CN117063446A

CN117063446A - System and method for performing coexistence operations in wireless spectrum

Info

Publication number: CN117063446A
Application number: CN202280023704.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 山姆·帕丁贾雷曼尼尔·亚历克斯; 阿布舍克·库马尔·阿格拉瓦尔; 卡洛斯·奥拉西奥·阿尔达那; 克劳迪奥·达·席尔瓦
Original assignee: Meta Platforms Technologies LLC
Current assignee: Meta Platforms Technologies LLC
Priority date: 2021-03-24
Filing date: 2022-03-19
Publication date: 2023-11-14

Abstract

A system and method for performing Listen Before Talk (LBT) operations includes a first wireless communication device scheduling a data burst including a plurality of chirps to be transmitted on a channel to a second device. The wireless communication device may perform an LBT operation on a channel between the first device and the second device to determine that the channel is available before transmitting a first chirp of the plurality of chirps. The wireless communication device may transmit the first chirp on the channel in response to performing an LBT operation.

Description

System and method for performing coexistence operations in wireless spectrum

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates generally to systems and methods for communicating with specific latency requirements, including but not limited to managing communications in artificial reality and other applications.

Background

Wireless devices may perform ranging or data communication over channels within various wireless spectrums (e.g., 60GHz band). Some devices may perform ranging or data communication by sending bursts to other devices in the environment. In the case where multiple devices are located in the same environment and operate within the same wireless spectrum, communication between such devices may cause interference to other devices.

Disclosure of Invention

In one aspect, the present disclosure is directed to a method. The method may include: a data burst comprising a plurality of chirps (chirp) is scheduled by a first wireless communication device to be transmitted on a channel to a second device. The method may include: a listen-before-talk (LBT) operation is performed by the first wireless communication device on the channel between the first wireless communication device and the second device to determine that the channel is available before transmitting a first chirp of the plurality of chirps. The method may include: the first chirp is transmitted on the channel by the first wireless communication device in response to performing the LBT operation.

In some embodiments, the method may further comprise: a second LBT operation is performed on the channel by the first wireless communication device after transmitting the first chirp and before transmitting a second chirp of the plurality of chirps. The method may further comprise: the second chirp of the plurality of chirps is transmitted by the first wireless communication device in response to performing the second LBT function. In some embodiments, the method may further comprise: a respective LBT operation is performed on the channel by the first wireless communication device before transmitting each of the plurality of chirps of the data burst.

In some embodiments, performing the LBT function before transmitting the first chirp includes: up to a predetermined number of LBT operations are performed on the channel to determine that the channel is available before the first one of the plurality of chirps is transmitted. In some embodiments, transmitting the first chirp on the channel comprises: in response to determining that the channel is available, the data burst including each of the plurality of chirps is transmitted on the channel. In some embodiments, the method comprises: a duty cycle of the data burst is determined by the first wireless communication device. The LBT operation may be initiated based on the duty cycle of the data burst. In some embodiments, the method comprises: the duty cycle is compared to a threshold by the first wireless communication device, wherein the LBT function is initiated in response to the duty cycle being greater than or equal to the threshold.

In some embodiments, transmitting the first chirp on the channel in response to performing the LBT function comprises: the first chirp is transmitted by the first wireless communication device on the channel in response to determining that the channel is clear of interference within a threshold criteria. In some embodiments, performing the LBT function on the channel between the first wireless communication device and the second device is based on a beamwidth of the first wireless communication device meeting a threshold criterion. In some embodiments, the data burst is a first data burst comprising a first plurality of chirps. The method may further comprise: a second data burst comprising a second plurality of chirps is scheduled by the first wireless communication device to be transmitted on the channel. In some embodiments, the method further comprises: a second LBT operation is performed by the first wireless communication device on the channel between the first wireless communication device and the second device. The method may include: at least one chirp of the second plurality of chirps is transmitted by the first wireless communication device on the channel in response to determining that the channel is available. In some embodiments, the method comprises: at least one of the second plurality of chirps is transmitted on the channel by the first wireless communication device in response to performing the LBT operation to determine that the channel is available prior to transmitting the first one of the first plurality of chirps.

In another aspect, the present disclosure is directed to a first device. The first device may include a wireless communication device configured to communicate data with a second device located in an environment of the first device. The first device may include one or more processors. The one or more processors may be configured to: a data burst comprising a plurality of chirps is scheduled for transmission on a channel to the second device. The one or more processors may be configured to: before transmitting a first chirp of the plurality of chirps, a Listen Before Talk (LBT) operation is performed on the channel between the first device and the second device to determine that the channel is available. The one or more processors may be configured to: the first chirp is transmitted over the channel via the wireless communication device in response to performing the LBT operation.

In some embodiments, the one or more processors are further configured to: a respective LBT operation is performed on the channel before each of the plurality of chirps of the data burst is transmitted. The one or more processors may be further configured to: each burst of the plurality of bursts is transmitted to the second device via the wireless communication device in response to performing a respective LBT operation on the channel. In some embodiments, performing the LBT function before transmitting the first chirp includes: up to a predetermined number of LBT operations are performed on the channel to determine that the channel is available before the first one of the plurality of chirps is transmitted. In some embodiments, transmitting the first chirp on the channel comprises: in response to determining that the channel is available, the data burst including each of the plurality of chirps is transmitted on the channel.

In some embodiments, the one or more processors are configured to: a duty cycle of the data burst is determined and compared to a threshold. The LBT function may be initiated in response to the duty cycle being greater than or equal to the threshold. In some embodiments, transmitting the first chirp on the channel in response to performing the LBT function comprises: the first chirp is transmitted over the channel via the wireless communication device in response to determining that the channel is clear of interference within a threshold criteria. In some embodiments, performing the LBT function on the channel between the first device and the second device is based on a beam width of the first device meeting a threshold criterion.

In another aspect, the present disclosure is directed to a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: a data burst comprising a plurality of chirps is scheduled for a first wireless communication device to be transmitted on a channel to a second device. The instructions may also cause the one or more processors to: before transmitting a first chirp of the plurality of chirps, a Listen Before Talk (LBT) operation is performed on the channel between the first device and the second device to determine that the channel is available. The instructions may also cause the one or more processors to: the first chirp is transmitted over the channel via the first wireless communication device in response to performing the LBT operation.

Drawings

The figures are not intended to be drawn to scale. Like reference numbers and designations in the various drawings indicate like elements. For purposes of clarity, not every component may be labeled in every drawing.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a system environment including an artificial reality system according to an example embodiment of the disclosure.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a head mounted display according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a computing environment according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 4 is a block diagram of a system including a first device and a second device according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 5 is an example schematic/representation of a series of bursts transmitted by a device in accordance with an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 6A-6G are various example representations of transmission schedules in which a device may perform Listen Before Talk (LBT) operations according to example embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 7 is another example representation of a transmission schedule in which a device performs LBT operations according to example embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a method of performing a coexistence operation according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of a user environment including a plurality of devices according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 10 is a schematic diagram of a user environment including a plurality of devices according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 11 is a schematic diagram of an environment including a first device and a second device according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 12 is another schematic diagram of the environment of fig. 11 including a first device and a second device according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

Before turning to the drawings, which illustrate certain embodiments in detail, it is to be understood that the disclosure is not limited to the details or methodology set forth in the specification or illustrated in the drawings. It is also to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of description only and is not intended to be limiting.

For purposes of reading the following description of the various embodiments, the following description of the various parts of the specification and their respective contents may be helpful:

section a discloses an artificial reality system useful for practicing embodiments described herein;

section B discloses computing systems that may be used to implement aspects of the present disclosure; and is also provided with

Section C discloses systems and methods for coexistence operations.

A. Artificial reality system

Disclosed herein are systems and methods for facilitating distribution of artificial reality (e.g., augmented reality (augmented reality, AR), virtual Reality (VR), or Mixed Reality (MR)) content. Fig. 1 is a block diagram of an example artificial reality system environment 100. In some embodiments, the artificial reality system environment 100 includes a head wearable display (head wearabledisplay, HWD) 150 worn by a user, and a console 110 providing artificial reality content to the HWD 150. HWD 150 may detect its position and/or orientation of HWD 150 and provide the detected position/orientation of HWD 150 to console 110. Console 110 may generate image data indicative of an image of the artificial reality based on the detected position and/or orientation of HWD 150 and user input for the artificial reality and send the image data to HWD 150 for presentation.

In some embodiments, the artificial reality system environment 100 includes more, fewer, or different components than those shown in FIG. 1. In some embodiments, the functionality of one or more components of the artificial reality system environment 100 may be distributed among the components in a different manner than described herein. For example, some of the functions of console 110 may be performed by HWD 150. For example, some of the functions of HWD 150 may be performed by console 110. In some embodiments, console 110 is integrated as part of HWD 150.

In some embodiments, HWD 150 is an electronic component that may be worn by a user and may present or provide an artificial reality experience to the user. HWD 150 may be referred to as, include, or be part of: a head mounted display (head mounted display, HMD), a head mounted device (head mounted device, HMD), a head wearable device (head wearabledevice, HWD), a head wearable display (head worn display, HWD), or a Head Wearable Device (HWD). HWD 150 may render one or more images, video, audio, or some combination thereof to provide an artificial reality experience to the user. In some embodiments, audio is presented via an external device (e.g., speaker and/or headphones) that receives audio information from HWD 150, console 110, or both, and presents audio based on the audio information. In some embodiments, HWD 150 includes sensor 155, eye tracker 160, hand tracker 162, communication interface 165, image renderer 170, electronic display 175, lens 180, and compensator 185. These components may cooperate to detect the location of HWD 150 and the gaze direction of the user wearing HWD 150, and render an image of the artificial internal field of view corresponding to the detected location and/or orientation of HWD 150. In other embodiments, HWD 150 may include more, fewer, or different components than those shown in fig. 1.

In some embodiments, sensor 155 includes electronic components, or a combination of electronic and software components, that detect the position and orientation of HWD 150. Examples of sensors 155 may include: one or more imaging sensors, one or more accelerometers, one or more gyroscopes, one or more magnetometers, or another suitable type of sensor that detects motion and/or position. For example, one or more accelerometers may measure translational motion (e.g., forward/backward, up/down, left/right), and one or more gyroscopes may measure rotational motion (e.g., pitch, yaw, roll). In some embodiments, plurality of sensors 155 detect translational and rotational motion and determine the orientation and position of HWD 150. In one aspect, plurality of sensors 155 may detect translational and rotational movement relative to a previous orientation and position of HWD 150 and determine a new orientation and/or position of HWD 150 by accumulating or integrating the detected translational and/or rotational movement. For example, assuming HWD 150 is oriented 25 degrees from the reference direction, plurality of sensors 155 may determine that HWD 150 is now facing or oriented 45 degrees from the reference direction in response to detecting that HWD 150 has rotated 20 degrees. For another example, assuming HWD 150 is located two feet from the reference point in the first direction, sensor 155 may determine that HWD 150 is now located at the vector product of two feet in the first direction and three feet in the second direction in response to detecting that HWD 150 has been moved three feet in the second direction.

In some embodiments, eye tracker 160 includes electronic components or a combination of electronic and software components that determine the gaze direction of the user of HWD 150. In some embodiments, HWD 150, console 110, or a combination thereof may generate image data for artificial reality in conjunction with the gaze direction of the user of HWD 150. In some embodiments, the plurality of eye trackers 160 includes two eye trackers, wherein each eye tracker 160 captures an image of a respective eye and determines a gaze direction of the eye. In one example, eye tracker 160 determines an angular rotation of the eye, a translation of the eye, a torsion (torsion) change of the eye, and/or a shape change of the eye from the acquired image of the eye, and determines a relative gaze direction with respect to HWD 150 from the determined angular rotation, translation, and torsion changes of the eye. In one approach, eye tracker 160 may illuminate or project a predetermined reference pattern or structured pattern on a portion of the eye and acquire an image of the eye to analyze the pattern projected on the portion of the eye to determine the relative gaze direction of the eye with respect to HWD 150. In some embodiments, the plurality of eye trackers 160 combine the orientation of HWD 150 and the relative gaze direction with respect to HWD 150 to determine the gaze direction of the user. For example, assuming that HWD 150 is oriented at 30 degrees from the reference direction and the relative gaze direction of HWD 150 is at-10 degrees (or 350 degrees) relative to HWD 150, the plurality of eye trackers 160 may determine that the user's gaze direction is at 20 degrees from the reference direction. In some embodiments, a user of HWD 150 may configure HWD 150 (e.g., via user settings) to enable or disable eye tracker 160. In some embodiments, a user of HWD 150 is prompted to enable or disable eye tracker 160.

In some embodiments, the hand tracker 162 includes electronic components, or a combination of electronic and software components, that track the user's hand. In some embodiments, the hand tracker 162 includes or is coupled to an imaging sensor (e.g., a camera) and an image processor that can detect the shape, position, and orientation of the hand. The hand tracker 162 may generate hand tracking measurements that indicate the shape, position, and orientation of the detected hand.

In some embodiments, the communication interface 165 includes an electronic component or a combination of electronic and software components that communicate with the console 110. The communication interface 165 may communicate with the communication interface 115 of the console 110 via a communication link. The communication link may be a wireless link. Examples of the wireless link may include a cellular communication link, a near field communication link, wi-Fi, bluetooth, 60GHz wireless link, or any wireless communication link for communication. Through which communication interface 165 may transmit the following data to console 110: this data indicates the determined position and/or orientation of HWD 150, the determined user gaze direction, and/or hand tracking measurements. Further, through the communication link, the communication interface 165 may receive an indication from the console 110 or image data corresponding to an image to be rendered, as well as additional data associated with the image.

In some embodiments, image renderer 170 includes electronic components, or a combination of electronic and software components, that generate one or more images for display (e.g., based on field of view changes in a space of an artificial reality). In some embodiments, the image renderer 170 is implemented as a processor (or graphics processing unit (graphical processing unit, GPU)) that executes instructions to perform the various functions described herein. The image renderer 170 may receive image data describing an artificial reality image to be rendered and additional data associated with the image via the communication interface 165, and may render the image via the electronic display 175. In some embodiments, image data from console 110 may be encoded, and image renderer 170 may decode the image data to render an image. In some embodiments, image renderer 170 receives object information in the additional data from console 110 that indicates a virtual object in virtual reality space and depth information that indicates the depth (or distance from HWD 150) of the virtual object. In one aspect, image renderer 170 may perform shading, reprojection, and/or blending (blending) to update the artificial reality image to correspond to the updated position and/or orientation of HWD 150 based on the artificial reality image from console 110, object information, depth information, and/or updated sensor measurements from sensor 155. Assuming the user rotates his head after the initial sensor measurement, the image renderer 170 may generate a small portion (e.g., 10%) of the image corresponding to the updated field of view within the artificial reality from the updated sensor measurement and append the portion to the image in the image data from the console 110 by re-projection instead of reconstructing the entire image in response to the updated sensor measurement. The image renderer 170 may perform coloring and/or blending on the appended edges. Thus, the image renderer 170 can generate an image of the artificial reality without reconstructing the image of the artificial reality from the updated sensor measurements. In some embodiments, the image renderer 170 receives hand model data that indicates the shape, position, and orientation of a hand model corresponding to a user's hand, and overlays the hand model on an image of an artificial reality. Such hand models may be presented as visual feedback to allow a user to provide various interactions within the artificial reality.

In some embodiments, electronic display 175 is an electronic component that displays images. The electronic display 175 may be, for example, a liquid crystal display or an organic light emitting diode display. The electronic display 175 may be a transparent display that allows for a user's perspective. In some embodiments, electronic display 175 is located near the user's eye (e.g., less than 3 inches) when HWD 150 is worn by the user. In one aspect, the electronic display 175 emits light or projects light toward the user's eye in accordance with the image generated by the image renderer 170.

In some embodiments, the lens 180 is a mechanical component that alters the light received from the electronic display 175. The lens 180 may amplify light from the electronic display 175 and correct for optical errors associated with the light. Lens 180 may be a fresnel lens, a convex lens, a concave lens, a filter, or any suitable optical component that alters light from electronic display 175. Through the lens 180, light from the electronic display 175 may reach the pupil so that a user may see an image displayed by the electronic display 175, although the electronic display 175 is very close to the eye.

In some embodiments, compensator 185 includes electronic components or a combination of electronic and software components that perform compensation to compensate for any distortion or aberration. In one aspect, the lens 180 introduces optical aberrations (e.g., chromatic aberration), pincushion distortion, barrel distortion, and the like. The compensator 185 may determine a compensation (e.g., predistortion) to be applied to the image to be rendered from the image renderer 170 to compensate for distortion caused by the lens 180, and apply the determined compensation to the image from the image renderer 170. Compensator 185 may provide a predistorted image to electronic display 175.

In some embodiments, console 110 is an electronic component, or a combination of electronic and software components, that provides content to be rendered to HWD 150. In one aspect, the console 110 includes a communication interface 115 and a content provider 130. These components may cooperate to determine an artificial reality field of view (e.g., field of view (FOV)) corresponding to the location of HWD 150 and the gaze direction of the user of HWD 150, and may generate image data indicative of an artificial reality image corresponding to the determined field of view. Further, these components may cooperate to generate additional data associated with the image. The additional data may be information associated with rendering or rendering the artificial reality other than the artificial reality image. Examples of additional data include hand model data, mapping information (or synchronized positioning and mapping (simultaneous localization and mapping, SLAM) data) for converting the position and orientation of HWD 150 in physical space into virtual space, motion vector information, depth information, edge information, object information, and the like. Console 110 may provide image data and additional data to HWD 150 for use in presenting an artificial reality. In other embodiments, console 110 includes more, fewer, or different components than those shown in FIG. 1. In some embodiments, console 110 is integrated as part of HWD 150.

In some embodiments, communication interface 115 is an electronic component, or a combination of electronic and software components, that communicates with HWD 150. The communication interface 115 may be a mating component of the communication interface 165, the communication interface 165 being for communicating with the communication interface 115 of the console 110 over a communication link (e.g., a wireless link). Through this communication link, communication interface 115 may receive data from HWD 150 indicating the determined position and/or orientation of HWD 150, the determined user gaze direction, and hand tracking measurements. Further, communication interface 115 may transmit image data describing the image to be rendered and additional data associated with the image of the artificial reality to HWD 150 over the communication link.

Content provider 130 is a component that generates content to be rendered based on the location and/or orientation of HWD 150. In some embodiments, content provider 130 may combine the gaze direction of the user of HWD 150, and the user interactions based on hand tracking measurements in artificial reality, to generate content to be rendered. In one aspect, content provider 130 determines the field of view of the artificial reality based on the location and/or orientation of HWD 150. For example, content provider 130 maps the location of HWD 150 in physical space to a location within the artificial reality space and determines a field of view of the artificial reality space from the mapped location in the artificial reality space along a direction corresponding to the mapped orientation. Content provider 130 may generate image data describing an image of the determined field of view of the artificial reality space and transmit the image data to HWD 150 via communication interface 115. Content provider 130 may also generate a hand model corresponding to the hand of the user of HWD 150 from the hand tracking measurements and generate hand model data indicating the shape, position, and orientation of the hand model in the artificial reality space. In some embodiments, content provider 130 may generate additional data associated with the image (including motion vector information, depth information, edge information, object information, hand model data, etc.) and transmit the additional data, along with the image data, to HWD 150 via communication interface 115. Content provider 130 may encode image data describing the image and may transmit the encoded data to HWD 150. In some embodiments, content provider 130 generates and provides image data to HWD 150 periodically (e.g., every 11 ms).

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of HWD 150, according to an example embodiment. In some embodiments, HWD 150 includes a front rigid body 205 and a strap 210. Anterior rigid body 205 includes electronic display 175 (not shown in fig. 2), lens 180 (not shown in fig. 2), sensor 155, eye trackers 160A and 160B, communication interface 165, and image renderer 170. In the embodiment shown in fig. 2, the communication interface 165, the image renderer 170 and the sensor 155 are located within the front rigid body 205 and may not be visible to a user. In other embodiments, HWD 150 has a different configuration than that shown in fig. 2. For example, the communication interface 165, the image renderer 170, the eye trackers 160A, 160B, and/or the sensor 155 may be located in a different location than that shown in fig. 2. In one embodiment, HWD 150 may include a plurality of communication interfaces 165. Similarly, the console 110 of FIG. 1 may include a plurality of communication interfaces 115. As described in greater detail below in section B, one or more communication interfaces 115, 165 may be configured to selectively perform beamforming to optimize a communication channel between console 110 and HWD 150. Similarly, console 110 and HWD 150 may dynamically and intelligently switch between one or more active and idle communication interfaces 115, 165 to optimize the communication channel between console 110 and HWD 150.

B. Computing system

Various operations described herein may be implemented on a computer system. FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of a representative computing system 314 that may be used to implement the present disclosure. In some embodiments, console 110, HWD 150, or both of FIG. 1 are implemented by computing system 314. Computing system 314 may be implemented as, for example, a consumer device such as a smart phone, other mobile phone, tablet computer, wearable computing device (e.g., smart watch, glasses, head mounted display), desktop computer, laptop computer; or the computing system may be implemented using distributed computing devices. The computing system 314 may be implemented to provide a VR experience, an AR experience, or an MR experience. In some embodiments, computing system 314 may include conventional computer components, such as a processor 316, storage 318, a network interface 320, user input devices 322, and user output devices 324.

Network interface 320 may provide a connection to a wide area network (e.g., the internet) to which a Wide Area Network (WAN) interface of a remote server system is also connected. Network interface 320 may include a wired interface (e.g., ethernet) and/or a wireless interface implementing various Radio Frequency (RF) data communication standards, such as Wi-Fi, bluetooth, or cellular data network standards (e.g., 3G, 4G, 5G, 60GHz, LTE, etc.).

User input device 322 may include any device (or devices) via which a user may provide signals to computing system 314; the computing system 314 may interpret these signals as indicating a particular user request or information. The user input device 322 may include any or all of the following: a keyboard, touchpad, touch screen, mouse or other pointing device, scroll wheel, click wheel, knob, button, switch, keypad, microphone, sensor (e.g., motion sensor, eye tracking sensor, etc.), and the like.

User output device 324 may include any device via which computing system 314 may provide information to a user. For example, the user output device 324 may include a display to display images generated by or delivered to the computing system 314. The display may incorporate various image generation technologies such as a liquid crystal display (liquid crystal display, LCD), a light-emitting diode (LED) including an organic light-emitting diode (OLED), a projection system, a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT), etc., with supporting electronics (e.g., digital-to-analog or analog-to-digital converters, signal processors, etc.). Devices such as touch screens that function as both input devices and output devices may be used. An output device 324 may be provided in addition to or in place of the display. Examples include an indicator light, a speaker, a tactile "display" device, a printer, and the like.

Some implementations include a plurality of electronic components, such as microprocessors, storage, and memory, that store computer program instructions in a computer-readable storage medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable medium). Many of the functions described in this specification can be implemented as processes that are specified as a set of program instructions encoded on a computer readable storage medium. The program instructions are executed by one or more processors and cause the processors to perform the various operations indicated in the program instructions. Examples of program instructions or computer code include both machine code, such as produced by a compiler, and files containing higher level code that may be executed by the computer, electronic component, or microprocessor using an annotator. The processor 316, by suitable programming, can provide various functions to the computing system 314, including any functions described herein as being performed by a server or client, or other functions associated with a message management service.

It should be understood that computing system 314 is illustrative and that variations and modifications are possible. Computer systems used in connection with the present disclosure may have other functions not specifically described herein. Furthermore, while computing system 314 is described with reference to particular blocks, it should be understood that these blocks are defined for convenience of description and are not intended to imply a particular physical arrangement of the various component parts. For example, different blocks may be located in the same facility, in the same server rack, or on the same motherboard. Moreover, the blocks do not necessarily correspond to physically distinct components. The blocks may be configured to perform a variety of operations (e.g., by programming a processor or providing suitable control circuitry), and may or may not be reconfigurable depending on the manner in which the initial configuration is obtained. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in various apparatuses including electronic devices implemented using any combination of circuitry and software.

C. System and method for performing coexistence operations

In some embodiments, wireless communications may be conducted using the 60GHz spectrum or frequency band (sometimes referred to as the V-band) (e.g., to support/enable applications described herein, such as artificial reality applications). The 60GHz spectrum or band may include a range near 60GHz, such as 57GHz to 71GHz, 57GHz to 64GHz, or 60GHz to 64GHz, or some other range. In some embodiments, the 60GHz spectrum may be used for applications associated with Wi-Fi (e.g., based on the IEEE 802.11ad standard). In some embodiments, the 60GHz spectrum is used for 5G and 6G cellular communications. The 60GHz spectrum or frequency band is sometimes referred to as an unlicensed or shared frequency band, and therefore fair coexistence of multiple devices in that frequency band is important to ensure efficient operation of the multiple devices in that frequency band.

In some aspects, the present disclosure relates to systems and methods for facilitating coexistence of devices in the 60GHz band. These systems and methods may incorporate aspects of Listen Before Talk (LBT) operation, sometimes referred to as listen before talk. LBT may be used as such a technique: the technique provides for a device to determine whether a network or channel (e.g., an idle or unoccupied/unused channel) is available/idle for transmission/use by the device. A radio transmitter, transceiver or other wireless communication device may first sense or detect its radio environment (e.g., channel or frequency band) after scheduling a transmission and before beginning the transmission. By performing LBT operations, a wireless communication device may avoid one or more transmission collisions with other one or more devices in the same channel/band/network (e.g., avoid interference from transmission signals of one or more transmissions of the other one or more devices).

In accordance with the systems and methods disclosed herein, a device may schedule a data burst comprising a plurality of chirps to be transmitted on a channel to a second device. The device may perform a Listen Before Talk (LBT) operation on a channel between the first device and the second device before transmitting a first chirp of the plurality of chirps. The device may send a first chirp on the channel in response to performing an LBT operation. Such implementations and embodiments may reduce interference or collision between other devices located in the environment of the first device operable in the 60GHz band.

Referring now to fig. 4, a system 400 is depicted that includes a first device 402 and a second device 404. Devices 402 and 404 may be similar to those described above with reference to fig. 1-3 or below with reference to fig. 9-12. Devices 402 and 404 may each include one or more processors 406, memory 408, and wireless network devices 410. The one or more processors 406 may be similar to the processors 118, 170 described above with reference to fig. 1 and 2, or the one or more processing units 316 described above with reference to fig. 3. The memory 408 may be similar to the storage 318 described above with reference to fig. 3. The wireless network device 410 may be similar to the wireless interfaces 115, 165 described above with reference to fig. 1 and 2, or the network interface 320 described above with reference to fig. 3.

In some embodiments, the wireless network device 410 may be configured to transmit communications over channels within a 60GHz band or spectrum, or to otherwise operate over a 60GHz band or spectrum. In some embodiments, wireless network device 410 may be configured to operate in a range near 60GHz, such as 57GHz to 71GHz, 57GHz to 64GHz, or 60GHz to 64GHz, or some other range. In some embodiments, devices 402 and 404 may be configured to operate wireless network device 410 for wireless gigabit (Wi-Gig) applications associated with Wi-Fi (e.g., based on the IEEE 802.11ad standard). In some embodiments, devices 402 and 404 may be configured to operate wireless network device 410 for 5G and 6G cellular communications. In some embodiments, devices 402 and 404 may be configured to operate wireless network device 410 (e.g., as a radar) for ranging or directional determination. Various examples of such operations are described below with reference to fig. 9-12.

The first device 402 and the second device 404 may be configured to determine, establish, or otherwise negotiate such channels: devices 402 and 404 will exchange burst transmissions on the channel. In some embodiments, the first device 402 and the second device 404 may be configured to negotiate channels within the 60GHz band. The first device 402 and the second device 404 may be configured to negotiate a channel in response to performing a pairing procedure, as part of initialization or initiation, in response to the devices 402 and 404 being initiated after being successfully paired, and the like. The first device 402 and the second device 404 may be configured to negotiate channels by performing one or more handshaking operations, frequency hopping, etc. to determine open, unused, or otherwise available channels within the 60GHz band.

Referring now to fig. 4 and 5, devices 402, 404 may be configured to communicate, transmit, or otherwise transmit data bursts with other devices 402, 404 located in the environment over a negotiated channel. In particular, fig. 5 shows a series of bursts 500 transmitted by a device according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure. Burst 500 may be transmitted as part of a data transmission schedule or fixed frame period (fixed frame period, FFP) that includes burst 500 (or observation period) and an idle period (e.g., after burst 500 or observation period). As shown in fig. 5, each burst 500 may include a plurality of chirps 502. The chirp 502 may be or include a radar signal, repeated transmissions of the same data, may be a segmented portion of data, and so on. In some embodiments, the burst 500 may include 15 chirps 502, however, the plurality of bursts 500 may each include any number (e.g., fixed, dynamic, etc.) of chirps 502 (e.g., 10 chirps, 20 chirps, etc.). The observation period may be a fraction or percentage of a fixed frame period. For example, the observation period may be about 50% of the fixed frame period.

Various criteria may define or otherwise set parameters of the data burst 500 (e.g., duty cycle, chirp 502 width, number of bursts within a time frame, number of chirps 502 per burst 500, chirp 502 on/off times, etc.). For example, although not shown to scale, the data transmission schedule including burst 500 may include one burst per Fixed Frame Period (FFP), which may be 33 milliseconds (ms), 20 chirps per burst, a chirp width of 130.8 microseconds (μs), a chirp off time of 200 μs, and/or a chirp on/off time of 330.8 μs. Thus, the duty cycle may be equal to the total on-time (e.g., chirp width [130.8 μs ] times the number of chirps [20], or 2616.0 μs) divided by the total period of the data transmission schedule (e.g., 33 ms), or may be a 7.9% duty cycle. However, some proposed standards may include higher duty cycles, for example up to 20% duty cycles. By having a larger duty cycle, the likelihood of interference (e.g., susceptibility) between/from devices within the environment may increase.

In some embodiments, the devices 402, 404 may use different duty cycles based on the location data associated with the second device to be obtained. For example, the devices 402, 404 may use the first duty cycle (e.g., during a viewing period) to obtain location or ranging data related to the second device. The devices 402, 404 may use the second duty cycle to obtain speed data associated with the second device. In some embodiments, to perform ranging, the devices 402, 404 may use multiple short duration chirps (e.g., less than 3.3 ms) or multiple chirps spanning more than some defined frequency (e.g., 2.16 GHz) with a fixed, deterministic, or defined duty cycle. Further, the radar off time between two consecutive radar pulses may be less than 2ms (e.g., for calculating the duty cycle). For velocity estimation, the devices 402, 404 may use a single channel (e.g., a 2.16GHz channel or channel 1). In this example, for example, the duty cycle may be increased to 100% (e.g., any value between 20% and 100%).

Referring back to fig. 4, in some embodiments, the devices 402, 404 may be configured to establish, generate, determine, or otherwise schedule data or burst transmissions to other devices 402, 404 in the environment. For example, the first device 402 may be configured to schedule burst transmissions to the second device 404 in the environment (and vice versa). The first device 402 may be configured to schedule burst transmissions, as part of ranging or directional determination, as part of data communication or transmission, and so forth. The first device 402 may be configured to perform one or more Listen Before Talk (LBT) operations prior to transmitting the data. The first device 402 may be configured to perform LBT operations on channels established or negotiated between the first device 402 and the second device 404. For example, the first device 402 may be configured to perform LBT operations on channels that have been negotiated between the first device 402 and the second device 404 before sending a burst of data (e.g., a series of (on and off) transmissions within a duration or close to each other) to the second device 404. Various examples of performing LBT operations are described with reference to fig. 6A-6G.

The first device 402 may be configured to perform LBT operations on the channel as part of a clear channel assessment (clear channel assessment, CCA). In other words, the first device 402 may be configured to perform an LBT operation on a channel to determine that the channel is interference-free within a threshold criteria. For example, as part of performing LBT operations, first device 402 may be configured to identify/detect or "snoop" any data communications or transmissions from other devices within the environment of first device 402: these other devices may operate on such channels: these channels are close in frequency to the channel between the first device 402 and the second device 404. The first device 402 may detect interference in the case that another device is transmitting data on the following frequency or channel: the frequency or channel is close in frequency to the negotiated channel between the first device 402 and the second device 404. The first device 402 may be configured to compare other parameters, such as signal strength (e.g., received signal strength indication (received signal strength indication, [ RSSI ])) or detected interference, to a threshold level (e.g., ED threshold level). The first device 402 may be configured to determine that the channel is free of interference in response to the signal strength of the detected interference being less than or equal to a threshold signal strength (or otherwise meeting a threshold criterion). In the event that the first device determines that the signal strength of the detected interference does not meet the threshold criteria, the first device 402 may be configured to negotiate another channel with the second device 404 to avoid interference or collision with other devices in the environment.

Referring now to fig. 6A-6G, various examples are depicted in which a device (e.g., first device 402 or second device 404) may perform LBT operations according to example embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in fig. 6A-6G, in accordance with one or more embodiments, the devices 402, 404 may be configured to perform one or more LBT operations 604 between (e.g., each pair of adjacent) chirps 602 within a transmission burst 600, before transmitting a data burst 600, between transmitting two data bursts 600, etc. Such implementations and embodiments may provide more fidelity with respect to the availability of a channel between devices 402, 404 by detecting other transmissions and avoiding interference to the channel while meeting criteria associated with the channel. Although described below as the first device 402 performing an LBT operation as part of transmitting the data burst 600 to the second device 404, it should be noted that the second device 404 may similarly perform an LBT operation as part of transmitting the data burst to the first device 402.

Referring specifically to fig. 6A, in some embodiments, the first device 402 may be configured to perform one or more LBT operations 604 within, during, or as part of the plurality of chirps 602 of the transmitted data burst 600. In some embodiments, the first device 402 may be configured to perform a respective LBT operation 604 before transmitting each chirp 602 of the data burst 600. The first device 402 may be configured to perform LBT operations 604 for each chirp 602 of the burst 600. As shown in fig. 6A, the first device 402 may be configured to perform a first LBT operation 604 (1) before transmitting a first chirp 602 (1) of the burst 600. When the first device 402 determines that the channel is not interfered with from the other one or more transmissions (or the detected interference level meets a threshold criterion), the first device 402 may be configured to transmit a first chirp 602 (1) of the burst 600 to the second device 404 on the channel. After transmitting the first chirp 602 (1) and before transmitting the second chirp 602 (2) of the burst 600, the first device 402 may be configured to perform a second LBT operation 604 (2). When the first device 402 determines that the channel is not interfered with from the other one or more transmissions (or the detected interference level meets a threshold criterion), the first device 402 may be configured to transmit a second chirp 602 (2) of the burst 600 to the second device 404 on the channel. The first device 402 may be configured to repeat the LBT operation 604 for each of the N chirps of the burst 600. Thus, in the example embodiment shown in fig. 6A, the first device 402 may be configured to perform an equal number of LBT operations 604 as the number of chirps 602 in the burst 600.

Referring specifically to fig. 6B and 6C, in some embodiments, the first device 402 may be configured to perform one or more LBT operations 604 on the channel prior to transmitting the data burst 600. In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 6B, the first device 402 may be configured to perform a single LBT operation 604 on the channel prior to transmitting the data burst 600. In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 6C, the first device 402 may be configured to perform a plurality (or up to N) LBT operations 604 on the channel prior to transmitting the data burst 600 (e.g., by performing up to N LBT attempts if the previous attempt did not successfully detect an idle channel when attempting to acquire/locate/detect and/or monitor the idle channel for transmission). When the first device 402 determines that the channel is not being interfered with (or the detected interference meets a threshold criterion), the first device 402 may be configured to transmit the burst 600 to the second device 404 over the channel. The first device 402 may be configured to transmit each of the chirps 602 of the data burst 600 in response to determining (via one or more LBT operations) that the channel is not interfered with (e.g., by one or more transmissions from other one or more devices). In other words, the first device 402 may be configured to transmit the complete burst 600 (including each chirp 602 of the burst 600) in response to performing one or more LBT operations 604 prior to the first chirp 602 (1) of the burst 600.

Referring specifically to fig. 6D, in some embodiments, the first device 402 may be configured to perform one or more LBT operations 604 on the channel based on one or more metrics. In the embodiment shown in fig. 6D, the first device 402 may be configured to perform one or more LBT operations 604 based on the duty cycle. For example, the first device 402 may be configured to determine/estimate/calculate a duty cycle of an FFP in which the first device 402 is performing a transmission. The first device 402 may be configured to compare the duty cycle to a threshold duty cycle. The first device 402 may be configured to perform one or more LBT operations 604 in response to the duty cycle meeting a threshold criterion (e.g., the duty cycle being greater than or equal to a percentage duty cycle). The first device 402 may be configured to perform one or more LBT operations to detect idle/available channels before transmitting the data burst 600 as shown in fig. 6D, between transmitting the plurality of chirps 602 as shown in fig. 6A, or in other arrangements as shown in fig. 6C and fig. 6E-6G. In some embodiments, the first device 402 may be configured to perform one or more LBT operations 604 based on additional or alternative metrics, such as the beam width of the first device 402. For example, the first device 402 may be configured to determine a beamwidth of a transmission sent on a channel to the second device 404. The first device 402 may be configured to compare the beamwidth to a threshold beamwidth (e.g., 30 degrees, 20 degrees, 45 degrees, etc.). The first device 402 may be configured to perform one or more LBT operations 604 in response to the beamwidth meeting a threshold beamwidth criterion (e.g., greater than or equal to a threshold beamwidth).

Referring specifically to fig. 6E and 6F, in some embodiments, the first device 402 may be configured to transmit a wideband chirp after transmitting the narrowband data burst 600. Narrowband data bursts may occupy a bandwidth of-2 GHz. Wideband chirps may occupy bandwidths greater than-2 GHz (e.g., greater than 2.16GHz, up to or about 7GHz, etc.). In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 6F, the first device 402 may be configured to transmit multiple (or N) wideband chirps to obtain finer resolution from the narrowband chirp. Wideband chirps occupying bandwidths greater than 2.16GHz may be subject to duty cycle limitations or threshold criteria, while narrowband chirps may not be subject to duty cycle limitations or threshold criteria. In some embodiments, the device 402 may be configured to determine the duty cycle of the data burst 600, as described above with reference to fig. 6D. The device 402 may be configured to apply the determined duty cycle to one or more threshold criteria to determine whether to transmit a narrowband chirp or a wideband chirp. If the duty cycle is, for example, greater than a threshold percentage duty cycle, the device 402 may transmit one or more narrowband chirps (e.g., chirps occupying approximately 2GHz bandwidth). On the other hand, if the duty cycle is less than the threshold percentage duty cycle, the device 402 may transmit one or more wideband chirps (e.g., chirps occupying more than 2GHz bandwidth). Referring specifically to fig. 6G, in some embodiments, the first device 402 may be configured to transmit a wideband chirp 606 over a channel between transmitting a first narrowband data burst 600 (1) and transmitting a second narrowband data burst 600 (2). As shown in fig. 6G and briefly set forth above, the narrowband data burst may occupy a bandwidth of approximately 2 GHz. In this example, wideband chirp 606, which occupies a bandwidth greater than 2.16GHz, may be subject to duty cycle limitations or threshold criteria, while narrowband chirps in data bursts 600 (1) and 600 (2) may not be subject to duty cycle limitations or threshold criteria.

Referring now to fig. 7, another example/representation of a transmission schedule or fixed frame period in which a first device 402 may be configured to transmit a data burst 600 to a second device 404 is depicted in accordance with an example embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in fig. 7, in some embodiments, the first device 402 may be configured to transmit a plurality of data bursts 600, each data burst 600 including a single chirp 602 within an observation period of a fixed frame period. In this example, the burst 600 and the single chirp 602 may span an observation period, which may be set based on a percentage of duty cycle (e.g., a duty cycle of 10%). In some embodiments, the first device 402 may be configured to perform one or more LBT operations 604 prior to the observation period as shown in fig. 7. Such an embodiment may meet duty cycle requirements/thresholds/levels set by various criteria while also reducing the likelihood of interference by having a shorter observation period relative to a fixed frame period.

Referring now to fig. 8, a flow chart of a method 800 for performing coexistence operations according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure is depicted. The method 800 may be performed by one or more of the plurality of wireless communication devices described herein, such as the first device 402 or the second device 404 described above with reference to fig. 4 or below with reference to fig. 9-12, the computing device 110 or the head wearable display described above with reference to fig. 1 and 2, and/or the computing system 314 described above with reference to fig. 3. As a brief overview, in step 802, the device schedules a data burst. In step 804, the device performs an LBT operation. At step 806, the device transmits a first chirp of the data burst.

In step 802, the device schedules a burst of data. In some embodiments, a device may schedule a data burst comprising a plurality of chirps to be transmitted on a channel to a second device. A device may schedule multiple data bursts at various intervals or frequencies (e.g., according to a fixed frame period). The device may schedule the data burst in response to negotiating, determining, setting up, or otherwise establishing a channel with the second device. In some embodiments, the channel may be within a frequency band/frequency range/spectrum (e.g., 60GHz band). The data burst may include a plurality of chirps. Each chirp may be or include a radar signal transmitted from the device to the second device. These chirps may be used to determine the position, location, orientation, speed, etc. of the second device.

In step 804, the device performs an LBT operation. The device may perform an LBT operation on a channel between the device and the second device. The device may perform LBT operations on the channel to determine/check/detect/confirm/monitor whether the channel is available. The device may perform the LBT operation in response to scheduling the data burst, and/or may respond to the result of the LBT operation (e.g., determine that a channel is available/idle). The device may perform an LBT operation before transmitting a first chirp of the plurality of chirps. In some embodiments, the device may determine that a channel is available (e.g., not occupied by any transmissions, signals, and/or noise) in response to not detecting any interference on the channel when performing (or as part of performing) LBT operations. In some embodiments, the device may determine that the channel is available in response to any detected interference meeting a threshold criterion (e.g., less than or equal to a threshold interference level). For example, the device may compare a signal strength of the detected interference to a threshold interference level and determine that the channel is available in response to the signal strength being less than (or equal to) the threshold interference level.

In some embodiments, at step 804, the device may perform a plurality of LBT operations. For example, a device may perform up to a predetermined number of LBT operations (initiated at a series of moments) on a channel to determine whether the channel is available (e.g., a moment when it is attempted to find that channel available). The predetermined number of LBT operations may be set by various criteria associated with the device or channel. In some embodiments, a device may perform a first LBT operation, detect interference that does not meet a threshold criteria, and then perform one or more additional LBT operations (up to a predetermined number of LBT operations) until the device determines that the channel is available. Once the device determines that the channel is available, method 800 may proceed to step 806.

In some embodiments, a device may perform or initiate one or more LBT operations based on one or more metrics associated with the device. In some embodiments, a device may perform or initiate one or more LBT operations based on the duty cycle of a data burst. The device may determine the duty cycle of a data burst based on a comparison of an observation period (e.g., including the data burst) to a fixed frame period. The device may compare the duty cycle to a threshold duty cycle. The device may initiate or otherwise perform one or more LBT operations based on the duty cycle. For example, the device may initiate one or more LBT operations in response to the duty cycle being greater than or equal to a threshold duty cycle. In some embodiments, a device may perform or initiate one or more LBT operations based on the beam width of the device. A device may determine or identify a beamwidth based on or using data stored, maintained, configured, or otherwise accessible by the device. The data may include, for example, manufacturing or device specifications associated with the wireless network device or hardware of the device. The device may compare the beamwidth to a threshold beamwidth. The device may initiate or otherwise perform one or more LBT operations in response to the beamwidth meeting a threshold criterion (e.g., greater than or equal to a threshold beamwidth).

At step 806, the device transmits a first chirp of the data burst. In some embodiments, the device may transmit a first chirp on the channel in response to performing an LBT operation at step 804. The device may send the first chirp in response to determining that the channel is available (when or as part of performing LBT operations) by: the device does not detect any interference (e.g., signal/noise/transmission in the channel) or any detected interference meets the threshold criteria.

In some embodiments, the device may select a bandwidth for transmitting a chirp (e.g., a narrowband chirp or a wideband chirp) of the first chirp. The device may select the bandwidth based on a duty cycle determined for the data burst. In some embodiments, the device may apply the duty cycle to a threshold criterion. For example, the device may determine whether the duty cycle meets a threshold criterion (e.g., less than or equal to a percentage duty cycle). The device may select the bandwidth of the chirp based on whether the duty cycle meets a threshold criteria. For example, the device may select a narrowband bandwidth to transmit the first chirp in response to the duty cycle not meeting a threshold criterion (e.g., greater than a threshold percentage duty cycle). In another aspect, the device may select a wideband bandwidth to transmit the first chirp in response to the duty cycle meeting a threshold criterion (e.g., less than a threshold percentage duty cycle). Thus, the transmission of wideband chirps by a device may be subject to duty cycle threshold criteria.

In some embodiments, the device may send each chirp of the data burst at step 806. For example, once a device determines that a channel is available, the device may transmit a data burst including each chirp of data bursts to a second device over the channel. In some embodiments, the device repeats steps 802 and 804 for each chirp of the data burst. For example, the device may perform a second LBT operation on the channel after transmitting the first chirp and before transmitting a second chirp of the plurality of chirps. The device may determine that the channel is available (or still available) in response to or as part of performing the second LBT operation. The device may send a second chirp in response to performing a second LBT operation. The device may repeat steps 802 and 804 for the third through nth chirps. In other words, the device may perform a respective LBT operation on the channel (to determine that the channel is available/idle at a respective time instance) before transmitting a respective one of the plurality of chirps of the data burst.

In some embodiments, after the device transmits the last chirp of the data burst, the device may enter an idle state or period (e.g., in which the device does not transmit any chirp to the second device). The device may schedule the second data burst after the idle period. In some embodiments, the device may perform additional LBT operations on the channel as part of or after scheduling the second data burst. For example, the device may perform one or more additional LBT operations on the channel after the idle period, before entering the idle period, after the last chirp in which the first data burst was transmitted, and so on. The device may send at least one second chirp of the second data burst in response to performing the additional LBT operation. In some embodiments, the device may transmit the second data burst (or at least one second chirp of the second data burst) in response to performing an LBT operation (to determine that the channel is available/idle at the respective time instant) prior to transmitting the first chirp of the first data burst. In other words, in some embodiments, the device may rely on an LBT operation performed prior to the first data burst that indicates that the channel is available to transmit the chirp of the second data burst.

Referring now to fig. 9-12, various use cases are depicted in which the systems and methods described herein may be practiced. In particular, fig. 9 illustrates a user/living environment 900 including a plurality of devices, fig. 10 illustrates a user/work environment 1000 including a plurality of devices, and fig. 11 and 12 illustrate an environment 1100 including a first device and a second device, according to example embodiments of the present disclosure. The devices shown in environments 900, 1000, 1100 may include a first device 402, a second device 404, and one or more other devices 900. The first device 402 may perform ranging with the second device 404 by transmitting various data bursts to the second device 404 over the negotiated or established channel. The first device 402 may perform ranging with the second device 404 to determine a relative position or orientation of the second device 404.

In some cases, another device 900 may operate or otherwise transmit data on such a channel: which is close in frequency (or overlaps) with the channels used by the first device 402 and the second device 404. In this case, the other device 900 may cause interference to the channels used by the first device 402 and the second device 404 at different times. In addition, with particular reference to fig. 11, in comparison to fig. 12, where the first device 402 and the second device 404 are not aligned (e.g., the alignment shown in fig. 12), the beamwidths of the devices 402 and 404 may partially overlap. Because the beamwidths partially overlap, devices 402 and 404 may be exposed to interference from other device(s) 900 outside the overlapping portions of the beamwidths.

According to the system and method of the present solution, the first device 402 and the second device 404 may perform various LBT operations as described herein to determine that the channel used by the devices 402, 404 is available. In the event that a device 402, 404 recognizes or detects interference from another device 900, the device 402, 404 may switch channels, wait to transmit until interference is no longer present/detected/recognized, etc. Such implementations and embodiments may provide more accurate ranging and less interference on a particular channel, particularly where multiple devices in an environment co-operate or co-exist within a particular frequency band (e.g., 60GHz frequency band).

Having now described a few illustrative embodiments, it should be apparent that the foregoing has been presented by way of example and not limitation. In particular, while many of the examples presented herein relate to a particular combination of method acts or system elements, these acts and these elements may be combined in other ways to achieve the same objectives. Acts, elements and features discussed in connection with one embodiment are not intended to be excluded from other embodiments or similar roles in an embodiment.

The hardware and multiple data processing components used to implement the various processes, operations, illustrative logic, logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the various embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with the following components designed to perform the functions described herein: a general purpose single-chip processor or a general purpose multi-chip processor, a digital signal processor (digital signal processor, DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (application specific integrated circuit, ASIC), a field programmable gate array (field programmable gate array, FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, or may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration. In some embodiments, particular processes and methods may be performed by circuitry dedicated to a given function. The memory (e.g., memory units, storage, etc.) may include one or more devices (e.g., RAM, ROM, flash memory, hard disk memory, etc.) for storing data and/or computer code for completing or facilitating the various processes, layers, and modules described in this disclosure. The memory may be or include volatile memory or non-volatile memory and may include database components, object code components, script components, or any other type of information structure for supporting the various activities and information structures described in this disclosure. According to an exemplary embodiment, the memory is communicatively connected to the processor via processing circuitry and includes computer code for performing (e.g., by the processing circuitry and/or the processor) one or more processes described herein.

The present disclosure contemplates methods, systems, and program products on any machine-readable medium for accomplishing various operations. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented using an existing computer processor, or by a special purpose computer processor for a suitable system, or may be combined for this or other purposes, or by a hardwired system. Embodiments within the scope of the present disclosure include program products comprising machine-readable media for carrying or having machine-executable instructions or data structures stored thereon. Such machine-readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer, or other machine with a processor. By way of example, such machine-readable media may comprise RAM, ROM, erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electronically erasable read-only memory (EEPROM), or may comprise other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or may comprise any other medium including: the other media may be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of machine-executable instructions or data structures and may be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer, or other machine with a processor. Combinations of the above are also included within the scope of machine-readable media. Machine-executable instructions comprise, for example, instructions and data which cause a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or special purpose processing machine to perform a certain function or group of functions.

The phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of "including," "comprising," "having," "containing," "involving," "characterized by" and variations thereof herein is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items and alternative embodiments that consist exclusively of the items listed thereafter. In one embodiment, the systems and methods described herein consist of one of the described elements, acts, or components, of various combinations of more than one of the described elements, acts, or components, or of all of the described elements, acts, or components.

Any reference to an embodiment or element or act of a system and method recited in the singular and proceeded with the word "a" or "an" may also encompass embodiments comprising plural of such elements, and references to any embodiment or element or act herein in plural may also encompass embodiments comprising only a single element. References in the singular or plural are not intended to limit the systems or methods of the present disclosure, their components, acts or elements to either the singular or the plural configuration. References to any action or element based on any information, action, or element may include embodiments in which the action or element is based at least in part on any information, action, or element.

Any embodiment disclosed herein may be combined with any other embodiment or example, and references to "one embodiment," "some embodiments," "one embodiment," etc., are not necessarily mutually exclusive, but are intended to indicate that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment may be included in at least one embodiment or example. These terms as used herein do not necessarily all refer to the same embodiment. Any embodiment may be combined, either inclusive or exclusive, with any other embodiment in any manner consistent with aspects and embodiments disclosed herein.

Where technical features in the figures, detailed description, or any claim are followed by reference signs, those reference signs have been included to increase the intelligibility of the figures, detailed description, and claims. The presence or absence of these reference signs does not therefore have any limiting effect on the scope of any claim elements.

The systems and methods described herein may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the characteristics of the systems and methods described herein. Unless specifically indicated otherwise, reference to "about," "substantially," or other degree of terminology includes a variation of +/-10% from a given measurement, unit, or range. The coupled elements may be directly electrically, mechanically, or physically coupled to each other, or may be electrically, mechanically, or physically coupled through intervening elements. The scope of the systems and methods described herein is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and variations that fall within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are intended to be embraced therein.

The term "coupled" and variations thereof include both members directly connected or indirectly connected to each other. Such a connection may be permanent (e.g., permanent or fixed) or removable (e.g., removable or releasable). Such coupling may be achieved by the two members being directly coupled to each other or to each other, by the two members being coupled to each other using a separate intermediate member, and by any other intermediate member, or by the two members being coupled to each other using an intermediate member integrally formed as a single unitary body with one of the two members. If "coupled" or variations thereof are modified by additional terms (e.g., directly coupled), the general definition of "coupled" provided above is modified by the plain language meaning of the additional terms (e.g., "directly coupled" meaning that two components are joined without any separate intermediate component), resulting in a narrower definition than the general definition of "coupled" provided above. Such coupling may be mechanical, electrical or fluid.

Reference to "or" may be construed as inclusive such that any term described using "or" may mean any one of a single term, more than one term, and all of the plurality of terms described. References to "at least one of a 'and B' may include" a "only," B "only, and both" a "and" B ". Such references used in connection with "comprising" or other disclosed terms may include additional items.

Various modifications may be made to the elements and acts described, such as variations in the size, dimensions, structure, shape and proportions of the various elements, values of parameters, mounting arrangements, use of materials, colors, orientations, without materially departing from the teachings and advantages of the subject matter disclosed herein. For example, elements shown as integrally formed may be constructed of multiple parts or elements, the position of multiple elements may be reversed or otherwise varied, and the nature or number of discrete elements or positions may be altered or varied. Other substitutions, modifications, changes and omissions may be made in the design, operating conditions and arrangement of the elements and operations disclosed without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

References herein to the location of elements (e.g., "top," "bottom," "above," "below") are merely used to describe the orientation of the various elements in the various figures. According to other exemplary embodiments, the orientation of the various elements may be different, and such variations are intended to be covered by this disclosure.

Claims

1. A method, the method comprising:

scheduling, by the first wireless communication device, a data burst comprising a plurality of chirps for transmission on a channel to the second device;

Performing, by the first wireless communication device, a Listen Before Talk (LBT) operation on the channel between the first wireless communication device and the second device prior to transmitting a first chirp of the plurality of chirps to determine that the channel is available; and

the first chirp is transmitted on the channel by the first wireless communication device in response to performing the LBT operation.

2. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising:

performing, by the first wireless communication device, a second LBT operation on the channel after transmitting the first chirp and before transmitting a second chirp of the plurality of chirps; and

the second chirp of the plurality of chirps is transmitted by the first wireless communication device in response to performing the second LBT function.

3. The method of claim 2, the method further comprising: performing, by the first wireless communication device, a respective LBT operation on the channel prior to transmitting each of the plurality of chirps of the data burst.

4. The method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein performing the LBT function before transmitting the first chirp comprises: up to a predetermined number of LBT operations are performed on the channel to determine that the channel is available before the first one of the plurality of chirps is transmitted.

5. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein transmitting the first chirp on the channel comprises: in response to determining that the channel is available, the data burst including each of the plurality of chirps is transmitted on the channel.

6. The method of any of the preceding claims, the method further comprising: a duty cycle of the data burst is determined by the first wireless communication device, wherein the LBT operation is initiated based on the duty cycle of the data burst.

7. The method of claim 6, the method further comprising: the duty cycle is compared to a threshold by the first wireless communication device, wherein the LBT function is initiated in response to the duty cycle being greater than or equal to the threshold.

8. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein transmitting the first chirp on the channel in response to performing the LBT function comprises: transmitting, by the first wireless communication device, the first chirp on the channel in response to determining that the channel is clear of interference within a threshold criteria; and/or preferably, wherein performing the LBT function on the channel between the first wireless communication device and the second device is based on a beam width of the first wireless communication device meeting a threshold criterion.

9. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the data burst is a first data burst comprising a first plurality of chirps, the method further comprising:

a second data burst comprising a second plurality of chirps is scheduled by the first wireless communication device to be transmitted on the channel.

10. The method of claim 9, the method further comprising:

performing, by the first wireless communication device, a second LBT operation on the channel between the first wireless communication device and the second device;

transmitting, by the first wireless communication device, at least one chirp of the second plurality of chirps on the channel in response to determining that the channel is available; and/or preferably, the method further comprises:

at least one of the second plurality of chirps is transmitted on the channel by the first wireless communication device in response to performing the LBT operation to determine that the channel is available prior to transmitting the first chirp of the first plurality of chirps.

11. A first device, the first device comprising:

a wireless communication device configured to communicate data with a second device located in an environment of the first device; and

One or more processors configured to:

scheduling a data burst comprising a plurality of chirps for transmission on a channel to the second device;

performing a Listen Before Talk (LBT) operation on the channel between the first device and the second device prior to transmitting a first chirp of the plurality of chirps to determine that the channel is available; and

the first chirp is transmitted on the channel via the wireless communication device in response to performing the LBT operation.

12. The first device of claim 11, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

performing a respective LBT operation on the channel before transmitting each of the plurality of chirps of the data burst; and

transmitting each burst of the plurality of bursts to the second device via the wireless communication device in response to performing a respective LBT operation on the channel; and/or preferably, wherein performing the LBT function before transmitting the first chirp includes: up to a predetermined number of LBT operations are performed on the channel to determine that the channel is available before the first one of the plurality of chirps is transmitted.

13. The first device of claim 11 or 12, wherein transmitting the first chirp on the channel comprises: transmitting the data burst including each of the plurality of chirps on the channel in response to determining that the channel is available; and/or preferably, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

determining a duty cycle of the data burst; and

comparing the duty cycle to a threshold,

wherein the LBT function is initiated in response to the duty cycle being greater than or equal to the threshold.

14. The first device of any of claims 11 to 13, wherein transmitting the first chirp on the channel in response to performing the LBT function comprises: transmitting, via the wireless communication device, the first chirp over the channel in response to determining that the channel is clear of interference within a threshold criteria; and/or preferably, wherein performing the LBT function on the channel between the first device and the second device is based on a beam width of the first device meeting a threshold criterion.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:

Scheduling a data burst comprising a plurality of chirps for a first wireless communication device to transmit to a second device on a channel;

the first chirp is transmitted on the channel via the first wireless communication device in response to performing the LBT operation.