using the type of LBT policy on the specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier accordingly.

23. The method of configuring LBT policies in unlicensed spectrum according to any of claims 19-22, wherein the base station configures per-carrier, per-carrier or per-user specific part of the type of LBT policies used by the user equipment on a specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier.

24. The method for configuring LBT policy in unlicensed spectrum according to any of claims 19-22, wherein the base station notifies the user equipment of configuration information in at least one of the following ways:

configuration information carried by the MAC-CE;

25. The method of configuring LBT policies in unlicensed spectrum according to any of claims 19-22, wherein the base station configures and informs the user equipment of the type of downlink LBT policies used on a specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the base station configures and informs the user equipment of the type of downlink LBT policy used on a specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier as follows: a downlink LBT policy independent of the reference signal resource, or a downlink LBT policy having the same spatial configuration as the preset reference signal resource.

27. The method of claim 25, wherein the base station configures and informs the user equipment of the type of downlink LBT policy used on a specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier as follows: a downlink LBT policy having the same spatial configuration as a preset unique reference signal resource or a downlink LBT policy having the same spatial configuration as at least one of a preset plurality of reference signal resources.

28. The method of claim 25, wherein the base station configures and informs the user equipment of the type of downlink LBT policy used on a specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier as follows: a reference signal resource-independent LBT policy for a downlink, a downlink LBT policy having the same spatial configuration as a preset unique reference signal resource, or a downlink LBT policy having the same spatial configuration as at least one of a preset plurality of reference signal resources.

29. The method of configuring LBT policies in unlicensed spectrum according to any of claims 19-22, wherein the base station configures and informs the user equipment of the type of uplink LBT policy used on a specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the base station configures and informs the user equipment of the type of uplink LBT policy used on a specific NR LAA secondary cell as follows: an uplink LBT policy independent of the reference signal resource, or an uplink LBT policy having the same spatial configuration as the preset reference signal resource.

31. The method of claim 29, wherein the base station configures and informs the user equipment of the type of uplink LBT policy used on a specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier as follows: an uplink LBT policy having the same spatial configuration as a preset unique reference signal resource or an uplink LBT policy having the same spatial configuration as at least one of a preset plurality of reference signal resources.

32. The method of claim 29, wherein the base station configures and informs the user equipment of the type of uplink LBT policy used on a specific NR LAA secondary cell as follows: an LBT policy of an uplink independent of a reference signal resource, an uplink LBT policy having a same spatial configuration as a preset unique reference signal resource, or an uplink LBT policy having a same spatial configuration as at least one of a preset plurality of reference signal resources.

33. A communication device, comprising:

a determining unit, adapted to determine whether the communication device itself has failed to access a channel using a first LBT policy within a configured usage duration;

a fallback unit adapted to fallback to access using a second LBT policy when the determining unit determines that the communication device itself cannot access using the first LBT policy within the configured usage duration;

34. The communications device of claim 33, wherein the configured usage duration is a time window or a timer duration configured by a base station.

35. The communications device of claim 33, wherein the communications device is a user equipment, and wherein the channel accessed using the first LBT policy and the channel accessed using the second LBT policy are both uplink channels.

36. The communications device of claim 35, wherein the configured duration of use is obtained from a base station via configuration information carried by at least one of PDCCH, MAC-CE, and higher layer signaling over the physical layer.

37. The communications device of claim 35, wherein the first LBT policy is independent of reference signal resources; the second LBT strategy has the same spatial configuration as a preset reference signal resource.

38. The communications device of claim 35, wherein the first LBT policy has the same spatial configuration as a preset unique reference signal resource; the second LBT strategy has the same spatial configuration as at least one of a preset plurality of reference signal resources.

39. The communications device of claim 35, wherein the first LBT policy is independent of reference signal resources; the second LBT strategy has the same spatial configuration as a preset unique reference signal resource.

40. The communications device of claim 35, wherein the first LBT policy is independent of reference signal resources; the second LBT strategy has the same spatial configuration as at least one of a preset plurality of reference signal resources.

41. The communication device according to any of claims 35-40, wherein the preset reference signal resource is one of: CSI-RS resources, a set of CSI-RS resources, CSI-RS, TRS resources, a set of TRS resources, TRS, SSB, DRS resources, a set of DRS resources.

42. The communications device of claim 33, wherein the communications device is a base station, and wherein the channel using the first LBT policy and the channel using the second LBT policy are both downlink channels.

43. The communications device of claim 42, further comprising: and the sending unit is suitable for sending the configuration information to indicate the configured service time of the user equipment.

44. The communications device of claim 43, wherein the transmitting unit is adapted to transmit the configuration information through at least one of PDCCH, MAC-CE, and higher layer signaling above a physical layer.

45. The communications device of claim 42, wherein said first LBT policy is independent of reference signal resources; the second LBT strategy has the same spatial configuration as a preset reference signal resource.

46. The communications device of claim 42, wherein the first LBT policy has the same spatial configuration as a preset unique reference signal resource; the second LBT strategy has the same spatial configuration as at least one of a preset plurality of reference signal resources.

47. The communications device of claim 42, wherein said first LBT policy is independent of reference signal resources; the second LBT strategy has the same spatial configuration as a preset unique reference signal resource.

48. The communications device of claim 42, wherein said first LBT policy is independent of reference signal resources; the second LBT strategy has the same spatial configuration as at least one of a preset plurality of reference signal resources.

49. The communications device of any one of claims 42-48, wherein the predetermined reference signal resource is one of: CSI-RS resources, a set of CSI-RS resources, CSI-RS, TRS resources, a set of TRS resources, TRS, SSB, DRS resources, a set of DRS resources.

50. The communications device of claim 33, wherein the communications device backs down to a channel access priority when accessing using a second LBT policy when accessing using the first LBT policy.

51. A base station, comprising:

a configuration unit adapted to configure a type of LBT policy employed by the user equipment on a specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier; the type of the LBT strategy is obtained by classifying based on the relation between the LBT strategy and the spatial configuration of a preset reference signal resource;

a notification unit adapted to notify the user equipment of the information configured by the configuration unit.

52. The base station according to claim 51, wherein said configuring unit is further adapted to configure the valid time period for said user equipment to employ said type of LBT policy on said specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier accordingly.

53. The base station of claim 52, wherein the valid period is characterized by a predetermined time window or timer duration.

54. The base station according to claim 51, wherein said configuring unit is further adapted to configure the channel access priority of the user equipment employing the type of LBT policy on the specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier accordingly.

55. The base station according to any of claims 51-54, wherein said configuring unit is adapted to configure the type of LBT strategy adopted by said user equipment on a specific NRLAA secondary cell carrier in a sub-carrier, sub-carrier part or sub-user specific part.

56. The base station according to claim 51, wherein said notifying unit is adapted to notify the information configured by the configuring unit to the user equipment in at least one of the following manners:

configuration information carried by the MAC-CE;

57. The base station according to any of claims 51-54, wherein said configuration unit is adapted to configure and inform the user equipment of the type of downlink LBT strategy to employ on a particular NR LAA secondary cell carrier.

58. The base station according to claim 57, wherein the configuration unit is adapted to configure the type of downlink LBT strategy adopted by the UE on a specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier as follows: a downlink LBT policy independent of the reference signal resource, or a downlink LBT policy having the same spatial configuration as the preset reference signal resource.

59. The base station according to claim 57, wherein the configuration unit is adapted to configure the type of downlink LBT strategy adopted by the UE on a specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier as follows: a downlink LBT policy having the same spatial configuration as a preset unique reference signal resource or a downlink LBT policy having the same spatial configuration as at least one of a preset plurality of reference signal resources.

60. The base station according to claim 57, wherein the configuration unit is adapted to configure the type of downlink LBT strategy adopted by the UE on a specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier as follows: a reference signal resource-independent LBT policy for a downlink, a downlink LBT policy having the same spatial configuration as a preset unique reference signal resource, or a downlink LBT policy having the same spatial configuration as at least one of a preset plurality of reference signal resources.

61. A base station according to any of claims 51-54, characterized in that said configuration unit is adapted to configure the type of uplink LBT strategy employed by the user equipment on a specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier.

62. The base station according to claim 61, wherein the configuration unit is adapted to configure the type of uplink LBT strategy adopted by the UE on the specific NR LAA secondary cell as follows: an uplink LBT policy independent of the reference signal resource, or an uplink LBT policy having the same spatial configuration as the preset reference signal resource.

63. The base station according to claim 61, wherein the configuration unit is adapted to configure the type of uplink LBT policy employed by the UE on the specific NR LAA secondary cell carrier as follows: an uplink LBT policy having the same spatial configuration as a preset unique reference signal resource or an uplink LBT policy having the same spatial configuration as at least one of a preset plurality of reference signal resources.

64. The base station according to claim 61, wherein the configuration unit is adapted to configure the type of uplink LBT strategy adopted by the UE on the specific NR LAA secondary cell as follows: an LBT policy of an uplink independent of a reference signal resource, an uplink LBT policy having a same spatial configuration as a preset unique reference signal resource, or an uplink LBT policy having a same spatial configuration as at least one of a preset plurality of reference signal resources.

65. A computer readable storage medium having computer instructions stored thereon, which when executed by a processor perform the steps of the method of any one of claims 1 to 18.

66. A computer readable storage medium having computer instructions stored thereon, wherein the computer instructions, when executed by a processor, perform the steps of the method of any of claims 19-32.