CN113556767A

CN113556767A - Method for monitoring influence of condition on medium access control counter before conversation

Info

Publication number: CN113556767A
Application number: CN202110416462.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 穆罕默德·昆特
Original assignee: MediaTek Singapore Pte Ltd
Current assignee: MediaTek Singapore Pte Ltd
Priority date: 2020-04-23
Filing date: 2021-04-19
Publication date: 2021-10-26
Anticipated expiration: 2041-04-19
Also published as: CN113556767B; TWI775387B; TW202142039A

Abstract

Various schemes related to the effect of LBT conditions on MAC counters in mobile communications involve the UE determining the status of LBT failure detection and recovery functions. Conditionally increment a preamble transmission counter in an RA procedure or an SR counter in an SR procedure in case of an LBT failure based on a status of the LBT failure detection and recovery function (e.g., whether the LBT failure detection and recovery function has been configured).

Description

Method for monitoring influence of condition on medium access control counter before conversation

Cross-referencing

The present invention claims priority from U.S. provisional patent application No. 63/014,156, filed 4/23/2020 and U.S. patent application No. 17/213,208, filed 3/25/2021, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to mobile communications. More particularly, the present invention relates to a technique for influencing a Media Access Control (MAC) counter by listen-before-talk (LBT) conditions in mobile communication.

Background

Unless otherwise indicated herein, the approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims set forth below and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.

In wireless communications, such as mobile communications, LBT Failure Detection and Recovery Procedures (LFDRP) have been developed in Release 16 (Rel-16) of the third Generation Partnership Project (3rd Generation Partnership Project, 3GPP) specifications for unlicensed spectrum (NR-U) based on New Radio (NR) of the fifth Generation (5th Generation, 5G). The purpose of this procedure is to detect when a User Equipment (UE) has experienced too many LBT failures in Uplink (UL) transmission and take recovery measures. The detection mechanism involves starting/restarting a timer and incrementing a counter when the MAC layer of the UE receives an LBT failure indication from the lower layer, triggering a continuous LBT failure state if the counter value reaches a maximum count threshold and taking recovery measures when the counter resets to zero. On the other hand, when the timer expires, or if the timer or maximum count threshold is reconfigured by upper layers, or if the consecutive LBT fault status is cancelled, the counter will reset to zero. The network provides the configuration to the UE in lbt-FailureRecoveryConfig Information Element (IE). The support for LFDRP is optional in the UE and indicated by the UE capabilities. LBT fault detection is applicable to all UL transmissions, including transmissions during Random Access (RA) and Scheduling Requests (SR). In addition, some changes to the preamble and SR counters are introduced in the MAC layer when LBT failure indications are received from the lower layers. For RA, the MAC layer does not increment PREAMBLE _ TRANSMISSION _ COUNTER if an LBT failure indication is received from the lower layer for the last RA PREAMBLE TRANSMISSION (in 4-step RA) or the last MsgA RA PREAMBLE TRANSMISSION (in 2-step RA). For SR, the MAC layer does not increment SR _ COUNTER if an LBT failure indication is received from the lower layer.

In the event that an LBT failure continues to occur during the RA preamble (or MsgA) or SR transmission, the counter is not incremented and the maximum count threshold is not reached. This will prevent the MAC layer from performing recovery actions during RA or SR. In this case, the LBT failure recovery and detection mechanism is expected to take over detecting the presence of consecutive LBT failures and take recovery actions as needed. However, the LFDRP configuration may not always exist, e.g., it may not exist at the time of initial access, or when the UE does not support LFDRP or the network does not configure LFDRP. If there is no LFDRP configuration and the RA preamble, MsgA or SR transmission on the MAC layer of the UE always encounters LBT failure, the MAC layer will be stuck with RA or SR procedures that do not take any recovery action. Therefore, a solution to the above-mentioned problems is needed.

Disclosure of Invention

The following summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. That is, the following summary is provided to introduce concepts, features, benefits and advantages of the novel and non-obvious techniques described herein. Selected embodiments are further described below in the detailed description. Thus, the following summary is not intended to identify essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended for use in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

It is an object of the present invention to provide solutions, concepts, designs, techniques, methods and devices that solve the above mentioned problems. In particular, the present invention aims to provide schemes and designs related to the impact of LBT conditions on MAC counters in mobile communications.

In an aspect, a method involves a processor of an apparatus implemented in a UE determining a status of an LBT failure detection and recovery function (feature). The method also involves the processor conditionally incrementing a counter in a process based on a status of the LBT fault detection and recovery function. The status is determined based on whether LBT fault detection and recovery functions have been configured.

In another aspect, a method involves a processor of an apparatus implemented in a UE determining a status of an LBT failure detection and recovery function. The method also involves the processor conditionally incrementing a preamble transmission counter during an RA procedure based on a status of the LBT failure detection and recovery function.

In yet another aspect, a method involves a processor of an apparatus implemented in a UE determining a status of an LBT failure detection and recovery function. The method also involves the processor conditionally incrementing an SR counter in an SR process based on a state of the LBT fault detection and recovery function.

The method for the LBT condition to influence the MAC counter is beneficial to the UE to execute the recovery action.

It is noted that although the description provided herein is in the context of certain Radio Access technologies, networks and Network topologies, such as 5G/NR Mobile networks, the concepts, schemes and any variants/derivatives thereof proposed by the present invention may be implemented in other types of Radio Access technologies, networks and Network topologies, such as, but not limited to, Ethernet (Ethernet), Evolved Packet System (EPS), Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), Evolved UTRAN (Evolved UTRAN, E-UTRAN), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), GSM/Enhanced Data Rate for Global Evolution (EDGE), Radio Access Network (GSM/EDGE, GERAN), Long Term Evolution (Long-Term Evolution, LTE), and LTE Mobile networks, LTE-Advanced (LTE-Advanced) and LTE-Advanced (LTE-Advanced Pro), Internet of Things (IoT), and narrowband IoT (NB-IoT). Accordingly, the scope of the invention is not limited to the examples described herein.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention. It is to be understood that the figures are not necessarily to scale, some components may be shown out of scale from actual implementation dimensions, in order to clearly illustrate the concepts of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an exemplary network environment in which various methods and schemes in accordance with the present invention may be implemented.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary scenario diagram according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary scenario diagram according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an exemplary scenario diagram illustrating the problems of the current system without an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an exemplary scenario diagram according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 6 is a block diagram of an example communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of an example process according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of an example process according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of an example process according to an embodiment of the invention.

Detailed Description

Examples and embodiments of the claimed subject matter are described in detail below. However, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments and implementations are merely illustrative of the claimed subject matter, which can be embodied in various forms. The present invention may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the exemplary embodiments and implementations set forth herein. Rather, these exemplary embodiments and implementations are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. In the following description, well-known features and technical details are omitted to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the presented embodiments and implementations.

SUMMARY

Various techniques, methods, schemes and/or solutions relating to the impact of LBT conditions on MAC counters in mobile communications are described according to embodiments of the present invention. Many possible solutions may be implemented according to the invention, either individually or in combination. That is, although the possible solutions are described separately below, two or more of the possible solutions may be implemented in one combination or another.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example network environment 100 in which various aspects and methodologies in accordance with the subject invention may be implemented. Referring to fig. 1, a network environment 100 involves UE 110 in wireless communication with a wireless network 120 (e.g., a 5G NR mobile network). UE 110 may wirelessly communicate with a wireless network through a base station or network node 125 (e.g., eNB, gNB, or transmit-receive point (TRP) hinetwork environment 100, UE 110 and wireless network 120 may implement various schemes related to the impact of LBT conditions on MAC counters in mobile communications in accordance with the present invention as described in the context of fig. 2-5.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example scenario 200 in accordance with this disclosure. In particular, scenario 200 illustrates a mechanism to utilize an LFDRP counter to increment a timer. In scenario 200, when an LBT failure is initially detected, UE 110 starts a timer and increments a counter. As more LBT failures are detected during timer run, the UE may restart the timer and increment the counter. The UE may reset the counter when the timer expires. When the maximum counter threshold is reached, the UE may determine that consecutive LBT failures have occurred.

Notably, LBT fault detection is applicable to all UL transmissions, including transmissions during RA and SR. In addition, some changes to the preamble and SR counters are introduced in the MAC layer when LBT failure indications are received from the lower layers. For RA, the MAC layer does not increment PREAMBLE _ TRANSMISSION _ COUNTER if an LBT failure indication is received from the lower layer for the last RA PREAMBLE TRANSMISSION (in 4-step RA) or the last MsgA RA PREAMBLE TRANSMISSION (in 2-step RA). For SR, the MAC layer does not increment SR _ COUNTER if an LBT failure indication is received from the lower layer.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example scenario 300 in accordance with this disclosure. Specifically, scenario 300 shows a scenario in which, in the event that an LBT failure has occurred during transmission of the RA preamble/MsgA or SR, the preamble counter is not incremented, resulting in a failure to reach the maximum count threshold of the counter. This will prevent the MAC layer from performing recovery actions during RA or SR. In this case, the LBT failure recovery and detection mechanism is expected to take over detecting the presence of consecutive LBT failures and take recovery actions as needed. In scenario 300, when the RA procedure is initiated, preamble transmission fails due to LBT failure. Then, the preamble transmission is retried but still fails. On the other hand, the preamble counter is not incremented. In scenario 300, when LFDRP is configured, the number of LBT failures is counted by a counter/timer mechanism to detect the occurrence of consecutive LBT failures to take recovery action. The same principle applies to MsgA and SR transmissions.

It is noted that in the initial access, there is no configuration of the LDFRP, since lbt-FailureRecoveryConfig IE is not included in any System Information Block (SIB), and lbt-FailureRecoveryConfig has no default configuration (lbt-FailureRecoveryConfig is part of BWP-uplinkDedcated). Further, after initial access, UE 110 or wireless network 120 may not support the LDFRP, or wireless network 120 chooses not to configure the LDFRP. That is, lbt-FailureRecoveryConfig is optional, and support lbt-FailureRecoveryConfig is UE capability.

It should also be noted that in the case of non-configured LFDRP, the MAC layer of UE 110 may be trapped in RA or SR procedures when consecutive LBT failures occur. This is because the counter will not increment and therefore cannot reach its maximum count threshold. Therefore, the MAC layer of UE 110 will always try to transmit the preamble/MsgA/SR indefinitely. Thus, in case of encountering consecutive LBT failures in the RA or SR procedure, the MAC layer will be prevented from taking any recovery action (e.g., reporting RA problems to upper layers of the UE 110, initiating RA procedure after SR failure, etc.). That is, no recovery action is triggered either as part of the RA/SR process or as part of the LFDRP. This will be shown in fig. 4.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example scenario 400 of a problem with the current system without an embodiment of the present invention. In scenario 400, when the RA procedure is initiated but the preamble transmission fails due to LBT failure. Then, the preamble transmission is retried but still fails. On the other hand, the preamble counter is not incremented. In scenario 400, the number of LBT failures may not be counted since LFDRP is not configured, and therefore, UE 110 may attempt preamble transmission indefinitely. The same principle applies to MsgA and SR transmissions.

According to the proposed scheme, LBT failure indications from the lower layers may be considered in the MAC layer when incrementing PREAMBLE _ transition _ COUNTER and SR _ COUNTER, depending on whether LFDRP has been configured (LBT-FailureRecoveryConfig). Without LBT-FailureRecoveryConfig configured, the MAC layer may ignore LBT failure indications from the lower layers in determining whether to increment the preamble transmission counter and SR counter. That is, according to the proposed scheme, for the RA procedure, the MAC layer does not increment PREAMBLE _ TRANSMISSION _ COUNTER in case LBT-FailureRecoveryConfig has been configured and LBT failure indication of the last RA PREAMBLE TRANSMISSION (in 4-step RA) or the last MsgA RA PREAMBLE TRANSMISSION (in 2-step RA) is received from the lower layer. Furthermore, according to the proposed scheme, the MAC layer does not increment SR _ COUNTER in case LBT-FailureRecoveryConfig has been configured and an LBT failure indication is received from the lower layer.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example scenario 500 in accordance with this disclosure. According to the scheme proposed by the present invention, when LFDRP is not configured, even in the case of LBT failure of preamble transmission, the preamble counter can be incremented. The same principle applies to MsgA and SR transmissions. Referring to fig. 5, when an RA procedure is initiated but a preamble transmission fails due to LBT failure. Then, the preamble transmission is retried but still fails. Meanwhile, since LFDRP is not configured, the preamble counter is incremented. Finally, PREAMBLE _ COUNTER reaches a maximum count threshold as the PREAMBLE COUNTER counts the number of pre-PREAMBLE transmission attempts. Thus, recovery actions may be taken during the RA procedure.

Illustrative embodiments

FIG. 6 depicts an example system 600 having at least an example apparatus 610 and an example apparatus 620, according to an embodiment of the invention. Any of the devices 610 and 620 may perform different functions to implement the schemes, techniques, processes, and methods described herein with respect to the effect of LBT conditions on MAC counters in mobile communications, including the designs, concepts, solutions, systems, and methods described above for the various proposed schemes (including the network environment 100) and the processes described below.

Either of the device 610 and the device 620 is part of an electronic device, which may be a network device or UE (e.g., UE 110) such as a portable or mobile device, a wearable device, a wireless communication device, an in-vehicle device, or a vehicle or computing device. For example, any of the devices 610 and 620 may be implemented as a smart phone, a smart watch, a personal digital assistant, an Electronic Control Unit (ECU) in a vehicle, a digital camera, or a computing device such as a tablet computer, a desktop computer, or a laptop computer. Any of the devices 610 and 620 may also be part of a machine type device, which may be an IoT device such as a fixed device, a home device, a roadside unit (RSU), a wired communication device, or a computing device. For example, any of the devices 610 and 620 may be implemented as a smart thermostat, a smart refrigerator, a smart door lock, a wireless speaker, or a home control center. When implemented in or as a network device, the apparatus 610 and/or the apparatus 620 may be implemented in an eNodeB in an LTE, LTE-Advanced, or LTE-Advanced Pro network, or in a gNB or TRP in a 5G network, NR network, or IoT network.

In some embodiments, any of the devices 610 and 620 may be implemented in the form of one or more integrated-circuit (IC) chips, such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core processors, one or more multi-core processors, or one or more complex-instruction-set-computing (CISC) processors. In various aspects described above, any of the apparatus 610 and the apparatus 620 may be implemented in or as a network apparatus or UE. Either of the devices 610 and 620 includes at least a portion of the components shown in fig. 6, e.g., the processor 612 and the processor 622, respectively. Any of the apparatus 610 and the apparatus 620 further includes one or more other components (e.g., an internal power source, a display device, and/or a user interface device) that are not relevant to the proposed solution of the present invention, and thus, for the sake of brevity, the above-described other components of the apparatus 610 and the apparatus 620 are not shown in fig. 6 nor described below.

In an aspect, any of processors 612 and 622 may be implemented in the form of one or more single-core processors, one or more multi-core processors, or one or more CISC processors. That is, even though the singular term "processor" is used herein to refer to both the processor 612 and the processor 622, in the present invention, any of the processor 612 and the processor 622 may include multiple processors in some embodiments and a single processor in other embodiments. In another aspect, any of the processors 612 and 622 may be implemented in hardware (and optionally firmware) with electronic components including, for example, without limitation, one or more transistors, one or more diodes, one or more capacitors, one or more resistors, one or more inductors, one or more memristors, and/or one or more varactors configured with particular intent in accordance with the present disclosure. In other words, at least in some embodiments, processors 612 and 622 are specific target machines that are specifically designed, arranged and configured to perform specific tasks according to embodiments of the present invention regarding the impact of LBT conditions on MAC counters in mobile communications according to various embodiments of the present invention.

In some implementations, the device 610 also includes a transceiver 616 coupled to the processor 612. The transceiver 616 is capable of wirelessly transmitting and receiving data. In some embodiments, transceiver 616 is capable of wireless communication with different types of wireless networks of different Radio Access Technologies (RATs). In some embodiments, the transceiver 616 is configured with multiple antenna ports (not shown), for example, four antenna ports. That is, the transceiver 616 is configured with a plurality of transmit antennas and a plurality of receive antennas for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) wireless communication. In some implementations, the apparatus 620 also includes a transceiver 626 coupled to the processor 622. The transceiver 626 includes a transceiver capable of wirelessly transmitting and receiving data. In some embodiments, the transceiver 626 is capable of wireless communication with different types of UEs/wireless networks of different RATs. In some embodiments, the transceiver 626 is configured with a plurality of antenna ports (not shown), e.g., four antenna ports. That is, the transceiver 626 is configured with multiple transmit antennas and multiple receive antennas for MIMO wireless communication.

In some implementations, the device 610 further includes a memory 614 coupled to the processor 612 and accessible by the processor 612 and storing data therein. In some implementations, the apparatus 620 further includes a memory 624 coupled to the processor 622 and accessible by the processor 622 and storing data therein. Either

memory

614 or 624 may comprise a random-access memory (RAM), such as Dynamic RAM (DRAM), Static RAM (SRAM), thyristor RAM (T-RAM), and/or zero-capacitor RAM (Z-RAM). Alternatively, or in addition, either of memory 614 and memory 624 may include a read-only memory (ROM), such as a mask ROM (mask ROM), a Programmable ROM (PROM), an Erasable Programmable ROM (EPROM), and/or an Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM (EEPROM). Alternatively, or in addition, either of Memory 614 and Memory 624 may include a Non-Volatile Random Access Memory (NVRAM), such as flash Memory, solid-state Memory, ferroelectric RAM (FeRAM), Magnetoresistive RAM (MRAM), and/or phase change Memory.

Either of the devices 610 and 620 may be communication entities capable of communicating with each other using the various schemes presented in accordance with the present invention. For illustrative purposes only, and not by way of limitation, the performance of device 610 as a UE (e.g., UE 110) and device 620 as a network node (e.g., network node 125) of a wireless network (e.g., wireless network 120 as a 5G/NR mobile network) is described as follows.

According to the proposed scheme of the effect of LBT conditions on MAC counters in mobile communications, the processor 612 of the apparatus 610 implemented in a UE (e.g., UE 110) may determine the status of LBT failure detection and recovery function. Additionally, the processor 612 may conditionally increment a counter in the process based on the status of the LBT fault detection and recovery function. Further, in response to the counter reaching a threshold, the processor 612 may perform one or more recovery actions.

In some embodiments, processor 612 increments the preamble transmission counter in the RA procedure upon conditionally incrementing the counter.

In some embodiments, processor 612 does not increment the preamble transmission counter when conditionally incrementing the counter in response to the following condition: (a) configured with LBT fault detection and recovery functions; and (b) receiving an LBT failure indication for the RA procedure. In some embodiments, the RA procedure comprises a 4-step RA procedure. In this case, the LBT failure indication includes the LBT failure indication for the last RA preamble transmission. Alternatively, the RA procedure comprises a 2-step RA procedure. In this case, the LBT failure indication includes the LBT failure indication for the last Msg a RA preamble transmission.

In some embodiments, processor 612 increments the preamble transmission counter when conditionally incrementing the counter in response to the following condition: (a) LBT fault detection and recovery functions are not configured; and (b) receiving an LBT failure indication for the RA procedure. In some embodiments, the RA procedure comprises a 4-step RA procedure. In this case, the LBT failure indication includes the LBT failure indication for the last RA preamble transmission. Alternatively, the RA procedure comprises a 2-step RA procedure. In this case, the LBT failure indication comprises the LBT failure indication for the last MsgA RA preamble transmission.

In some implementations, the processor 612 conditionally increments the SR counter in the SR process upon conditionally incrementing the counter.

In some implementations, the processor 612 does not increment the SR counter when conditionally incrementing the counter in response to the following condition: (a) configured with LBT fault detection and recovery functions; and (b) receiving an LBT failure indication for SR transmission in the SR procedure.

In some implementations, the processor 612 increments the SR counter when conditionally incrementing the counter in response to the following condition: (a) LBT fault detection and recovery functions are not configured; and (b) receiving an LBT failure indication for SR transmission in the SR procedure.

According to another aspect of the present invention, which proposes the effect of LBT conditions on MAC counters in mobile communications, the processor 612 of the apparatus 610 implemented in a UE (e.g., UE 110) may determine the status of LBT failure detection and recovery functions. In addition, the processor 612 may conditionally increment a preamble transmission counter during RA based on the status of the LBT failure detection and recovery function.

In some embodiments, when conditionally incrementing the preamble transmission counter, the processor 612 does not increment the preamble transmission counter in response to the following condition: (a) configured with LBT fault detection and recovery functions; and (b) receiving an LBT failure indication for the RA procedure. In this case, in case the RA procedure involves a 4-step RA procedure, the LBT failure indication includes an LBT failure indication for the last RA preamble transmission. Alternatively, in case the RA procedure involves a 2-step RA procedure, the LBT failure indication comprises the LBT failure indication for the last MsgA RA preamble transmission.

In some embodiments, upon conditionally incrementing the preamble transmission counter, the processor 612 increments the preamble transmission counter in response to the following condition: (a) LBT fault detection and recovery functions are not configured; and (b) receiving an LBT failure indication for the RA procedure. In some embodiments, the RA procedure comprises a 4-step RA procedure. In this case, in case the RA procedure involves a 4-step RA procedure, the LBT failure indication includes an LBT failure indication for the last RA preamble transmission. Alternatively, in case the RA procedure involves a 2-step RA procedure, the LBT failure indication comprises the LBT failure indication for the last MsgA RA preamble transmission.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention for addressing the effects of LBT conditions on MAC counters in mobile communications, a processor 612 of an apparatus 610 implemented in a UE (e.g., UE 110) may determine a status of an LBT failure detection and recovery function. Additionally, the processor 612 may conditionally increment an SR counter during an SR based on the state of the LBT fault detection and recovery function.

In some implementations, the processor 612 does not increment the SR counter when conditionally incrementing the SR counter in response to the following condition: (a) configured with LBT fault detection and recovery functions; and (b) receiving an LBT failure indication for the SR procedure.

In some implementations, upon conditionally incrementing the SR counter, the processor 612 increments the SR counter in response to the following condition: (a) LBT fault detection and recovery functions are not configured; and (b) receiving an LBT failure indication for the SR procedure.

Illustrative Process

FIG. 7 depicts an example process 700 according to an embodiment of the invention. Process 700 represents one aspect of the various designs, concepts, solutions, systems, and methods presented above, including fig. 1-6, whether in part or in whole. More specifically, process 700 may represent various concepts and schemes proposed with respect to the impact of LBT conditions on MAC counters in mobile communications in accordance with the present invention. Process 700 may include one or more operations, actions, or functions as shown in one or more of

steps

710, 720, and 730. Although illustrated as discrete steps, the various steps of process 700 may be divided into additional steps, combined into fewer steps, or deleted as desired. Further, the steps/sub-steps of process 700 may be performed in the order shown in FIG. 7, or in other orders. Further, one or more steps/sub-steps of process 700 may be repeatedly performed. The process 700 may be implemented by or in the devices 610 and 620 and any variations thereof. For illustrative purposes only, and without limitation, process 700 is described in the context of device 610 being a UE (e.g., UE 110) and device 620 being a network node (e.g., network node 125) of a wireless network (e.g., wireless network 120). Process 700 begins at step 710.

At step 710, process 700 involves processor 612 of apparatus 610 implemented in a UE (e.g., UE 110) determining a status of an LBT failure detection and recovery function. From step 710, process 700 proceeds to step 720.

At step 720, process 700 involves processor 612 conditionally incrementing a counter in the process based on the status of the LBT fault detection and recovery function. From step 720, process 700 proceeds to step 730.

At step 730, in response to the counter reaching the threshold, the process 700 involves the processor 612 performing one or more recovery actions.

In some embodiments, process 700 involves processor 612 incrementing a preamble transmission counter during an RA procedure when conditionally incrementing the counter.

In some embodiments, process 700 involves processor 612 not incrementing a preamble transmission counter when conditionally incrementing the counter in response to the following condition: (a) configured with LBT fault detection and recovery functions; and (b) receiving an LBT failure indication for the RA procedure. In some embodiments, the RA procedure comprises a 4-step RA procedure. In this case, the LBT failure indication includes the LBT failure indication for the last RA preamble transmission. Alternatively, the RA procedure comprises a 2-step RA procedure. In this case, the LBT failure indication comprises the LBT failure indication for the last MsgA RA preamble transmission.

In some embodiments, process 700 involves processor 612 incrementing a preamble transmission counter when conditionally incrementing the counter in response to the following condition: (a) LBT fault detection and recovery functions are not configured; and (b) receiving an LBT failure indication for the RA procedure. In some embodiments, the RA procedure comprises a 4-step RA procedure. In this case, the LBT failure indication includes the LBT failure indication for the last RA preamble transmission. Alternatively, the RA procedure comprises a 2-step RA procedure. In this case, the LBT failure indication comprises the LBT failure indication for the last MsgA RA preamble transmission.

In some implementations, the process 700 involves the processor 612 conditionally incrementing the SR counter in the SR process when conditionally incrementing the counter.

In some embodiments, process 700 involves processor 612 not incrementing the SR counter during the SR process in response to the following condition when conditionally incrementing the counter: (a) configured with LBT fault detection and recovery functions; and (b) receiving an LBT failure indication for SR transmission in the SR procedure.

In some implementations, process 700 involves processor 612 incrementing an SR counter when conditionally incrementing the counter, in response to the following condition: (a) LBT fault detection and recovery functions are not configured; and (b) receiving an LBT failure indication for SR transmission in the SR procedure.

FIG. 8 depicts an example process 800 according to an embodiment of the invention. Process 800 represents one aspect of the various designs, concepts, solutions, systems, and methods presented above, including fig. 1-6, whether in part or in whole. More specifically, process 800 may represent various concepts and schemes proposed with respect to the impact of LBT conditions on MAC counters in mobile communications in accordance with the present invention. Process 800 may include one or more operations, actions, or functions as illustrated by one or more of

steps

810 and 820. Although illustrated as discrete steps, the various steps of process 800 may be divided into additional steps, combined into fewer steps, or deleted as desired. Further, the steps/sub-steps of process 800 may be performed in the order shown in FIG. 8, or in other orders. Further, one or more steps/sub-steps of process 800 may be repeatedly performed. The process 800 may be implemented by or in the devices 610 and 620 and any variations thereof. For illustrative purposes only, and without limitation, process 800 is described in the context of device 610 being a UE (e.g., UE 110) and device 620 being a network node (e.g., network node 125) of a wireless network (e.g., wireless network 120). Process 800 begins at step 810.

At step 810, process 800 involves processor 612 of apparatus 610 implemented in a UE (e.g., UE 110) determining a status of an LBT failure detection and recovery function. From step 810, process 800 proceeds to step 820.

At step 820, process 800 involves processor 612 conditionally incrementing a preamble transmission counter during the RA procedure based on the status of the LBT failure detection and recovery function.

In some embodiments, process 800 involves processor 612 not incrementing the preamble transmission counter in conditionally incrementing the preamble transmission counter in response to the following condition: (a) configured with LBT fault detection and recovery functions; and (b) receiving an LBT failure indication for the RA procedure. In this case, in case the RA procedure involves a 4-step RA procedure, the LBT failure indication includes an LBT failure indication for the last RA preamble transmission. Alternatively, in case the RA procedure involves a 2-step RA procedure, the LBT failure indication comprises the LBT failure indication for the last MsgA RA preamble transmission.

In some embodiments, process 800 involves processor 612 incrementing a preamble transmission counter when conditionally incrementing the preamble transmission counter in response to the following condition: (a) LBT fault detection and recovery functions are not configured; and (b) receiving an LBT failure indication for the RA procedure. In some embodiments, the RA procedure comprises a 4-step RA procedure. In this case, in case the RA procedure involves a 4-step RA procedure, the LBT failure indication includes an LBT failure indication for the last RA preamble transmission. Alternatively, in case the RA procedure involves a 2-step RA procedure, the LBT failure indication comprises the LBT failure indication for the last MsgA RA preamble transmission.

FIG. 9 depicts an example process 900, according to an embodiment of the invention. Process 900 represents one aspect of the various designs, concepts, solutions, systems, and methods presented above, including fig. 1-6, whether in part or in whole. More specifically, process 900 may represent various concepts and schemes proposed with respect to the impact of LBT conditions on MAC counters in mobile communications in accordance with the present invention. Process 900 may include one or more operations, actions, or functions as shown in one or more of

steps

910 and 920. Although illustrated as discrete steps, the various steps of process 900 may be divided into additional steps, combined into fewer steps, or deleted as desired. Further, the steps/sub-steps of process 900 may be performed in the order shown in FIG. 9, or in other orders. Further, one or more steps/sub-steps of process 900 may be repeatedly performed. The process 900 may be implemented by or in the devices 610 and 620 and any variations thereof. For illustrative purposes only, and without limitation, process 900 is described in the context of device 610 being a UE (e.g., UE 110) and device 620 being a network node (e.g., network node 125) of a wireless network (e.g., wireless network 120). Process 900 begins at step 910.

At step 910, the processor 612 of the apparatus 610 implemented in a UE (e.g., UE 110) may determine a status of an LBT failure detection and recovery function. Process 900 proceeds from step 910 to step 920.

At step 920, process 900 involves processor 612 conditionally incrementing an SR counter during an SR process based on the status of the LBT fault detection and recovery function.

In some implementations, the process 900 involves the processor 612 not incrementing the SR counter in response to the following condition when conditionally incrementing the SR counter: (a) configured with LBT fault detection and recovery functions; and (b) receiving an LBT failure indication for the SR procedure.

In some implementations, the process 900 involves the processor 612 incrementing the SR counter when conditionally incrementing the SR counter in response to the following condition: (a) LBT fault detection and recovery functions are not configured; and (b) receiving an LBT failure indication for the SR procedure.

Supplementary notes

The subject matter described in this specification sometimes illustrates different components included within, or connected with, different other components. It is to be understood that the architectures depicted are merely examples, and that in fact many other architectures can be implemented which achieve the same functionality. In a conceptual sense, any arrangement of components to achieve the same functionality is effectively "associated" such that the desired functionality is achieved. Hence, any two components herein combined to achieve a particular functionality can be seen as "associated with" each other such that the desired functionality is achieved, irrespective of architectures or intermedial components. Likewise, any two components so associated can also be viewed as being "operably connected," or "operably coupled," to each other to achieve the desired functionality, and any two components capable of being so associated can also be viewed as being "operably couplable," to each other to achieve the desired functionality. Particular examples of operably couplable include but are not limited to physically mateable and/or physically interacting components and/or wirelessly interactable and/or wirelessly interacting components and/or logically interacting and/or logically interactable components.

In addition, with respect to the use of substantially any plural and/or singular terms herein, those having skill in the art can translate from the plural to the singular and/or from the singular to the plural as is appropriate to the context and/or application. Various singular/plural permutations may be expressly set forth in this disclosure for the sake of clarity.

Furthermore, those skilled in the art will understand that, in general, terms used in the present disclosure, particularly in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generally intended as "open" terms, e.g., the term "including" should be interpreted as "including but not limited to," the term "having" should be interpreted as "having at least," etc. It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases "at least one" and "one or more" to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles "a" or "an" limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim recitation to embodiments containing only such one recitation, even when the claim includes the introductory phrases "one or more" or "at least one" and indefinite articles such as "a" or "an," e.g., "a" and/or "an" should be interpreted to mean "at least one" and "one or more" likewise with respect to the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should be interpreted to mean at least the recited number, e.g., the bare recitation of "two recitations," without other modifiers, means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations. Further, in those instances where a convention analogous to "A, B and at least one of C, etc." is used, in general, from the standpoint that one skilled in the art will understand the convention, such a configuration is contemplated, e.g., "a system having at least one of A, B and C" would include, but not be limited to, systems having only a, only B, only C, A and B together, a and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B and C together, etc. In other instances where a convention analogous to "A, B or at least one of C, etc." is used, in general, such a construction contemplates, in the sense one of skill in the art would understand the convention, that, for example, "a system having at least one of A, B or C" would include, but not be limited to, a system having only a, only B, only C, A and B together, a and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B and C together, etc. It will be further understood by those within the art that virtually any disjunctive word and/or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in the description, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibilities of including one of the terms, either of the terms, or both terms. For example, the phrase "a or B" will be understood to include the possibility of "a" or "B" or "a and B".

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that various embodiments of the invention have been described herein for purposes of illustration, and that various modifications may be made without deviating from the scope and spirit of the invention. Therefore, it is intended that the various embodiments disclosed herein not be limiting, with the true scope and spirit being indicated by the following claims.

Claims

1. A method for monitoring the effects of conditions on a mac counter prior to a session, comprising:

determining the state of a monitoring fault detection and recovery function before conversation; and

conditionally incrementing a counter in a process based on the state of the listen before talk fault detection and recovery function.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of conditionally incrementing the counter comprises conditionally incrementing a preamble transmission counter during a random access procedure.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein conditionally incrementing the counter comprises not incrementing the preamble transmission counter in response to the following condition:

monitoring for failure detection and recovery functions before the session has been configured; and is

Listen for a failure indication before receiving a session with respect to the random access procedure.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the random access procedure comprises a 4-step random access procedure, and the listen-before-talk failure indication comprises a listen-before-talk failure indication for a last random access preamble transmission.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the random access procedure comprises a 2-step random access procedure, and the listen-before-talk failure indication comprises a listen-before-talk failure indication for a last message A random access preamble transmission.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein conditionally incrementing the counter comprises incrementing the preamble transmission counter in response to:

monitoring a fault detection and recovery function before the conversation is not configured; and is

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the random access procedure comprises a 4-step random access procedure, and the listen-before-talk failure indication comprises a listen-before-talk failure indication for a last random access preamble transmission.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the random access procedure comprises a 2-step random access procedure, and the listen-before-talk failure indication comprises a listen-before-talk failure indication for a last message A random access preamble transmission.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of conditionally incrementing the counter comprises conditionally incrementing a scheduling request counter during a scheduling request.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein conditionally incrementing the counter comprises not incrementing the scheduling request counter in response to the following condition:

And monitoring fault indication before receiving a conversation about the transmission of the scheduling request in the scheduling request process.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein conditionally incrementing the counter comprises incrementing the scheduling request counter in response to:

12. The method of pre-dialog listening conditions for effects on media access control counters according to claim 1, further comprising:

in response to the counter reaching a threshold, performing one or more recovery actions.

13. A method for monitoring the effects of conditions on a mac counter prior to a session, comprising:

conditionally incrementing a preamble transmission counter during a random access procedure based on the state of the listen before talk failure detection and recovery function.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein conditionally incrementing the preamble transmission counter comprises not incrementing the preamble transmission counter in response to the following condition:

15. The method of pre-dialog listening conditions on a medium access control counter of claim 14,

in case the random access procedure comprises a 4-step random access procedure, the listen-before-talk failure indication comprises a listen-before-talk failure indication for a last random access preamble transmission, and

in a case where the random access procedure comprises a 2-step random access procedure, the listen-before-talk failure indication comprises a listen-before-talk failure indication for a last message a random access preamble transmission.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein conditionally incrementing the preamble transmission counter comprises incrementing the preamble transmission counter in response to:

17. The method of pre-dialog listening conditions on a medium access control counter of claim 16,

18. A method for monitoring the effects of conditions on a mac counter prior to a session, comprising:

conditionally incrementing a dispatch request counter during a dispatch request based on the status of the listen before talk failure detection and recovery function.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein conditionally incrementing the scheduling request counter comprises not incrementing the scheduling request counter in response to the following condition:

And monitoring a fault indication before receiving a conversation about the scheduling request process.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein conditionally incrementing the scheduling request counter comprises incrementing the scheduling request counter in response to: