RU2781277C1 - Method and apparatus for determining the channel detection mechanism, equipment, and information storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: wireless communication.

SUBSTANCE: stated technical result is achieved due to the possibility of determining a more acceptable channel detection mechanism on the basis of different detection modes by applying different detection modes. In particular, the method includes: determining a detection mode in the broadband spectrum; determining a channel detection mechanism corresponding to the broadband spectrum based on at least one sub-band from multiple sub-bands if the detection mode is a broadband detection mode; and determining a channel detection mechanism corresponding to each sub-band based on a sub-band from multiple sub-bands if the detection mode is a detection mode based on a sub-band.

EFFECT: equal channel resource occupation with other wireless communication systems in the unlicensed spectrum.

12 cl, 12 dwg, 2 tbl

Description

FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of communication technology and, in particular, to a method and apparatus for determining a channel discovery mechanism, as well as equipment and an information carrier.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) proposes to use unlicensed spectrum for the License Assisted Access (LAA) mechanism. That is, licensed spectrum is used to support the use of unlicensed spectrum.

[0003] The LAA introduces a channel discovery mechanism. The base station needs to detect whether the channel is idle before transmitting data, and data can only be transmitted if the channel is idle.

[0004] There are many types of channel discovery mechanisms. If the communication system uses a wideband spectrum that includes multiple subbands, then there is no solution for choosing an acceptable channel discovery mechanism.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005] Within the scope of the present invention, a method and apparatus for determining a channel discovery mechanism, equipment, and a storage medium are provided to solve the problem of how to select an acceptable channel discovery mechanism when a wideband part of the spectrum (including a plurality of subbands) is used for transmission. ). The corresponding technical solution is described below.

[0006] In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a method for determining a channel discovery mechanism is provided. The method is used when using broadband spectrum for transmission in the unlicensed spectrum. The broadband spectrum contains many subbands. The method includes determining a detection mode in a broadband spectrum; determining a channel detection mechanism corresponding to the wideband spectrum based on at least one subband of the plurality of subbands in case the detection mode is a wideband detection mode; and determining a channel detection mechanism corresponding to each subband based on a subband of the plurality of subbands in case the detection mode is a subband based detection mode.

[0007] According to some embodiments of the invention, the channel discovery mechanism includes a contention window size, where different contention window sizes correspond to different channel access priorities. Determining a mechanism for discovering a channel corresponding to a wideband spectrum based on at least one subband from a plurality of subbands includes determining a contention window size with the lowest channel access priority among the contention window sizes corresponding to the plurality of subbands, and determining a contention window size with the lowest priority channel access as the contention window size in the channel discovery mechanism corresponding to the wideband spectrum.

[0008] In some embodiments, the channel discovery mechanism includes a contention window size. Determining a channel discovery mechanism corresponding to each subband based on a subband of the plurality of subbands includes determining a channel discovery mechanism corresponding to each subband based on a contention window size corresponding to the subband.

[0009] In some embodiments, each subband corresponds to a first contention window size and a second contention window size. The first contention window size is the contention window size for the wideband discovery mode. The second contention window size is the contention window size for the subband based discovery mode.

[0010] In some embodiments, determining the wideband detection mode includes automatically determining the wideband detection mode, or receiving a first BandWidth Part switching command and determining the wideband detection mode based on the first BWP switching command.

[0011] In some embodiments, the method also includes generating a second BWP switch command, wherein the second Part Band Switch (BWP) command is configured to indicate a channel acquisition mechanism in the wideband spectrum, and transmitting the second BWP switch command to the terminal.

[0012] In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, an apparatus is provided for determining a channel discovery mechanism applicable when using wideband spectrum for transmission in unlicensed spectrum. The broadband spectrum contains many subbands. The device comprises a mode determination module and a mechanism determination module. The mode determination module is configured to determine the detection mode in the broadband spectrum. The mechanism determining module is configured to determine a channel detection mechanism corresponding to the wideband spectrum based on at least one subband of the plurality of subbands in case the detection mode is a wideband detection mode. The mechanism determining module is configured to determine a channel detection mechanism corresponding to each subband based on a subband of the plurality of subbands in case the detection mode is a subband based detection mode.

[0013] In some embodiments, the channel discovery mechanism includes a contention window size, where different contention window sizes correspond to different channel access priorities. The mode determination module is configured to determine the contention window size with the lowest channel access priority among the contention window sizes corresponding to the plurality of subbands, and determine the contention window size with the lowest channel access priority as the contention window size in the channel discovery mechanism corresponding to broadband spectrum.

[0014] In some embodiments, the channel discovery mechanism includes a contention window size. The mechanism determination module is configured to determine a channel discovery mechanism corresponding to each subband based on the contention window size corresponding to the subband.

[0015] In some embodiments, each subband corresponds to a first contention window size and a second contention window size. The first contention window size is the contention window size for the wideband discovery mode. The second contention window size is the contention window size for the subband based discovery mode.

[0016] In some embodiments of the invention, the device also includes a receiving module. The receiving module is configured to automatically determine the detection mode in the wideband spectrum. The receiving module is configured to receive the first part-band switching (BWP) command. The mechanism determination module is configured to determine the wideband detection mode based on the first BWP switching command.

[0017] In some embodiments of the invention, the device also contains a transmission module. The mechanism determination module is configured to generate a second partial band switching (BWP) command. The second BWP switch instruction is used to specify the channel discovery mechanism in the wideband spectrum. The transmission module is configured to send a second BWP switch command to the terminal.

[0018] In accordance with another aspect of the implementation of the present invention, a wireless communication device is provided. The wireless communication device includes a processor, a transceiver and a memory. The transceiver is connected to the processor. The memory is configured to store instructions executable by the processor. The processor is configured to download and execute instructions for implementing a method for determining a channel discovery mechanism in accordance with the above aspects.

[0019] According to another aspect of the present invention, a computer-readable information storage medium is provided that stores at least one instruction, at least one program, set of code, or set of instructions. At least one instruction, at least one program, set of code, or set of instructions is loaded and executed by the processor to implement the method for determining a channel discovery mechanism in accordance with the above aspects.

[0020] The technical solution corresponding to the embodiments of the present invention provides the following advantages.

[0021] The detection mode in the wideband spectrum is determined. A channel detection mechanism corresponding to the wideband spectrum is determined based on at least one subband of the plurality of subbands in case the detection mode is a wideband detection mode. A channel discovery mechanism corresponding to each subband is determined based on a subband of the plurality of subbands in case the discovery mode is a subband-based discovery mode. Based on different discovery modes, a more suitable channel discovery mechanism can be determined by applying different discovery modes, thereby ensuring equal occupation of channel resources with other wireless communication systems in the unlicensed spectrum.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] Below, to explain the technical solution corresponding to the embodiments of the present invention, a brief description of the accompanying drawings used in the description of embodiments of the invention. Obviously, the accompanying drawings in the following description only illustrate some of the embodiments of the present invention, and other drawings can be obtained in accordance with these attached drawings without performing creative work.

[0023] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating channel listening in LBT category 2 mode used in the present invention.

[0024] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating channel listening in LBT category 4 mode used in the present invention.

[0025] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0026] FIG. 4 shows a flow chart of a method for determining a channel discovery mechanism in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

[0027] In FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the relationship between a wideband spectrum and a subband according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0028] FIG. 6 shows a flow chart of a method for determining a channel discovery mechanism in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.

[0029] FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary method for determining a channel discovery mechanism according to the embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 6.

[0030] FIG. 8 shows a flowchart of a method for determining a channel discovery mechanism in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.

[0031] In FIG. 9 shows a flow chart of a method for determining a channel discovery mechanism in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.

[0032] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary method for determining a channel discovery mechanism according to the embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 9.

[0033] FIG. 11 is a block diagram of an apparatus for determining a channel discovery mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0034] FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a wireless communication device in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0035] For a clearer presentation of the purpose, technical solution and advantages of the invention, the following is a detailed description of embodiments of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0036] To ensure compatibility with other wireless communication systems in the unlicensed spectrum, such as WiFi, LAA also introduces a channel discovery mechanism before data transmission. Before describing the embodiments of the present invention, the channel discovery mechanism used in the present invention will be briefly described.

[0037] There are the following five types of channel discovery mechanisms.

[0038] The first type (category 1) is a non-LBT (Listen Before Talk) mechanism in which the wireless communication device may not perform channel discovery before transmitting information, but directly transmit information. LBT may also be referred to as the eavesdropping exclusion mechanism, which is used to implement efficient sharing of unlicensed spectrum. LBT requires listening to the channel and performing a Clear Channel Assessment (CCA) before transmitting information, after which the information is transmitted if the channel is not busy.

[0039] The second type (category 2 LBT) is an LBT mechanism without performing a random backoff process. The wireless communication device only needs to detect the time division interval before transmitting information. For example, the time division interval may correspond to 25 μs. In case the channel is not busy during the time division interval, the wireless communication device can transmit information; otherwise, the LBT process fails and the wireless device cannot transmit information.

[0040] In FIG. 1 schematically shows a wireless communication device eavesdropping in CCA mode in one time slot. If, as a result of listening to the channel in the first SHA time slot and in the third SHA time slot, it is determined that the channel is in an idle state, the wireless communication device may occupy the channel for data transmission. If, as a result of listening to the channel in the second CCA time slot, it is determined that the channel is in a busy state, the wireless communication device cannot occupy the channel for data transmission, which is indicated as no data transmission.

[0041] The third type (Category 3 LBT) is a random backoff LBT mechanism with a fixed Contention Window Size (CWS). The transmitter first detects whether the channel in the first slot is in an idle state. If it is detected that the channel is in the idle state, a random number N is selected in the first contention window, and channel discovery is performed using the second time partition interval used as the time partition interval. If it is detected that the channel is idle in the second time division interval and the random number is not zero 0, the random number is decreased by 1, and the channel detection is continuously performed with the second time division interval used as the time division interval. In case it is detected that the channel is busy in the second time division interval, the channel detection is performed again with the first time division interval used as the time division interval. If it is detected that the channel is idle again in the first time division interval and the random number is not zero 0, the random number is decreased by 1, and the channel detection is resumed with the second time division interval used as the time division interval. This means that the channel is idle until the random number drops to 0.

[0042] The fourth type (Category 4 LBT) is the LBT mechanism with random backoff and variable CWS. Based on the category 3 LBT, the transmitting device may adjust the CWS according to the result of the previous transmission. For example, the part of the data transmitted in the accounting period in the previous data transmission session and received incorrectly is X, and if X is greater than the threshold value, CWS is increased. To refine the setting of parameters in the LBT process, four priorities are set in LBT category 4. Each priority corresponds to different parameter configurations, and data transmission of different types of services corresponds to different priorities.

[0043] The principle of Category 4 LBT is as follows. First of all, the wireless communication device detects whether the channel in the first slot is in an idle state. If the channel is found to be idle, a backoff counter value N (also referred to as a random number) in the first contention window is selected, and channel detection is performed using the second time partition interval used as the time partition interval. If the channel is detected to be idle in the second slot and the backoff counter value is not zero 0, the backoff counter value is decremented by 1, and the channel detection in the second slot is continuously performed. In case it is detected that the channel is busy in the second time division interval, the channel detection is performed again with the first time division interval used as the time division interval. In case it is detected that the channel is idle again in the first slot and the backoff counter value is not equal to 0, the backoff counter value is decremented by 1, and the channel detection is resumed with the second slot used as the time slot. partitions. Until the value of the backoff counter decreases to 0, it is considered that the channel can be busy.

[0044] FIG. 2 schematically shows how a wireless communication device uniformly and randomly generates a backoff counter value N from 0 to CWS and listens with a time split interval equal to the CCA time interval. Assume, for example, that CWS=15 and N=7 correspond to the first Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) transmission session, the channel is determined to be in an idle state as a result of listening in the first and second time slots, and N decreases to 5. From the third to the sixth time intervals, it is determined as a result of listening that the channel is in a busy state, while the value of N does not change. Listening resumes after a delay of 4 listening timeslots. In the eleventh to fifteenth listening time slots, it is determined that the channel is in an idle state, N decreases to 0, and the wireless communication device begins to occupy the channel for data transmission.

[0045] If a wireless communication device receives a non-acknowledge (NACK) signal during data transmission, it means that a data transmission failure has occurred. The wireless communication device dynamically increments the CWS to 31 based on the erroneous reception condition, restores backoff counter values N to 20, and uses the increased CWS and backoff counter value N to perform channel sniffing before the second PDSCH transmission session. In addition, if it is determined as a result of listening that the channel is in an idle state in 20 consecutive listening slots, the channel is seized for data transmission.

[0046] Different contention window (CWS) sizes correspond to different channel access priorities _P. The example schematically shown in Table 1 shows the four priority parameter configurations for the downlink category 4 LBT, and Table 2 shows the four priority parameter configurations for the uplink category 4 LBT, the values of which are slightly different.

[0047] Among the four priorities respectively shown above in Tables 1 and 2, the smaller the p value, the higher the corresponding channel access priority. The value of m _p represents the number of Extended Clear Channel Evaluation (ECCA) included in the delay period, and each delay period has a fixed duration of 16 μs and m _p ECCA estimates, that is, corresponds to the first time division interval introduced above. The CW _min,p value represents the minimum contention window size, and the CW _max,p value represents the maximum contention window size. The CWS is generated between these two sizes in the LBT process, and then the backoff counter value N, randomly generated in the range from 0 to the contention window generated CW _P , determines the backoff period in the LBT channel discovery process. The value T _mcot,p represents the maximum channel occupation period after the successful completion of the Category 4 LBT process corresponding to each priority. From the tables above, it can be seen that compared to priorities 1 and 2, LBT processes with priorities 3 and 4 take longer and have less chance of gaining access to the channel. To ensure fairness, data transmission using two priorities takes a relatively long maximum transmission period.

[0048] The fifth type is a frame based channel discovery mechanism, ie FBE (Frame Based Equipment). A period is set for the FBE, and channel discovery is performed once at a fixed position of each period. For example, CCA detection is performed in each CCA detection period. In case the channel is found to be idle, the channel can be occupied for data transmission, wherein the maximum channel occupation period is fixed, and CCA detection is performed again if the next cycle CCA detection time is reached. If it is detected that the channel is not in an idle state, the wireless communication device may not occupy the channel in this cycle and continue performing detection while waiting for a fixed position in the next cycle. The fixed period specifies the time domain unit planned by the FBE. For example, the fixed period may be FFP (Fixed Frame Period, fixed frame period). The length of the fixed period can be predefined in the protocol.

[0049] It should be noted that the above five channel discovery mechanisms are provided as examples only. With the development of technology, the above five channel discovery mechanisms may change, or a new channel discovery mechanism may be created, however, all channel discovery mechanisms are applicable to the technical solution described in the framework of the present invention.

[0050] The network architecture and service domain described in connection with the embodiments of the present invention are provided to more clearly describe the technical solution provided by the embodiments of the invention, and do not limit the technical solution provided by these embodiments. One skilled in the art will appreciate that with the evolution of network architecture and the introduction of new service areas, the solution implemented by the embodiments of the present invention is equally applicable to similar technical problems.

[0051] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The wireless communication system may include a base station 310 and a terminal 320.

[0052] Base station 310 is located in an access network. The access network in a 5G NR system may be referred to as a new generation radio access network (NG-RAN, New Generation-Radio Access Network). Base station 310 and terminal 320 may communicate with each other using some air interface technologies, such as cellular technologies.

[0053] Base station 310 may be a device located in an access network and configured to provide a wireless communication function to terminal 320. Base station 310 may include various kinds of macro base stations, micro stations, repeaters, access points, and so on. In a system using different wireless access technologies, devices that perform the functions of a base station may be called differently. For example, in a 5G NR system, a base station is referred to as gNodeB or gNB. As communication technology develops, the name "base station" may change. For ease of description, in the embodiments of the present invention, the above-mentioned devices providing the wireless communication function for the terminal 320 are collectively referred to as a base station. In other embodiments of the invention, the base station 310 may also be referred to as a network access device.

[0054] Typically, there may be a plurality of terminals 320 in a network, and one or more terminals 320 may be distributed in a cell managed by each base station 310. Terminal 320 may include various portable devices with wireless communication capabilities, devices mounted on vehicles, wearable devices , computing devices or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem, as well as various types of user equipment (UE, User Equipment), mobile stations (MS, Mobile Station), terminal devices, etc. For convenience of description, in the embodiments of the present invention, the above devices are collectively referred to as a terminal.

[0055] In embodiments of the present invention, a "5G NR system" may also be referred to as a 5G system or an NR system as understood by those skilled in the art. The technical solutions described according to the embodiments of the present invention can be applied to a 5G NR system and to a system representing a future development of a 5G NR system. The 5G NR system can be used in the LAA area.

[0056] FIG. 4 shows a flow chart of a method for determining a channel discovery mechanism in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The method may be performed by base station 310 or terminal 320 shown in FIG. 3 and can be applied when using broadband spectrum for transmission in unlicensed spectrum. The method includes the following operations.

[0057] In block 402, a wideband detection mode is determined.

[0058] Broadband spectrum is the spectrum in the unlicensed spectrum. In a traditional LAA system, the maximum carrier bandwidth is 20 MHz, but in subsequent communication systems, the carrier may span a wider bandwidth, such as 100 MHz. In this case, the carrier with a wider bandwidth can be divided into multiple parts of the frequency band to reduce the power consumption of the terminal. In accordance with the present invention, a carrier with a wider bandwidth is called a wideband spectrum. One broadband spectrum is divided into at least two subbands independent of each other. In FIG. 5 shows a wideband spectrum containing four subbands.

[0059] In various embodiments of the invention, each subband may be referred to as one channel discovery unit. The channel discovery mechanism corresponding to each channel discovery unit may be predetermined or preconfigured for that channel discovery unit. According to embodiments of the present invention, the predefined process is implemented by the communication protocol, and the preconfigured process is implemented for the terminal by the base station.

[0060] Alternatively, the plurality of subbands in the broadband spectrum are continuous in the frequency domain, but the possibility is not ruled out that the plurality of subbands are not continuous in the spectrum.

[0061] Since there are at least two subbands in the wideband spectrum, there are two detection modes for the wideband spectrum, namely, a wideband detection mode and a subband-based detection mode.

[0062] The wideband discovery mode means a discovery mode in which a plurality of subbands are considered as a whole if a channel discovery mechanism is used to listen to a channel, that is, the same channel discovery mechanism is used in the wideband spectrum. The subband-based discovery mode means a discovery mode in which each subband is treated as a separate channel discovery unit, and each subband uses the subband channel discovery mechanism to listen to the channel.

[0063] In block 404, a channel detection mechanism corresponding to the wideband spectrum is determined based on at least one subband of the plurality of subbands in case the detection mode is a wideband detection mode.

[0064] The terminal determines a channel discovery mechanism corresponding to the wideband spectrum based on the target subbands in the plurality of subbands. The target subband may be one or more subbands. In this embodiment, one subband is taken as an example of the target subband.

[0065] Each channel discovery unit is predetermined or configured in advance according to a channel discovery mechanism corresponding to the channel discovery unit. For example, a channel discovery mechanism including category 4 LBTs with different channel access priorities and corresponding to the target subband represents the subband with the lowest channel access priority. In some embodiments, the channel discovery mechanism corresponding to the target subband represents the subband with the highest channel access priority, which is not limited in the present invention.

[0066] In block 406, a channel discovery mechanism corresponding to each subband is determined based on the subband of the plurality of subbands in case the discovery mode is a subband based discovery mode.

[0067] In the subband-based discovery mode, the channel discovery mechanisms used by the respective subbands may be independent. The channel discovery mechanisms used by the respective subbands may be the same or different.

[0068] For example, there are various types of channel discovery mechanisms used by at least two subbands. As shown schematically in FIG. 5, Category 2 LBT is applied to subband 1, and Category 4 LBT with CWS=16 is applied to subband 2. In another example, there are other channel discovery mechanism parameters used by at least two subbands. As shown schematically in FIG. 5, a category 4 LBT process with CWS=16 is applied for subband 2, and a category 4 LBT process with CWS=32 is applied for subband 3.

[0069] Finally, using the method presented in this embodiment of the present invention, the detection mode in the wideband spectrum is determined. The channel detection mechanism corresponding to the wideband spectrum is determined based on at least one subband of the plurality of subbands in case the detection mode is the wideband detection mode. The channel detection mechanism corresponding to each subband is determined based on the subband of the plurality of subbands in case the detection mode is the subband based detection mode. Based on different discovery modes, a more suitable channel discovery mechanism can be determined by applying different detection methods, thereby ensuring equal occupation of channel resources with other wireless communication systems in the unlicensed spectrum.

[0070] According to some embodiments of the present invention, since the channel discovery mechanism used in the wideband spectrum is likely to be a category 4 LBT mechanism, "channel discovery mechanism definition" includes the definition of the CWS used by the channel discovery mechanism.

[0071] However, based on the same principle, determining the channel discovery mechanism may also include, for example, determining which of the five LBT modes above is the type of channel discovery mechanism applied, or specifying in detail each parameter applied in the channel discovery mechanism, if used the channel discovery mechanism is the target type, which is not limited in the present invention.

[0072] In an alternative embodiment of the invention, as an example of the category 4 LBT shown in FIG. 4, each subband is predetermined or preconfigured using the CWS, and different CWSs correspond to different channel access priorities. For example, the channel discovery mechanism corresponding to each subband is illustrated as a set of parameters indicated in Tables 1 or 2 above. The operation indicated in block 404 may be implemented using the following operations as shown in FIG. 6.

[0073] In block 404a, if the discovery mode is a wideband discovery mode, a contention window size with the lowest channel access priority is determined from among the contention window sizes corresponding to the plurality of subbands.

[0074] For example, each subband corresponds to its own CWS, and different CWS correspond to different channel access priorities.

[0075] For wideband transmission using multiple subbands (if the wideband detection mode is used), the CWS with the lowest channel access priority is determined based on the CWS corresponding to the multiple subbands. The channel access priority is low, which means that in the process of listening to the channel, the time slots are longer or longer, but the resulting occupation period of the corresponding channel may also become long.

[0076] In block 404b, the contention window size of the lowest channel access priority is determined as the size of the contention window in the channel discovery mechanism corresponding to the wideband spectrum.

[0077] In combination with the example schematically shown in FIG. 7, the portion of the frequency band (BWP) activated at the terminal is switched from BWP1 to BWP2, with BWP1 containing subband 3 and BWP2 containing subband 2 and subband 3. It is assumed that CWS=16 corresponds to subband 2 and CWS=32 corresponds to subband 3, and the channel access priority corresponding to CWS=32 is lower than the priority corresponding to CWS=16. If the discovery mode is the wideband discovery mode, then the CWS used by the terminal in BWP2 is 32. That is, the terminal determines the channel discovery mechanism in the entire BWP2 based on the channel discovery mechanism used by subband 3.

[0078] Finally, with the method presented by this embodiment, in case the discovery mode is wideband discovery mode, the channel discovery mechanism corresponding to the target subband with the lowest channel access priority is applied to determine the channel discovery mechanism used in the entire broadband spectrum, so that the wireless communication device can efficiently and accurately determine an acceptable channel discovery mechanism, resulting in channel resource occupation on par with other communication systems in the unlicensed spectrum.

[0079] In an alternative embodiment of the invention based on FIG. 4, as an example, it is assumed that category 4 LBT is applied in each subband, and each subband is predetermined or preconfigured using CWS. The operation indicated at block 404 may be implemented using the following operations as shown in FIG. eight.

[0080] In block 406a, if the discovery mode is a subband-based discovery mode, a channel discovery mechanism corresponding to each subband is determined based on the contention window size corresponding to the subband.

[0081] For a wideband transmission including multiple subbands (if the subband based discovery mode is used), the channel discovery mechanism applied in the subband is determined based on the CWS corresponding to each subband. That is, the respective subbands are independent of each other and employ the same or different channel discovery mechanisms. Alternatively, the channel discovery mechanisms employed by the at least two subbands are different.

[0082] In combination with the example schematically shown in FIG. 7, the frequency band portion (BWP) activated at the terminal is switched from BWP1 to BWP2. where BWP1 contains subband 3 and BWP2 contains subband 2 and subband 3. It is assumed that CWS=16 corresponds to subband 2 and CWS=32 corresponds to subband 3, and the channel access priority corresponding to CWS=32 is lower than the priority corresponding to CWS =16. If the discovery mode is a subband based discovery mode, the terminal applies Category 4 LBT with CWS=16 in subband 2 and applies Category 4 LBT with CWS=32 in subband 3.

[0083] Finally, with the method presented by this embodiment, in case a subband-based discovery mode is applied, the channel discovery mechanism corresponding to each subband is used to determine the channel discovery mechanism used in the entire wideband spectrum, thus so that the wireless communication device can accurately determine an acceptable channel discovery mechanism, resulting in channel resource occupation on par with other communication systems in the unlicensed spectrum.

[0084] In an alternative embodiment based on FIG. 4, as an example, it is assumed that category 4 LBT is applied in each subband, and each subband is predetermined or preconfigured using two CWSs, ie, a first CWS and a second CWS. The first CWS is the CWS for the wideband discovery mode, and the second CWS is the contention window size for the subband based discovery mode. Different first CWSs also correspond to different channel access priorities. The operations indicated in blocks 404 and 406 may be implemented using the operations below, as shown in FIG. 9.

[0085] In block 4041, if the discovery mode is the wideband discovery mode, the first CWS with the lowest channel access priority among the first CWSs corresponding to the plurality of subbands is determined.

[0086] In block 4042, the CWS in the channel discovery mechanism corresponding to the wideband spectrum is determined based on the first CWS with the lowest channel access priority.

[0087] In block 4061, a channel discovery mechanism corresponding to each subband is determined based on the second CWS corresponding to each subband if the discovery mode is a subband based discovery mode.

[0088] In the example schematically shown in FIG. 10, the CWS corresponding to subband 3 is {8, 16}, where 8 represents the first CWS based on the wideband detection mode and 16 represents the second CWS based on the subband based detection mode. The CWS in subband 2 is {16, 32}, where 16 represents the first CWS based on the wideband detection mode and 32 represents the second CWS based on the subband detection mode. Then, after switching the activated BWP from BWP1 to BWP2, in case the detection mode in BWP2 is the subband based detection mode, the CWS of subband 3 in BWP2 is adjusted based on the value 16, and the CWS in subband 2 is adjusted based on the value 32. In case the detection mode in BWP2 is a wideband detection mode, since the first CWS of subband 2 is 8 and the first CWS of subband 3 is 16, the CWS for the wideband detection mode in BWP 2 is adjusted based on the value of 16.

[0089] In an alternative embodiment based on the above embodiments, the method is performed by the base station and the base station determines the wideband spectrum detection mode in block 402. That is, the base station autonomously determines which detection mode to use for the wideband spectrum: wideband detection mode or subband based detection mode.

[0090] In an alternative embodiment of the invention based on the above embodiments, the method is performed by the terminal and the terminal directly determines the discovery mode for the wideband spectrum in block 402, or after the base station determines the discovery mode for the wideband spectrum, the base station transmits to the terminal the first BWP switch command. The first BWP switch instruction carries over the channel discovery mechanism in the wideband spectrum. The terminal receives the first BWP switch command and determines the broadband detection mode based on the first BWP switch command.

[0091] In an alternative embodiment of the invention, based on the above embodiments of the invention, the method is performed by the base station. After the base station determines the wideband channel discovery mechanism, the base station generates a second BWP switch command to indicate the wideband channel discovery mechanism, and transmits the second BWP switch command to the terminal. The terminal receives a second BWP switch command. The terminal determines a channel discovery mechanism in the broadband spectrum based on the second BWP switch command.

[0092] In an alternative embodiment of the invention, the second BWP switch instruction carries the type and parameter of the channel discovery mechanism. The second BWP toggle instruction may also carry the indicator bit. The indicator bit is used to indicate the type and parameter of the channel discovery mechanism. The correspondence between the indicator bit, the channel discovery mechanism type, and the channel discovery mechanism parameter is stored in the base station and in the terminal.

[0093] The following describes an embodiment of the device proposed in the implementation of the present invention. The device corresponds to the above embodiment of the method. For technical details not described in the device embodiment, reference may be made to the description of the method embodiment above, and these details are not discussed further.

[0094] FIG. 11 is a block diagram of an apparatus for determining a channel discovery mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention. The device may be implemented as part of a wireless communication device. The device is applicable when using broadband spectrum for transmission in unlicensed spectrum, while the broadband spectrum contains many subbands. The device includes a mode definition module 1120 and a mechanism definition module 1140. The mode determination module 1120 is configured to determine the detection mode in the broadband spectrum. The mechanism determining module 1140 is configured to determine a channel detection mechanism corresponding to a wideband spectrum based on at least one subband of the plurality of subbands in case the detection mode is a wideband detection mode. The mechanism determining module 1140 is configured to determine a channel detection mechanism corresponding to each subband based on a subband of the plurality of subbands in case the detection mode is a subband based detection mode.

[0095] According to an alternative embodiment of the invention, the channel discovery mechanism includes a contention window size, where different contention window sizes correspond to different channel access priorities. The mode determination module 1120 is configured to determine the contention window size of the lowest channel access priority among the contention window sizes corresponding to the plurality of subbands, and determine the contention window size of the lowest channel access priority as the contention window size in the channel discovery mechanism, corresponding to the broadband spectrum.

[0096] In an alternative embodiment of the invention, the channel discovery mechanism includes a contention window size. The mechanism determination module 1140 is configured to determine a channel discovery mechanism corresponding to each subband based on the contention window size corresponding to the subband.

[0097] In an alternative embodiment of the invention, each subband corresponds to a first contention window size and a second contention window size. The first contention window size is the contention window size for the wideband discovery mode. The second contention window size is the contention window size for the subband based discovery mode.

[0098] In an alternative embodiment of the invention, the device is applicable in a terminal or in a base station. The mechanism determination module is configured to automatically determine the detection mode in the broadband spectrum.

[0099] In an alternative embodiment of the invention, the device is applicable in a terminal. The device also contains a receiving module. The receiving module is configured to receive the first BWP (BandWidth Part) switching command, and the mechanism determining module is configured to determine the detection mode in the broadband spectrum based on the first BWP switching command.

[00100] In an alternative embodiment of the invention, the device is applicable in a base station. The device also contains a transmission module. The mechanism definition module 1140 is configured to generate a second BWP switch command. The second BWP switch instruction is used to specify the channel discovery mechanism in the wideband spectrum. The transmission module is configured to send a second BWP switch command to the terminal.

[00101] FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a wireless communication device in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention. The wireless communication device may be a terminal or a base station. The wireless communication device includes a processor 101, a receiver 102, a transmitter 103, a memory 104, and a bus 105.

[00102] Processor 101 includes one or more processing cores. The processor 101 is configured to execute various functional applications and process information with various programs and program modules.

[00103] Receiver 102 and transmitter 103 may be implemented as a communications component. The communication component may be a communication chip.

[00104] Memory 104 is connected to processor 101 via bus 105.

[00105] Memory 104 may be configured to store at least one instruction. The processor 101 is configured to execute at least one instruction for performing each of the operations of the method embodiment described above.

[00106] In addition, the memory 104 may be implemented using any type of volatile or non-volatile storage device, or a combination of such devices. A non-volatile or non-volatile storage device includes, but is not limited to, a magnetic disk or optical disk, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM, Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM, Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), static random access memory (SRAM, Static Random Access Memory), read-only memory (ROM, Read-Only Memory), magnetic memory, flash memory and programmable read-only memory (PROM, Programmable Read Only Memory).

[00107] An exemplary embodiment of the present invention also provides a computer-readable storage medium containing instructions, such as a memory that stores instructions. The instructions may be executed by the processor to perform operations in accordance with the method embodiments described above. For example, the computer-readable medium can be ROM memory, random access memory (RAM), compact disc read-only (CD-ROM, Compact Disc Read-Only Memory), magnetic tape, floppy disk and optical storage device.

[00108] The computer-readable medium allows the processor to perform the above-described method of determining the channel discovery mechanism when executing instructions recorded on the computer-readable medium.

[00109] The indicated numbers of embodiments of the present invention are for description only and do not reflect the advantages and disadvantages of these options.

[00110] A person skilled in the art may appreciate that the operations of the above-described embodiments of the invention may be wholly or partly performed by hardware or program-controlled hardware. The program may be stored on a computer readable storage medium such as read only memory, magnetic disk or optical disk mentioned above.

[00111] The above is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, which does not limit the invention. Any changes, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc., within the spirit and principles of the present invention, should be included within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims (41)

1. A method for determining a channel discovery mechanism applicable when using a wideband spectrum for transmission in an unlicensed spectrum, wherein the wideband spectrum contains a plurality of subbands, and the method also includes: determination of the detection mode in the broadband spectrum; determining a channel detection mechanism corresponding to the wideband spectrum based on at least one subband of the plurality of subbands in case the detection mode is a wideband detection mode; and determining a channel discovery mechanism corresponding to each subband based on a subband of the plurality of subbands in case the discovery mode is a subband based discovery mode, wherein the channel discovery mechanism includes a channel discovery mechanism based on a contention window size, and different contention window sizes correspond to different channel access priorities; and determining a channel detection mechanism corresponding to a wideband spectrum based on at least one subband from a plurality of subbands includes: determining a contention window size with the lowest channel access priority among contention window sizes corresponding to the plurality of subbands; and determining this contention window size with the lowest channel access priority as the contention window size in the channel discovery mechanism corresponding to the wideband spectrum. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining a channel discovery mechanism corresponding to each subband based on a subband of the plurality of subbands includes determining a channel discovery mechanism corresponding to each subband based on a contention window size corresponding to the subband. 3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein each subband corresponds to a first contention window size and a second contention window size, wherein the first contention window size is the size of the contention window for the wideband discovery mode, and the second contention window size is the contention window size for the subband-based detection mode. 4. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein determining the broadband detection mode includes: automatic detection mode detection in the broadband spectrum, or receiving a first BWP switching command; and determining a wideband detection mode based on the first BWP switching command. 5. The method according to claim 1 or 2, also including: generating a second Part Band Switch (BWP) command, wherein the second BWP switch command is configured to indicate a channel acquisition mechanism in the wideband spectrum, and sending the second BWP switch command to the terminal. 6. A device for determining a channel discovery mechanism, applicable when using a wideband spectrum for transmission in an unlicensed spectrum, while the wideband spectrum contains a plurality of subbands, and the device also contains: a mode determination module, configured to determine a detection mode in a broadband spectrum; and a mechanism determining module, configured to determine a channel detection mechanism corresponding to a wideband spectrum based on at least one subband of the plurality of subbands in case the detection mode is a wideband detection mode; wherein the mechanism determining module is configured to determine a channel detection mechanism corresponding to each subband based on a subband of the plurality of subbands in case the detection mode is a subband based detection mode, wherein the channel discovery mechanism includes a channel discovery mechanism based on a contention window size, and different contention window sizes correspond to different channel access priorities, and the mode determination module is configured to determine the contention window size with the lowest channel access priority among the contention window sizes corresponding to the plurality of subbands, and determine this contention window size with the lowest channel access priority as the contention window size in the channel discovery mechanism, corresponding to the broadband spectrum. 7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the mechanism determination module is configured to determine a channel acquisition mechanism corresponding to each subband based on a contention window size corresponding to the subband. 8. The apparatus of claim 6 or 7, wherein each subband corresponds to a first contention window size and a second contention window size, wherein the first contention window size is the size of the contention window for the wideband discovery mode, and the second contention window size is the contention window size for the subband-based discovery mode. 9. The device according to claim 6 or 7, also containing the receiving module; wherein the mechanism determination module is configured to automatically determine the detection mode in the broadband spectrum; or the receiving module is configured to receive the first BWP switching command, and the mechanism determining module is configured to determine a wideband detection mode based on the first BWP switching command. 10. The device according to claim 6 or 7, also containing a transmission module; wherein the mechanism determining module is configured to generate a second BWP switching command, wherein the second BWP switching command is configured to indicate a channel detection mechanism in a wideband spectrum, and the transmission module is configured to transmit the second BWP switch command to the terminal. 11. A wireless communication device, comprising: CPU; a transceiver coupled to the processor; and memory that stores instructions executed by the processor wherein the processor is configured to download and execute instructions for implementing the method for determining a channel discovery mechanism according to any one of claims. 1-5. 12. A computer-readable storage medium that stores at least one instruction, at least one program, set of code, or set of instructions, wherein at least one instruction, at least one program, set of code, or set of instructions is loaded and executed a processor for implementing a method for determining a channel discovery mechanism according to any one of claims. 1-5.

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