WO2021168765A1

WO2021168765A1 - Configured grant uplink transmission for a physical uplink shared channel with multiple listen-before-talk channels

Info

Publication number: WO2021168765A1
Application number: PCT/CN2020/077071
Authority: WO
Inventors: Changlong Xu; Xiaoxia Zhang; Jing Sun; Tao Luo
Original assignee: Qualcomm Incorporated
Priority date: 2020-02-28
Filing date: 2020-02-28
Publication date: 2021-09-02

Abstract

Various aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to wireless communication. In some aspects, a user equipment (UE) may receive an indicator from a base station, wherein the indicator is based, at least in part on, a channel occupancy time (COT) identified by the base station via a listen-before-talk (LBT) channel of a plurality of LBT channels; and selectively transmit a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) communication on at least one LBT channel of the plurality of LBT channels based at least in part on the indicator and one or more configured grants. Numerous other aspects are provided.

Description

CONFIGURED GRANT UPLINK TRANSMISSION FOR A PHYSICAL UPLINK SHARED CHANNEL WITH MULTIPLE LISTEN-BEFORE-TALK CHANNELS

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

Aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to wireless communication and to techniques and apparatuses for configured grant uplink transmission for a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) with multiple listen-before-talk (LBT) channels.

BACKGROUND

Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various telecommunication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, and broadcasts. Typical wireless communication systems may employ multiple-access technologies capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power, and/or the like) . Examples of such multiple-access technologies include code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency-division multiple access (FDMA) systems, orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) systems, single-carrier frequency-division multiple access (SC-FDMA) systems, time division synchronous code division multiple access (TD-SCDMA) systems, and Long Term Evolution (LTE) . LTE/LTE-Advanced is a set of enhancements to the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) mobile standard promulgated by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) .

A wireless communication network may include a number of base stations (BSs) that can support communication for a number of user equipment (UEs) . A user equipment (UE) may communicate with a base station (BS) via the downlink and uplink. The downlink (or forward link) refers to the communication link from the BS to the UE, and the uplink (or reverse link) refers to the communication link from the UE to the BS. As will be described in more detail herein, a BS may be referred to as a Node B, a gNB, an access point (AP) , a radio head, a transmit receive point (TRP) , a New Radio (NR) BS, a 5G Node B, and/or the like.

The above multiple access technologies have been adopted in various telecommunication standards to provide a common protocol that enables different user equipment to communicate on a municipal, national, regional, and even global level. New Radio (NR) , which may also be referred to as 5G, is a set of enhancements to the LTE mobile standard promulgated by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) . NR is designed to better support mobile broadband Internet access by improving spectral efficiency, lowering costs, improving services, making use of new spectrum, and better integrating with other open standards using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) with a cyclic prefix (CP) (CP-OFDM) on the downlink (DL) , using CP-OFDM and/or SC-FDM (e.g., also known as discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) ) on the uplink (UL) , as well as supporting beamforming, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna technology, and carrier aggregation. However, as the demand for mobile broadband access continues to increase, there exists a need for further improvements in LTE and NR technologies. Preferably, these improvements should be applicable to other multiple access technologies and the telecommunication standards that employ these technologies.

SUMMARY

In some aspects, a method of wireless communication, performed by a UE, may include receiving an indicator from a base station, wherein the indicator is based, at least in part on, a channel occupancy time (COT) identified by the base station via a listen-before-talk (LBT) channel of a plurality of LBT channels; and selectively transmitting a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) communication on at least one LBT channel of the plurality of LBT channels based at least in part on the indicator and one or more configured grants.

In some aspects, a UE for wireless communication may include a memory and one or more processors operatively coupled to the memory. The memory and the one or more processors may be configured to receive an indicator from a base station, wherein the indicator is based, at least in part on, a COT identified by the base station via an LBT channel of a plurality of LBT channels; and selectively transmit a PUSCH communication on at least one LBT channel of the plurality of LBT channels based at least in part on the indicator and one or more configured grants.

In some aspects, a non-transitory computer-readable medium may store one or more instructions for wireless communication. The one or more instructions, when executed by one or more processors of a UE, may cause the one or more processors to receive an indicator from a base station, wherein the indicator is based, at least in part on, a COT identified by the base station via an LBT channel of a plurality of LBT channels; and selectively transmit a PUSCH communication on at least one LBT channel of the plurality of LBT channels based at least in part on the indicator and one or more configured grants.

In some aspects, an apparatus for wireless communication may include means for receiving an indicator from a base station, wherein the indicator is based, at least in part on, a COT identified by the base station via an LBT channel of a plurality of LBT channels; and means for selectively transmitting a PUSCH communication on at least one LBT channel of the plurality of LBT channels based at least in part on the indicator and one or more configured grants.

Aspects generally include a method, apparatus, system, computer program product, non-transitory computer-readable medium, user equipment, base station, wireless communication device, and/or processing system as substantially described herein with reference to and as illustrated by the drawings and specification.

The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technical advantages of examples according to the disclosure in order that the detailed description that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages will be described hereinafter. The conception and specific examples disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present disclosure. Such equivalent constructions do not depart from the scope of the appended claims. Characteristics of the concepts disclosed herein, both their organization and method of operation, together with associated advantages will be better understood from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying figures. Each of the figures is provided for the purposes of illustration and description, and not as a definition of the limits of the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

So that the above-recited features of the present disclosure can be understood in detail, a more particular description, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to aspects, some of which are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only certain typical aspects of this disclosure and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the description may admit to other equally effective aspects. The same reference numbers in different drawings may identify the same or similar elements.

Fig. 1 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an example of a wireless communication network, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

Fig. 2 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an example of a base station in communication with a UE in a wireless communication network, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

Figs. 3A-3D are diagrams illustrating examples associated with configured grant uplink transmission for a PUSCH with multiple LBT channels, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

Fig. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example process performed, for example, by a user equipment, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various aspects of the disclosure are described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings. This disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to any specific structure or function presented throughout this disclosure. Rather, these aspects are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the disclosure to those skilled in the art. Based on the teachings herein one skilled in the art should appreciate that the scope of the disclosure is intended to cover any aspect of the disclosure disclosed herein, whether implemented independently of or combined with any other aspect of the disclosure. For example, an apparatus may be implemented or a method may be practiced using any number of the aspects set forth herein. In addition, the scope of the disclosure is intended to cover such an apparatus or method which is practiced using other structure, functionality, or structure and functionality in addition to or other than the various aspects of the disclosure set forth herein. It should be understood that any aspect of the disclosure disclosed herein may be embodied by one or more elements of a claim.

Several aspects of telecommunication systems will now be presented with reference to various apparatuses and techniques. These apparatuses and techniques will be described in the following detailed description and illustrated in the accompanying drawings by various blocks, modules, components, circuits, steps, processes, algorithms, and/or the like (collectively referred to as “elements” ) . These elements may be implemented using hardware, software, or combinations thereof. Whether such elements are implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system.

It should be noted that while aspects may be described herein using terminology commonly associated with 3G and/or 4G wireless technologies, aspects of the present disclosure can be applied in other generation-based communication systems, such as 5G and later, including NR technologies.

Fig. 1 is a diagram illustrating a wireless network 100 in which aspects of the present disclosure may be practiced. The wireless network 100 may be an LTE network or some other wireless network, such as a 5G or NR network. The wireless network 100 may include a number of BSs 110 (shown as BS 110a, BS 110b, BS 110c, and BS 110d) and other network entities. A BS is an entity that communicates with user equipment (UEs) and may also be referred to as a base station, a NR BS, a Node B, a gNB, a 5G node B (NB) , an access point, a transmit receive point (TRP) , and/or the like. Each BS may provide communication coverage for a particular geographic area. In 3GPP, the term “cell” can refer to a coverage area of a BS and/or a BS subsystem serving this coverage area, depending on the context in which the term is used.

A BS may provide communication coverage for a macro cell, a pico cell, a femto cell, and/or another type of cell. A macro cell may cover a relatively large geographic area (e.g., several kilometers in radius) and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscription. A pico cell may cover a relatively small geographic area and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscription. A femto cell may cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a home) and may allow restricted access by UEs having association with the femto cell (e.g., UEs in a closed subscriber group (CSG) ) . A BS for a macro cell may be referred to as a macro BS. A BS for a pico cell may be referred to as a pico BS. A BS for a femto cell may be referred to as a femto BS or a home BS. In the example shown in Fig. 1, a BS 110a may be a macro BS for a macro cell 102a, a BS 110b may be a pico BS for a pico cell 102b, and a BS 110c may be a femto BS for a femto cell 102c. A BS may support one or multiple (e.g., three) cells. The terms “eNB” , “base station” , “NR BS” , “gNB” , “TRP” , “AP” , “node B” , “5G NB” , and “cell” may be used interchangeably herein.

In some aspects, a cell may not necessarily be stationary, and the geographic area of the cell may move according to the location of a mobile BS. In some aspects, the BSs may be interconnected to one another and/or to one or more other BSs or network nodes (not shown) in the wireless network 100 through various types of backhaul interfaces such as a direct physical connection, a virtual network, and/or the like using any suitable transport network.

Wireless network 100 may also include relay stations. A relay station is an entity that can receive a transmission of data from an upstream station (e.g., a BS or a UE) and send a transmission of the data to a downstream station (e.g., a UE or a BS) . A relay station may also be a UE that can relay transmissions for other UEs. In the example shown in Fig. 1, a relay station 110d may communicate with macro BS 110a and a UE 120d in order to facilitate communication between BS 110a and UE 120d. A relay station may also be referred to as a relay BS, a relay base station, a relay, and/or the like.

Wireless network 100 may be a heterogeneous network that includes BSs of different types, e.g., macro BSs, pico BSs, femto BSs, relay BSs, and/or the like. These different types of BSs may have different transmit power levels, different coverage areas, and different impacts on interference in wireless network 100. For example, macro BSs may have a high transmit power level (e.g., 5 to 40 Watts) whereas pico BSs, femto BSs, and relay BSs may have lower transmit power levels (e.g., 0.1 to 2 Watts) .

A network controller 130 may couple to a set of BSs and may provide coordination and control for these BSs. Network controller 130 may communicate with the BSs via a backhaul. The BSs may also communicate with one another, e.g., directly or indirectly via a wireless or wireline backhaul.

UEs 120 (e.g., 120a, 120b, 120c) may be dispersed throughout wireless network 100, and each UE may be stationary or mobile. A UE may also be referred to as an access terminal, a terminal, a mobile station, a subscriber unit, a station, and/or the like. A UE may be a cellular phone (e.g., a smart phone) , a personal digital assistant (PDA) , a wireless modem, a wireless communication device, a handheld device, a laptop computer, a cordless phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a tablet, a camera, a gaming device, a netbook, a smartbook, an ultrabook, a medical device or equipment, biometric sensors/devices, wearable devices (smart watches, smart clothing, smart glasses, smart wrist bands, smart jewelry (e.g., smart ring, smart bracelet) ) , an entertainment device (e.g., a music or video device, or a satellite radio) , a vehicular component or sensor, smart meters/sensors, industrial manufacturing equipment, a global positioning system device, or any other suitable device that is configured to communicate via a wireless or wired medium.

Some UEs may be considered machine-type communication (MTC) or evolved or enhanced machine-type communication (eMTC) UEs. MTC and eMTC UEs include, for example, robots, drones, remote devices, sensors, meters, monitors, location tags, and/or the like, that may communicate with a base station, another device (e.g., remote device) , or some other entity. A wireless node may provide, for example, connectivity for or to a network (e.g., a wide area network such as Internet or a cellular network) via a wired or wireless communication link. Some UEs may be considered Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices, and/or may be implemented as NB-IoT (narrowband internet of things) devices. Some UEs may be considered a Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) . UE 120 may be included inside a housing that houses components of UE 120, such as processor components, memory components, and/or the like. In some aspects, the processor components and the memory components may be coupled together. For example, the processor components (e.g., one or more processors) and the memory components (e.g., a memory) may be operatively coupled, communicatively coupled, electronically coupled, electrically coupled, and/or the like.

In general, any number of wireless networks may be deployed in a given geographic area. Each wireless network may support a particular radio access technology (RAT) and may operate on one or more frequencies. A RAT may also be referred to as a radio technology, an air interface, and/or the like. A frequency may also be referred to as a carrier, a frequency channel, and/or the like. Each frequency may support a single RAT in a given geographic area in order to avoid interference between wireless networks of different RATs. In some cases, NR or 5G RAT networks may be deployed.

In some aspects, two or more UEs 120 (e.g., shown as UE 120a and UE 120e) may communicate directly using one or more sidelink channels (e.g., without using a base station 110 as an intermediary to communicate with one another) . For example, the UEs 120 may communicate using peer-to-peer (P2P) communications, device-to-device (D2D) communications, a vehicle-to-everything (V2X) protocol (e.g., which may include a vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) protocol, a vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) protocol, and/or the like) , a mesh network, and/or the like. In this case, the UE 120 may perform scheduling operations, resource selection operations, and/or other operations described elsewhere herein as being performed by the base station 110.

As indicated above, Fig. 1 is provided as an example. Other examples may differ from what is described with regard to Fig. 1.

Fig. 2 shows a block diagram of a design 200 of base station 110 and UE 120, which may be one of the base stations and one of the UEs in Fig. 1. Base station 110 may be equipped with T antennas 234a through 234t, and UE 120 may be equipped with R antennas 252a through 252r, where in general T ≥ 1 and R ≥ 1.

At base station 110, a transmit processor 220 may receive data from a data source 212 for one or more UEs, select one or more modulation and coding schemes (MCS) for each UE based at least in part on channel quality indicators (CQIs) received from the UE, process (e.g., encode and modulate) the data for each UE based at least in part on the MCS (s) selected for the UE, and provide data symbols for all UEs. Transmit processor 220 may also process system information (e.g., for semi-static resource partitioning information (SRPI) and/or the like) and control information (e.g., CQI requests, grants, upper layer signaling, and/or the like) and provide overhead symbols and control symbols. Transmit processor 220 may also generate reference symbols for reference signals (e.g., the cell-specific reference signal (CRS) ) and synchronization signals (e.g., the primary synchronization signal (PSS) and secondary synchronization signal (SSS) ) . A transmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor 230 may perform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) on the data symbols, the control symbols, the overhead symbols, and/or the reference symbols, if applicable, and may provide T output symbol streams to T modulators (MODs) 232a through 232t. Each modulator 232 may process a respective output symbol stream (e.g., for OFDM and/or the like) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator 232 may further process (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, and upconvert) the output sample stream to obtain a downlink signal. T downlink signals from modulators 232a through 232t may be transmitted via T antennas 234a through 234t, respectively. According to various aspects described in more detail below, the synchronization signals can be generated with location encoding to convey additional information.

At UE 120, antennas 252a through 252r may receive the downlink signals from base station 110 and/or other base stations and may provide received signals to demodulators (DEMODs) 254a through 254r, respectively. Each demodulator 254 may condition (e.g., filter, amplify, downconvert, and digitize) a received signal to obtain input samples. Each demodulator 254 may further process the input samples (e.g., for OFDM and/or the like) to obtain received symbols. A MIMO detector 256 may obtain received symbols from all R demodulators 254a through 254r, perform MIMO detection on the received symbols if applicable, and provide detected symbols. A receive processor 258 may process (e.g., demodulate and decode) the detected symbols, provide decoded data for UE 120 to a data sink 260, and provide decoded control information and system information to a controller/processor 280. A channel processor may determine reference signal received power (RSRP) , received signal strength indicator (RSSI) , reference signal received quality (RSRQ) , channel quality indicator (CQI) , and/or the like. In some aspects, one or more components of UE 120 may be included in a housing.

On the uplink, at UE 120, a transmit processor 264 may receive and process data from a data source 262 and control information (e.g., for reports comprising RSRP, RSSI, RSRQ, CQI, and/or the like) from controller/processor 280. Transmit processor 264 may also generate reference symbols for one or more reference signals. The symbols from transmit processor 264 may be precoded by a TX MIMO processor 266 if applicable, further processed by modulators 254a through 254r (e.g., for DFT-s-OFDM, CP-OFDM, and/or the like) , and transmitted to base station 110. At base station 110, the uplink signals from UE 120 and other UEs may be received by antennas 234, processed by demodulators 232, detected by a MIMO detector 236 if applicable, and further processed by a receive processor 238 to obtain decoded data and control information sent by UE 120. Receive processor 238 may provide the decoded data to a data sink 239 and the decoded control information to controller/processor 240. Base station 110 may include communication unit 244 and communicate to network controller 130 via communication unit 244. Network controller 130 may include communication unit 294, controller/processor 290, and memory 292.

Controller/processor 240 of base station 110, controller/processor 280 of UE 120, and/or any other component (s) of Fig. 2 may perform one or more techniques associated with configured grant uplink transmission for a PUSCH with multiple LBT channels, as described in more detail elsewhere herein. For example, controller/processor 240 of base station 110, controller/processor 280 of UE 120, and/or any other component (s) of Fig. 2 may perform or direct operations of, for example, process 400 of Fig. 4 and/or other processes as described herein.

Memories

242 and 282 may store data and program codes for base station 110 and UE 120, respectively. In some aspects, memory 242 and/or memory 282 may comprise a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing one or more instructions for wireless communication. For example, the one or more instructions, when executed (e.g., directly, or after compiling, converting, interpreting, and/or the like) by one or more processors of the base station 110 and/or the UE 120, may perform or direct operations of, for example, process 400 of Fig. 4 and/or other processes as described herein. In some aspects, executing instructions may include running the instructions, converting the instructions, compiling the instructions, interpreting the instructions, and/or the like. A scheduler 246 may schedule UEs for data transmission on the downlink and/or uplink.

In some aspects, UE 120 may include means for receiving an indicator from a base station, wherein the indicator is based, at least in part on, a COT identified by the base station via an LBT channel of a plurality of LBT channels; means for selectively transmitting a PUSCH communication on at least one LBT channel of the plurality of LBT channels based at least in part on the indicator and one or more configured grants; and/or the like. In some aspects, such means may include one or more components of UE 120 described in connection with Fig. 2, such as controller/processor 280, transmit processor 264, TX MIMO processor 266, MOD 254, antenna 252, DEMOD 254, MIMO detector 256, receive processor 258, and/or the like.

As indicated above, Fig. 2 is provided as an example. Other examples may differ from what is described with regard to Fig. 2.

A wireless node, such as a base station or a UE, may be permitted to use a channel on which the wireless node is to perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) prior to using the channel for wireless communication. In such cases, the wireless node may be configured to perform a listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure on the channel in association with gaining access to the channel. Such a channel is herein referred to as an LBT channel. As one example, a frequency range reserved for unlicensed spectrum may be composed of a number of LBT channels.

When a wireless node successfully performs an LBT procedure for an LBT channel, the wireless node gains access to the LBT channel for a length of time referred to as a channel occupancy time (COT) . The duration of the COT may be dependent on the type of LBT procedure (e.g., category type 2, category type 4, or the like) and/or one or more LBT parameters used for the LBT procedure. The wireless node experiences an LBT failure when the wireless node fails to transmit a transmission during a transmission instance. For example, when an interfering node, such as another wireless node, attempts to access the same communication resources as the wireless node, the interfering node may transmit transmissions that interfere with transmissions of the wireless node. When attempting to acquire resources in the LBT channel, a wireless node may perform multiple iterations of the LBT procedure.

During a COT, a wireless node can perform wireless communications operations without performing additional LBT procedures. For example, if a base station performs an LBT procedure and successfully acquires an LBT channel, then the base station may transmit one or more downlink communications during the COT without a need to perform additional LBT procedures. The base station may additionally or alternatively allocate one or more sets of resources to one or more UEs during the COT such that the one or more UEs can attempt respective transmissions of uplink communications during the base station acquired COT. In such a case, a UE that has been allocated resources during a base station acquired COT may perform an LBT procedure during the COT in association with attempting to transmit an uplink communication in the allocated resources. As another example, if a UE performs an LBT procedure and successfully acquires an LBT channel, then the UE may transmit one or more uplink communications during the COT without a need to perform additional LBT procedures.

In some wireless communication systems, multi-channel LBT may be deployed, meaning that a UE is permitted to use multiple LBT channels. In such a case, the UE performs an LBT procedure for multiple LBT channels, and can use any of the multiple LBT channels that are available. In some systems, such as NR in the unlicensed spectrum, a UE randomly selects one of the multiple LBT channels on which to perform category type 4 LBT and performs category type 2 on other LBT channels if the following conditions are satisfied: (1) the UE is scheduled or configured to transmit on the multiple LBT channels, (2) one or more associated uplink grants indicate category type 4 LBT and the same PUSCH starting position across the LBT channels or the uplink transmissions are to start at the same time for all LBT channels, and (3) the multiple LBT channels are as grouped in conformance to WiFi channel bonding rules. Notably, for simplicity, the term LBT channel as used herein can denote either an LBT subband or an LBT carrier.

In operation, resources indicated by in an uplink grant (e.g., a dynamic uplink or a configured grant) can span multiple LBT channels on which a UE is permitted to communicate. For example, resources identified in an uplink grant may span multiple LBT channels in wideband operation when a system bandwidth includes multiple LBT subbands. As another example, resources indicated by an uplink grant may span multiple LBT channels in an uplink carrier aggregation scenario when the UE is scheduled or configured to transmit on multiple uplink carriers.

When resources associated with an uplink communication (e.g., resources indicated to be used for a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) communication) span multiple LBT channels, it is possible that a base station may acquire a subset of the multiple LBT channels. For example, when resources associated with a PUSCH communication span four LBT channels (e.g., channels 0, 1, 2, and 3) , it is possible that a base station may have access on channels 0 and 1, but not on channels 2 and 3. For an uplink transmission associated with a configured grant, a configuration of the configured grant may span the multiple LBT channels. Here, it is possible that the base station acquires a COT on one of the multiple LBTs channel and indicates that the COT is not to be used for uplink transmissions. In general, a UE may not be permitted to transmit an uplink communication associated with a configured grant when a slot format indicator (SFI) in a COT structure indicator (COT-SI) indicates a slot as a downlink slot or as a flexible slot. In such a scenario, a UE behavior for transmitting the uplink communication associated with a configured grant across multiple LBT channels should be defined.

Some aspects described herein provide techniques and apparatuses for transmitting an uplink communication (e.g., a PUSCH communication) associated with a configured grant that spans multiple LBT channels.

Figs. 3A-3D are diagrams illustrating examples associated with configured grant transmission for a PUSCH with multiple LBT channels, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. In the examples shown in Fig. 3A, a UE (e.g., UE 120) is permitted to use multiple LBT channels for wireless communication. Further, the UE has received (e.g., from the base station) one or more configured grants that indicate resources spanning the multiple LBT channels, and the UE is to transmit a PUSCH communication based at least in part on one or more configured grants.

As shown in Fig. 3A by reference 305, a base station (e.g., base station 110) may identify a COT via one of the multiple LBT channels. For example, the base station may perform an LBT procedure (e.g., category type 2, category type 4) on each of the multiple LBT channels and, in this example, one of the multiple LBT channels passes the LBT procedure. Thus, the base station obtains the right to use the LBT channel during a COT associated with the LBT channel.

As shown by reference 310, the base station may provide an indicator, the indicator being based at least in part on the COT identified by the base station. As indicated by reference 310, the UE may receive the indicator provided by the base station. In some aspects, the indicator includes a COT structure indicator including one or more slot format indicators (SFIs) associated with the COT. Here, a given SFI may indicate a format of a slot corresponding to the SFI (e.g., the given SFI may be an indication of whether the corresponding slot is a downlink slot, a flexible slot, or an uplink slot) . Additional details regarding the indicator are provided below.

As shown by reference 315, the UE may selectively transmit the PUSCH communication on at least the LBT channel based at least in part on the indicator and the one or more configured grants.

In some aspects, the indicator indicates that a set of resources associated with a configured grant, of the one or more configured grants, is within a slot of the COT that is to be used for downlink communications. That is, the indicator may indicate that resources of a configured grant are in a downlink slot of the COT associated with the LBT channel (e.g., a slot of the COT on the LBT channel that is to be used for downlink communications) . In such a case, when selectively transmitting the PUSCH communication, the UE may refrain from transmitting the PUSCH communication on the multiple LBT channels. Put another way, for the transmission of the PUSCH communication on the LBT channel, a configured grant resource may not be within an uplink slot of the COT (e.g., when the slot is indicated in an SFI as a downlink slot) . Thus, the PUSCH transmission associated with one or more configured grants may be cancelled when configured grant resources, associated with one of the configured grants, are within a downlink slot in the COT.

Fig. 3B is a diagram illustrating an example associated with a UE refraining from transmitting a PUSCH communication on multiple LBT channels when an indicator, associated with a COT acquired on one of multiple LBT channels, indicates that resources of a configured grant are in a downlink slot of the COT. In Fig. 3B, LBT channel C1 has passed LBT at the base station, while LBT channels C0, C2, C3 have not. Thus, the base station has acquired a COT on LBT channel C1. Here, the base station provides, and the UE receives, an indicator that indicates that a slot of the COT is a downlink slot. Here, the UE may determine that resources of a configured grant are within the downlink slot of the COT, and may refrain from transmitting (e.g., cancels) the configured grant PUSCH transmission on all of the multiple channels C0 through C3 (e.g., since the resources associated with the configured grant fall into the downlink slot of the COT on LBT channel C1) .

In some aspects, the indicator indicates that a set of resources associated with a configured grant, of the one or more configured grants, is within a slot of the COT for uplink communications, and that COT sharing is not permitted in the slot. That is, the indicator may indicate that resources of a configured grant are in an uplink slot of the COT associated with the LBT channel (e.g., a slot of the COT on the LBT channel that is to be used for uplink communications) , and may also indicate that COT sharing is not permitted in the slot. In such a case, when selectively transmitting the PUSCH communication, the UE may refrain from transmit the PUSCH communication on one or more of the multiple LBT channels. Put another way, for the transmission of the PUSCH communication on the LBT channel, a configured grant resource may be within an uplink slot of the COT, but COT sharing may not be permitted in the slot. Thus, the PUSCH transmission associated with the configured grant may be cancelled on one or more of the multiple LBT channels (e.g., a set of LBT channels associated with the configured grant, or the LBT channel associated with the indicator) when configured grant resources are within an uplink slot in the COT in which COT sharing is not permitted.

Fig. 3C is a diagram illustrating an example associated with a UE refraining from transmitting a PUSCH communication on a set of LBT channels associated with a configured grant when an indicator, associated with a COT acquired on one of multiple LBT channels, indicates that resources of the configured grant are in an uplink slot of the COT in which COT sharing is not permitted. In Fig. 3C, LBT channel C1 has passed LBT at the base station, while LBT channels C0, C2, C3 have not. Thus, the base station has acquired a COT on LBT channel C1. Here, the base station provides, and the UE receives, an indicator that indicates that a slot of the COT is a uplink slot, and that COT sharing is not permitted in the uplink slot. In this example, the UE determines that resources of a configured grant are within the uplink slot of the COT, and refrains from transmitting (e.g., cancels) the configured grant PUSCH transmission on the set of channels associated with the configured grant. In the example of Fig. 3C, each of the multiple channels (e.g., LBT channels C0 through C3) is associated with the configured grant and, therefore, the UE cancels the PUSCH transmission on all of the multiple LBT channels. In another example, a first set of the multiple LBT channels (e.g., LBT channels C0 and C1) may be associated with the configured grant, and a second set of the multiple LBT channels (e.g., LBT channels C2 and C3) may be associated with another configured grant. In this case, the UE may cancel the PUSCH transmission on the first set of LBT channels (e.g., since the first set of LBT channels is associated with the configured grant) and may transmit the PUSCH communication on one or more of the second set of LBT channels (e.g., since the second set of LBT channels is associated with a different configured grant) . In some aspects, the UE may transmit the PUSCH communication on one or more of the second set of LBT channels based at least in part on performing multi-channel access on each of the second set of LBT channels (e.g., using appropriate LBT types) .

Fig. 3D is a diagram illustrating an example associated with a UE refraining from transmitting a PUSCH communication on one LBT channel when an indicator, associated with a COT acquired on the LBT channel, indicates that resources of the configured grant are in an uplink slot of the COT in which COT sharing is not permitted. In Fig. 3D, LBT channel C1 has passed LBT at the base station, while LBT channels C0, C2, C3 have not. Thus, the base station has acquired a COT on LBT channel C1. Here, the base station provides, and the UE receives, an indicator that indicates that a slot of the COT is a uplink slot, and that COT sharing is not permitted in the uplink slot. In this example, the UE refrains from transmitting (e.g., cancels) the configured grant PUSCH transmission on the LBT channel. In the example of Fig. 3D, the UE may transmit the configured grant PUSCH communication on at least one other LBT channels of the multiple LBT channels. In some aspects, the UE may transmit the PUSCH communication on the at least one other LBT channel based at least in part on performing multi-channel access on each of the other LBT channels (e.g., using appropriate LBT types) .

In some aspects, when transmitting the PUSCH communication on the at least one other LBT channel, the PUSCH communication is punctured on the LBT channel. In some aspects, when transmitting the PUSCH communication on the at least one other LBT channel, the PUSCH communication is rate-matched around the LBT channel. In the case of rate-matching around the LBT channel, a transport block size, associated with the PUSCH communication, may be based at least in part on the configured grant, in some aspects, or may be adjusted by excluding the LBT channel.

As indicated above, Figs. 3A-3D are provided as examples. Other examples may differ from what is described with respect to Figs. 3A-3D.

Fig. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example process 400 performed, for example, by a UE, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. Example process 400 is an example where the UE (e.g., UE 120 and/or the like) performs operations associated with a configured grant uplink transmission for a PUSCH with multiple LBT channels.

As shown in Fig. 4, in some aspects, process 400 may include receiving an indicator from a base station, wherein the indicator is based, at least in part on, a COT identified by the base station via an LBT channel of a plurality of LBT channels (block 410) . For example, the UE (e.g., using antenna 252, DEMOD 254, MIMO detector 256, receive processor 258, controller/processor 280, memory 282, and/or the like) may receive an indicator from a base station (e.g., base station 110) , as described above. In some aspects, the indicator is based, at least in part on, a COT identified by the base station via an LBT channel of a plurality of LBT channels.

As further shown in Fig. 4, in some aspects, process 400 may include selectively transmitting a PUSCH communication on at least one LBT channel of the plurality of LBT channels based at least in part on the indicator and one or more configured grants (block 420) . For example, the UE (e.g., using controller/processor 280, transmit processor 264, TX MIMO processor 266, MOD 254, antenna 252, and/or the like) may selectively transmit a PUSCH communication on at least one LBT channel of the plurality of LBT channels based at least in part on the indicator and one or more configured grants, as described above.

Process 400 may include additional aspects, such as any single aspect or any combination of aspects described below and/or in connection with one or more other processes described elsewhere herein.

In a first aspect, the indicator includes a slot format indicator and a COT structure indicator.

In a second aspect, alone or in combination with the first aspect, the indicator indicates that a set of resources associated with a configured grant, of the one or more configured grants, is within a slot of the COT for downlink communications.

In a third aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first and second aspects, selectively transmitting the PUSCH communication includes refraining from transmitting the PUSCH communication on the plurality of LBT channels based at least in part on the indicator indicating that the set of resources associated with the configured grant is within the slot of the COT for downlink communications.

In a fourth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through third aspects, the indicator indicates that a set of resources associated with a configured grant, of the one or more configured grants, is within a slot of the COT for uplink communications, and that COT sharing is not permitted in the slot.

In a fifth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through fourth aspects, selectively transmitting the PUSCH communication includes refraining from transmitting the PUSCH communication on a subset of LBT channels, of the plurality of LBT channels, the subset of LBT channels being associated with the configured grant.

In a sixth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through fifth aspects, selectively transmitting the PUSCH communication further includes identifying another subset of LBT channels of the plurality of LBT channels, the another subset of LBT channels being associated with another configured grant of the one or more configured grants, and transmitting the PUSCH communication on one or more LBT channels of the another subset of LBT channels.

In a seventh aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through sixth aspects, selectively transmitting the PUSCH communication includes refraining from transmitting the PUSCH communication on the LBT channel.

In an eighth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through seventh aspects, selectively transmitting the PUSCH communication further includes identifying other LBT channels of the plurality of LBT channels, and transmitting the PUSCH communication on at least one LBT channel of the other LBT channels.

In a ninth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through eighth aspects, the PUSCH communication is punctured on the LBT channel when transmitted on the at least one LBT channel.

In a tenth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through ninth aspects, the PUSCH communication is rate-matched around the LBT channel when transmitted on the at least one LBT channel.

In an eleventh aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through tenth aspects, a transport block size, associated with the PUSCH communication, is based at least in part on the configured grant.

In a twelfth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through eleventh aspects, process 400 includes excluding the LBT channel to adjust a transport block size associated with the PUSCH communication.

Although Fig. 4 shows example blocks of process 400, in some aspects, process 400 may include additional blocks, fewer blocks, different blocks, or differently arranged blocks than those depicted in Fig. 4. Additionally, or alternatively, two or more of the blocks of process 400 may be performed in parallel.

The foregoing disclosure provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the aspects to the precise form disclosed. Modifications and variations may be made in light of the above disclosure or may be acquired from practice of the aspects.

As used herein, the term “component” is intended to be broadly construed as hardware, firmware, and/or a combination of hardware and software. As used herein, a processor is implemented in hardware, firmware, and/or a combination of hardware and software.

As used herein, satisfying a threshold may, depending on the context, refer to a value being greater than the threshold, greater than or equal to the threshold, less than the threshold, less than or equal to the threshold, equal to the threshold, not equal to the threshold, and/or the like.

It will be apparent that systems and/or methods described herein may be implemented in different forms of hardware, firmware, and/or a combination of hardware and software. The actual specialized control hardware or software code used to implement these systems and/or methods is not limiting of the aspects. Thus, the operation and behavior of the systems and/or methods were described herein without reference to specific software code-it being understood that software and hardware can be designed to implement the systems and/or methods based, at least in part, on the description herein.

Even though particular combinations of features are recited in the claims and/or disclosed in the specification, these combinations are not intended to limit the disclosure of various aspects. In fact, many of these features may be combined in ways not specifically recited in the claims and/or disclosed in the specification. Although each dependent claim listed below may directly depend on only one claim, the disclosure of various aspects includes each dependent claim in combination with every other claim in the claim set. A phrase referring to “at least one of” a list of items refers to any combination of those items, including single members. As an example, “at least one of: a, b, or c” is intended to cover a, b, c, a-b, a-c, b-c, and a-b-c, as well as any combination with multiples of the same element (e.g., a-a, a-a-a, a-a-b, a-a-c, a-b-b, a-c-c, b-b, b-b-b, b-b-c, c-c, and c-c-c or any other ordering of a, b, and c) .

No element, act, or instruction used herein should be construed as critical or essential unless explicitly described as such. Also, as used herein, the articles “a” and “an” are intended to include one or more items, and may be used interchangeably with “one or more. ” Furthermore, as used herein, the terms “set” and “group” are intended to include one or more items (e.g., related items, unrelated items, a combination of related and unrelated items, and/or the like) , and may be used interchangeably with “one or more. ” Where only one item is intended, the phrase “only one” or similar language is used. Also, as used herein, the terms “has, ” “have, ” “having, ” and/or the like are intended to be open-ended terms. Further, the phrase “based on” is intended to mean “based, at least in part, on” unless explicitly stated otherwise.

Claims

A method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE) , comprising:

receiving an indicator from a base station, wherein the indicator is based, at least in part on, a channel occupancy time (COT) identified by the base station via a listen-before-talk (LBT) channel of a plurality of LBT channels; and

selectively transmitting a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) communication on at least one LBT channel of the plurality of LBT channels based at least in part on the indicator and one or more configured grants.
The method of claim 1, wherein the indicator comprises a slot format indicator and a COT structure indicator.
The method of claim 1, wherein the indicator indicates that a set of resources associated with a configured grant, of the one or more configured grants, is within a slot of the COT for downlink communications.
The method of claim 3, wherein selectively transmitting the PUSCH communication comprises:

refraining from transmitting the PUSCH communication on the plurality of LBT channels based at least in part on the indicator indicating that the set of resources associated with the configured grant is within the slot of the COT for downlink communications.
The method of claim 1, wherein the indicator indicates that a set of resources associated with a configured grant, of the one or more configured grants, is within a slot of the COT for uplink communications, and that COT sharing is not permitted in the slot.
The method of claim 5, wherein selectively transmitting the PUSCH communication comprises:

refraining from transmitting the PUSCH communication on a subset of LBT channels, of the plurality of LBT channels, the subset of LBT channels being associated with the configured grant.
The method of claim 6, wherein selectively transmitting the PUSCH communication further comprises:

identifying another subset of LBT channels of the plurality of LBT channels, the another subset of LBT channels being associated with another configured grant of the one or more configured grants; and

transmitting the PUSCH communication on one or more LBT channels of the another subset of LBT channels.
The method of claim 5, wherein selectively transmitting the PUSCH communication comprises:

refraining from transmitting the PUSCH communication on the LBT channel.
The method of claim 8, wherein selectively transmitting the PUSCH communication further comprises:

identifying other LBT channels of the plurality of LBT channels; and

transmitting the PUSCH communication on at least one LBT channel of the other LBT channels.
The method of claim 9, wherein the PUSCH communication is punctured on the LBT channel when transmitted on the at least one LBT channel.
The method of claim 9, wherein the PUSCH communication is rate-matched around the LBT channel when transmitted on the at least one LBT channel.
The method of claim 11, wherein a transport block size, associated with the PUSCH communication, is based at least in part on the configured grant.
The method of claim 11, further comprising: excluding the LBT channel to adjust a transport block size associated with the PUSCH communication.
A user equipment (UE) for wireless communication, comprising:

a memory; and

one or more processors operatively coupled to the memory, the memory and the one or more processors configured to:

receive an indicator from a base station, wherein the indicator is based, at least in part on, a channel occupancy time (COT) identified by the base station via a listen-before-talk (LBT) channel of a plurality of LBT channels; and

selectively transmit a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) communication on at least one LBT channel of the plurality of LBT channels based at least in part on the indicator and one or more configured grants.
A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing one or more instructions for wireless communication, the one or more instructions comprising:

one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a user equipment (UE) , cause the one or more processors to:

receive an indicator from a base station, wherein the indicator is based, at least in part on, a channel occupancy time (COT) identified by the base station via a listen-before-talk (LBT) channel of a plurality of LBT channels; and

selectively transmit a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) communication on at least one LBT channel of the plurality of LBT channels based at least in part on the indicator and one or more configured grants.
An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

means for receiving an indicator from a base station, wherein the indicator is based, at least in part on, a channel occupancy time (COT) identified by the base station via a listen-before-talk (LBT) channel of a plurality of LBT channels; and

means for selectively transmitting a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) communication on at least one LBT channel of the plurality of LBT channels based at least in part on the indicator and one or more configured grants.