CN115104364A

CN115104364A - Apparatus, method and computer program

Info

Publication number: CN115104364A
Application number: CN202080096680.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 刘建国; 陶涛; C·罗萨
Original assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd; Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy
Current assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd; Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy
Priority date: 2020-02-14
Filing date: 2020-02-14
Publication date: 2022-09-23
Anticipated expiration: 2040-02-14
Also published as: WO2021159520A1; CN115104364B

Abstract

There is provided an apparatus comprising means at a network node for: the method comprises determining interference information associated with time resources for a channel occupancy time, determining at least one transmission parameter for use by at least one user equipment within the time resources based on the interference information, and providing an indication of the determined at least one transmission parameter to the at least one user equipment.

Description

Apparatus, method and computer program

Technical Field

The present application relates to a method, apparatus, system and computer program, but not exclusively to a fast link adaptation mechanism for licensed transmissions configured within a COT acquired by a gNB in an unlicensed frequency band.

Background

A communication system may be seen as a facility that enables communication sessions between two or more entities, such as user terminals, base stations and/or other nodes, by providing carriers between the various entities involved in a communication path. A communication system may be provided, for example, by a communication network and one or more compatible communication devices. A communication session may include, for example, communication of data for carrying communications such as voice, video, electronic mail (email), text messages, multimedia and/or content data, etc. Non-limiting examples of services provided include two-way or multi-way calls, data communication or multimedia services, and access to data network systems, such as the internet.

In a wireless communication system, at least a portion of a communication session between at least two stations occurs over a wireless link. Examples of wireless systems include Public Land Mobile Networks (PLMNs), satellite-based communication systems, and different wireless local area networks, such as Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs). Some wireless systems may be divided into cells and are therefore commonly referred to as cellular systems.

A user may access the communication system through an appropriate communication device or terminal. The user's communication equipment may be referred to as User Equipment (UE) or user equipment. The communication device is provided with suitable signal receiving and transmitting means for enabling communication, e.g. enabling access to a communication network or direct communication with other users. A communication device may access a carrier provided by a station, such as a base station of a cell, and send and/or receive communications on the carrier.

A communication system and associated devices typically operate in accordance with a given standard or specification which sets out what the various entities associated with the system are permitted to do and how that should be achieved. Communication protocols and/or parameters that should be used for the connection are also typically defined. An example of a communication system is UTRAN (3G radio). Other examples of communication systems are the Long Term Evolution (LTE) of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) radio access technology and the so-called 5G or New Radio (NR) networks. NR is being standardized by the third generation partnership project (3 GPP).

Disclosure of Invention

In a first aspect, an apparatus is provided that comprises means at a network node for: the method comprises determining interference information associated with time resources for a channel occupancy time, determining at least one transmission parameter for use by at least one user equipment within the time resources based on the interference information, and providing an indication of the determined at least one transmission parameter to the at least one user equipment.

The at least one transmission parameter may comprise a modulation coding scheme. The at least one transmission parameter may comprise a number of repetitions for transmission within the time resource.

The interference information may be associated with a set of subcarriers, a set of resource blocks, or a set of operating channels for channel idle assessment operations.

The apparatus may include means for: performing N clear channel assessment operations at the network node, where N is at least 1, and determining interference information based on the at least N clear channel assessments.

The apparatus may include means for determining interference information based on energy levels measured during at least N clear channel assessments.

N may be preconfigured or determined based on listen-before-talk parameters. The apparatus may include means for receiving an indication of N from an operations management and maintenance entity.

The channel occupancy time may be obtained by the network node after N clear channel evaluations.

The at least one transmission parameter may be for physical uplink control channel or physical uplink shared channel transmission.

The at least one transmission parameter may be for a configured grant transmission or a dynamic grant transmission.

The apparatus may include means for determining at least one transmission parameter based on at least one of: a reference signal transmitted by the at least one user equipment, a downlink received signal reference power reported by the at least one user equipment, and channel quality information reported by the at least one user equipment.

In a second aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising means at a user equipment for: the method comprises determining interference information associated with time resources for a channel occupancy time, determining at least one transmission parameter for use by a user equipment within the time resources based on the interference information, and providing an indication of the determined at least one transmission parameter to a network node.

The apparatus may include means for: an indication of interference information is received from a network node.

The interference information may be associated with a set of subcarriers, a set of physical resource blocks, or a set of operating channels for channel idle assessment operations.

The interference information may be determined based on at least N clear channel assessments, where N is at least 1.

The apparatus may include means for determining at least one transmission parameter based on at least one of: channel state information, downlink reference signal received power, channel quality information and estimated coupling loss information between the network node and the at least one user equipment.

In a third aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising means for: receiving an indication of at least one transmission parameter for use by at least one user equipment within a time resource for a channel occupancy time, the at least one transmission parameter being determined based on interference information associated with the time resource.

The apparatus may include means for receiving, at least one user equipment, an indication of at least one transmission parameter from a network node.

The apparatus may include means for receiving, at a network node, an indication of at least one transmission parameter from at least one user equipment.

The apparatus may include means for providing an indication of interference information to at least one user equipment.

The apparatus may include means for: n clear channel assessments are performed at the network node, where N is at least 1, and the interference information is determined based on the at least N clear channel assessments.

The apparatus may include means for determining interference information based on energy levels measured during at least N clear channel evaluations.

N may be preconfigured. N may be determined based on the listen before talk parameter. The apparatus may include means for receiving an indication of N from an operations management and maintenance entity.

In a fourth aspect, there is provided a method comprising, at a network node: the method comprises determining interference information associated with time resources for a channel occupancy time, determining at least one transmission parameter for use by at least one user equipment within the time resources based on the interference information, and providing an indication of the determined at least one transmission parameter to the at least one user equipment.

The method can comprise the following steps: performing N clear channel assessment operations at the network node, where N is at least 1, and determining interference information based on the at least N clear channel assessments.

The method may include determining interference information based on energy levels measured during at least N clear channel evaluations.

N may be preconfigured or determined based on listen-before-talk parameters. The method may include receiving an indication of N from an operations management and maintenance entity.

The method may include determining at least one transmission parameter based on at least one of: a reference signal transmitted by the at least one user equipment, a downlink received signal reference power reported by the at least one user equipment, and channel quality information reported by the at least one user equipment.

In a fifth aspect, there is provided a method comprising, at a user equipment: the method comprises determining interference information associated with time resources for a channel occupancy time, determining at least one transmission parameter for use by a user equipment within the time resources based on the interference information, and providing an indication of the determined at least one transmission parameter to a network node.

The method can comprise the following steps: an indication of interference information is received from a network node.

The interference information may be associated with a set of subcarriers, a set of physical resource blocks, or a set of operating channels for channel idle estimation operations.

The method may include determining at least one transmission parameter based on at least one of: channel state information, downlink reference signal received power, channel quality information and estimated coupling loss information between the network node and the at least one user equipment.

In a sixth aspect, there is provided a method comprising: receiving an indication of at least one transmission parameter for use by at least one user equipment within a time resource for a channel occupancy time, the at least one transmission parameter being determined based on interference information associated with the time resource.

The method may comprise receiving, at the at least one user equipment, an indication of at least one transmission parameter from a network node.

The method may comprise receiving, at a network node, an indication of at least one transmission parameter from at least one user equipment.

The method may include providing an indication of interference information to at least one user equipment.

The method can comprise the following steps: n clear channel assessments are performed at the network node, where N is at least 1, and the interference information is determined based on the at least N clear channel assessments.

N may be preconfigured. N may be determined based on the listen before talk parameter. The method may include receiving an indication of N from an operations management and maintenance entity.

In a seventh aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising: at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:

the method comprises determining interference information associated with time resources for a channel occupancy time, determining at least one transmission parameter for use by at least one user equipment within the time resources based on the interference information, and providing an indication of the determined at least one transmission parameter to the at least one user equipment.

The apparatus may be caused to: performing N clear channel assessment operations at the network node, where N is at least 1, and determining interference information based on the at least N clear channel assessments.

The apparatus may be caused to determine interference information based on energy levels measured during at least N clear channel evaluations.

N may be preconfigured or determined based on listen-before-talk parameters. The apparatus may be caused to receive an indication of N from an operations management and maintenance entity.

The apparatus may be caused to determine at least one transmission parameter based on at least one of: a reference signal transmitted by the at least one user equipment, a downlink received signal reference power reported by the at least one user equipment, and channel quality information reported by the at least one user equipment.

In an eighth aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising: at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:

the method comprises determining interference information associated with time resources for a channel occupancy time, determining at least one transmission parameter for use by a user equipment within the time resources based on the interference information, and providing an indication of the determined at least one transmission parameter to a network node.

The apparatus may be caused to receive an indication of interference information from a network node.

The apparatus may be caused to determine at least one transmission parameter based on at least one of: channel state information, downlink reference signal received power, channel quality information and estimated coupling loss information between the network node and the at least one user equipment.

In a ninth aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising: at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:

receiving an indication of at least one transmission parameter for use by at least one user equipment within a time resource for a channel occupancy time, the at least one transmission parameter being determined based on interference information associated with the time resource.

The apparatus may be caused to receive, at least one user equipment, an indication of at least one transmission parameter from a network node.

The apparatus may be caused to receive, at a network node, an indication of at least one transmission parameter from at least one user equipment.

The apparatus may be caused to provide an indication of interference information to at least one user equipment.

The apparatus may be caused to: performing N clear channel assessments at the network node, where N is at least 1, and determining interference information based on the at least N clear channel assessments.

N may be preconfigured. N may be determined based on listen before talk parameters. The apparatus may be caused to receive an indication of N from an operations management and maintenance entity.

In a tenth aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the following: the method comprises determining interference information associated with time resources for a channel occupancy time, determining at least one transmission parameter for use by at least one user equipment within the time resources based on the interference information, and providing an indication of the determined at least one transmission parameter to the at least one user equipment.

The apparatus may be caused to perform: performing N clear channel assessment operations at the network node, where N is at least 1, and determining interference information based on the at least N clear channel assessments.

The apparatus may be caused to perform: interference information is determined based on energy levels measured during at least N clear channel evaluations.

N may be preconfigured or determined based on listen-before-talk parameters. The apparatus may be caused to perform receiving an indication of N from an operations administration and maintenance entity.

The apparatus may include means for causing at least one transmission parameter to be determined based on at least one of: a reference signal transmitted by the at least one user equipment, a downlink received signal reference power reported by the at least one user equipment, and channel quality information reported by the at least one user equipment.

In an eleventh aspect, there is provided a computer-readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the following: the method comprises determining interference information associated with time resources for a channel occupancy time, determining at least one transmission parameter for use by a user equipment within the time resources based on the interference information, and providing an indication of the determined at least one transmission parameter to a network node.

The apparatus may be caused to perform: an indication of interference information is received from a network node.

The apparatus may be caused to perform determining at least one transmission parameter based on at least one of: channel state information, downlink reference signal received power, channel quality information and estimated coupling loss information between the network node and the at least one user equipment.

In a twelfth aspect, there is provided a computer-readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the following: receiving an indication of at least one transmission parameter for use by at least one user equipment within a time resource for a channel occupancy time, the at least one transmission parameter being determined based on interference information associated with the time resource.

The apparatus may be caused to perform receiving, at least one user equipment, an indication of at least one transmission parameter from a network node.

The apparatus may be caused to perform receiving, at a network node, an indication of at least one transmission parameter from at least one user equipment.

The apparatus may be caused to perform providing an indication of interference information to at least one user equipment.

The apparatus may be caused to perform: performing N clear channel assessments at the network node, where N is at least 1, and determining interference information based on the at least N clear channel assessments.

The apparatus may be caused to perform determining interference information based on energy levels measured during at least N clear channel evaluations.

N may be preconfigured. N may be determined based on the listen before talk parameter. The apparatus may be caused to perform receiving an indication of N from an operations administration and maintenance entity.

In a thirteenth aspect, there is provided a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least a method according to the third or fourth aspect.

In the foregoing, a number of different embodiments have been described. It is to be understood that further embodiments may be provided by combining any two or more of the above embodiments.

Drawings

Embodiments will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

fig. 1 shows a schematic diagram of an example communication system comprising a base station and a plurality of communication devices;

FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of an example mobile communication device;

FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of an example control apparatus;

FIG. 4 shows instantaneous SINR and CQI values versus time for LAA and Wi-Fi coexistence scenarios;

FIG. 5 shows a flow chart of a method according to an example embodiment;

FIG. 6 shows a flow diagram of a method according to an example embodiment;

FIG. 7 shows a flow diagram of a method according to an example embodiment;

fig. 8 shows a block diagram of interference level measurements at the gNB for COT specific MCS selection;

fig. 9 shows a signaling flow for COT specific MCS determination at the gbb side;

fig. 10 shows a signaling flow for COT specific MCS determination at the UE side.

Detailed Description

Before explaining examples in detail, certain general principles of wireless communication systems and mobile communication devices are briefly explained with reference to fig. 1-3 to help understand the technology underlying the described examples.

In a wireless communication system 100 such as that shown in fig. 1, communication devices (e.g., User Equipment (UE))102, 104, 105 provide wireless access via at least one base station or similar wireless transmitting and/or receiving node or point. The base stations are typically controlled by at least one suitable controller device to enable operation thereof and to manage the mobile communication devices in communication with the base stations. The controller device may be located in a Radio Access Network (RAN) (e.g., wireless communication system 100) or a Core Network (CN) (not shown) and may be implemented as one central device, or its functionality may be distributed over several devices. The controller device may be part of a base station and/or provided by a separate entity, such as a radio network controller. In fig. 1, the control means 108 and 109 are shown as controlling the respective

macro base stations

106 and 107. The control means of the base station may be interconnected with other control entities. The control device is typically provided with memory capacity and at least one data processor. The control means and functions may be distributed between a plurality of control units. In some systems, the control means may additionally or alternatively be provided in a radio network controller.

In fig. 1,

base stations

106 and 107 are shown connected to a broader communication network 113 via a gateway 112. Further gateway functionality may be provided to connect to another network.

Smaller base stations

116, 118 and 120 may also be connected to the network 113, for example by separate gateway functions and/or via controllers of macro-level stations.

Base stations

116, 118, and 120 may be pico or femto base stations, and the like. In this example,

base stations

116 and 118 are connected via gateway 111, while base station 120 is connected via controller device 108. In some embodiments, smaller base stations may not be provided. The

smaller base stations

116, 118, and 120 may be part of a second network (e.g., a WLAN) and may be WLAN Access Points (APs).

The

communication devices

102, 104, 105 may access the communication system based on various access technologies, such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) or wideband CDMA (wcdma). Other non-limiting examples include Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), and various schemes thereof, such as Interleaved Frequency Division Multiple Access (IFDMA), single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA), and Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), Spatial Division Multiple Access (SDMA), and the like.

One example of a wireless communication system is the architecture standardized by the third generation partnership project (3 GPP). The latest development based on 3GPP is commonly referred to as Long Term Evolution (LTE) of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) radio access technology. The various development stages of the 3GPP specifications are referred to as releases. The latest development of LTE is commonly referred to as LTE-advanced (LTE-a). LTE (LTE-a) employs a radio mobile architecture called evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN) and a core network called Evolved Packet Core (EPC). The base stations of such systems are referred to as evolved or enhanced node bs (enbs) and provide E-UTRAN features to the communication devices, such as user plane packet data fusion/radio link control/medium access control/physical layer protocol (PDCP/RLC/MAC/PHY) and control plane Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol termination. Other examples of radio access systems include those provided by base stations of technology-based systems, such as Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs). A base station may provide coverage for an entire cell or similar radio service area. The core network elements include a Mobility Management Entity (MME), a serving gateway (S-GW), and a packet gateway (P-GW).

One example of a suitable communication system is the 5G or NR concept. The network architecture in NR may be similar to LTE-advanced. The base station of the NR system may be referred to as a next generation node b (gnb). The network architecture may vary depending on the need to support various radio technologies and finer QoS support, as well as some on-demand requirements, such as supporting quality of service (QoS) levels for a user's quality of experience (QoE). In addition, network-aware services and applications and service-and application-aware networks may change architecture. These relate to information-centric networking (ICN) and user-centric content delivery networking (UC-CDN) approaches. NR may use multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antennas, many more base stations or nodes than LTE (the so-called small cell concept), include macro sites operating in cooperation with smaller base stations, and may also employ various radio technologies to achieve better coverage and enhanced data rates.

Future networks may utilize Network Function Virtualization (NFV), which is a network architecture concept that proposes virtualizing network node functions as "building blocks" or entities that may be operatively connected or linked together to provide services. A Virtualized Network Function (VNF) may comprise one or more virtual machines that run computer program code using standard or general type servers rather than custom hardware. Cloud computing or data storage may also be utilized. In radio communication, this may mean that the node operations are performed at least partly in a server, host or node operatively coupled to the remote radio head. Node operations may also be distributed among multiple servers, nodes, or hosts. It should also be appreciated that the labor allocation between core network operation and base station operation may be different from LTE or even non-existent.

Example 5G Core Network (CN) includes functional entities. The CN is connected to the UE via a Radio Access Network (RAN). A User Plane Function (UPF), whose role is referred to as a PDU Session Anchor (PSA), may be responsible for forwarding frames back and forth between the Data Network (DN) and the tunnel established over the 5G to (multiple) exchanges of traffic with the DN.

The UPF is controlled by a Session Management Function (SMF) that receives policies from a Policy Control Function (PCF). The CN may also include Access and Mobility Functions (AMF).

A possible mobile communication device will now be described in more detail with reference to fig. 2, which fig. 2 shows a schematic partial cut-away view of a communication device 200. Such communication devices are commonly referred to as User Equipment (UE) or terminals. Suitable mobile communication devices may be provided by any device capable of transmitting and receiving radio signals. Non-limiting examples include a Mobile Station (MS) or mobile device such as a mobile phone or so-called "smart phone," a computer provided with a wireless interface card or other wireless interface facility (e.g., a USB dongle), a Personal Data Assistant (PDA) or tablet provided with wireless communication capabilities, a voice over IP (VoIP) phone, a portable computer, a desktop computer, an image capture terminal device such as a digital camera, a gaming terminal device, a music storage and playback device, an in-vehicle wireless terminal device, a wireless endpoint, a mobile station, a notebook embedded device (LEE), a notebook installation device (LME), a smart device, a wireless client device (CPE), or any combination of these or the like. For example, mobile communication devices may provide communication for carrying data for communication, such as voice, electronic mail (email), text messages, multimedia, and so on. Users can be offered and provided a variety of services via their communication devices. Non-limiting examples of such services include two-way or multi-way calls, data communications or multimedia services or simply access to a data communications network system such as the internet. The user may also be provided with broadcast or multicast data. Non-limiting examples of content include downloads, television and radio programs, videos, advertisements, various alerts, and other information.

A mobile device is typically provided with at least one data processing entity 201, at least one memory 202 and possibly other components 203 for software and hardware assisted execution of tasks it is designed to perform, including control of access to and communication with communication systems and other communication devices. Data processing, storage and other related control means may be provided on suitable circuit boards and/or in chipsets. This feature is denoted by reference numeral 204. The user may control the operation of the mobile device by means of a suitable user interface, such as a keyboard 205, voice commands, a touch sensitive screen or keyboard, combinations thereof or the like. A display 208, a speaker, and a microphone may also be provided. Furthermore, the mobile communication device may comprise suitable connectors (wired or wireless) to other devices and/or for connecting external accessories (e.g. hands-free devices) thereto.

The mobile device 200 may receive signals over the air or over the radio interface 207 via appropriate means for receiving and may transmit signals via appropriate means for transmitting radio signals. In fig. 2, the transceiver device is schematically designated by block 206. The transceiver means 206 may be provided, for example, by a radio part and associated antenna arrangement. The antenna arrangement may be arranged inside or outside the mobile device.

Fig. 3 shows an example of a control apparatus 300 for a communication system, e.g. a station, such as a RAN node (e.g. base station, eNB or gNB), a relay node or core network node (such as an MME or S-GW or P-GW), or a core network function (such as an AMF/SMF), or a server or host, coupled to and/or for controlling an access system. The method may be implemented in a single control device or across more than one control device. The control means may be integrated with or external to a node or module of the core network or RAN. In some embodiments, the base station comprises a separate control device unit or module. In other embodiments, the control apparatus may be other network elements, such as a radio network controller or a spectrum controller. In some embodiments, each base station may have such a control device as well as a control device provided in the radio network controller. The control means 300 may be arranged to provide control of communications in the service area of the system. The control device 300 comprises at least one memory 301, at least one

data processing unit

302, 303 and an input/output interface 304. Via which the control means can be coupled to the receiver and transmitter of the base station. The receiver and/or transmitter may be implemented as a radio front end or a remote radio head.

The following relates to NR based unlicensed spectrum access (NR-U) and MCS selection for licensed (CG) transmissions configured in the NR-U.

The CG operation for LTE/MulteFire/NR/NR-U will be briefly described. In NR, transmissions with CG (also called unlicensed transmissions; autonomous transmissions) are specified to meet the stringent latency and reliability requirements of ultra-reliable low latency communications (URLLC). UL transmission with CG operation can meet the latency requirements of URLLC traffic by reducing the latency given by scheduling requests and UL grants to PUSCH transmission.

For unlicensed spectrum, CG operation has also been specified for FeLAA in Rel-15 LTE and MulteFire. In addition to reducing UL latency, CG operation may also increase UL transmission opportunities in unlicensed bands. Considering the advantages of CG operation in unlicensed bands, UL CG operation is considered one of the targets of release 16WI on NR-U:

configure authorization operations: the authorization mechanism for the NR Type-1 and Type-2 configurations is a baseline for NR-U operation, modified according to protocols during the study phase (NR-U TR section 7.2.1.3.4). (RAN1)

Dynamic Link Adaptation (LA) may be beneficial because it may adjust the modulation scheme and the coding rate of the error correction code according to the quality of the radio link. The use of a combination of open and closed loop UL power control and fast Adaptive Modulation and Coding (AMC) based on Channel State Information (CSI) obtained via sounding reference signals may provide significant benefits for mobile broadband services.

This has been found to be the case for dynamically scheduled UL transmissions, in which case the MCS may be adjusted on a TTI basis. However, since CG transmissions rely on unlicensed fast UL access, there is no DL signaling to convey the MCS for each transmission event. Two options have been discussed regarding the selection of the MCS for the CG, such as MulteFire and Rel-15 NR. The first option is the MCS controlled by the gNB. The gNB selects and indicates the MCS to the UE through RRC signaling or activation signaling. The second option is the MCS controlled by the UE. The UE determines an MCS for UL CG transmission based on the gbb feedback and indicates it to the gbb/eNB through CG-UCI.

In Rel-15 NR and MulteFire, CG transmissions have been agreed to occur according to predefined configurations including power control settings, Modulation and Coding Schemes (MCS), time-frequency resource allocation, etc. (i.e. a gNB controlled MCS).

Release 16 will support UL CG-based transmission within the Channel Occupancy Time (COT) acquired by the gNB. Sharing of resources with the gNB within COT(s) acquired by UE(s) as part of CG-based transmission should be supported and grant-based transmission configured within the COT acquired by the gNB allowed. The details of the identification where COT sharing(s) is possible, as well as the details of the underlying resource sharing mechanisms and rules, may be determined at the time of specification.

For unlicensed spectrum access, a Listen Before Talk (LBT) mechanism is an efficient way to ensure fair and friendly coexistence of different networks and Radio Access Technologies (RATs) within the unlicensed band. Nonetheless, due to unplanned deployments of different operators and RATs, interference fluctuations may be severe for unlicensed spectrum access, which may degrade the performance of link adaptation.

For example, we tracked the instantaneous SINR and CQI values (which are obtained for MCS determination) for LAA/Wi-Fi coexistence scenarios in the case of non-full-buffer simulation. As shown in fig. 4, the instantaneous SINR may experience large fluctuations of up to 40dB in a relatively short time. Due to frequent and short-term interference fluctuations and scheduling delays, the selected MCS may expire during the actual transmission. For example, the MCS determined by the CQI value (e.g., at slot a) may not match the actual channel quality experienced during the actual transmission of slot B (e.g., at slot B). This may cause decoding failure, reducing the reliability of the transmission, or if too robust MCS is used, reducing the spectral efficiency.

For CG transmissions, the MCS expiration problem may be more critical because no DL signaling is used to convey the MCS for each transmission compared to DL transmissions and scheduled UL transmissions.

For the MCS controlled by the gNB, the gNB typically selects a semi-static form of MCS for CG transmission via RRC or/and activation signaling. Due to channel and interference fluctuations, the selected MCS will expire in case of a semi-static configuration of the MCS when the UE starts a CG transmission.

For UE-controlled MCS, the UE autonomously selects the appropriate MCS for CG transmission based on the transmission feedback (e.g., HARQ-ACK feedback) from the gNB. Since the interference situation at the UE side and the gNB side are different, the MCS autonomous update at the UE depends on the transmission feedback from the gNB. Since the channel and interference fluctuate between two subsequent transmission bursts, the MCS selected based on the HARQ-ACK of the last CG transmission will expire due to the feedback delay.

Further, for the UE controlled MCS, the selected MCS is unknown at the receiver (gNB). Depending on whether the CG-UCI carrying information on the selected MCS is encoded with PUSCH data or not, this may affect the implementation of the gNB, since the gNB needs to perform blind detection assuming multiple MCSs, at least until it cannot determine the MCS based on the CG-UCI signaled by the UE.

Thus, in NR-U, there is no "real-time" MCS to match channel and interference fluctuations for UL CG transmission. MCS expiration issues may cause performance degradation with respect to transmission reliability and efficiency for CG operation.

The following may provide a solution to enhance link adaptation for UL CG transmission within gNB initialized COT of NR-U. A fast link adaptation method for UL CG transmission within gtb acquired COT in unlicensed band is proposed, which exploits the characteristics of the COT sharing mechanism in unlicensed band. The proposed method solves the MCS expiry problem and improves the reliability of UL CG transmission in unlicensed bands while keeping the implementation complexity low at the receiver (gNB).

Fig. 5 shows a flow chart of a method according to an example embodiment. The method may be performed at a network node.

In a first step S1, the method includes determining interference information associated with time resources for a channel occupancy time.

In a second step S2, the method comprises determining at least one transmission parameter for use by at least one user equipment within the time resource based on the interference information.

In a third step S3, the method comprises providing an indication of the determined at least one transmission parameter to at least one user equipment.

Fig. 6 shows a flow chart of a method according to an example embodiment. The method may be performed at a user equipment.

In a first step T1, the method includes determining interference information associated with time resources for a channel occupancy time.

In a second step T2, the method comprises determining at least one transmission parameter for use by the user equipment within the time resource based on the interference information.

In a third step T3, the method comprises providing an indication of the determined at least one transmission parameter to the network node.

Fig. 7 shows a flow chart of a method according to an example embodiment. The method may be performed at a user equipment or a network node.

In a first step R1, the method comprises receiving an indication of at least one transmission parameter for use by at least one user equipment within a time resource for a channel occupancy time, the at least one transmission parameter being determined based on interference information associated with the time resource.

The at least one transmission parameter comprises a modulation coding scheme or a number of repetitions.

The interference level measured at the gNB during CCA before COT is utilized to determine a COT-specific transmission configuration comprising at least one of an MCS and a number of repetitions of UL CG transmissions within the COT to be used by the UE for gNB initialization. The method may provide a fast link adaptation mechanism for CG transmissions within a gNB-initialized COT in an unlicensed band. This approach may address the issue of expiration of transmission configurations, such as MCS and number of repetitions for CG transmission.

The method may be performed at a network node (e.g., a gNB). In this case, an indication of the determined transmission parameters is provided to the at least one UE. The indication may be provided by group common signaling or UE specific signaling.

The method may be performed at a UE. In this case, the indication of the transmission parameter is provided to the network node (e.g., the gNB) by uplink control signaling (e.g., CG-UCI).

In addition to the interference information, the at least one transmission parameter may be determined based on further information.

In case at least one transmission parameter is determined at the gbb, the further information may comprise one of the following: reference signals transmitted by at least one user equipment (e.g., UL CSI between the gNB and the UE measured on Sounding Reference Signals (SRS) transmitted by the corresponding UE, or UL RSRP measured on SRS or other UL reference signals), DL RSRP and/or CQI reported by the UE.

The further information may comprise one of the following if the at least one transmission parameter is determined at the UE: CSI, DL RSRP and/or CQI between the gNB and the UE, estimated coupling loss information, etc.

When the transmission parameter is an MCS, the indication of the determined MCS may include an index or an offset.

In one example embodiment, where the indication of the determined MCS includes an offset, the gNB indicates to the UE an index of the COT-specific MCS. In this example embodiment, if the gNB needs to allocate a different MCS to different UEs with UL CG transmission opportunities within the COT, the gNB may need to indicate at least an index for each UE.

In another example embodiment, where the indication of the determined MCS includes an offset, the gNB calculates an offset between the preconfigured MCS index and the COT-specific MCS index and then indicates the offset to the UE. In this example embodiment, if the gNB needs to allocate different MCSs for different UEs with UL CG transmission opportunities within the COT, the gNB may do so by signaling a single offset common to all UEs with UL CG transmission opportunities within the COT, provided that the UEs are preconfigured with different MCS indices. In this case, the UE may be preconfigured with a reference MCS index based on UL RSRP, information about UE transmission power, etc., while the offset is calculated (and then signaled) as a function of the measured COT associated interference level.

At least one UE may be a configured authorization (CG) UE. That is, at least one transmission parameter may be used for the configured grant transmission. Alternatively, at least one transmission parameter may be used for dynamic grant transmission.

Interference information associated with time resources for channel occupancy time (e.g., an interference level associated with a COT for a particular bandwidth) may be computed at a network node. The interference information may be estimated based on the result of at least the last successful clear channel assessment prior to the COT. That is, if the network node performs N CCA operations (where N is at least 1), the interference information may be determined based on the at least N CCAs.

The interference information may be associated with a Set of Subcarriers (SCs), a set of Physical Resource Blocks (PRBs), or a set of operating channels for channel idle assessment operations.

The interference level may be determined based on energy levels measured during at least N CCAs. Fig. 8 illustrates an example of interference level measurement at the gNB for the COT-specific MCS.

In the example shown in fig. 8, the gNB first measures the energy level of each operating channel during CCA before initiating the COT on the unlicensed band;

the gNB calculates a COT-associated interference level for a particular set of channels (e.g., a set of SCs, a set of PRBs, or a set of operating channels) based on an energy level measured during at least the last successful CCA before the COT, as exemplified by equation (1):

in dBM (1)

Wherein, BW _CCA Represents a bandwidth of an energy level measurement during CCA, which may be a bandwidth of an operating channel of CCA (i.e., LBT bandwidth); BW (Bandwidth) _Int Represents a bandwidth of a sub-carrier or PRB used for MCS determination, which may be a bandwidth of UL CG frequency resource configuration; ED (electronic device) _n Represents the energy level measured during the nth successful CCA before COT, in dBm; n represents the number of successful CCAs at the gNB before COT.

N may be preconfigured or based on a listen-before-talk parameter, such as a Contention Window Size (CWS). The parameter N may be specified during normalization. For example, if N is set or predefined to 1, the energy level measured during the last CCA slot before COT will be used for the calculation of the interference level based on COT.

Alternatively, N may be based on a listen-before-talk parameter, such as a Contention Window Size (CWS). The parameter N may be the number of successful CCAs used for the gNB to initialize COT by default (i.e., the value of N is fixed and equal to the CW size selected by the gNB for performing Cat4 LBT).

Alternatively, parameter N may be configured by the OAM (and received from the OAM at the network node).

The UE may use the determined MCS for the COT (which may be referred to as a COT-specific MCS) for UL CG transmission on UL CG resources within the COT.

The MCS may be used for PUCCH or PUSCH transmission within the gNB-initialized COT.

The network node may determine the number of repetitions used for CG PUSCH or PUCCH transmission within a COT based on the interference information (i.e., if there is higher interference, the network node determines a higher number of retransmissions). The network node may provide an indication of the number of repetitions to the UE for UL transmission within the COT. For example, the gNB signals the number of repetitions. The UE may apply the number of signaled repetitions within the allocated UL CG resources. Alternatively, the duration of UL CG transmission within the gNB-initialized COT may be determined at the UE based on the number of signaled repetitions.

In a first example embodiment, the gNB determines an MCS for the COT to be used by UEs with UL CG transmission within the COT with gNB initialization (referred to as a COT-specific MCS).

In this example embodiment, the gNB determines the COT-specific MCS based on the interference level associated with the COT and other information, such as UL CSI measured on Sounding Reference Signals (SRS) transmitted by the corresponding UE, DL RSRP and/or CQI reported by the UE, UL RSRP measured on SRS or other UL reference signals, and so on. The determination may be based on a mapping table calculated at the gNB using the above information and the success rate of past CG transmissions;

the gNB then provides an indication of the determined MCS with COT-specific MCS information to the CG UE(s). The COT-specific MCS information may be, for example, an index or an offset. The indication may be provided by, for example, a GC-PDCCH (i.e., group common signaling).

The UE may not need to signal the selected MCS in the CG-UCI because the MCS for transmission is selected at the gNB.

Fig. 9 illustrates an example process for determining, at the gbb side, a COT-specific MCS to be used by a UE for UL CG transmission within a COT.

In step 1, the gNB measures the energy level during CCA before initiating the COT. Then, the gNB calculates the COT associated interference level after the capability measurement during CCA before COT.

In step 2, the gNB determines a COT-specific MCS based on the COT-associated interference level and other information, such as UL CSI measured on Sounding Reference Signals (SRS) transmitted by the corresponding UE, DL RSRP and/or CQI reported by the UE, UL RSRP measured on SRS or other UL reference signals, etc. The determination may be based on a mapping table calculated at the gNB using the above information and the success rate of past CG transmissions;

in an example embodiment, the gNB first estimates the CQI for each CG UE within the COT based on the COT's associated interference level and additional information (such as DL CSI or/and UL RSRP obtained from UL DMRS or SRS, or/and information about UE transmit power obtained from power headroom reports).

For example, the gNB may determine the best MCS for UL SISO transmission using the following SINR/CQI estimates:

SINR＝RSRP _UL -Int _COT in dB (2)

Wherein, RSRP _UL Receiving power of a reference signal from UL DMRS or SRS, and taking dBm as a unit; int _COT Is the COT-associated interference measured by the gNB in equation (1).

In another example embodiment, the gNB may determine the best MCS for an MMSE receiver-based UL MIMO transmission using the following SINR/CQI estimates: k (1, 2, …, M) _T ) The SINR on the decoded streams can be shown as:

in dB (3)

Wherein, RSRP _UL Receiving power of a reference signal from UL DMRS or SRS, and taking dBm as a unit; int _COT Is the COT-associated interference measured by the gNB in equation (1); h is a radical having M _T An UL channel matrix between the gNB of the transmit antennas and the UE, which may be estimated based on UL SRS transmitted by the UE.

Outer loop link adaptation may be supported to adjust the estimated SINR/CQI value based on the decoding results of previous CG transmissions.

The gNB selects a COT-specific MCS for each CG UE using a mapping table from estimated SINR/CQI to MCS. In one example embodiment, the gNB first stores a mapping table from interference levels to MCSs for the UE based on, for example, training or historical data. The gNB then selects a COT-specific MCS for the CG UE using a mapping table from measured COT-associated interference to MCS.

In step 3, the gNB indicates COT-specific MCS information to the UE configured for UL CG transmission within the COT. This signaling may be indicated to the CG UEs by the GC-PDCCH in the DCI as shown in fig. 8.

In step 4, the UE receives the COT-specific MCS information from the gNB and uses it to perform UL CG transmission on UL CG resources within the COT.

In a second example embodiment, the UE determines a COT-specific MCS for UL CG transmission within a COT.

In this example embodiment, the UE receives an indication of COT associated interference information from a network node. After initializing the COT to be shared with the CG UE, the gNB may broadcast the measured COT-associated interference level to the CG UE through, for example, the GC-PDCCH.

In this example embodiment, the UE determines the COT-specific MCS based on the COT-associated interference level and other information, such as CSI, DL RSRP and/or CQI between the gNB and the UE, estimated coupling loss information, and the like. The determination may be based on a mapping table calculated at the UE using the above information and the success rate of past CG transmissions.

The UE provides an indication of the determined MCS to the network. Since MCS selection is performed at the UE, the UE may signal the selected MCS in the CG-UCI.

Fig. 10 illustrates an example process of determining a COT-specific MCS for CG transmission within a COT at the UE side.

In step 1, the gNB measures the energy level during CCA before initiating the COT. The gNB then calculates the COT associated interference level after energy measurement during CCA before COT as shown in fig. 8.

In step 2, the gNB broadcasts the interference level associated with the COT to the CG UEs through the GC-PDCCH after initializing the COT to be shared with the one or more CG UEs.

The UE then determines a COT-specific MCS based on the COT-associated interference level and other information (such as CSI, DL RSRP and/or CQI between the gNB and the UE, estimated coupling loss information, etc.). The determination may be based on a mapping table calculated at the gbb or/and the UE using the COT-associated interference level and success rate of past CG transmissions.

In an example embodiment, the CG UE estimates the CQI/SINR based on COT associated interference and additional information, such as CSI, DL RSRP, and/or CQI between the gNB and the UE, estimated coupling loss information obtained from DL RS, transmit power of UL, or/and a preconfigured MCS.

For example, the UE may determine the best MCS for UL SISO transmission using the following SINR/CQI estimates:

SINR＝P _TX，UL -CL-Int _COT in dB (4)

Wherein, P _TX，UL Represents the UL transmission power of the UE in dBm; CL represents coupling loss information from UE to gNB in dB; int _COT Is the COT-associated interference measured by the gNB in equation (1).

For another example, the UE may use the SINR/CQI estimate to determine the best MCS for the MMSE receiver-based UL MIMO transmission: k (1, 2, …, M) _T ) The SINR on the decoded streams may be given as:

in dB as singlePosition (3)

Wherein, RSRP _DL Receiving power of a reference signal from DL CSI-RS or DMRS, and taking dBm as a unit; int _COT Is the COT-associated interference measured by the gNB in equation (1); h may be of the formula M _T UL channel matrix between the gNB and the UE for the transmit antennas, which is indicated by the gNB or obtained by channel reciprocity between UL and DL.

In addition, outer loop link adaptation may also be supported to adjust the estimated SINR/CQI based on HARQ-ACK feedback from previous CG transmissions.

The UE uses a mapping table from estimated SINR/CQI to MCS to select a COT specific MCS to be used by the UE to determine MCS and TBS for the upcoming UL CG transmission within the COT.

In one example embodiment, the gNB first stores a mapping table from interference levels to MCSs for the UE based on, for example, training or historical data; and then configured to the CG UE through RRC signaling or L1 signaling. With the COT associated interference level, the UE will select a COT specific MCS using a mapping table from interference to MCS. Alternatively, the mapping table may be determined at the UE.

In step 4, the UE performs UL CG transmission on UL CG resources within the COT using the COT-specific MCS.

In another example embodiment, the method is applied to adjust/determine the number of repetitions for CG PUSCH transmission within a time resource.

In one embodiment, in addition to or as an alternative to the MCS, the gNB utilizes COT associated interference to adjust the number of repetitions used for CG PUSCH transmission within the COT. For example,

similar to the procedure of COT-specific MCS determination, the gbb estimates CQI/SINR values based at least on COT-associated interference, as shown in equation (1).

The gbb determines the number of repetitions of the CG-PUSCH transmission for each CG UE based on the estimated CQI/SINR and a mapping table of the number of repetitions of the CQI/SINR to other information, such as the CQI/SINR to different MCS and target PER.

The gNB broadcasts the repeated number to the CG UE through the GC-PDCCH after initializing the COT so as to share the CG UE or the CG UEs;

the UE applies the number of signaled repetitions within the allocated UL CG resources for CG PUSCH transmission. Alternatively, the duration of UL CG transmission within the COT initialized by the gNB may be determined based on the number of repetitions.

In one possible implementation, the MCS offset and the number of repetitions are jointly signaled by the gNB (e.g., in the case of high interference, the gNB can start with decreasing MCS.

Embodiments may address the issue of expiration of transmission configurations for CG transmissions because transmission configurations determined prior to the COT may match fluctuating channel and interference conditions during intra-COT UL CG transmissions.

When group common signaling is introduced to indicate transmission configuration or COT associated interference information, low signaling overhead and specification effort may be introduced.

Less implementation effort may be involved since the interference level associated with COT may be easily measured while the gmb is performing CCA. Furthermore, the example of determining COT-specific MCS at the gbb side described with reference to fig. 9 does not require the UE to autonomously determine COT-specific MCS or/and the number of repetitions, which may also reduce the gbb complexity.

An apparatus may comprise means at a network node for: the method comprises determining interference information associated with time resources for a channel occupancy time, determining at least one transmission parameter for use by at least one user equipment within the time resources based on the interference information, and providing an indication of the determined at least one transmission parameter to the at least one user equipment.

Alternatively or additionally, an apparatus may include means at a user equipment for: the method comprises determining interference information associated with time resources for a channel occupancy time, determining at least one transmission parameter for use by a user equipment within the time resources based on the interference information, and providing an indication of the determined at least one transmission parameter to a network node.

Alternatively or additionally, an apparatus may comprise means for: receiving an indication of at least one transmission parameter for use by at least one user equipment within a time resource for a channel occupancy time, the at least one transmission parameter being determined based on interference information associated with the time resource.

It is to be understood that the apparatus may comprise or be coupled to other units or modules or the like, such as a radio part or radio head used in or for transmission and/or reception. Although these means have been described as one entity, the different modules and memories may be implemented in one or more physical or logical entities.

It should be noted that although some embodiments have been described for a 5G network, similar principles may be applied to other networks and communication systems. Thus, although certain embodiments are described above by way of example with reference to certain example architectures for wireless networks, technologies and standards, embodiments may be applied to any other suitable form of communication system than those illustrated and described herein.

It is also noted herein that while the above describes exemplifying embodiments, there are several variations and modifications which may be made to the disclosed solution without departing from the scope of the present invention.

In general, the various embodiments may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuitry, software, logic or any combination thereof. Some aspects of the disclosure may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device, although the disclosure is not limited thereto. While various aspects of the disclosure may be illustrated and described as block diagrams, flow charts, or using some other pictorial representation, it is well understood that these blocks, apparatus, systems, techniques or methods described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

As used in this application, the term "circuitry" may refer to one or more or all of the following:

(a) hardware-only circuit implementations (such as implementations in analog and/or digital circuitry only) and

(b) a combination of hardware circuitry and software, such as (as applicable):

(i) combinations of analog and/or digital hardware circuit(s) and software/firmware, and

(ii) any portion of hardware processor(s) with software (including digital signal processor(s), software, and memory(s) that work together to cause a device, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions); and

(c) hardware circuit(s) and/or processor(s), such as microprocessor(s) or a portion of microprocessor(s), require software (e.g., firmware) for operation, but software may not be present when software is not required for operation.

This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims. As another example, as used in this application, the term circuitry also encompasses implementations of only a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware. For example, the term circuitry, if applicable to a particular claim element, also encompasses a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in a server, a cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

Embodiments of the disclosure may be implemented by computer software executable by a data processor of a mobile device, such as in a processor entity, or by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware. Computer software or programs, also referred to as program products, including software routines, applets and/or macros, may be stored in any device-readable data storage medium and they include program instructions to perform particular tasks. The computer program product may comprise one or more computer-executable components configured to perform an embodiment when the program is run. The one or more computer-executable components may be at least one software code or portion thereof.

Further in this regard it should be noted that any block of the logic flows in the figures may represent a program step, or an interconnected set of logic circuits, blocks and functions, or a combination of a program step and a logic circuit, block and function. The software may be stored on physical media such as memory chips or memory blocks implemented within the processor, on magnetic media such as hard or floppy disks, and on optical media such as, for example, DVDs and data variant CDs thereof. The physical medium is a non-transitory medium.

The memory may be of any type suitable to the local technical environment and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor-based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory and removable memory. The data processor may be of any type suitable to the local technical environment, and may include, as non-limiting examples, one or more of the following: general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), FPGAs, gate level circuits, and processors based on a multi-core processor architecture.

Embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in various components, such as integrated circuit modules. The design of integrated circuits is by and large a highly automated process. Complex and powerful software tools are available for converting a logic level design into a semiconductor circuit design ready to be etched and formed on a semiconductor substrate.

The scope of protection sought for the various embodiments of the present disclosure is defined by the independent claims. Embodiments and features (if any) described in this specification that do not fall within the scope of the independent claims are to be construed as examples useful for understanding the various embodiments of the disclosure.

The foregoing description has provided by way of non-limiting examples a full and informative description of the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure. However, various modifications and adaptations may become apparent to those skilled in the relevant arts in view of the foregoing description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the appended claims. However, all such and similar modifications of the teachings of this disclosure will still fall within the scope of this invention, as defined in the appended claims. Indeed, still further embodiments include combinations of one or more of the embodiments with any of the other embodiments discussed above.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising means at a network node for:

determining interference information associated with time resources for a channel occupancy time;

determining at least one transmission parameter for use by at least one user equipment within the time resource based on the interference information; and

providing an indication of the determined at least one transmission parameter to the at least one user equipment.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one transmission parameter comprises a modulation coding scheme, or a number of repetitions for transmission within the time resource.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 or 2, wherein the interference information is associated with a set of subcarriers, a set of resource blocks, or a set of operating channels for a channel idle assessment operation.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, comprising means for:

performing N clear channel assessment operations at the network node, wherein N is at least 1; and

determining the interference information based on the at least N clear channel assessments.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, comprising means for determining the interference information based on energy levels measured during the at least N clear channel evaluations.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein N is preconfigured, or determined based on listen-before-talk parameters, or comprises means for receiving an indication of N from an operations administration and maintenance entity.

7. The apparatus according to any of claims 4 to 6, wherein the channel occupancy time is obtained by the network node after the N clear channel assessments.

8. The apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 7, wherein the at least one transmission parameter is for physical uplink control channel or physical uplink shared channel transmission.

9. The apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 8, wherein the at least one transmission parameter is for a configured grant transmission or a dynamic grant transmission.

10. The apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 9, comprising means for determining the at least one transmission parameter based on at least one of: a reference signal transmitted by the at least one user equipment, a downlink received signal reference power reported by the at least one user equipment, and channel quality information reported by the at least one user equipment.

11. An apparatus comprising means at a user equipment for:

determining at least one transmission parameter for use by the user equipment within the time resource based on the interference information; and

providing an indication of the determined at least one transmission parameter to a network node.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the at least one transmission parameter comprises a modulation coding scheme, or a number of repetitions for transmission within the time resource.

13. The device according to claim 11 or 12, comprising means for:

receiving an indication of the interference information from the network node.

14. The apparatus according to any of claims 11-13, wherein the interference information is associated with a set of subcarriers, a set of physical resource blocks, or a set of operating channels used for channel idle assessment operations.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the interference information is determined based on at least N clear channel assessments, where N is at least 1.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the channel occupancy time is obtained by the network node after the N clear channel assessments.

17. The apparatus according to any of claims 11 to 16, wherein the at least one transmission parameter is for physical uplink control channel or physical uplink shared channel transmission.

18. The apparatus according to any of claims 11 to 17, wherein the at least one transmission parameter is for a configured grant transmission or a dynamic grant transmission.

19. The apparatus according to any of claims 11 to 18, comprising means for determining the at least one transmission parameter based on at least one of: channel state information, downlink reference signal received power, channel quality information and estimated coupling loss information between the network node and the at least one user equipment.

20. An apparatus comprising means for:

21. The apparatus of claim 20, comprising means for receiving, at the at least one user equipment, the indication of at least one transmission parameter from a network node.

22. The apparatus of claim 20, comprising means for receiving the indication of at least one transmission parameter from the at least one user equipment at a network node.

23. The apparatus of claim 22, comprising means for providing an indication of the interference information to the at least one user equipment.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, comprising means for:

performing N clear channel assessments at the network node, wherein N is at least 1; and

25. The apparatus of claim 24, comprising means for determining the interference information based on energy levels measured during the at least N clear channel assessments.

26. The apparatus according to claim 25, wherein N is preconfigured or determined based on listen-before-talk parameters, or comprises means for receiving an indication of N from an operations administration and maintenance entity.

27. The apparatus according to any of claims 24 to 26, wherein the channel occupancy time is obtained by the network node after the N clear channel assessments.

28. The apparatus according to any of claims 20 to 27, wherein the at least one transmission parameter is for physical uplink control channel or physical uplink shared channel transmission.

29. The apparatus according to any of claims 20 to 28, wherein the at least one transmission parameter is for a configured grant transmission or a dynamic grant transmission.

30. A method, comprising, at a network node:

31. A method, comprising, at a user equipment:

32. A method, comprising:

33. An apparatus, comprising: at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:

34. An apparatus, comprising: at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:

35. An apparatus, comprising: at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:

36. A computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to at least:

37. A computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to at least:

38. A computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to at least: