TWI636692B - Method and apparatus for uplink transmission by using unlicensed spectrum - Google Patents

Abstract

A communication method for uplink transmission by using an unlicensed spectrum is applicable to a communication device. The communication method includes: obtaining a transmission resource by self-exempting the licensed spectrum based on the first listening and sending procedure; and successfully obtaining the transmission resource by authorizing the licensed spectrum, Sending a listener and send success indicator to the base station; receiving an uplink resource grant from the base station; and performing uplink data transmission on the base station on the unlicensed spectrum according to the uplink resource grant.

Description

Communication method and device for uplink transmission using unlicensed spectrum

The present disclosure relates to a communication method and apparatus, and more particularly to a communication method and apparatus for uplink transmission using an unlicensed spectrum.

With the development of communication technologies, the amount of mobile data for consumer electronics has increased significantly. In response to the huge bandwidth demand, the national communications supervision agencies have gradually released more spectrum and tried to improve the efficiency of spectrum use for mobile broadband services. For example, mechanisms such as Long Term Evolution in Unlicensed Band (LTE-U) and Licensed Assisted Access (LAA) are proposed to use the unlicensed spectrum to augment existing mobile communications. Available spectrum.

However, whether it is LTE-U or LAA, the use of unlicensed spectrum to compensate for the lack of downlink licensed spectrum bandwidth. LTE-U or LAA currently does not propose an effective solution for uplink transmission.

So how do you propose an uplink with an unlicensed spectrum? The communication method and device for transmission are one of the topics that the industry is currently working on.

The disclosure provides a communication method and apparatus for uplink transmission using an unlicensed spectrum.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a communication method for uplink transmission using an unlicensed spectrum is provided, which is applicable to a communication device. The communication method includes: obtaining a transmission resource by exempting the licensed spectrum based on a first listening and sending procedure; The self-exempted licensed spectrum acquires the transmission resource, and sends the first listening and sending success indicator to the base station; receives the uplink resource permission from the base station; and performs uplink data transmission on the base station in the unlicensed spectrum according to the uplink resource grant. .

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a communication device suitable for uplink transmission in an unlicensed spectrum is proposed. The communication device includes a transceiver and processing circuitry. The processing circuit is coupled to the transceiver and configured to: obtain the transmission resource by the self-exempt licensed spectrum based on the listening and sending procedure; and control the transceiver to send the first to the base station when the transmission spectrum is successfully obtained. Success indicator; receiving uplink resource grant from the base station; controlling the transceiver to perform uplink data transmission to the base station on the unlicensed spectrum according to the uplink resource grant.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a communication method for uplink transmission using an unlicensed spectrum is provided, which is applicable to a communication device, and the communication method includes: receiving an uplink resource permission from a base station end to trigger a first listening and then sending Procedure; based on the first listening and sending procedures, the self-exempted licensed spectrum obtains transmission resources; after successfully obtaining the transmission resources from the licensed spectrum, the unlicensed spectrum is based on the uplink resource grant Uplink data transmission is performed on the base station side.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a communication device suitable for uplink transmission in an unlicensed spectrum is proposed. The communication device includes a transceiver and processing circuitry. The processing circuit is coupled to the transceiver and configured to: receive an uplink resource grant from the base station end to trigger the first listening and sending procedure; and based on the first listening and sending procedure, obtain the transmission resource from the licensed spectrum; and succeed After obtaining the transmission resource from the licensed spectrum, the control transceiver performs uplink data transmission to the base station on the unlicensed spectrum according to the uplink resource permission.

In order to better understand the above and other aspects of the present disclosure, the preferred embodiments are described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

102‧‧‧ base station

104‧‧‧Customer

10‧‧‧cell service area

1042‧‧‧ transceiver

1044‧‧‧Processing Circuit

S202, S204, S206, S208, S302, S304, S306, S308, S401, S402, S404, S406, S408, S410, S412, S414, S416, S51, S502, S504, S506, S508, S510, S512, S514, S61, S602, S604, S606, S608, S610, S612, S614, S616, S618, S620, S622, S624, S626, S71, S702, S704, S706, S708, S710, S712, S714, S716, S718, S720, S722, S1102, S1104, S1106, S1108, S1110, S1112, S1114, S1116, S1118, S1120, S1122, S1124, S1126, S1128, S1130, S1132, S1134, S1136, S1138‧ ‧ steps

T1~T7‧‧‧Timer

T’‧‧‧TXOP time

802‧‧‧DRX shutdown command

81, 91, 1001‧‧‧Awakening period

83, 93, 1003‧‧‧ During sleep

85, 95‧‧‧DRX cycle

806, 808, 908, 910, 912, 1006, 1008‧‧

1010‧‧‧Measurement configuration information

1002‧‧‧First DRX cycle

1004‧‧‧second DRX cycle

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a communication network architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a system flow diagram of a channel measurement procedure according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a system flow diagram of a channel measurement procedure according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

4 is a system flow diagram of a component carrier (CC) selection procedure in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a system flowchart of an uplink signal synchronization method according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a system flowchart of an uplink data transmission method according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a system flowchart of an uplink data transmission method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a timing diagram of a signal based on a discontinuous reception (DRX) mechanism according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a timing diagram of a signal based on a DRX mechanism according to another embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 10 is a timing diagram of a signal based on a DRX mechanism according to still another embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 11 is a system flowchart of an uplink data transmission method according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

In the present disclosure, some embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail with reference to the drawings, but not all embodiments are illustrated in the drawings. In fact, these inventions may use a variety of different variations and are not limited to the embodiments herein. In contrast, the present disclosure provides these embodiments to meet the statutory requirements of the application. The same reference symbols are used in the drawings to refer to the same or similar elements.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a communication network architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The communication network includes one or more base stations 102 and one or more clients 104. The base station 102 can be an Evolved Node B (eNB) or other small base station. The client 104 can be any communication device with wireless sensing capabilities, such as a personal computer, a portable/wearable electronic product, and the like. The client 104 (i.e., the communication device) includes a transceiver 1042 and processing circuitry 1044. The transceiver 1042 is, for example, a wireless transceiver circuit, and can be used as a transceiver between the user terminal 104 and an external wireless signal. The interface, for example, can transmit and/or receive data. Processing circuit 1044 is, for example, a central processing unit, a microprocessor, a controller, or other operational control circuit. Processing circuit 1044 is coupled to transceiver 1042 and is configured to perform the communication method of the disclosed embodiments. In one embodiment, processing circuit 1044 can control transceiver 1042 for data transmission (eg, transmitting and/or receiving data, signals, and/or indicators, etc.).

The base station 102 can provide network communication services for the client 104 within its service range to form the cell service area 10. The base station 102 can perform control signaling/data transmission with the client 104 via a downlink and/or uplink communication link. The base station 102 can support the services of multiple carriers, some of which use an unlicensed spectrum and some carriers use a licensed spectrum.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, uplink transmission between the UE 104 and the base station 102 can be performed on the unlicensed spectrum, thereby improving spectrum usage efficiency. Communication solutions involving this uplink transmission can be broadly divided into a configuration phase, a synchronization phase, and a data transmission phase. For the sake of easy understanding, the detailed description is as follows.

First, the configuration stage

During the configuration phase, a suitable channel is planned on the unlicensed spectrum between the UE 104 and the base station 102 as a component carrier (CC) of the uplink. This phase involves procedures such as channel measurement, channel selection, and/or channel configuration.

Channel measurement procedures are mainly used to collect channels for unlicensed spectrum For subsequent channel selection. According to the different aspects of its implementation, it can be divided into the following types:

(1) The base station end 102 controls the user terminal 104 to perform channel measurement: FIG. 2 is a system flow chart of the channel measurement procedure according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 2, the base station 102 first provides the measurement configuration information to the client 104 to notify the client 104 of the target to be measured (step S202). The measurement configuration information includes, for example, a channel list for the unlicensed spectrum to indicate which channels in the unlicensed spectrum are to be measured by the client 104. The measurement configuration information includes, for example, a measured parameter, and the measured parameter may be any evaluation parameter regarding channel quality, such as Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), Reference Signal Received Power (Reference Signal Received Power) , RSRP), Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI), and the like. After receiving the measurement configuration information, the client 104 will measure one or more channels of the unlicensed spectrum (step S204) to obtain a report, and the processing circuit 1044 controls the transceiver 1042 to return to the base station 102. The report is transmitted (step S206) for the base station 102 to select a channel for uplink transmission from the unlicensed spectrum. For example, the client 104 can transmit the report back to the base station 102 via a Licensed Component Carrier (LCC) on the licensed spectrum, for example, until the measurement configuration is released (step S208). The authorized component carrier is, for example, a Primary Component Carrier (PCC).

Client 104 can process circuit 1044 to control transceiver 1042 week The report is transmitted back to the base station 102. Or in an embodiment, the measurement configuration information transmitted from the base station 102 may include a timer T1 to request the client 104 to return a report before the timer T1 ends. The client 104 can transmit the report back and forth in a periodic or single transmission manner before the timer T1 ends. If the base station 102 receives the report from the client 104 after the timer T1 ends, the base station 102 will treat the report as invalid. When the timer T1 ends, the client 104 will release the measurement configuration. In practice, since the hardware capabilities of the client terminals 104 may be different, the base station 102 may not need to spend extra time to wait for the client 104 that has not been returned for a long time, and may prevent the client 104 from being excessively frequent. The unnecessary return of the report results in a burden on the base station 102.

(2) The client 104 initiates the channel measurement and transmits the report back to the base station 102. Please refer to FIG. 3, which illustrates a system flowchart of the channel measurement procedure according to an embodiment of the disclosure. In this embodiment, the client 104 can self-measure one or more channels in the unlicensed spectrum (step S302), and then pass the measured report back to the base station 102 by the processing circuit 1044 to control the transceiver 1042. (Step S304). The measured report includes, for example, at least one of the following information: (i) a form in which the channel order is arranged according to the channel measurement result (such as channel quality), the form including, for example, a channel identification code (ID) and an RSSI value; a channel measurement result correspondence table in which which channels in the unlicensed spectrum are occupied by radar or other high priority order devices; (iii) preferred frequency band channels; and (iv) measured in idle mode Reporting; and/or (v) an indication to indicate to base station end 102 The correlation measurement result stored by the client 104 is in response to the request of the base station 102. The client 104 then controls the transceiver 1042 to transmit the measurement result to the base station 102 by the processing circuit 1044. In the example of FIG. 3, in order to prevent the user terminal 104 from transmitting back too frequently, a timer T2 can be set at the client 104, and the client 104 waits until the timer T2 ends after returning the report. The channel measurement report is transmitted back (steps S306, S308).

(3) The base station 102 performs channel measurement by itself: In this embodiment, the base station 102 can perform energy detection on each channel in the unlicensed spectrum to obtain related channel information.

The channel selection procedure primarily determines the channel for the uplink based on reports obtained based on the channel measurement procedure. According to the different aspects of its implementation, it can be divided into the following types:

(1) The base station 102 selects itself: In this embodiment, the base station 102 can allocate one or more uplink channels to the client 104 based on the self-measurement report. Since the information of the client 104 is not considered, the base station 102 will likely adopt a uniform channel configuration for all clients 104.

(2) The client 104 assists the base station 102 in making the selection: In this embodiment, the base station 102 will assign one or more uplink channels to the client 104 based on its own and/or reports from the client 104. For example, the client 104 first receives the channel selection result from the base station end 102, and the channel selection result is generated by the base station end 102 via the channel measurement procedure. Next, the client The channel 104 performs a channel measurement procedure for the candidate channel indicated by the channel selection result, and the processing circuit 1044 controls the transceiver 1042 to transmit the channel measurement result to the base station end 102 for the base station end 102 to exempt the licensed spectrum. Select the channel to be transmitted as an uplink.

4 is a system flow diagram of a channel selection procedure in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. First, the base station 102 determines how many unlicensed channels can be planned according to the number of authorized channels and the capabilities of the base station 102 (step S401).

Next, the base station 102 performs channel measurement on the channels on all the unlicensed bands (step S402), and selects candidate channels based on the energy level (step S404). After the candidate channel is selected, the base station 102 transmits the selection result together with related information (such as frequency, physical identity, etc.) to the client 104 in a broadcast or exclusive manner (step S406). If the broadcast mode is adopted, the selection result can be sent, for example, through a System Information Block (SIB). If the exclusive transmission mode is adopted, the selection result can be transmitted, for example, through Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling. In general, the update of the SIB depends on its modification period, and the base station 102 can update its selection results based on long-term observations by continuously performing channel measurements.

Upon receiving the selection result from the base station 102, the client 104 will perform channel measurement on the candidate channel (step S408), and the processing circuit 1044 controls the transceiver 1042 to transmit the report back to the base station 102 (step S410). Further, since the UE 104 and the base station 102 may be separated by a certain distance, the interference between the two regions may be different, so even if the candidate channel is at the base station 102 The area is regarded as an available channel after being measured by the channel, and the user terminal 104 still needs to perform channel measurement again to confirm whether the candidate channels are in the area where the user terminal 104 is located to avoid the frequency band used by the radar. After returning the report, the client 104 will release the measurement configuration (step S412). The base station 102, after receiving the report result of the client 104, will make a final channel selection to determine the channel to be used in the uplink (step S414), and send channel configuration information to the client 104 (step S416).

(3) The base station 102 assists the user 104 in making a selection: In this embodiment, the base station 102 provides a channel list of the client 104 for selecting the uplink channel. The client 104 then controls the transceiver 1042 with the processing circuit 1044 to transmit the selection result back to the base station 102. In this example, since the body of the selected channel is the client 104 instead of the base station 102, the client 104 may not provide the channel measurement result to the base station 102.

(4) The client 104 selects itself: In this embodiment, the client 104 selects a channel based on the self-measured channel measurement result. Since the client 104 can find a suitable channel as an uplink carrier through channel measurement on any unlicensed band, different clients may operate on different channels.

The channel configuration program primarily coordinates how the client 104 uses the selected channel. Further, after completing the channel selection procedure, the base station 102 will send channel configuration information to the client 104 to provide the relevant configuration for the client 104 to use the channel. The channel configuration information includes, for example, the uplink unlicensed band carrier frequency and bandwidth, the maximum allowed transmission power, the power control scheme parameters, and the first listening and sending. (Listen Before Talk, LBT) configuration, Sounding Reference Signaling (SRS) configuration, Cyclic Prefix (CP) length of the uplink, and Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) configuration Wait. After being configured, the channel becomes a component carrier for transmitting data between the UE and the base station.

Second, the synchronization phase

In the synchronization phase, it is mainly ensured that the uplink signals sent by different clients 104 can reach the base station 102 at the same time to ensure orthogonality between different uplink signals, so that the base station 102 can correctly decode the uplink. Road information. To achieve the above purpose, a Time Advancement (TA) mechanism may be used to control the time offset of the signal transmitted by different UEs 104 to adjust the time when the uplink signal arrives at the base station 102. Generally, for the user end 104 that is far from the base station end 102, because there is a large transmission delay, the uplink end data needs to be sent earlier than the user end 104 closer to the base station end 102, that is, it has a larger The TA value (that is, the time advance value).

According to the embodiment of the disclosure, the client 104 first obtains transmission resources from the licensed spectrum based on the LBT program. LBT is a form of network access. The transmitting end (which may be the base station end 102 or the user end 104) listens to the channel for a period of time, and judges that no other device on the channel is in use (for example, the energy measured on the available channel is less than a threshold), and the transmitting end can Transfer. In an embodiment, the transmitting end can detect whether the channel is occupied or not, and can use the wireless network carrier detection mechanism (such as Clear Channel Assessment (CCA)). aisle.

When successfully authorizing the licensed spectrum to obtain transmission resources, the client 104 will control the transceiver 1042 to send an LBT success indicator to the base station 102 by the processing circuit 1044. That is to say, after the LBT succeeds, the UE 104 will send an LBT success indicator to the base station 102. As used herein, "LBT success" means that the client 104 determines that no other device is transmitting on the channel after observing the channel for a period of time (for example, a pre-configured/pre-defined time). For example, if the measured energy on the channel is less than a threshold, then the LBT can be considered successful. After the LBT is successful, the client 104 can start transmitting signals on the channel.

In an embodiment, after transmitting the LBT success indicator, the user terminal 104 can control the circuit 1044 to control the transceiver 1042 to send a plurality of preambles to the base station 102. The preamble signal is, for example, random access (Random Access, The RA) preamble signal and obtains a random access response (RAR) from the base station end 102. The UE 104 can adjust the signal transmission timing by using the TA value in the RAR, and perform uplink transmission on the base station 102 on the unlicensed spectrum based on the adjusted signal transmission timing.

FIG. 5 is a system flowchart of an uplink signal synchronization method according to an embodiment of the disclosure. First, the base station 102 transmits Unlicensed Component Carrier (UCC) configuration information to the UE through the LCC (step S502). The UCC related configuration information includes, for example, timing synchronization information, LBT indicator transmission resources on the LCC, and a random access (RA) configuration.

Then, the UE 104 performs LBT (step S504), and when the LBT succeeds (ie, the channel is detected to be disconnected by other devices, the connection can be made), the LBT success indicator is sent to the base station 102 to notify the base station 102 to proceed. A preamble signal will be transmitted thereto (step S506). The base station 102 will transmit a preamble signal detection request in response to the received LBT success indicator to prepare to receive the preamble signal from the UE 102 through the UCC (step S508). In an embodiment, based on the non-contention RA mechanism, the base station 102 may first send preamble signal planning information to the UE 104, and then the UE 104 initiates transmission of the preamble signal.

In an embodiment, after transmitting the LBT success indicator, the client 104 controls the transceiver 1042 to transmit the reserved signal by using the processing circuit 1044 to occupy the transmission resource (step S51), and waits for a timer T3 for the timer. After the end of T3, a plurality of preamble signals are transmitted, such as the first preamble signal to the Nth preamble signal, and N is a positive integer (step S510). As shown in FIG. 5, the client 104 transmits the first preamble signal to the Nth preamble signal based on the timer T4. For example, one preamble signal is transmitted every time the timer T4 is set.

In an embodiment, in order to effectively utilize the transmission resources obtained after the LBT is successfully used, the base station 102 can plan the number of preamble signals sent by the client 104 and/or the required transmit power to make the client 104 based on the plan. The number and/or transmit power is used by the processing circuit 1044 to control the transceiver 1042 to transmit each preamble signal (e.g., to adopt incremental/decreasing transmit power to transmit each preamble signal). That is, the client 104 can control the circuit 1044 to control the transceiver 1042 to transmit the preamble signals with different transmit powers, or to control the transceiver 1042 with the processing circuit 1044. The maximum transmit power transmits the preamble signals.

The foregoing preamble planning information may be sent to the client 104 through the LCC by using one or more physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) commands. In another embodiment, after the LBT succeeds, the UE 104 may randomly select the preamble signal to be sent, where the number of preamble signals and the corresponding transmit power may be planned in advance.

After transmitting a plurality of preamble signals, if the UE 104 does not receive the RAR from the base station 102, the UE 104 will send the preamble signal as a failure and will perform retransmission.

When the base station 102 receives the preamble signal from the UE 102 on the corresponding UCC, the base station 102 will respond to the UCC preamble detection result, and send the RAR to the UE 104 through the LCC on the licensed spectrum (step S512, S514). The RAR may include, for example, a preamble signal identification code (ID), a TA information relative to a preamble signal, and a Transmit Power Control (TPC). The client 104 will utilize the TA information in the RAR to synchronize the uplink transmissions. In an embodiment, the base station 102 can notify the UE 104 through the RAR which preamble signal and its power are suitable, so that the UE 104 can know which one is the optimal transmit power. For example, the client 104 can obtain the preamble ID corresponding to a selected preamble signal from the RAR. The client 104 can adjust the transmit power to the transmit power corresponding to the selected preamble to transmit with a relatively appropriate transmit power.

If the base station 102 does not receive any preamble signals, the base station 102 can treat the client 104 as being outside the coverage of the UCC. In an embodiment, A maximum number of retries can be planned. When the UE 104 does not receive the RAR from the base station 102 after multiple retries, the UE 104 will abandon the UCC transmission and realize that it may not be at the UCC of the base station 102. Coverage.

It should be noted that the LCC and UCC in block 102 in the figure correspond to the operation of one or more base stations 102. The LCC and UCC in the figure are not limited to the same base station 102.

Third, the data transmission phase

After the synchronization is completed, the base station 102 notifies the UE 104 of the resource grant of the uplink data through the PDCCH of the LCC.

In an embodiment, the client 104 first performs LBT, and after the LBT succeeds, the processing circuit 1044 controls the transceiver 1042 to send an LBT success indicator to the base station 102. The LBT success indicator can be transmitted, for example, through the uplink LCC or through the UCC. In response to the LBT success indicator, the base station 102 will send an uplink resource grant to the client 104. Thereafter, the client 104 can control the transceiver 1042 to transmit uplink data in accordance with the resource grant by the processing circuit 1044.

FIG. 6 is a system flowchart of an uplink data transmission method according to an embodiment of the disclosure. As shown in FIG. 6, first, the UE 104 and the base station 102 perform channel configuration and time adjustment to complete synchronization (steps S602, S604). In step S602, the base station 102 can plan to use a narrow-band LBT or a wide-band LBT. A narrowband LBT, for example, refers to performing energy detection on a specific resource block. Broadband LBT is Refers to energy detection of the entire frequency band.

Next, the base station 102 transmits UCC boot/LBT configuration information to the client 104 (step S606). Thereafter, the client 104 will perform LBT to attempt to acquire transmission resources (step S608). During this time, base station 102 may, for example, periodically detect the unlicensed spectrum to receive an LBT success indicator (e.g., with a timer T6). If the base station 102 does not correctly or not receive the LBT success indicator (step S610), the base station 102 will notify the UE 104 to end the UCC transmission/terminate LBT (step S612), and/or turn off the base station 102 itself for the unlicensed spectrum. Receive function. In an embodiment, the LBT success indicator may indicate an available transmission opportunity (TXOP) time T' and an LBT detail result (e.g., RSSI).

When the client 104 controls the transceiver 1042 to issue an LBT success indicator with the processing circuit 1044 (step S614), the client 104 will perform a reservation behavior to occupy the transmission resource (step S61). For example, after successfully obtaining the transmission resource from the licensed spectrum, the client 104 controls the transceiver 1042 to send one or more reserved signals on the unlicensed spectrum to occupy the transmission resource (for example, in a timer). T5 time) until the uplink resource grant is received from base station end 102 or until a timer expires. Alternatively, the client 104 can send Network Allocation Value (NAV) signaling over a wireless network (eg, Wireless LAN (WLAN), Wi-Fi, etc.) to occupy the transmission resource. Alternatively, the base station 102 can send a reservation signal to help the client 104 occupy the transmission resource.

After that, the client 104 will be licensed according to the uplink resources. The processing circuit 1044 controls the transceiver 1042 to perform uplink data transmission to the base station 102 on the unlicensed spectrum. In an embodiment, the client 104 may control the circuit 1044 to control the transceiver 1042 to indicate that the transmission resource has been obtained by transmitting an LBT success indicator on the unlicensed spectrum. In an embodiment, the client 104 can control the circuit 1044 to control the transceiver 1042 to transmit an LBT success indicator on the licensed spectrum, for example, the LCC, to indicate that the transmission resource has been obtained. In an embodiment, the client 104 controls the transceiver 1042 to send one or more reserved signals on the unlicensed spectrum to occupy the channel by the processing circuit 1044. In an embodiment, the reserved signal may include the LBT success indicator information. .

After receiving the information that the client 104 performs the LBT success (step S616), the base station 102 will issue a resource grant to the client 104 (step S618). The base station 102 may send an uplink resource grant to the UE 104 to indicate the carrier corresponding to the resource grant, for example, by using a PDCCH on the LCC, including a Carrier Indicator Field (CIF). In an embodiment, the base station 102 can send an uplink resource grant to the client 104, for example, via a PDCCH on the UCC. Thereafter, the client 104 will control the transceiver 1042 to transmit uplink data on the unlicensed spectrum according to the resource grant by the processing circuit 1044 (step S620).

If the base station 102 can successfully solve the data from the client 104 (such as a Packet Data Unit (PDU)), the base station 102 will automatically request a Physical Hybrid ARQ Indicator Channel (PHICH) through the entity hybrid. The reply is sent to the client 104 to confirm the character (Acknowledgement, ACK). On the contrary, if the base station 102 cannot successfully solve the resource from the client 104 The base station 102 will reply to the user terminal 104 Negative-Acknowledgement (NACK) through the PHICH. At this time, the UE 104 will perform LBT again and perform Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ). Retransmission (steps S624, S626).

FIG. 7 is a system flowchart of an uplink data transmission method according to another embodiment of the disclosure. In the example of FIG. 7, the base station 102 first transmits an uplink resource grant to the client 104. After that, the UE 104 will perform LBT, and directly transmit the uplink data according to the resource permission after obtaining the transmission resource.

As shown in FIG. 7, first, the channel configuration is first performed between the UE 104 and the base station 102 (step S702). For example, the base station 102 can configure some or all of the resource blocks for the client 104 to enable the client 104 to perform a narrowband LBT or a broadband LBT based on the resource grant.

The base station 102 will then notify the client 104 to initiate UCC transmission (step S704). After the time adjustment of the uplink transmission is completed (step S706), the base station 102 performs the LBT (step S708), and after acquiring the transmission resource, transmits the uplink resource grant to the client 104 (step S710). In an embodiment, the base station 102 may (1) when it passes the LBT itself (ie, the LBT succeeds), or (2) according to the coordination result (such as Time Division Multiplexing (TDM)). The uplink resource resource is sent to the client 104.

Thereafter, the base station 102 will transmit a reservation signal to occupy the transmission resource (step S71) until the timer T7 ends. Alternatively, the base station 102 is connected to the wireless network. Roads (eg, wireless local area network, Wi-Fi, etc.) send NAV signaling to reserve transmission resources. Alternatively, the base station 102 does not transmit any reservation signals. Before the end of the timer T7, the base station 102 attempts to receive uplink data from the UE 104 on the UCC, that is, the resource grant of the uplink is only It is valid until the end of timer T7.

After receiving the resource grant of the base station 102, the UE 104 will perform LBT to attempt to acquire the transmission resource (step S712), and after the LBT passes, the processing circuit 1044 controls the transceiver 1042 to perform data transmission through the UCC (step S714). Further, when the UE 104 receives an uplink resource grant from the base station 102, the LBT procedure will be triggered. After successfully obtaining the transmission resources from the licensed spectrum, the UE 104 will control the transceiver 1042 to perform uplink data transmission on the base station 102 on the unlicensed spectrum according to the obtained uplink resource grant. In an embodiment, the UE 104 can control the transceiver 1042 to send an LBT success indicator to the base station 102 after passing the LBT to notify the base station 102 that it has passed the LBT.

If the base station 102 cannot successfully decrypt the data from the client 104, the base station 102 will reply to the client 104 NACK via the PHICH (step S716), and send the resource grant to the client 104 again (step S718). The client 102 will execute the LBT again (step S720), and after the LBT is passed, the processing circuit 1044 controls the transceiver 1042 to perform retransmission of the uplink data (step S722). In another embodiment, if the base station 102 cannot successfully decrypt the data from the UE 104, the base station 102 does not need to reply to the UE 104 NACK (step S716), and the base station 102 The resource grant will be sent to the client 104 again (step S718). The client 102 will execute the LBT again (step S720), and after the LBT is passed, the processing circuit 1044 controls the transceiver 1042 to perform retransmission of the uplink data (step S722).

In some embodiments, the communication solution proposed by the embodiment of the present disclosure may employ a Discontinuous Reception (DRX) mechanism to save energy. Further, the base station 102 can control the client 104 to operate in the normal mode during the wake-up period in one DRX cycle through the DRX mechanism, and enter the sleep mode during the sleep in the DRX cycle to save power. However, it is considered that the client 104 often needs to obtain transmission resources in a competitive manner on the unlicensed spectrum. Therefore, several implementation manners are proposed to enable the client 104 to effectively utilize the obtained transmission resources under the DRX mechanism.

FIG. 8 is a timing diagram of a signal based on the DRX mechanism according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In the example of FIG. 8, the base station 102 can transmit a DRX close command 802 to the client 104 via the licensed spectrum carrier during the On Duration 81 in the DRX cycle 85 to disable the client 104 from being in the DRX cycle 85. During sleep, 83 enters sleep mode. As such, when the base station 102/the client 104 completes the LBT during the period 806, it will be able to directly enter the message transmission period 808, and the client 104 will not be able to receive the message from the base station 102 due to being in the sleep mode.

FIG. 9 is a timing diagram of a signal based on a DRX mechanism according to another embodiment of the disclosure. In the example of FIG. 9, the base station 102 reserves the transmission resources until the wake-up period 91 of the DRX cycle 95 is entered. As shown in Figure 9, if LBT During the period 908 within the sleep period 93 of the DRX cycle 95, the base station 102 will transmit the reservation signal during the subsequent period 910 to occupy the transmission resource until the period 912 of the next wake-up period 91 is entered. In an embodiment, one or more redundant packets may be sent on the UCC to occupy the transmission resources until the wake-up period of the next DRX, to prevent other access entities from acquiring the transmission resources of the unlicensed spectrum.

FIG. 10 is a timing diagram of a signal based on a DRX mechanism according to still another embodiment of the present disclosure. In this embodiment, base station 102 will plan two sets of parameters for DRX, and client 104 will utilize different DRX parameters for UCC configuration. As shown in FIG. 10, the client 104 can selectively employ the first DRX cycle 1002 and the second DRX cycle 1004, wherein the second DRX cycle is shorter than the first DRX cycle. The client 104, for example, operates in the first DRX cycle 1002 prior to receiving the measurement configuration information 1010 (eg, UCC measurement configuration information). The first DRX cycle 1002 includes a wakeup period 1001 and a sleep period 1003, and the client 104 will switch between the awake mode and the sleep mode based on the first DRX cycle 1002.

Upon receiving the measurement configuration information 1010, the client 104 will automatically switch from the first DRX cycle to the second DRX cycle. Since the second DRX cycle is short, after the LBT is executed, the UE 104 has a higher chance of falling in the startup cycle for transmission. As shown in FIG. 10, after the LBT is executed in the period 1006, since the second DRX cycle 1004 is short, the time for executing the LBT falls within the wake-up period 1001 in the second DRX cycle 1004, and thus can be directly connected. During the period 1008, data transmission is performed.

FIG. 11 is a system flowchart of an uplink data transmission method according to an embodiment of the disclosure. In this exemplary embodiment, the base station 102 controls the client 104 to perform channel measurement, and uses the report obtained by the user 104 to perform channel selection. After adjusting the TA value to achieve synchronization of the UE 104, the base station 102 will send an uplink resource grant to the UE 104. After that, the UE 104 will perform LBT, and after receiving the transmission resource, the processing circuit 1044 controls the transceiver 1042 to perform uplink data transmission according to the resource permission. Regarding the DRX mechanism, the base station 102 will take the approach shown in Figure 10 to enable the UE 104 to selectively employ different DRX cycles.

As shown in Fig. 11, first, the base station 102 performs LBT on the UCC (step S1102) to attempt to acquire transmission resources. When the LBT is successful, the base station 102 transmits the measurement configuration information to the client 104 (step S1104). In response to the measurement configuration information, the client 104 performs LBT on the UCC, and the processing circuit 1044 controls the transceiver 1042 to transmit the LBT result to the base station 102 (steps S1106, S1108). In response to the LBT result, the base station 102 further transmits UCC configuration information to the client 104 to inform the UE which UCC resources are available (step S1110). Next, the client 104 controls the transceiver 1042 with the processing circuit 1044 to transmit an uplink planning request to the base station 102 to request resources for uplink transmission (step S1112). Thereafter, the base station 102 notifies the client 104 via the LCC to enable the UCC, and causes the client 104 to transmit using the coordinated UCC (step S1114).

After UCC is enabled, the client 104 will perform LBT to attempt to acquire transmission resources (step S1116). During this time, the base station 102 will, for example, perform The DRX switch causes the client 104 to operate in a different DRX cycle (step S1118).

After the LBT succeeds, the client 104 controls the transceiver 1042 to send the LBT success indicator to the base station 102 to notify the base station 102 that the preamble signal will be sent next (step S1120). The base station 102 may also transmit a preamble signal detection request in response to the received LBT success indicator to prepare to receive the preamble signal from the UE 102 through the UCC (step S1122). After that, the client 104 will send a plurality of preamble signals (such as the first preamble signal to the Nth preamble signal) (step S1124). The base station 102 will respond to the preamble detection result on the UCC, and send the RAR to the UE 104 (steps S1126, S1128).

The client 104 can adjust its TA value to synchronize according to the TA information in the RAR (step S1130). The base station 102 also performs an LBT to transmit a resource grant to the client 104 when the LBT succeeds (steps S1132, S1134). After receiving the resource grant, the client 104 will perform LBT, and when the LBT is successful, the processing circuit 1044 controls the transceiver 1042 to transmit uplink data on the UCC based on the resource grant (step S1138).

In summary, the communication method and apparatus provided by the present disclosure allow the UE to perform uplink data transmission on the unlicensed spectrum to effectively amplify the current available spectrum and improve data throughput.

The disclosure has been disclosed above in various embodiments, and is not intended to limit the disclosure. Those skilled in the art can make various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Therefore, the scope of the invention is defined by the scope of the appended claims.

Claims (24)

A communication method for uplink transmission using an unlicensed spectrum is applicable to a communication device, comprising: obtaining a transmission resource from an unlicensed spectrum based on a first listening and sending procedure; and successfully acquiring the transmission resource from the unlicensed spectrum Transmitting, by a base station, a first listening and sending success indicator; receiving an uplink resource grant from the base station; and performing an uplink on the unlicensed spectrum on the base station according to the uplink resource grant Data transmission, further comprising: after transmitting the first listening and sending success indicator, sending a plurality of preamble signals to the base station, and obtaining a random access response from the base station; using one of the random access responses The time advance value adjusts the signal transmission timing; and based on the adjusted signal transmission timing, the uplink data transmission is performed on the base station end on the unlicensed spectrum. For example, the communication method described in claim 1 further includes: transmitting the preamble signals at different transmission powers. For example, the communication method described in claim 1 further includes: transmitting the preamble signals at a maximum transmit power. For example, the communication method described in claim 1 further includes: obtaining a preamble identification code from the random access response, the preamble signal identification The other code corresponds to a selected preamble signal of the preamble signals; and the transmit power is adjusted to the transmit power corresponding to the selected preamble signal. The communication method of claim 1, further comprising: after successfully obtaining the transmission resource from the unlicensed spectrum, transmitting one or more reserved signals on the unlicensed spectrum to occupy the transmission resource, or The network configuration value signaling is sent over a wireless network to occupy the transmission resource. The communication method of claim 1, further comprising: in response to a discontinuous reception close instruction, prohibiting entering a sleep mode during sleep during a discontinuous reception. The communication method of claim 1, further comprising: switching between an awake mode and a sleep mode based on a first discontinuous reception cycle; and after receiving a measurement configuration information, the first The discontinuous reception period is switched to a second discontinuous reception period; wherein the second discontinuous reception period is shorter than the first discontinuous reception period. The communication method of claim 1, further comprising: measuring one or more channels in the unlicensed spectrum to transmit a report to the base station, wherein the report includes arranging channels according to channel quality A form of order. The communication method of claim 1, further comprising: measuring one or more channels in the unlicensed spectrum to the base station end A report is returned, wherein the report includes a channel measurement result correspondence table, and the channel measurement result correspondence table marks which channels in the unlicensed spectrum are occupied by radar or other high priority use order devices. For example, the communication method described in claim 1 further includes: measuring one or more channels of the unlicensed spectrum according to a measurement configuration information to obtain a report; and returning the base station end The report is for the base station to select a channel for the uplink data transmission from the unlicensed spectrum. The communication method of claim 10, further comprising: receiving the measurement configuration information from the base station, the measurement configuration information including a timer; and returning the base station end before the timer ends Report, otherwise the report is considered invalid. The communication method of claim 10, further comprising: receiving a channel selection result from the base station end, the channel selection result being generated by the base station end by a channel measurement procedure; indicating the channel selection result The candidate channel performs the another channel measurement procedure, and transmits the result of the another channel measurement procedure to the base station end, so that the base station end selects from the unlicensed spectrum as the uplink data transmission. aisle. A communication device suitable for uplink transmission in an unlicensed spectrum, comprising: a transceiver; and a processing circuit coupled to the transceiver and configured to: obtain a transmission resource from an unlicensed spectrum based on a listen-ahead procedure, and successfully acquire the transmission resource from the unlicensed spectrum And controlling the transceiver to send a first listening and sending success indicator to a base station; receiving an uplink resource permission from the base station; and controlling the transceiver to perform on the unlicensed spectrum according to the uplink resource permission The base station performs an uplink data transmission, wherein after transmitting the first listening and sending success indicator, the communication device controls the transceiver to send a plurality of pre-sequence signals to the base station, and obtain a random memory from the base station Retrieving a response, and adjusting a signal transmission timing by using a time advance value in the random access response, and controlling the transceiver to perform the uplink on the base station end on the unlicensed spectrum based on the adjusted signal transmission timing Data transmission. The communication device of claim 13, wherein the processing circuit controls the transceiver to transmit the preamble signals at different transmit powers. The communication device of claim 13, wherein the processing circuit controls the transceiver to transmit the preamble signals at a maximum transmit power. The communication device of claim 13, wherein the processing circuit obtains a preamble signal identification code from the random access response, and the preamble signal identification code corresponds to one of the preamble signals The signal is sequenced and the transmit power of the transceiver is adjusted to correspond to the transmit power of the selected preamble. The communication device of claim 13, wherein the communication is in the communication After the device successfully obtains the transmission resource from the unlicensed spectrum, the processing circuit controls the transceiver to send one or more reserved signals on the unlicensed spectrum to occupy the transmission resource, or send the network configuration through a wireless network. Value signaling to occupy the transmission resource. The communication device of claim 13, wherein the processing circuit prohibits the communication device from entering a sleep mode during sleep of a discontinuous reception in response to a discontinuous reception shutdown command. The communication device of claim 13, wherein the communication device switches between an awake mode and a sleep mode based on a first discontinuous reception period, and when the transceiver receives a measurement configuration information, the communication The device changes from the first discontinuous reception period to a second discontinuous reception period; wherein the second discontinuous reception period is shorter than the first discontinuous reception period. The communication device of claim 13, wherein the communication device measures one or more channels in the unlicensed spectrum to transmit a report to the base station, wherein the report includes ranking according to channel quality A form of channel order. The communication device of claim 13, wherein the communication device measures one or more channels in the unlicensed spectrum to transmit a report to the base station, wherein the report includes a channel measurement In the result correspondence table, the channel measurement result correspondence table marks which channels in the unlicensed spectrum are occupied by radar or other high priority order devices. The communication device of claim 13, wherein the communication device measures one or more channels of the unlicensed spectrum according to a measurement configuration information to obtain a report, and returns the base station end The report is for the base station to select a channel for the uplink data transmission from the unlicensed spectrum. The communication device of claim 22, wherein the communication device receives the measurement configuration information from the base station, the measurement configuration information includes a timer, and the communication device is connected to the base station before the timer ends. The report is returned, otherwise the report is invalid. The communication device of claim 22, wherein the communication device receives a channel selection result from the base station end, and the channel selection result is generated by the base station end through a channel measurement procedure, the communication device is the channel Selecting the candidate channel indicated by the result to perform the another channel measurement procedure, and transmitting the result of the another channel measurement procedure to the base station end, so that the base station end selects from the unlicensed spectrum as the uplink. The channel for data transmission.