JP7380773B2 - User equipment, base station, method performed by user equipment, and method performed by base station - Google Patents

Description

Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to communication technology. More particularly, embodiments of the present invention relate to methods and apparatus for performing fractional subframe transmission.

In the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), the network structure and various technologies required for the movement of terminals between a 3GPP wireless communication network and a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) network are defined as interworking WLAN (WLAN) networks. ) is called. Multimode wireless communication technology has evolved to use multiple wireless communication technologies simultaneously. Therefore, the simultaneous use of multiple wireless communication technologies increases the transfer rate per unit time or increases the reliability of the terminal.

In wireless communications, spectrum is an extremely scarce resource. A licensed band represents a frequency band that is exclusively licensed to a specific operator to provide a specific wireless service. An unlicensed band, on the other hand, represents a frequency band that is not assigned to a particular operator and is released for use by all entities that meet certain requirements.

In some parts of the world, unlicensed band technologies need to follow certain regulations, such as Listen-Before-Talk (LBT) and channel bandwidth occupancy requirements. LBT results in uncertainty in channel availability. For example, unlicensed band may be available at any time in a subframe.

WLAN, which utilizes Wireless Fidelity (WiFi), is a typical wireless communication technology used in unlicensed bands. The time granularity of current Long Term Evolution (LTE) is much larger than that of WiFi, which results in low competitive strength of License Assisted Access (LAA) with LBT. As such, fair coexistence between LTE operators as well as between LTE and other technologies such as WiFi is expected. Fractional subframe transmission may be implemented to be more contentious in unlicensed bands.

Fractional subframe transmission may use at least one fractional subframe. The end of a fractional subframe transmission may be uncertain simply because a portion of the symbols of the fractional subframe are available for data transmission. However, for both the transmitter and the receiver, termination of fractional subframe transmission is an important factor for efficiently performing fractional subframe transmission. Therefore, it is necessary to estimate the end of fractional subframe transmission.

The present invention proposes a solution for fractional subframe transmission. In particular, the present invention provides a method and apparatus for estimating the end of fractional subframe transmission.

According to a first aspect of an embodiment of the invention, an embodiment of the invention provides a method of performing fractional subframe transmission. The method includes determining first temporal information indicating when a channel becomes available and terminating the fractional subframe transmission based on the first temporal information and transmission opportunity information. and determining second temporal information indicating the second temporal information. The method may be performed at a transmitter or a receiver.

According to a second aspect of an embodiment of the invention, an embodiment of the invention provides an apparatus for performing fractional subframe transmission. The apparatus includes: a first determining unit that determines first temporal information indicating when a channel becomes available; and a first determining unit that determines when a channel is available. and a second determination unit that determines second temporal information indicating the end of the transmission. The device may be implemented in a transmitter or a receiver.

Other features and advantages of embodiments of the invention will become apparent when the following description of specific embodiments is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the embodiments.

Embodiments of the invention are shown by way of example and their advantages will be explained in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 shows a flowchart of a method 100 for performing fractional subframe transmission according to an embodiment of the invention.

2 shows a flowchart of a method 200 for performing fractional subframe transmission in a transmitter according to an embodiment of the invention.

3 shows a flowchart of a method 300 for performing fractional subframe transmission in a receiver according to an embodiment of the invention.

4 shows a schematic diagram 400 of a fractional subframe transmission according to an embodiment of the invention.

5 shows a schematic diagram 500 of a fractional subframe transmission according to an embodiment of the invention.

6 shows a schematic diagram 600 of a fractional subframe transmission according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7 shows a block diagram of a transmitter apparatus 710 and a receiver apparatus 720 for performing fractional subframe transmission according to an embodiment of the invention.

In the figures, the same or similar reference numbers indicate the same or similar elements.

The subject matter described herein is described with reference to several exemplary embodiments. It should be understood that these embodiments are not meant to limit the scope of the subject matter, but are described solely to enable those skilled in the art to better understand.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended as limitation of the exemplary embodiments. As used herein, the singular terms are intended to include the plural unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Also, when the terms "comprising", "comprising", "including" and/or "comprising" are used herein, the recited features, integers, steps, acts, elements, and/or It is understood that the presence of or components is specified, but does not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, acts, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

Also, in some alternative implementations, the functions/acts shown may occur out of the order shown in the figures. For example, two functions/acts shown in succession may actually be performed simultaneously, or sometimes in the reverse order, depending on the functions/acts involved.

Embodiments of the present invention are directed to solutions for performing fractional subframe transmission. The solution may be implemented between a receiver and a transmitter. Specifically, the transmitter determines first temporal information indicating when a channel will be available, and based on the first temporal information and transmission opportunity information, transmits a fractional subframe transmission. Second temporal information indicating termination may be determined. The receiver may similarly determine the second temporal information. As such, both the transmitter and receiver may determine the end of fractional subframe transmission without introducing signaling overhead.

In embodiments of the invention, a fractional subframe may refer to a subframe for downlink transmission or a subframe for uplink transmission, and a portion of the fractional subframe may contain control information or data. is used for transmission, and other parts are not used for transmission. For example, for a subframe with 14 symbols, if the first 8 symbols are not used for transmission and only the last 6 symbols are used for transmission, then this subframe is called a fractional subframe. It may be considered. For another example, if the first 7 symbols of a subframe are used for transmission, and the remaining symbols of the subframe are not used for transmission, this subframe is also considered a fractional subframe. It's okay.

In this disclosure, fractional subframe transmission may refer to transmission performed in one or more subframes, at least one of the one or more subframes being a fractional subframe. . As an example, fractional subframe transmission may include, for example, the first subframe is a fractional subframe, the last subframe is a fractional subframe, and the first and last subframes are fractional subframes. , etc. may be included.

In some embodiments, the fractional subframe transmission may be downlink or uplink cellular transmission. In downlink transmission, the receiver is connected to a user equipment (UE) such as a terminal, Mobile Terminal (MT), Subscriber Station (SS), Portable Subscriber Station (PSS), Mobile Station (MS), or Access Terminal (AT). Equipment)) may be used. On the other hand, the transmitter may be a base station (BS), such as a node B (NodeB or NB) or an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB). In uplink transmission, the transmitter may be a UE and the receiver may be a BS.

According to some other embodiments of the invention, the fractional subframe transmission may be a D2D transmission. In that case, the receiver may be a Device-to-Device (D2D) receiver, and the transmitter may be a D2D transmitter.

Embodiments of the present invention may be applied to various communication systems including, but not limited to, Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems or Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A) systems. Given the rapid developments in communications, it will be appreciated that the present invention may be implemented in future types of wireless communication technologies and systems. The scope of the invention should not be construed as being limited to only the systems described above.

Hereinafter, some exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Reference is first made to FIG. 1, which shows a flowchart of a method 100 for performing fractional subframe transmission in a transmitter according to an embodiment of the invention. Method 100 may be performed at a transmitter and other suitable equipment. Alternatively, method 100 may be performed at a receiver and other suitable equipment.

The method 100 begins with step S110 of determining first temporal information, where the first temporal information indicates when a channel will be available.

In the context of this disclosure, a subframe may comprise multiple symbols. By way of example, a subframe may be 1 ms and comprise 14 symbols, e.g. from 0 to 13 symbols. Positions such as potential position, target position, current position, next position, etc. are time points or time periods in a subframe. can refer to. In some embodiments, a position may correspond to a moment in a subframe. Alternatively, the positions may correspond to symbols of subframes. A position may then occupy a time period, for example a symbol time period. A target position may refer to a position where fractional transmission may start, and a potential position may refer to a predetermined position that is a candidate for a target position.

ここで、Ｎは、サブフレームのシンボルのインデックスを示し、Ｎｄは、２つのポテンシャルポジションの間の間隔を示し１から例えば１４のようなサブフレームにおけるシンボルの総数までの範囲の整数であってもよい。式（１）によれば、Ｎｄが小さいほど、ポテンシャルポジションの密度が高いことを判定し得る。いくつかの実施の形態において、サブフレームの各シンボルはポテンシャルポジションとして予め定められてもよい。 There may be one or more predetermined potential positions in a subframe. Each of the potential positions may correspond to a symbol of a subframe periodically or non-periodically. In some embodiments, potential positions may be provided at every third symbol, eg, symbols 0, 3, 6, 9, and 12. For example, the potential position may be set as follows.

Here, N indicates the index of the symbol of the subframe and Nd indicates the spacing between two potential positions and may be an integer ranging from 1 to the total number of symbols in the subframe, such as 14. good. According to equation (1), it can be determined that the smaller Nd is, the higher the density of potential positions is. In some embodiments, each symbol of a subframe may be predefined as a potential position.

It should be noted that the above-mentioned example is not a limitation, but is an explanation for illustrative purposes only. It can be appreciated that in alternative embodiments there may be an aperiodic configuration of potential positions. For example, potential positions may correspond to symbols 0, 3, 8, and 12.

Clear Channel Assessment (CCA) or Extended Clear Channel Assessment (eCCA) may be performed, for example, by a transmitter, to detect whether a channel is available. In response to detecting that a channel becomes available, it may be detected whether the current position is a potential position. If the current position is a potential position, the current position may be determined as a target position. Alternatively, a channel occupation signal may be transmitted from a current position to a potential position, which may be determined as a target position. In some embodiments, this potential position may be the potential position immediately following the current position. For example, if the current position corresponds to symbol 5, and there are three predetermined potential positions corresponding to symbols 0, 7, and 11, then the potential position corresponding to symbol 7 is the current position. It is determined that the potential position is immediately after , and can be determined as the target position.

According to embodiments of the invention, the fractional subframe transmission may be a symbol-level transmission. That is, fractional subframe transmission may end at any symbol of the subframe. In this case, the last subframe of the fractional subframe transmission may be a fractional subframe. The first temporal information may be determined in several ways. In some embodiments, it may be determined whether a channel becomes available in the first subframe symbol. In response to determining that the channel becomes available, the first temporal information may be determined to include an index of the symbol. Alternatively, in some embodiments, in response to determining that a channel becomes available, determining that the first temporal information includes a predetermined potential position of a first subframe. where the potential position is immediately before the symbol. Details are explained with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

Alternatively, the fractional subframe transmission may be a subframe-level transmission. In this case, fractional subframe transmission may end with a complete subframe. That is, the last subframe of a fractional subframe transmission is a complete subframe rather than a fractional subframe. According to embodiments of the invention, in step S110, the first subframe in which a channel becomes available may be determined. As a result, the first temporal information may be determined to include the index of the first subframe.

In some embodiments, step S110 may be performed by a transmitter. In this case, the first subframe may be determined based on the CCA/eCCA performed by the transmitter. Specifically, when the transmitter detects that a channel becomes available in a subframe, this subframe may be determined as the first subframe.

In other embodiments, step S110 may be performed by the receiver. In an exemplary embodiment, the transmitter may signal the first temporal information, such as by transmitting an indicator regarding the first temporal information to the receiver. In this method, the index of the first subframe in which the channel becomes available may be explicitly indicated. Accordingly, in step S110, the receiver may determine the first temporal information by detecting the indicator. In an alternative embodiment, the transmitter may not send an indicator and the receiver may perform blind decoding for control information of fractional subframe transmission at potential positions. In response to successful blind decoding, the receiver may determine the index of the first subframe of the fractional subframe transmission.

In step S120, second temporal information indicating an end of fractional subframe transmission may be determined based on the first temporal information and transmission opportunity information.

According to embodiments of the invention, the transmission opportunity information may include channel occupancy time, such as maximum channel occupancy time, average channel occupancy time, etc. Transmission opportunity information may be determined based on rules or other possible aspects. Additionally or alternatively, the transmission opportunity information may be set by higher layer signaling or may be preset to be fixed.

In some embodiments where symbol level transmission is performed in step S120, the number of symbols used by fractional subframe transmission may be determined based on transmission opportunity information. As a result, the number of ending symbols can be determined based on the first temporal information and the number of symbols used by the fractional subframe transmission, where the ending symbol is the number of symbols used by the fractional subframe transmission. - Used by the transmission and belongs to the last subframe of a fractional subframe transmission. Details are explained with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

Alternatively, in some embodiments where subframe-level transmission is performed in step S120, the index of the last subframe used by the fractional subframe transmission may be associated with the first temporal information and the transmission opportunity information. The determination may be made based on

ここで、Ｎ１は、最初のサブフレームのインデックスを示し、Ｎｅは、最後のサブフレームのインデックスを示し、ＴＸＯＰは、ミリ秒（すなわち、ｍｓ）でチャネル占有時間を示し、ｆｌｏｏｒ（）は、切り捨て（rounding down）の演算を示す。 In an exemplary embodiment, the index of the last subframe may be determined as follows.

Here, N1 indicates the index of the first subframe, Ne indicates the index of the last subframe, TXOP indicates the channel occupancy time in milliseconds (i.e., ms), and floor() is the truncated (rounding down) operation.

FIG. 6 shows a schematic diagram 600 of subframe-level fractional subframe transmission according to an embodiment of the invention. As shown in FIG. 6, there are four subframes, namely subframes 0 to 3. For subframe 0, there are two potential positions 621 and 622, the first potential position 621 corresponding to the start of subframe 0. CCA/eCCA may start from an initial potential position 621, and potential position 622 may be determined as the target position. As a result, fractional subframe transmission may start from the target position and end at the end of subframe 2. Therefore, the true channel occupancy time, which indicates the actual time period occupied by fractional subframe transmission, may correspond to the time period from positions 622 to 623. Assuming that the TXOP is 3 ms and corresponds to the time period from position 622 to position 624, the actual channel occupation time is from position 622 to position 623 and from position 623 to position 624. may be determined not to be occupied. In the embodiment of FIG. 6, the first subframe is subframe 0, so the index of the first subframe is 0. Therefore, according to equation (2), the index of the last subframe Ne can be determined to be 0+3-1=2. That is, the last subframe may be determined as subframe 2.

According to embodiments of the invention, method 100 may optionally further include comparing the number of finished symbols to a predetermined threshold if symbol level transmission is performed. Depending on the number of finished symbols being less than or equal to a predetermined threshold, the last subframe may be released. In an alternative embodiment, the ending symbols may be combined into the subframe immediately preceding the last subframe, depending on the number of ending symbols being less than or equal to a predetermined threshold. In this disclosure, the combination of the ending symbol and the subframe immediately before the last subframe may be referred to as a "super subframe." According to embodiments of the invention, the predetermined threshold value may be set as a fixed value, for example 3, or a dynamically changed value. It should be understood that the exemplary embodiments described above are not meant to imply any limitation on the subject matter described herein, but are for illustrative purposes only. The predetermined threshold may be implemented in any other suitable manner.

According to embodiments of the invention, optionally, when the transmitter performs the method 100, the transmitter determines the transport block size based on the number of ending symbols and determines the transport block size of the last subframe. Block size data may also be transmitted. Details can be explained with reference to FIG.

According to embodiments of the invention, optionally, when the receiver performs the method 100, the receiver determines the transport block size based on the number of ending symbols and the transport block size of the last subframe. Block size data may be received. Details can be explained with reference to FIG.

Reference is made to FIG. 2, which shows a flowchart of a method 200 for performing fractional subframe transmission in a transmitter according to an embodiment of the invention. Method 200 may be viewed as a specific implementation of method 100 described above with reference to FIG. 1 and may be performed by a transmitter. However, this is not intended to limit its scope, but merely to illustrate the principles of the invention.

Method 200 begins in step S210, where a symbol of the first subframe in which a channel becomes available is determined.

According to embodiments of the invention, channel availability may be determined in several ways, such as energy detection, carrier sensing, etc., for example. In some embodiments, energy strength from other transmitters may be measured in the channel. The other transmitter may be a transmitter that is different from the transmitter implementing the method according to the embodiments of the present invention and may be a transmitter that may use the same channel. If the energy strength is not strong, the channel may be determined to be idle. The energy intensity may then be compared to an intensity threshold. In response to the measured intensity being less than an intensity threshold, the channel may be determined to be available. The intensity threshold may be a predetermined threshold and may be set according to system requirements, specifications, channel quality, etc. According to embodiments of the invention, the intensity threshold may be set as a fixed value or a dynamically changed value. It should be understood that the exemplary embodiments described above are not meant to imply any limitation on the subject matter described herein, but are for illustrative purposes only. Intensity thresholds may be implemented in other suitable ways.

Alternatively, channel availability may be detected based on carrier sensing. As an example, signals from other transmitters may be detected on the channel. The other transmitter may be a transmitter that is different from the transmitter that performs the method according to the embodiments of the invention and can use the channel. Based on the signal, it may be determined whether the channel is available. When the transmitter detects that a channel becomes available for a symbol, the subframe comprising that symbol may be determined as the first subframe.

In addition, although the above-mentioned embodiment demonstrated one other transmitter, there may be several other transmitters in the communication system concerning embodiment of this invention. In such embodiments, energy detection and carrier sensing may be performed for multiple other transmitters.

In step S220, it is determined that the first temporal information includes a potential position immediately preceding the symbol. Here, the potential position is predetermined in the first subframe.

In an exemplary embodiment, if the symbol determined in step S210 is symbol 5 and there are three predetermined potential positions corresponding to symbols 0, 7, and 11, respectively, the transmitter may determine that the potential position corresponding to symbol 0 is the potential position immediately preceding the current position. As such, in step S220, the first temporal information may include a potential position corresponding to symbol 0.

Note that in some alternative embodiments, the first temporal information may be determined to include the index of the symbol determined in step S210. As an example, if the symbol determined in step S210 is symbol 5, the first temporal information may be determined to include an index of symbol 5. Those skilled in the art will understand that the first temporal information is the index of the symbol determined in step S210, the potential position immediately before that symbol, or the symbol determined in step S210 and the potential position immediately before that symbol. It may contain any symbol between a certain potential position. The exemplary embodiments described above are not meant to imply any limitation on the subject matter described herein, but are for illustrative purposes only.

In step S230, the number of symbols used by fractional subframe transmission is determined based on the transmission opportunity information.

In some embodiments, transmission opportunity information may include channel occupancy time. In an exemplary embodiment, the channel occupancy time may be, for example, 3.5 ms. For example, for a 1 ms subframe containing M symbols, where M=14, it may be determined that one symbol may occupy approximately 0.071 ms. Considering the channel occupancy time and symbol length, by dividing the channel occupancy time by 0.071, the transmitter may determine the number of symbols used by fractional subframe transmission to be 49.

In step S240, the number of ending symbols is determined based on the first temporal information and the number of symbols used by fractional subframe transmission. Here, the end symbol is used by fractional subframe transmission and belongs to the last subframe of fractional subframe transmission.

ここで、Ｓ１は、ステップＳ２１０で判定されたシンボルの直前にあるポテンシャルポジションを示し、Ｓｅは、最後のシンボルのインデックスを示し、ＴＸＯＰは、チャネル占有時間（例えば、シンボルの数）を示す。 As explained above, the first temporal information may include the potential position immediately preceding the symbol determined in step S210. In some embodiments, the last symbol of fractional subframe transmission may be determined as follows.

Here, S1 indicates the potential position immediately before the symbol determined in step S210, Se indicates the index of the last symbol, and TXOP indicates the channel occupation time (eg, number of symbols).

In the exemplary embodiment, S1 is the first symbol of the first subframe (ie, symbol 0) and the TXOP is 49 symbols. Therefore, the last symbol may be determined as the 49th symbol of the fractional subframe transmission. If a subframe contains M symbols, for example M=14, fractional subframe transmission may be determined to occupy four subframes, where the first three subframes are completely occupied. and the first seven symbols (symbols 0 to 6) of the last subframe are occupied. According to embodiments of the invention, the first seven symbols (symbols 0 to 6) of the last subframe may be determined as ending symbols. Therefore, in step S240, the number of ending symbols may be determined to be seven.

In step S250, the transport block size is determined based on the number of ending symbols.

The transport block size indicates the size of a data block transmitted by fractional subframe transmission. According to embodiments of the invention, transport block size may be determined in various ways. In some embodiments, the ending symbol of the last subframe may be considered the available symbol of the fractional subframe. The transmitter may determine a scaling factor that is associated with the number of available symbols and then determine a transport block size based on the scaling factor. Scaling factors can be defined in several ways. Table 1 shows examples of scaling factors associated with various numbers of available symbols.

In some embodiments, if the number of available symbols is 1, 2, or 3, the transmitter uses the available symbols to transmit control information for fractional subframe transmission. and may determine that the available symbols are insufficient to transmit data after transmitting the control information. The scaling factor may then be designed as a value of "N/A", indicating that the scaling factor is "not available". In an exemplary embodiment, if the number of available symbols is 4, the transmitter may determine that the associated scaling factor is 0.25. In an exemplary embodiment, if the number of available symbols is 5, the transmitter may determine that the associated scaling factor is 0.25 or 0.375. In an exemplary embodiment, if the number of available symbols is 6, the transmitter may determine that the associated scaling factor is 0.375. In an exemplary embodiment, if the number of available symbols is 7, the transmitter may determine that the associated scaling factor is 0.375 or 0.5. In an exemplary embodiment, if the number of available symbols is 8, the transmitter may determine that the associated scaling factor is 0.5 or 0.75. In an exemplary embodiment, if the number of available symbols is 9, 10, 11, or 12, the transmitter may determine that the associated scaling factor is 0.75. In an exemplary embodiment, if the number of available symbols is 13 or 14, the transmitter may determine that the associated scaling factor is 1.

ここで、Ｎ’ＰＲＢは、第１のリソースブロック数を示し、ＮＰＲＢは、第２のリソースブロック数を示し、Ｆａｃｔｏｒは、スケーリングファクターを示す。 In some embodiments, the transport block size may be determined based on the scaling factor in several ways. As an example, a first resource block number may be obtained indicating the number of resource blocks allocated for transmission. For the transmitter, a first number of resource blocks may be determined by the transmitter in real time. Thereafter, a second number of resource blocks may be determined based on the first number of resource blocks and the scaling factor. In an exemplary embodiment, the second number of resource blocks may be determined as follows.

Here, N'PRB indicates the first number of resource blocks, NPRB indicates the second number of resource blocks, and Factor indicates the scaling factor.

A transport block size may be determined based on the second number of resource blocks. In some embodiments, a transport block size table may be used to determine the transport block size. Table 2 shows an example transport block size table.

The horizontal direction of Table 2 may correspond to the number of resource blocks, for example the second number of resource blocks in the embodiment, and the vertical direction may correspond to the Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS). In an embodiment, when the transmitter determines not only the currently used MCS but also the second number of resource blocks, the transmitter determines the transport block size by looking up Table 2 based on the second number of resource blocks and the MCS. can be determined. As an example, if the second resource block number is 8 and the MCS is 8, the transport block size may be determined to be 1096.

Note that the dimensions of Table 2 are 10x27, which is a simplification of 3GPP TS36.213, which has dimensions of 34x110. Additionally, the example tables above are not meant to imply any limitation on the subject matter described herein, and are for illustrative purposes only. Any other suitable table may be used to determine transport block size.

In step S260, transport block size data is transmitted in the last subframe.

In some embodiments, the transmitter may transmit other possible information, such as Reference Signal (RS), Primary Synchronous Signal (PSS), Secondary Synchronous Signal (SSS), etc., to the fractional subframes, if necessary. - It may be transmitted in a transmission data area, for example, Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH).

Reference is made to FIG. 3 illustrating a flowchart of a method 300 for performing fractional subframe transmission in a receiver according to an embodiment of the invention. Method 300 may be viewed as a specific implementation of method 100 described above with reference to FIG. 1 and may be performed by a receiver. However, this is not intended to limit its scope, but merely to illustrate the principles of the invention.

Method 300 begins in step S310, where a symbol of the first subframe in which a channel becomes available is determined.

In some embodiments, the transmitter may inform the receiver of first temporal information, such as the index of the symbol of the first subframe in which the channel becomes available. In an exemplary embodiment, the transmitter may transmit an indicator regarding the first temporal information to the receiver. In this method, the index of the symbol of the first subframe may be explicitly indicated. Therefore, in step S310, the receiver may determine the symbol of the first subframe by detecting the indicator. In an alternative embodiment, the transmitter may not send the indicator and the receiver may perform blind decoding for fractional subframe transmission control information at potential positions. In response to successful blind decoding, the receiver may determine the first subframe symbol for which a channel becomes available.

In step S320, it is determined that the first temporal information includes a potential position immediately preceding the symbol. Here, the potential position is predetermined in the first subframe.

In an exemplary embodiment, if the symbol determined in step S320 is symbol 5 and there are three predetermined potential positions corresponding to symbols 0, 7, and 11, respectively, the receiver may determine that the potential position corresponding to symbol 0 is the potential position immediately preceding the current position. As such, in step S320, the first temporal information may include a potential position corresponding to symbol 0.

Note that in some alternative embodiments, the first temporal information may be determined to include the index of the symbol determined in step S320. As an example, if the symbol determined in step S320 is symbol 5, the first temporal information may be determined to include an index of symbol 5. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the first temporal information may be the index of the symbol determined in step S320, the potential position immediately before that symbol, or the symbol determined in step S320 and the potential position immediately before that symbol. It may contain any symbol between a certain potential position. The exemplary embodiments described above are not meant to imply any limitation on the subject matter described herein, but are for illustrative purposes only.

In step S330, the number of symbols used by fractional subframe transmission is determined based on the transmission opportunity information.

In some embodiments, transmission opportunity information may include channel occupancy time. In an exemplary embodiment, the channel occupancy time may be, for example, 3.5 ms. For example, for a 1 ms subframe containing M symbols, where M=14, it may be determined that one symbol may occupy approximately 0.071 ms. Considering the channel occupation time and symbol length, by dividing the channel occupation time by 0.071, the receiver may determine the number of symbols used by fractional subframe transmission to be 49.

In step S340, a number of ending symbols is determined based on the first temporal information and the number of symbols used by fractional subframe transmission. Here, the end symbol is used by fractional subframe transmission and belongs to the last subframe of fractional subframe transmission.

As explained above, the first temporal information may include the potential position immediately preceding the symbol determined in step S310. In some embodiments, the receiver may determine the last symbol of the fractional subframe transmission, eg, according to equation (3).

At step S350, the transport block size is determined based on the number of ending symbols.

The transport block size indicates the size of a data block transmitted by fractional subframe transmission. According to embodiments of the invention, transport block size may be determined in various ways. In some embodiments, the ending symbol of the last subframe may be considered the available symbol of the fractional subframe. The receiver may determine a scaling factor that is associated with the number of available symbols and then determine a transport block size based on the scaling factor. Scaling factors can be defined in several ways. As explained above, Table 1 shows examples of scaling factors associated with various numbers of available symbols.

In an exemplary embodiment, if the number of available symbols is 4, the receiver may determine that the associated scaling factor is 0.25. In an exemplary embodiment, if the number of available symbols is 5, the receiver may determine that the associated scaling factor is 0.25 or 0.375. In an exemplary embodiment, if the number of available symbols is 6, the receiver may determine that the associated scaling factor is 0.375. In an exemplary embodiment, if the number of available symbols is 7, the receiver may determine that the associated scaling factor is 0.375 or 0.5. In an exemplary embodiment, if the number of available symbols is 8, the receiver may determine that the associated scaling factor is 0.5 or 0.75. In an exemplary embodiment, if the number of available symbols is 9, 10, 11, or 12, the receiver may determine that the associated scaling factor is 0.75. In an exemplary embodiment, if the number of available symbols is 13 or 14, the receiver may determine that the associated scaling factor is 1.

In some embodiments, the transport block size may be determined based on the scaling factor in several ways. As an example, a first resource block number may be obtained indicating the number of resource blocks allocated for transmission. For the receiver, the first resource block number may be signaled by the transmitter. Thereafter, a second number of resource blocks may be determined based on the first number of resource blocks and the scaling factor. In an exemplary embodiment, the second number of resource blocks may be determined according to equation (4). A transport block size may be determined based on the second number of resource blocks. In some embodiments, the transport block size table of Table 2, for example, may be used to determine the transport block size. Specifically, if the receiver determines not only the currently used MCS but also the second number of resource blocks, it may determine the transport block size by examining Table 2.

In step S360, transport block size data is received in the last subframe.

In some embodiments, the receiver may transmit other possible information, such as Reference Signal (RS), Primary Synchronous Signal (PSS), Secondary Synchronous Signal (SSS), etc. to the fractional subframes, if necessary. - It may be received in a transmission data area, for example, Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH).

FIG. 4 shows a schematic diagram 400 of a fractional subframe transmission according to an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 4 illustrates four subframes, subframes 0 to 3. For subframe 0, there are three potential positions 421, 422, and 423, the first potential position 421 corresponding to the start of subframe 0, e.g. symbol 0 of subframe 0. CCA/eCCA 401 may start from an initial potential position 421. During CCA/eCCA 401, the transmitter may determine that a channel is available at position 424. Because position 424 is not a potential position, the transmitter may transmit a channel occupancy signal from position 424 to a potential position, such as potential position 422, and may determine potential position 422 as a target position. As a result, fractional subframe transmission can start from a target position, where control information can be transmitted on the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) in time periods 403, 405, 407, and 409, and data can be It can be transmitted on the PDSCH during time periods 404, 406, 408, and 410. As shown, the fractional subframe transmission ends at position 425.

As shown in FIG. 4, the symbol of the first subframe for which a channel becomes available may be determined to be the symbol corresponding to position 424. Since the potential position immediately before the determined symbol is potential position 421, the channel occupation time can be determined to start at potential position 421. Assuming that the transmission opportunity information includes a TXOP of 3.5 ms, the number of symbols used by fractional subframe transmission may be determined to be 49. As shown in FIG. 5, the TXOP corresponds to a time period from position 421 to position 425, and the actual channel occupation time is from position 424 to position 425. Therefore, the time period from position 421 to position 424 is not occupied. Then, based on the potential position 421 and the number of symbols used by fractional subframe transmission, the ending symbols can be determined to be the first seven symbols of subframe 3, and the number of ending symbols is 7. be. In this method, the end of fractional subframe transmission can be estimated.

According to embodiments of the invention, method 200 or 300 may optionally further include comparing the number of ending symbols with a predetermined threshold. Depending on the number of finished symbols being less than or equal to a predetermined threshold, the last subframe may be released. In an alternative embodiment, the ending symbols may be combined into a subframe immediately before the last subframe as a super subframe, depending on the number of ending symbols being less than or equal to a predetermined threshold. Super-subframes are illustrated in FIG. 5, which shows a schematic diagram 500 of fractional subframe transmission according to an embodiment of the invention. As shown in FIG. 5, there are four subframes, subframes 0 to 3. Since the number of ending symbols of the last subframe (subframe 3) is less than a predetermined threshold, e.g. 3, the ending symbols may be combined into subframe 2 as a super subframe. As shown, a super-subframe may correspond to a time period from the beginning 501 of subframe 2 to the last of the ending symbols 502.

FIG. 7 shows a block diagram of a transmitter apparatus 710 and a receiver apparatus 720 for performing fractional subframe transmission according to an embodiment of the invention. As shown in FIG. 7, device 710 may transmit fractional subframe data to device 720. According to embodiments of the invention, device 710 may be realized by a transmitter or may be coupled to a transmitter in any suitable manner. Similarly, device 720 may be implemented by or coupled to a receiver in any suitable manner.

As shown, the apparatus 710 includes a first determining unit 711 that determines first temporal information indicating when a channel will be available, and a fractional transmission based on the first temporal information and transmission opportunity information. and a second determination unit 712 that determines second temporal information indicating the end of subframe transmission.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the first determining unit 711 includes a first symbol determining unit that determines the symbol of the first subframe in which a channel becomes available, and a first temporal information of the symbol. and a first information determination unit that determines that the information includes an index.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the first determining unit 711 includes a second symbol determining unit that determines the symbol of the first subframe in which a channel becomes available, and a second symbol determining unit that determines the symbol of the first subframe in which the channel becomes available. A second information determining unit that determines that the potential position immediately before is included. Here, the potential position is predetermined in the first subframe.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the second determining unit 712 includes a first number determining unit that determines the number of symbols used by fractional subframe transmission based on transmission opportunity information; and a second number determining unit that determines the number of ending symbols based on the temporal information of 1 and the number of symbols used by fractional subframe transmission. Here, the end symbol is used by fractional subframe transmission and belongs to the last subframe of fractional subframe transmission.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the apparatus 710 includes a comparison unit that compares the number of ending symbols with a predetermined threshold, and a comparison unit that compares the number of ending symbols with a predetermined threshold; The processing unit may further include a processing unit that releases or combines the end symbol into a subframe immediately before the last subframe.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the apparatus 710 includes a first size determining unit that determines a transport block size based on the number of ending symbols, and transmitting data of a transport block size of the last subframe. The device may further include a transmitter.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the first determining unit 711 includes a first subframe determining unit that determines the first subframe in which a channel becomes available, and a first subframe determining unit that determines the first subframe in which the channel becomes available; and a third information determining unit that determines that the index includes the index.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the second determining unit 712 determines the index of the last subframe used by fractional subframe transmission based on the first temporal information and the transmission opportunity information. The last subframe determination unit may also be provided.

As shown, the apparatus 720 includes a first determining unit 721 that determines first temporal information indicating when a channel will be available, and a fractional transmission based on the first temporal information and transmission opportunity information. and a second determination unit 722 that determines second temporal information indicating the end of subframe transmission.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the first determining unit 721 includes a first symbol determining unit that determines the symbol of the first subframe in which a channel becomes available, and a first temporal information of the symbol. and a first information determination unit that determines that the information includes an index.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the first determining unit 721 includes a second symbol determining unit that determines the symbol of the first subframe in which a channel becomes available, and a second symbol determining unit that determines the symbol of the first subframe in which the channel becomes available. A second information determining unit that determines that the potential position immediately before is included. Here, the potential position is predetermined in the first subframe.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the second determining unit 722 includes a first number determining unit that determines the number of symbols used by fractional subframe transmission based on transmission opportunity information; and a second number determining unit that determines the number of ending symbols based on the temporal information of 1 and the number of symbols used by fractional subframe transmission. Here, the end symbol is used by fractional subframe transmission and belongs to the last subframe of fractional subframe transmission.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the apparatus 720 includes a comparing unit that compares the number of ending symbols with a predetermined threshold, and a comparing unit that compares the number of ending symbols with a predetermined threshold; The processing unit may further include a processing unit that releases or combines the end symbol into a subframe immediately before the last subframe.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the apparatus 720 includes a first size determining unit that determines a transport block size based on the number of ending symbols, and receives data of a transport block size of a last subframe. The device may further include a receiving section.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the first determining unit 721 includes a first subframe determining unit that determines the first subframe in which a channel becomes available, and a first subframe determining unit that determines the first subframe in which the channel becomes available; and a third information determining unit that determines that the index includes the index.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the second determining unit 722 determines the index of the last subframe used by fractional subframe transmission based on the first temporal information and the transmission opportunity information. The last subframe determination unit may also be provided.

It is noted that devices 710 and 720 may each be implemented using any suitable technology now known or developed in the future. Furthermore, the single device shown in FIG. 7 may instead be realized by being separated into a plurality of devices, and the separated device may be realized by a single device. The scope of the invention is not limited in these respects.

Note that the device 710 may be configured to implement the functions described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, and the device 720 may be configured to implement the functions described with reference to FIG. 1 or FIG. may be configured. Accordingly, features described for method 100 or 200 may apply to corresponding components of apparatus 710, and features described for method 100 or 300 may apply to corresponding components of apparatus 720. Additionally, components of device 710 or device 720 may be implemented in hardware, software, and firmware, and/or any combination thereof. For example, components of apparatus 710 or apparatus 720 may each be implemented by a circuit, a processor, or any other suitable device. Those skilled in the art will understand that the foregoing examples are not meant to be limiting, but are merely illustrative.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, device 710 or device 720 may include at least one processor. At least one processor suitable for use with embodiments of the present disclosure may include, by way of example, both general and special purpose processors, now known or developed in the future. Device 710 or device 720 may further include at least one memory. The at least one memory may include, for example, semiconductor memory devices such as RAM, ROM, EPROM, and flash memory devices. At least one memory may be used to store a program of computer-executable instructions. Programs may be written in any high-level and/or low-level compliable or interpretable programming language. According to embodiments, computer-executable instructions cause apparatus 710 to at least perform according to method 100 or 200, as described above, or cause apparatus 720 to perform method 100 or 200, as described above, by at least one processor. 100 or 300.

Based on the above description, those skilled in the art will understand that the present disclosure can be embodied in an apparatus, method, or computer program product. In general, the various exemplary embodiments may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuitry, software, logic, or any combination thereof. For example, although the present disclosure is not limited thereto, some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or by a controller, microprocessor, or other computing device. It may also be realized by software. Various aspects of example embodiments of the present disclosure may be illustrated and described using block diagrams, flowcharts, or other pictorial descriptions, such as blocks, devices, and systems described herein. , techniques, or methods may be implemented in, by way of non-limiting example, hardware, software, firmware, specialized circuitry or logic, general purpose hardware or controllers or other computing devices, or any combination thereof. is understood.

The various blocks illustrated in FIGS. 1-3 may be considered to be a plurality of combinatorial logic circuit elements configured to perform method steps and/or operations resulting from the processing of computer program code and/or related functions. obtain. At least some aspects of example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in various components, such as integrated circuit chips and modules, and example embodiments of the present disclosure It may be implemented in a device implemented as an integrated circuit, FPGA, or ASIC that operates in accordance with the exemplary embodiments.

Although this specification contains many specific implementation details, these should not be construed as limitations of any disclosure or what may be claimed, but rather to clarify particular embodiments of the particular disclosure. should be interpreted as a description of the characteristics obtained. Certain features that are described in this specification in the context of separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any other suitable subcombinations. Furthermore, although the features are described above as operative in a particular combination and even those originally claimed as such, one or more features in the claimed combination may be removed from the combination as the case may be. and the claimed combination may cover subcombinations or variations of subcombinations.

Similarly, although acts are shown in the figures in a particular order, such acts may be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order to achieve a desired result, or It is not to be understood that all of the actions indicated are performed. In certain situations, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Furthermore, the separation of various system components in the embodiments described above is not to be understood as requiring such separation in all embodiments, and that the program components and systems described are generally , may be integrated together into a single software product, or may be packaged into multiple software products.

Various modifications and adaptations to the above-described exemplary embodiments of the disclosure may become apparent to those skilled in the art in view of the above description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Any and all modifications are included within the non-limiting scope and example embodiments of this disclosure. Moreover, other embodiments of the disclosure described herein will occur to those skilled in the art that these embodiments of the disclosure have the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing description and associated drawings.

It is therefore understood that the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to the specific embodiments described, and that modifications and other embodiments thereof are included within the scope of the appended claims. It needs to be understood as intended. Although specific terms are used herein, they are used in a general and descriptive sense only and not for the purpose of limitation.

Claims (10)

A user device ,
means for recognizing a plurality of predetermined potential positions in a subframe of the unlicensed spectrum;
means for receiving downlink transmissions from a target location, including a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) and a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), from the base station in the unlicensed spectrum after channel sensing is performed by the base station; And ,
Equipped with
the target location is one of the plurality of potential locations;
The plurality of potential positions include a first symbol of the subframe and a symbol located in the middle of the subframe,
A plurality of symbols are arranged between the first symbol of the subframe and the symbol located in the middle of the subframe,
User equipment . The first symbol of the subframe and the symbol located in the middle of the subframe correspond to symbol 0 and symbol 7,
The user equipment according to claim 1. The downlink transmission is transmitted in one or more consecutive subframes,
One subframe of the one or more continuous subframes includes symbols used for transmission and symbols not used for transmission.
The user equipment according to claim 1 or 2. further comprising receiving an indicator at the target location;
the indicator indicates a final symbol of the downlink transmission;
User equipment according to any one of claims 1 to 3. A base station ,
means for recognizing a plurality of predetermined potential positions in a subframe of the unlicensed spectrum;
means for performing channel sensing;
means for transmitting a downlink transmission including a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) and a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) to a user equipment from a target location in the unlicensed spectrum after performing the channel sensing;
Equipped with
the target location is one of the plurality of potential locations;
The plurality of potential positions include a first symbol of the subframe and a symbol located in the middle of the subframe,
A plurality of symbols are arranged between the first symbol of the subframe and the symbol located in the middle of the subframe,
Base station . The first symbol of the subframe and the symbol located in the middle of the subframe correspond to symbol 0 and symbol 7,
The base station according to claim 5. The downlink transmission is transmitted in one or more consecutive subframes,
One subframe of the one or more continuous subframes includes symbols used for transmission and symbols not used for transmission.
The base station according to claim 5 or 6. further comprising receiving an indicator at the target location;
the indicator indicates a final symbol of the downlink transmission;
The base station according to any one of claims 5 to 7. A method performed by a base station, the method comprising:
recognizing a plurality of predetermined potential positions in a subframe of an unlicensed spectrum;
performing channel sensing;
After performing the channel sensing, transmitting a downlink transmission including a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) and a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) to a user equipment from a target location in the unlicensed spectrum;
Equipped with
the target location is one of the plurality of potential locations;
The plurality of potential positions include a first symbol of the subframe and a symbol located in the middle of the subframe,
A plurality of symbols are arranged between the first symbol of the subframe and the symbol located in the middle of the subframe,
method . A method performed by a user device, the method comprising:
recognizing a plurality of predetermined potential positions in a subframe of an unlicensed spectrum;
receiving, in the unlicensed spectrum, downlink transmissions from the base station including a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) and a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) from a target location after channel sensing is performed by the base station; and,
Equipped with
the target location is one of the plurality of potential locations;
The plurality of potential positions include a first symbol of the subframe and a symbol located in the middle of the subframe,
A plurality of symbols are arranged between the first symbol of the subframe and the symbol located in the middle of the subframe,
method .

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