Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
  • H04W74/00—Wireless channel access
  • H04W74/08—Non-scheduled access, e.g. ALOHA
  • H04W74/0808—Non-scheduled access, e.g. ALOHA using carrier sensing, e.g. carrier sense multiple access [CSMA]
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04B—TRANSMISSION
  • H04B17/00—Monitoring; Testing
  • H04B17/30—Monitoring; Testing of propagation channels
  • H04B17/309—Measuring or estimating channel quality parameters
  • H04B17/345—Interference values
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
  • Y02D—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES [ICT], I.E. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES AIMING AT THE REDUCTION OF THEIR OWN ENERGY USE
  • Y02D30/00—Reducing energy consumption in communication networks
  • Y02D30/70—Reducing energy consumption in communication networks in wireless communication networks

Definitions

• TITLE PERFORMING LISTEN BEFORE TALK (LBT) FOR A SUB-CHANNEL
• Some example embodiments may generally relate to mobile or wireless telecommunication systems, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) or fifth generation (5G) radio access technology or new radio (NR) access technology, or other communications systems.
• LTE Long Term Evolution
• 5G fifth generation
• NR new radio
• certain embodiments may relate to systems and/or methods for performing listen before talk (LBT) for a sub-channel.
• LBT listen before talk
• Examples of mobile or wireless telecommunication systems may include the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), Long Term Evolution (LTE) Evolved UTRAN (E-UTRAN), LTE- Advanced (LTE-A), MulteFire, LTE-A Pro, and/or fifth generation (5G) radio access technology or new radio (NR) access technology.
• UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunications System
• UTRAN Long Term Evolution
• E-UTRAN Long Term Evolution
• LTE-A LTE- Advanced
• MulteFire LTE-A Pro
• 5G fifth generation
• 5G is mostly built on a new radio (NR), but a 5G network can also build on E-UTRA radio.
• NR may provide bitrates on the order of 10-20 Gbit/s or higher, and may support at least enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) and ultra-reliable low-latency-communication (URLLC) as well as massive machine type communication (mMTC).
• eMBB enhanced mobile broadband
• NR is expected to deliver extreme broadband and ultra-robust, low latency connectivity and massive networking to support the Internet of Things (loT).
• LoT Internet of Things
• M2M machine-to-machine
• 5G the nodes that can provide radio access functionality to a user equipment (i.e., similar to Node B in UTRAN or eNB in LTE) may be named gNB when built on NR radio and may be named NG-eNB when built on E-UTRA radio.
• Fig. 1 illustrates an example of performing LBT for a sub-channel, according to some embodiments
• Fig. 2 illustrates an example flow diagram of a method 200 for performing LBT for a sub-channel, according to some embodiments
• Fig. 3 illustrates an example of a condition for determining interference to be narrowband interference, according to some embodiments
• Fig. 4 illustrates an example flow diagram of a method 400, according to some embodiments.
• Fig. 5a illustrates an example block diagram of an apparatus, according to an embodiment
• Fig. 5b illustrates an example block diagram of an apparatus, according to another embodiment.
• the regulations for 60 gigahertz (GHz) may provide for use of a spectrum sharing or co-channel coexistence mechanism, but may not use any specific type of mechanism.
• the 60 GHz unlicensed band may include a 2.16 GHz bandwidth (BW).
• BW 2.16 GHz bandwidth
• the 60 GHz unlicensed band may be wide, fitting multiple 2.16 GHz channels (the number may vary from region to region). This 2.16 GHz channelization may be taken into account when defining coexistence mechanisms for NR.
• NR may support multiple bandwidths, ranging from, for example, 400 MHz to 2 GHz.
• narrow bandwidth sub-channels may be nested within a 2.16 GHz channel so that a set of narrower bandwidth channels or sub-channels (e.g., 400 MHz) may be located within a wider bandwidth channel.
• Setting a LBT energy detection threshold (EDT) may be problematic, such as due to coexistence of systems with different LBT bandwidths.
• a wideband system’s bandwidth may fully contain the narrowband interference.
• the narrowband interference may interfere with the wideband system’s receiver and LBT.
• a narrowband system’s bandwidth may contain only a fraction of wideband interference. In these cases, a fraction of wideband interference may interfere with the narrowband receiver and LBT.
• wideband and narrowband are used to differentiate bandwidths of cells, e.g., wideband may be used for 2.16 GHz BW and narrowband for, e.g., 400 MHz BW, although 400 MHz carrier is not a narrowband in absolute terms.
• narrowband interference may block the wideband system’s LBT at a greater distance (or path-loss) than wideband interference blocks the narrowband system’s LBT. This can result in situations where the narrowband system can freely access the channel without detecting interference while the wideband system’s LBT detects interference blocking the channel access. In other words, the channel access becomes biased against or unfair for the wideband system.
• EDT LBT energy detection threshold
• Some embodiments described herein may provide for performing LBT for a subchannel (or multiple narrowband sub-channels within a wideband channel). For example, certain embodiments may provide for a flexible LBT arrangement providing for coexistence between narrowband and wideband cells, yet facilitating efficient spatial reuse between narrowband cells.
• the LBT procedure for a device e.g., a user equipment (UE) or a network node
• UE user equipment
• the LBT procedure for a device may use a lower LBT energy detection threshold (low enough to not cause bias against the wideband cell) by default, but in the presence of narrowband interference, the device may use a higher LBT EDT for a predetermined time period.
• sub-channel generally refers to a subset of a bandwidth of a channel.
• certain embodiments may support narrowband (e.g., 20MHz, 50MHz, 200MHz, 400MHz) system fairness (e.g., unbiased) toward a wideband (e.g., 2.16 GHz) system while avoiding overly conservative LBT between two narrowband bandwidth systems.
• narrowband e.g., 20MHz, 50MHz, 200MHz, 400MHz
• fairness e.g., unbiased
• a wideband e.g., 2.16 GHz
• Fairness toward a wideband system may facilitate improved channel access latency and throughput on the wideband system even in presence of interfering narrowband system.
• a network node e.g., a gNB
• a UE may operate on a narrowband sub-channel (e.g., with 400 MHz bandwidth).
• the network node and/or the UE may use a first or a second threshold (the first or second thresholds may be LBT thresholds, EDTs, and/or the like).
• the first threshold may be lower than the second threshold.
• the first threshold may be dependent on a nominal bandwidth used (e.g., the narrower the bandwidth, the lower the threshold).
• the network node and/or the UE operating on a narrowband sub-channel may perform LBT using the first threshold. If the channel is found to be idle, as described elsewhere herein, the network node and/or the UE may continue using the first threshold on subsequent LBT procedures for consecutive channel occupancy times (COTs). If LBT clear channel assessment (CCA) EDT measurements exceed or approach (e.g., within Z decibels (dB)) the first threshold (e.g., indicating that the subchannel is in use), then the network node and/or the UE may perform additional measurements that are separate from measurements performed in connection with the LBT procedure. The non-LBT associated measurements may cover a wider bandwidth comprising multiple sub-channels to obtain information of interference frequency characteristics.
• CCA LBT clear channel assessment
• dB decibels
• the network node and/or the UE may determine that the interfering cell is also using a narrow bandwidth containing a sub-channel or a combination of subchannels. In this case, the network node and/or the UE may use the second (higher) threshold for a time period (e.g., a predetermined time period or a dynamically determined or configured time period). After the time period has elapsed, the network node and/or the UE may perform the non-LBT associated measurements or may return to using the first threshold. If the non-LBT associated measurements indicate that the interference is not narrowband (or is wideband), the network node and/or the UE may use the first threshold rather than the second threshold.
• a time period e.g., a predetermined time period or a dynamically determined or configured time period
• Fig. 1 illustrates an example of performing LBT for a sub-channel, according to some embodiments.
• the example of Fig. 1 illustrates some example operations of a network node and/or a UE.
• the decision regarding the first or second thresholds to be used may be performed at the network node.
• the network node if or when performing the LBT procedure, may indicate to the UE about the threshold level via a scheduling grant, configured grant (CG) resource activation, a group common physical downlink control channel (GC-PDCCH), and/or the like.
• CG configured grant
• GC-PDCCH group common physical downlink control channel
• the network node and/or the UE may perform a LBT procedure on a sub-channel using a first threshold.
• the network node and/or the UE may determine that the interference exceeds the first threshold in the LBT procedure.
• this interference may temporarily prevent channel access and the network node and/or the UE may determine whether the interference is narrowband or wideband interference.
• the network node and/or the UE may, based on the first threshold being exceeded, may perform non-LBT associated measurements (measurements that are not part of the LBT procedure), as illustrated at 102 or 104. During those measurements, interference may be measured, for example, with sub-channel granularity over a wide bandwidth (e.g., 2.16 GHz). As illustrated at 102, the network node and/or the UE may determine that the PSD of the interference (black striped area) is at about the same energy level on all sub-channels (and is at about the same level as the sub-channel on which the LBT was performed, illustrated by the grey area).
• the PSD of the interference black striped area
• the measured energy of the interference across the sub-channels may be within an amount of decibels of the currently used sub-channel, exceeds a threshold or is within X decibels (dBs) of the threshold on the other sub-channels, and/or the like.
• the value of X may be configured or predefined. X may be a positive number. Based on this, the network node and/or the UE may determine that the interference is a wideband interference and may determine to continue using the first threshold.
• the network node may determine that the PSD of the interference is lower on other sub-channels (shown by the black striped area) than on the sub-channel on which the LBT procedure was performed (illustrated by the grey area). For example, the network node and/or UE may determine that the interference on the other sub-channels fails to satisfy a threshold amount below the current sub-channel. Based on this, the network node and/or the UE may determine that the interference is a narrowband interference and may determine to use a second threshold (e.g., for a time period). The second threshold may be higher than the first threshold used for the LBT procedure at 100.
• a second threshold e.g., for a time period
• the network node and/or UE may use the first threshold when performing a LBT procedure on a sub-channel (e.g., the same sub-channel for which the previous LBT was performed, or a different sub-channel of the channel).
• a sub-channel e.g., the same sub-channel for which the previous LBT was performed, or a different sub-channel of the channel.
• the network node and/or UE may use the second threshold for a LBT procedure on a sub-channel.
• Fig. 1 is provided as an example. Other examples are possible, according to some embodiments.
• Fig. 2 illustrates an example flow diagram of a method 200 for performing LBT for a sub-channel, according to some embodiments.
• the example of Fig. 2 illustrates operations of a network node and/or a UE, according to some embodiments.
• the network node and/or UE may perform a LBT procedure (including an energy detection, in terms of decibels) for at least one sub-channel using a first threshold.
• the network node and/or UE may determine whether the detected energy on the at least one sub-channel is equal to or greater than an amount that is the first threshold minus Z dB.
• Z may be configured or predefined. Z may be a positive number. If the detected energy is lower than the amount that is the first threshold minus Z dB (204-NO), then the network node and/or UE may determine that the sub-channel is idle and may continue to use the first threshold for performing a LBT on a sub-channel. Additionally, or alternatively, the network node and/or UE may transmit on the sub-channel if the detected energy is lower than the amount that is the first threshold.
• the network node and/or UE may perform, at 206, one or more wideband measurements within a channel (e.g., a 2.16 GHz channel).
• the one or more wideband measurements may be an example of the one or more non-LBT associated measurements described elsewhere herein.
• the network node and/or UE may determine, at 208, a characteristic of an interference, e.g., whether the one or more wideband measurements indicate narrow bandwidth interference.
• the network node and/or UE may continue to use the first threshold for performing a LBT procedure and/or transmit on the sub-channel at 202.
• the network node and/or UE may set a timer, at 210, and determine to use a second threshold higher than the first threshold.
• the timer may indicate an amount of time remaining for using the second threshold.
• the network node and/or UE may perform a LBT procedure (including an energy detection) for a sub-channel using the second threshold. In connection with performing the LBT procedure, the network node and/or UE may decrease the timer, at 214.
• the network node and/or UE may determine whether the timer is at zero or less (e.g., may determine whether the timer has expired).
• the network node and/or UE may continue to use the second threshold for performing the LBT procedure at 212. If the network node and/or UE determines that the timer has expired (216-YES), then the network node and/or UE may perform one or more wideband measurements at 206 in a manner similar to that described above or the network node and/or UE may continue to use the first threshold for performing a LBT procedure and/or transmit on the sub-channel at 202. It should be appreciated that the timer is presented just as an example for setting a time period for using the second threshold. Other mechanisms, e.g., a counter, for setting the time period can also be used.
• Fig. 2 is provided as an example. Other examples are possible, according to some embodiments.
• the one or more wideband measurements may cover a bandwidth that includes multiple sub-channels.
• the one or more wideband measurements may be performed with sub-channel granularity (e.g., 400 MHz) so that energy levels can be measured separately for each sub-channel.
• the one or more wideband measurements may be performed with a granularity of multiple subchannels (e.g., 400 MHz).
• the measurements may be performed by using a wide (e.g., 2.16 GHz) bandwidth so that the various subchannels of the channel can be measured at the same time.
• the network node and/or UE may measure energy levels on different sub-channels sequentially with narrowband measurements. Performing the one or more measurements may include use of a measurement gap as the bandwidth and/or center frequency is changed.
• the measured sub-channels may not, in some embodiments, include the network node’s and/or UE’s own cell signals.
• the network node may instruct the UE to perform and report the non-LBT associated measurements. Measurements of the wideband spectrum performed in sequential manner may not be performed in a time-correlated matter (e.g., it does not need to be guaranteed that measured interference is correlated in time and frequency).
• a number of measurement samples may be gathered to obtain an averaging of the measurements for reliable inference of the frequency characteristics.
• the measured energy over the wideband channel (or an average of measured energies over sub-channels) can be used as a reference level.
• average PSD for the considered at least one sub-channel or sub-channel combination may be estimated by dividing the average measured energy with the corresponding bandwidth for the at least one sub-channel or sub-channel combination.
• the considered sub-channel combination may be a candidate bandwidth for the interfering cell that is tested. Multiple interfering candidate bandwidths, each of them at least partially overlapping with the at least one sub-channel used by the cell of the network node and/or UE, may be tested to determine the interfering cell’s bandwidth. If the average PSD on the considered sub-channel or sub-channel combination is at least X dB above the average wideband PSD, then the interference may be determined to be narrowband with the bandwidth given by the considered sub-channel combination. This is illustrated in the example of Fig.
• the narrowband average PSD measurement (illustrated by the gray area) is higher than the wideband average PSD measurement which is obtained across other sub-channels of the channel (illustrated by the black striped area) or across multiple sub-channels including the at least one subchannel.
• the narrowband average PSD may be at least X dB greater than the wideband average PSD measurement.
• the interference may be determined to be narrowband with the bandwidth given by the considered sub-channel combination.
• the measured wideband energy may also contain narrowband energy and may be larger than narrowband energy.
• the network node and/or UE may consider interfering cells within the channel to be narrowband.
• the number of frequency contiguous sub-channels with a high average PSD value may be estimated to obtain an estimate for the interfering cell’s bandwidth.
• the second threshold targeting efficient spatial reuse between two narrowband cells, could be a pre-configured value (e.g., a maximum threshold value allowed by a standard or configuration).
• the second threshold could be the LBT threshold value specified for operation on a wideband (e.g., 2.16 GHz) channel.
• an offset between the first threshold and the second threshold may be defined or configured, and then the second threshold may be derived based on the first threshold and the offset.
• the first threshold, targeting for fair coexistence between narrowband and wideband cells may be set to a static amount below the second threshold (e.g., Y dB lower than the second threshold).
• Resulting values for Y may be tabulated in Table 1 below for 400 MHz sub-channels, as an example. If equipment using bandwidth less than 2.16 GHz operate in this manner, then the difference in the LBT thresholds used by the equipment may help to ensure fair LBT threshold setting also between them. For example, Y for 400 MHz cell may be 7 dB and Y for 800 MHz cell may be 4 dB, so the threshold difference between them is 3 dB.
• One possible advantage of this is that there may be no need to estimate an interfering cell’s bandwidth.
• Y can be defined as ratio between the number of subchannels used by the interfering cell (e.g., within a 2.16 GHz channel) and the number of sub-channels used in the network node’s and/or UE’s cell. In this case, Y may equal 10*logl0 (e.g., the number of sub-channels used by interfering cell/the number of subchannel used by own cell).
• Fig. 4 illustrates an example flow diagram of a method 400, according to some embodiments.
• Fig. 4 shows example operations of a network node (e.g., apparatus 10 illustrated in, and described with respect to, Fig. 5a) and/or a UE (e.g., apparatus 20 illustrated in, and described with respect to, Fig. 5b).
• a network node e.g., apparatus 10 illustrated in, and described with respect to, Fig. 5a
• a UE e.g., apparatus 20 illustrated in, and described with respect to, Fig. 5b
• Some of the operations illustrated in Fig. 4 may be similar to some operations shown in, and described with respect to, Figs. 1-3.
• the method may include, at 402, performing a LBT procedure for at least one sub-channel of a channel (e.g., a set of bandwidths of a channel that may or may not be designated as a sub-channel) using a first energy detection threshold that is lower than a second energy detection threshold.
• the method may include, at 404, determining whether a listen before talk measurement indicates the at least one subchannel as idle or busy (i.e., in use).
• the method may include, at 406, based on the at least one sub-channel being indicated as busy, performing one or more measurements on the channel to obtain a characteristic of an interference on the channel.
• the method may include, at 408, determining, based on the obtained characteristic of the interference indicating a narrow bandwidth interference, to use the second energy detection threshold on the at least one sub-channel for performing the listen before talk procedure for a time period.
• the network node and/or UE may perform one or more other operations in connection with the method illustrated in Fig. 4.
• the at least one sub-channel may be indicated as idle when the LBT measurement indicates a receive power lower than a third energy detection threshold (e.g., the amount may be 0 or Z dB below the first energy detection threshold), or the at least one sub-channel may be indicated as busy when the LBT measurement indicates a received power exceeding the third energy detection threshold.
• the third energy detection threshold may be equal to the first threshold or to the first threshold minus an amount.
• performing the one or more measurements may further include performing the one or more measurements on a bandwidth of the channel wider than the at least one channel.
• the wider bandwidth measured may include multiple sub-channels including the at least one sub-channel.
• the method may further include, based on the at least one subchannel being indicated as idle, performing a transmission on the at least one subchannel.
• the method may include determining to continue using the first energy detection threshold for the LBT procedure on the at least one subchannel based on the obtained characteristic of the interference indicating a wide bandwidth interference on the channel or failing to indicate the narrow bandwidth interference.
• the method may include performing a transmission on the at least one sub-channel based on the LBT procedure performed using the second energy detection threshold within the time period indicating that the at least one sub-channel is idle.
• the time period for using the second energy detection threshold may be determined by a timer.
• the first energy detection threshold may be based on a bandwidth of the at least one sub-channel.
• the method may include using the first energy detection threshold to perform the LBT procedure after the time period has elapsed.
• the method may include performing one or more measurements on the channel to obtain a characteristic of an interference of the channel after the time period has elapsed.
• a difference between the first energy detection threshold and the second energy detection threshold may be a static amount.
• the static amount may be based on a ratio between a bandwidth for the channel and a bandwidth used for a current cell.
• the static amount may be based on a ratio between a bandwidth used by an interfering cell within the channel and a bandwidth of the at least one sub-channel used by a current cell.
• performing the one or more measurements at 406 may further include performing the one or more measurements separately for multiple sub-channels.
• the characteristic of the interference may be obtained based on a measured energy on the entire wider bandwidth, an average measured energy on the entire wider bandwidth, or an average of the one or more measurements over the multiple sub-channels.
• the characteristic of the interference may be based on whether an average of measurements performed on the at least one sub-channel or multiple sub-channels exceeds an average measured energy for the entire wider bandwidth, or exceeds the average measured energy by at least a predefined amount.
• the characteristic of the interference may be based on whether an average of measurements performed on the at least one sub-channel is lower than an average measured energy for the entire wider bandwidth by at most a pre-defined amount. In certain embodiments, the characteristic of the interference may be based on whether an average of measurements of the at least one sub-channel is greater than an average of measurements of one or more other sub-channels of the multiple subchannels by a pre-defined amount. In certain embodiments, the second energy detection threshold may be a maximum allowed energy for the at least one sub-channel or may be pre-configured for operation on a wideband channel. In some embodiments, the narrow bandwidth interference has a bandwidth that is narrower than a bandwidth of the channel.
• Fig. 4 is provided as an example. Other examples are possible according to some embodiments.
• apparatus 10 may be a node, host, or server in a communications network or serving such a network.
• apparatus 10 may be a network node, satellite, base station, a Node B, an evolved Node B (eNB), 5G Node B or access point, next generation Node B (NG-NB or gNB), and/or a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point, associated with a radio access network, such as a LTE network, 5G or NR.
• apparatus 10 may be an eNB in LTE or gNB in 5G.
• apparatus 10 may be comprised of an edge cloud server as a distributed computing system where the server and the radio node may be stand-alone apparatuses communicating with each other via a radio path or via a wired connection, or they may be located in a same entity communicating via a wired connection.
• apparatus 10 represents a gNB
• it may be configured in a central unit (CU) and distributed unit (DU) architecture that divides the gNB functionality.
• the CU may be a logical node that includes gNB functions such as transfer of user data, mobility control, radio access network sharing, positioning, and/or session management, etc.
• the CU may control the operation of DU(s) over a front-haul interface.
• the DU may be a logical node that includes a subset of the gNB functions, depending on the functional split option. It should be noted that one of ordinary skill in the art would understand that apparatus 10 may include components or features not shown in Fig. 5a.
• apparatus 10 may include a processor 12 for processing information and executing instructions or operations.
• processor 12 may be any type of general or specific purpose processor.
• processor 12 may include one or more of general-purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), and processors based on a multi-core processor architecture, as examples. While a single processor 12 is shown in Fig. 5a, multiple processors may be utilized according to other embodiments.
• apparatus 10 may include two or more processors that may form a multiprocessor system (e.g., in this case processor 12 may represent a multiprocessor) that may support multiprocessing.
• processor 12 may represent a multiprocessor
• the multiprocessor system may be tightly coupled or loosely coupled (e.g., to form a computer cluster).
• Processor 12 may perform functions associated with the operation of apparatus 10, which may include, for example, precoding of antenna gain/phase parameters, encoding and decoding of individual bits forming a communication message, formatting of information, and overall control of the apparatus 10, including processes related to management of communication or communication resources.
• Apparatus 10 may further include or be coupled to a memory 14 (internal or external), which may be coupled to processor 12, for storing information and instructions that may be executed by processor 12.
• Memory 14 may be one or more memories and of any type suitable to the local application environment, and may be implemented using any suitable volatile or nonvolatile data storage technology such as a semiconductor-based memory device, a magnetic memory device and system, an optical memory device and system, fixed memory, and/or removable memory.
• memory 14 can be comprised of any combination of random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), static storage such as a magnetic or optical disk, hard disk drive (HDD), or any other type of non-transitory machine or computer readable media.
• the instructions stored in memory 14 may include program instructions or computer program code that, when executed by processor 12, enable the apparatus 10 to perform tasks as described herein.
• apparatus 10 may further include or be coupled to (internal or external) a drive or port that is configured to accept and read an external computer readable storage medium, such as an optical disc, USB drive, flash drive, or any other storage medium.
• an external computer readable storage medium such as an optical disc, USB drive, flash drive, or any other storage medium.
• the external computer readable storage medium may store a computer program or software for execution by processor 12 and/or apparatus 10.
• apparatus 10 may also include or be coupled to one or more antennas 15 for transmitting and receiving signals and/or data to and from apparatus 10.
• Apparatus 10 may further include or be coupled to a transceiver 18 configured to transmit and receive information.
• the transceiver 18 may include, for example, a plurality of radio interfaces that may be coupled to the antenna(s) 15.
• the radio interfaces may correspond to a plurality of radio access technologies including one or more of Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), narrow-band loT (NB- loT), LTE, 5G, WLAN, Bluetooth (BT), Bluetooth Low Energy (BT-LE), Near-field communication (NFC), radio frequency identifier (RFID), ultrawideband (UWB), MulteFire, and the like.
• GSM Global System for Mobile Communications
• NB- loT narrow-band loT
• LTE Long Term Evolution
• 5G Fifth Generation
• WLAN Wireless Fidelity
• Bluetooth Bluetooth Low Energy
• NFC Near-field communication
• RFID radio frequency identifier
• the radio interface may include components, such as filters, converters (for example, digital-to-analog converters and the like), mappers, a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) module, and the like, to generate symbols for a transmission via one or more downlinks and to receive symbols (for example, via an uplink).
• filters for example, digital-to-analog converters and the like
• mappers for example, mappers
• FFT Fast Fourier Transform
• transceiver 18 may be configured to modulate information on to a carrier waveform for transmission by the antenna(s) 15 and demodulate information received via the antenna(s) 15 for further processing by other elements of apparatus 10.
• transceiver 18 may be capable of transmitting and receiving signals or data directly.
• apparatus 10 may include an input and/or output device (I/O device).
• memory 14 may store software modules that provide functionality when executed by processor 12.
• the modules may include, for example, an operating system that provides operating system functionality for apparatus 10.
• the memory may also store one or more functional modules, such as an application or program, to provide additional functionality for apparatus 10.
• the components of apparatus 10 may be implemented in hardware, or as any suitable combination of hardware and software.
• processor 12 and memory 14 may be included in or may form a part of processing circuitry or control circuitry.
• transceiver 18 may be included in or may form a part of transceiver circuitry.
• circuitry may refer to hardware-only circuitry implementations (e.g., analog and/or digital circuitry), combinations of hardware circuits and software, combinations of analog and/or digital hardware circuits with software/firmware, any portions of hardware processor(s) with software (including digital signal processors) that work together to case an apparatus (e.g., apparatus 10) to perform various functions, and/or hardware circuit(s) and/or processor(s), or portions thereof, that use software for operation but where the software may not be present when it is not needed for operation.
• hardware-only circuitry implementations e.g., analog and/or digital circuitry
• combinations of hardware circuits and software e.g., combinations of analog and/or digital hardware circuits with software/firmware
• any portions of hardware processor(s) with software including digital signal processors
• circuitry may also cover an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors), or portion of a hardware circuit or processor, and its accompanying software and/or firmware.
• the term circuitry may also cover, for example, a baseband integrated circuit in a server, cellular network node or device, or other computing or network device.
• apparatus 10 may be a network node or RAN node, such as a base station, access point, Node B, eNB, gNB, WLAN access point, or the like.
• a network node or RAN node such as a base station, access point, Node B, eNB, gNB, WLAN access point, or the like.
• apparatus 10 may be controlled by memory 14 and processor 12 to perform the functions associated with any of the embodiments described herein, such as some operations illustrated in, or described with respect to, Figs. 1-4.
• apparatus 10 may be controlled by memory 14 and processor 12 to perform the method of Fig. 4.
• apparatus 20 may be a node or element in a communications network or associated with such a network, such as a UE, mobile equipment (ME), mobile station, mobile device, stationary device, loT device, or other device.
• a UE mobile equipment
• ME mobile station
• mobile device mobile device
• stationary device stationary device
• loT device loT device
• a UE may alternatively be referred to as, for example, a mobile station, mobile equipment, mobile unit, mobile device, user device, subscriber station, wireless terminal, tablet, smart phone, loT device, sensor or NB-IoT device, a watch or other wearable, a head-mounted display (HMD), a vehicle, a drone, a medical device and applications thereof (e.g., remote surgery), an industrial device and applications thereof (e.g., a robot and/or other wireless devices operating in an industrial and/or an automated processing chain context), a consumer electronics device, a device operating on commercial and/or industrial wireless networks, or the like.
• apparatus 20 may be implemented in, for instance, a wireless handheld device, a wireless plug-in accessory, or the like.
• apparatus 20 may include one or more processors, one or more computer-readable storage medium (for example, memory, storage, or the like), one or more radio access components (for example, a modem, a transceiver, or the like), and/or a user interface.
• apparatus 20 may be configured to operate using one or more radio access technologies, such as GSM, LTE, LTE-A, NR, 5G, WLAN, WiFi, NB-IoT, Bluetooth, NFC, MulteFire, and/or any other radio access technologies. It should be noted that one of ordinary skill in the art would understand that apparatus 20 may include components or features not shown in Fig. 5b.
• apparatus 20 may include or be coupled to a processor 22 for processing information and executing instructions or operations.
• processor 22 may be any type of general or specific purpose processor.
• processor 22 may include one or more of general-purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), and processors based on a multi-core processor architecture, as examples. While a single processor 22 is shown in Fig. 5b, multiple processors may be utilized according to other embodiments.
• apparatus 20 may include two or more processors that may form a multiprocessor system (e.g., in this case processor 22 may represent a multiprocessor) that may support multiprocessing.
• processor 22 may represent a multiprocessor
• the multiprocessor system may be tightly coupled or loosely coupled (e.g., to form a computer cluster).
• Processor 22 may perform functions associated with the operation of apparatus 20 including, as some examples, precoding of antenna gain/phase parameters, encoding and decoding of individual bits forming a communication message, formatting of information, and overall control of the apparatus 20, including processes related to management of communication resources.
• Apparatus 20 may further include or be coupled to a memory 24 (internal or external), which may be coupled to processor 22, for storing information and instructions that may be executed by processor 22.
• Memory 24 may be one or more memories and of any type suitable to the local application environment, and may be implemented using any suitable volatile or nonvolatile data storage technology such as a semiconductor-based memory device, a magnetic memory device and system, an optical memory device and system, fixed memory, and/or removable memory.
• memory 24 can be comprised of any combination of random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), static storage such as a magnetic or optical disk, hard disk drive (HDD), or any other type of non-transitory machine or computer readable media.
• RAM random access memory
• ROM read only memory
• HDD hard disk drive
• the instructions stored in memory 24 may include program instructions or computer program code that, when executed by processor 22, enable the apparatus 20 to perform tasks as described herein.
• apparatus 20 may further include or be coupled to (internal or external) a drive or port that is configured to accept and read an external computer readable storage medium, such as an optical disc, USB drive, flash drive, or any other storage medium.
• an external computer readable storage medium such as an optical disc, USB drive, flash drive, or any other storage medium.
• the external computer readable storage medium may store a computer program or software for execution by processor 22 and/or apparatus 20.
• apparatus 20 may also include or be coupled to one or more antennas 25 for receiving a downlink signal and for transmitting via an uplink from apparatus 20.
• Apparatus 20 may further include a transceiver 28 configured to transmit and receive information.
• the transceiver 28 may also include a radio interface (e.g., a modem) coupled to the antenna 25.
• the radio interface may correspond to a plurality of radio access technologies including one or more of GSM, LTE, LTE-A, 5G, NR, WLAN, NB-IoT, Bluetooth, BT-LE, NFC, RFID, UWB, and the like.
• the radio interface may include other components, such as filters, converters (for example, digital-to-analog converters and the like), symbol demappers, signal shaping components, an Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) module, and the like, to process symbols, such as OFDMA symbols, carried by a downlink or an uplink.
• filters for example, digital-to-analog converters and the like
• symbol demappers for example, digital-to-analog converters and the like
• signal shaping components for example, an Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) module, and the like
• IFFT Inverse Fast Fourier Transform
• transceiver 28 may be configured to modulate information on to a carrier waveform for transmission by the antenna(s) 25 and demodulate information received via the antenna(s) 25 for further processing by other elements of apparatus 20.
• transceiver 28 may be capable of transmitting and receiving signals or data directly.
• apparatus 20 may include an input and/or output device (I/O device).
• apparatus 20 may further include a user interface, such as a graphical user interface or touchscreen.
• memory 24 stores software modules that provide functionality when executed by processor 22.
• the modules may include, for example, an operating system that provides operating system functionality for apparatus 20.
• the memory may also store one or more functional modules, such as an application or program, to provide additional functionality for apparatus 20.
• the components of apparatus 20 may be implemented in hardware, or as any suitable combination of hardware and software.
• apparatus 20 may optionally be configured to communicate with apparatus 10 via a wireless or wired communications link 70 according to any radio access technology, such as NR.
• processor 22 and memory 24 may be included in or may form a part of processing circuitry or control circuitry.
• transceiver 28 may be included in or may form a part of transceiving circuitry.
• apparatus 20 may be a UE, mobile device, mobile station, ME, loT device and/or NB-IoT device, for example.
• apparatus 20 may be controlled by memory 24 and processor 22 to perform the functions associated with any of the embodiments described herein, such as some operations illustrated, or described with respect to, in Figs. 1-4.
• apparatus 20 may be controlled by memory 24 and processor 22 to perform the method of Fig. 4.
• an apparatus may include means for performing a method or any of the variants discussed herein, e.g., a method described with reference to Figs. 1, 2, or 4.
• Examples of the means may include one or more processors, memory, and/or computer program codes for causing the performance of the operation.
• certain example embodiments provide several technological improvements, enhancements, and/or advantages over existing technological processes.
• one benefit of some example embodiments is supporting narrowband system fairness toward a wideband (e.g., 2.16 GHz) system while avoiding overly conservative LBT between two narrowband BW systems.
• This may maintain efficient spatial reuse between narrowband bandwidth systems.
• Efficient spatial reuse can improve channel access latency and throughput for both systems.
• Fairness toward wideband system facilitates improved channel access latency and throughput on the wideband system even in presence of interfering narrowband system.
• the use of some example embodiments results in improved functioning of communications networks and their nodes and, therefore constitute an improvement at least to the technological field of LBT, among others.
• any of the methods, processes, signaling diagrams, algorithms or flow charts described herein may be implemented by software and/or computer program code or portions of code stored in memory or other computer readable or tangible media, and executed by a processor.
• an apparatus may be included or be associated with at least one software application, module, unit or entity configured as arithmetic operation(s), or as a program or portions of it (including an added or updated software routine), executed by at least one operation processor.
• Programs also called program products or computer programs, including software routines, applets and macros, may be stored in any apparatus-readable data storage medium and may include program instructions to perform particular tasks.
• a computer program product may include one or more computer-executable components which, when the program is run, are configured to carry out some example embodiments.
• the one or more computer-executable components may be at least one software code or portions of code. Modifications and configurations used for implementing functionality of an example embodiment may be performed as routine(s), which may be implemented as added or updated software routine(s). In one example, software routine(s) may be downloaded into the apparatus.
• software or a computer program code or portions of code may be in a source code form, object code form, or in some intermediate form, and it may be stored in some sort of carrier, distribution medium, or computer readable medium, which may be any entity or device capable of carrying the program.
• carrier may include a record medium, computer memory, read-only memory, photoelectrical and/or electrical carrier signal, telecommunications signal, and/or software distribution package, for example.
• the computer program may be executed in a single electronic digital computer or it may be distributed amongst a number of computers.
• the computer readable medium or computer readable storage medium may be a non-transitory medium.
• the functionality may be performed by hardware or circuitry included in an apparatus (e.g., apparatus 10 or apparatus 20), for example through the use of an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable gate array (PGA), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or any other combination of hardware and software.
• ASIC application specific integrated circuit
• PGA programmable gate array
• FPGA field programmable gate array
• the functionality may be implemented as a signal, such as a non-tangible means that can be carried by an electromagnetic signal downloaded from the Internet or other network.
• an apparatus such as a node, device, or a corresponding component, may be configured as circuitry, a computer or a microprocessor, such as single-chip computer element, or as a chipset, which may include at least a memory for providing storage capacity used for arithmetic operation(s) and/or an operation processor for executing the arithmetic operation(s).
• Example embodiments described herein apply equally to both singular and plural implementations, regardless of whether singular or plural language is used in connection with describing certain embodiments. For example, an embodiment that describes operations of a single network node equally applies to embodiments that include multiple instances of the network node, and vice versa. Furthermore, although some embodiments were described in the context of certain bandwidths for channels and/or sub-channels, these bandwidths were merely provided as examples, and do not limit the embodiments described herein to those bandwidths.
• a method may include performing a LBT procedure for at least one sub-channel of a channel using a first energy detection threshold that is lower than a second energy detection threshold.
• the method may include determining whether a listen before talk measurement indicates the at least one sub-channel as idle or busy.
• the method may include based on the at least one sub-channel being indicated as busy, performing one or more measurements on the channel to obtain a characteristic of an interference on the channel.
• the method may include determining, based on the obtained characteristic of the interference indicating a narrow bandwidth interference, to use the second energy detection threshold on the at least one sub-channel for performing the listen before talk procedure for a time period.
• the at least one sub-channel may be indicated as idle when the LBT measurement indicates a receive power lower than a third energy detection threshold, or the at least one sub-channel may be indicated as busy when the LBT measurement indicates a received power exceeding the third energy detection threshold.
• the third energy detection threshold may be equal to the first threshold or to the first threshold minus an amount.
• performing the one or more measurements may further include performing the one or more measurements on a bandwidth of the channel wider than the at least one channel.
• the wider bandwidth may include multiple sub-channels including the at least one sub-channel.
• the method may further include, based on the at least one sub-channel being indicated as idle, performing a transmission on the at least one sub-channel.
• the method may include determining to continue using the first energy detection threshold for the LBT procedure on the at least one sub-channel based on the obtained characteristic of the interference indicating a wide bandwidth interference on the channel or failing to indicate the narrow bandwidth interference.
• the method may include performing a transmission on the at least one sub-channel based on the LBT procedure performed using the second energy detection threshold within the time period indicating that the at least one sub-channel is idle.
• the time period for using the second energy detection threshold may be determined by a timer.
• the first energy detection threshold may be based on a bandwidth of the at least one sub-channel.
• the method may include using the first energy detection threshold to perform the LBT procedure after the time period has elapsed.
• the method may include performing one or more measurements on the channel to obtain a characteristic of an interference of the channel after the time period has elapsed.
• a difference between the first energy detection threshold and the second energy detection threshold may be a static amount.
• the static amount may be based on a ratio between a bandwidth for the channel and a bandwidth used for a current cell.
• the static amount may be based on a ratio between a bandwidth used by an interfering cell within the channel and a bandwidth of the at least one subchannel used by a current cell.
• performing the one or more measurements may further include performing the one or more measurements separately for multiple sub-channels.
• the characteristic of the interference may be obtained based on a measured energy on the entire wider bandwidth, an average measured energy on the entire wider bandwidth, or an average of the one or more measurements over the multiple sub-channels.
• the characteristic of the interference may be based on whether an average of measurements performed on the at least one sub-channel or sub-channels exceeds an average measured energy for the entire wider bandwidth, or exceeds the average measured energy by at least a pre-defined amount.
• the characteristic of the interference may be based on whether an average of measurements performed on the at least one sub-channel or sub-channels is lower than an average measured energy for the entire wider bandwidth by at most a predefined amount. In a variant, the characteristic of the interference may be based on whether an average of measurements of the at least one sub-channel is greater than an average of measurements of one or more other at least one sub-channel of the multiple sub-channels by a pre-defined amount. In a variant, the second energy detection threshold may be a maximum allowed energy for the at least one sub-channel or may be pre-configured for operation on a wideband channel. In a variant, the narrow bandwidth interference has a bandwidth that is narrower than a bandwidth of the channel.
• a second embodiment may be directed to an apparatus including at least one processor and at least one memory comprising computer program code.
• the at least one memory and computer program code may be configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus at least to perform a LBT procedure for at least one sub-channel of a channel using a first energy detection threshold that is lower than a second energy detection threshold.
• the apparatus may be caused to determine whether a listen before talk measurement indicates the at least one sub-channel as idle or busy.
• the apparatus may be caused to, based on the at least one sub-channel being indicated as busy, perform one or more measurements on the channel to obtain a characteristic of an interference on the channel.
• the apparatus may be caused to determine, based on the obtained characteristic of the interference indicating a narrow bandwidth interference, to use the second energy detection threshold on the at least one sub-channel for performing the listen before talk procedure for a time period.
• the at least one sub-channel may be indicated as idle when the LBT measurement indicates a receive power lower than a third energy detection threshold, or the at least one sub-channel may be indicated as busy when the LBT measurement indicates a received power exceeding the third energy detection threshold.
• the third energy detection threshold may be equal to the first threshold or to the first threshold minus an amount.
• the apparatus when performing the one or more measurements, may be caused to perform the one or more measurements on a bandwidth of the channel wider than the at least one channel.
• the wider bandwidth may include multiple sub-channels including the at least one sub-channel.
• the apparatus may be caused to, based on the at least one sub-channel being indicated as idle, perform a transmission on the at least one sub-channel. In a variant, the apparatus may be caused to determine to continue using the first energy detection threshold for the LBT procedure on the at least one sub-channel based on the obtained characteristic of the interference indicating a wide bandwidth interference on the channel or failing to indicate the narrow bandwidth interference. In a variant, the apparatus may be caused to perform a transmission on the at least one sub-channel based on the LBT procedure performed using the second energy detection threshold within the time period indicating that the at least one sub-channel is idle.
• the time period for using the second energy detection threshold may be determined by a timer.
• the first energy detection threshold may be based on a bandwidth of the at least one sub-channel.
• the apparatus may be caused to use the first energy detection threshold to perform the LBT procedure after the time period has elapsed.
• the apparatus may be caused to perform one or more measurements on the channel to obtain a characteristic of an interference of the channel after the time period has elapsed.
• a difference between the first energy detection threshold and the second energy detection threshold may be a static amount.
• the static amount may be based on a ratio between a bandwidth for the channel and a bandwidth used for a current cell.
• the static amount may be based on a ratio between a bandwidth used by an interfering cell within the channel and a bandwidth of the at least one subchannel used by a current cell.
• the apparatus when performing the one or more measurements, may be caused to perform the one or more measurements separately for multiple sub-channels.
• the characteristic of the interference may be obtained based on a measured energy on the entire wider bandwidth, an average measured energy on the entire wider bandwidth, or an average of the one or more measurements over the multiple subchannels.
• the characteristic of the interference may be based on whether an average of measurements performed on the at least one sub-channel or sub-channels exceeds an average measured energy for the entire wider bandwidth, or exceeds the average measured energy by at least a pre-defined amount.
• the characteristic of the interference may be based on whether an average of measurements performed on the at least one sub-channel or sub-channels is lower than an average measured energy for the entire wider bandwidth by at most a predefined amount. In a variant, the characteristic of the interference may be based on whether an average of measurements of the at least one sub-channel is greater than an average of measurements of another sub-channel of the multiple sub-channels by a predefined amount. In a variant, the second energy detection threshold may be a maximum allowed energy for the at least one sub-channel or may be pre-configured for operation on a wideband channel.
• a third embodiment may be directed to an apparatus that may include circuitry configured to perform the method according to the first embodiment, or any of the variants discussed above.
• a fourth embodiment may be directed to an apparatus that may include means for performing the method according to the first embodiment, or any of the variants discussed above.
• Examples of the means may include one or more processors, memory, and/or computer program codes for causing the performance of the operation.
• a fifth embodiment may be directed to a computer readable medium comprising program instructions stored thereon for performing at least the method according to the first embodiment, or any of the variants discussed above.
• a sixth embodiment may be directed to a computer program product encoding instructions for performing at least the method according to the first embodiment, or any of the variants discussed above.

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