Patent Publication Number: US-2023164841-A1

Title: Reservation signal for communications above 52.6 ghz

Description:
PRIORITY CLAIM 
     This application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Pat. Application 63/058,843, filed Jul. 30, 2020, and entitled “RESERVATION SIGNAL FOR UNLICENSED OPERATION FOR ABOVE 52.6 GHZ,” which provisional patent application is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     Aspects pertain to wireless communications. Some aspects relate to wireless networks including 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) networks, 3GPP LTE (Long Term Evolution) networks, 3 GPP LTE-A (LTE Advanced) networks, (MulteFire, LTE-U), and fifth-generation (5G) networks including 5G new radio (NR) (or 5G-NR) networks, 5G-LTE networks such as 5G NR unlicensed spectrum (NR-U) networks and other unlicensed networks including Wi-Fi, CBRS (OnGo), etc. Other aspects are directed to configuring and usage of reservation signals in wireless networks, including reservation signals for unlicensed operation at frequencies above 52.6 GHz. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Mobile communications have evolved significantly from early voice systems to today’s highly sophisticated integrated communication platform. With the increase in different types of devices communicating with various network devices, usage of 3GPP LTE systems has increased. The penetration of mobile devices (user equipment or UEs) in modern society has continued to drive demand for a wide variety of networked devices in many disparate environments. Fifth-generation (5G) wireless systems are forthcoming and are expected to enable even greater speed, connectivity, and usability. Next generation 5G networks (or NR networks) are expected to increase throughput, coverage, and robustness and reduce latency and operational and capital expenditures, 5G-NR networks will continue to evolve based on 3GPP LTE-Advanced with additional potential new radio access technologies (RATs) to enrich people’s lives with seamless wireless connectivity solutions delivering fast, rich content and services. As current cellular network frequency is saturated, higher frequencies, such as millimeter wave (mmWave) frequency, can be beneficial due to their high bandwidth. 
     Potential LTE operation in the unlicensed spectrum includes (and is not limited to) the LTE operation in the unlicensed spectrum via dual connectivity (DC), or DC-based LAA, and the standalone LTE system in the unlicensed spectrum, according to which LTE-based technology solely operates in the unlicensed spectrum without requiring an “anchor” in the licensed spectrum, called MulteFire. MulteFire combines the performance benefits of LTE technology with the simplicity of Wi-Fi-like deployments. 
     Further enhanced operation of LTE and NR systems in the licensed, as well as unlicensed spectrum, is expected in future releases and 5G systems. Such enhanced operations can include techniques for configuring and usage of reservation signals in wireless networks, including reservation signals for unlicensed operations at frequencies above 52.6 GHz. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
       In the figures, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, like numerals may describe similar components in different views. Like numerals having different letter suffixes may represent different instances of similar components. The figures illustrate generally, by way of example, but not by way of limitation, various aspects discussed in the present document. 
         FIG.  1 A  illustrates an architecture of a network, in accordance with some aspects. 
         FIG.  1 B  and  FIG.  1 C  illustrate a non-roaming 5G system architecture in accordance with some aspects. 
         FIG.  2   ,  FIG.  3   , and  FIG.  4    illustrate various systems, devices, and components that may implement aspects of disclosed embodiments. 
         FIG.  5    is an illustration of a reservation channel when a clear channel assessment (CCA) procedure succeeds before a transmission opportunity or a first symbol/slot scheduled for an uplink (UL) transmission, according to an example embodiment. 
         FIG.  6    is an illustration of a reservation channel when a CCA procedure succeeds after a transmission opportunity or a first symbol/slot scheduled for a UL transmission, according to an example embodiment. 
         FIG.  7    illustrates a block diagram of a communication device such as an evolved Node-B (eNB), a new generation Node-B (gNB) (or another RAN node), an access point (AP), a wireless station (STA), a mobile station (MS), or a user equipment (UE), in accordance with some aspects. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The following description and the drawings sufficiently illustrate aspects to enable those skilled in the art to practice them. Other aspects may incorporate structural, logical, electrical, process, and other changes. Portions and features of some aspects may be included in or substituted for, those of other aspects. Aspects outlined in the claims encompass all available equivalents of those claims. 
       FIG.  1 A  illustrates an architecture of a network in accordance with some aspects. The network  140 A is shown to include user equipment (UE)  101  and UE  102 . The UEs  101  and  102  are illustrated as smartphones (e.g., handheld touchscreen mobile computing devices connectable to one or more cellular networks) but may also include any mobile or non-mobile computing device, such as Personal Data Assistants (PDAs), pagers, laptop computers, desktop computers, wireless handsets, drones, or any other computing device including a wired and/or wireless communications interface. The UEs  101  and  102  can be collectively referred to herein as UE  101 , and UE  101  can be used to perform one or more of the techniques disclosed herein. 
     Any of the radio links described herein (e.g., as used in the network  140 A or any other illustrated network) may operate according to any exemplary radio communication technology and/or standard. 
     LTE and LTE-Advanced are standards for wireless communications of high-speed data for UE such as mobile telephones. In LTE-Advanced and various wireless systems, carrier aggregation is a technology according to which multiple carrier signals operating on different frequencies may be used to carry communications for a single UE, thus increasing the bandwidth available to a single device. In some aspects, carrier aggregation may be used where one or more component carriers operate on unlicensed frequencies. 
     Aspects described herein can be used in the context of any spectrum management scheme including, for example, dedicated licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, (licensed) shared spectrum (such as Licensed Shared Access (LSA) in 2.3-2.4 GHz, 3.4-3.6 GHz, 3.6-3.8 GHz, and further frequencies and Spectrum Access System (SAS) in 3.55-3.7 GHz and further frequencies). 
     Aspects described herein can also be applied to different Single Carrier or OFDM flavors (CP-OFDM, SC-FDMA, SC-OFDM, filter bank-based multicarrier (FBMC), OFDMA, etc.) and in particular 3GPP NR (New Radio) by allocating the OFDM carrier data bit vectors to the corresponding symbol resources. 
     In some aspects, any of the UEs  101  and  102  can comprise an Internet-of-Things (loT) UE or a Cellular IoT (CIoT) UE, which can comprise a network access layer designed for low-power IoT applications utilizing short-lived UE connections. In some aspects, any of the UEs  101  and  102  can include a narrowband (NB) IoT UE (e.g., such as an enhanced NB-IoT (eNB-IoT) UE and Further Enhanced (FeNB-IoT) UE). An IoT UE can utilize technologies such as machine-to-machine (M2M) or machine-type communications (MTC) for exchanging data with an MTC server or device via a public land mobile network (PLMN), Proximity-Based Service (ProSe), or device-to-device (D2D) communication, sensor networks, or IoT networks. The M2M or MTC exchange of data may be a machine-initiated exchange of data. An IoT network includes interconnecting IoT UEs, which may include uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices (within the Internet infrastructure), with short-lived connections. The IoT UEs may execute background applications (e.g., keep-alive messages, status updates, etc.) to facilitate the connections of the IoT network. 
     In some aspects, any of the UEs  101  and  102  can include enhanced MTC (eMTC) UEs or further enhanced MTC (FeMTC) UEs. 
     The UEs  101  and  102  may be configured to connect, e.g., communicatively couple, with a radio access network (RAN)  110 . The RAN  110  may be, for example, a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), a NextGen RAN (NG RAN), or some other type of RAN. The UEs  101  and  102  utilize connections  103  and  104 , respectively, each of which comprises a physical communications interface or layer (discussed in further detail below); in this example, the connections  103  and  104  are illustrated as an air interface to enable communicative coupling and can be consistent with cellular communications protocols, such as a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) protocol, a code-division multiple access (CDMA) network protocol, a Push-to-Talk (PTT) protocol, a PTT over Cellular (POC) protocol, a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) protocol, a 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) protocol, a fifth-generation (5G) protocol, a New Radio (NR) protocol, and the like. 
     In an aspect, the UEs  101  and  102  may further directly exchange communication data via a ProSe interface  105 . The ProSe interface  105  may alternatively be referred to as a sidelink interface comprising one or more logical channels, including but not limited to a Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH), a Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH), a Physical Sidelink Discovery Channel (PSDCH), and a Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH). 
     The UE  102  is shown to be configured to access an access point (AP)  106  via connection  107 . The connection  107  can comprise a local wireless connection, such as, for example, a connection consistent with any IEEE 802.11 protocol, according to which the AP  106  can comprise a wireless fidelity (WiFi®) router. In this example, the AP  106  is shown to be connected to the Internet without connecting to the core network of the wireless system (described in further detail below). 
     The RAN  110  can include one or more access nodes that enable connections  103  and  104 . These access nodes (ANs) can be referred to as base stations (BSs), NodeBs, evolved NodeBs (eNBs), Next Generation NodeBs (gNBs), RAN network nodes, and the like, and can comprise ground stations (e.g., terrestrial access points) or satellite stations providing coverage within a geographic area (e.g., a cell). In some aspects, the communication nodes  111  and  112  can be transmission/reception points (TRPs). In instances when the communication nodes  111  and  112  are NodeBs (e.g., eNBs or gNBs), one or more TRPs can function within the communication cell of the NodeBs. The RAN  110  may include one or more RAN nodes for providing macrocells, e.g., macro RAN node  111 , and one or more RAN nodes for providing femtocells or picocells (e.g., cells having smaller coverage areas, smaller user capacity, or higher bandwidth compared to macrocells), e.g., low power (LP) RAN node  112  or an unlicensed spectrum based secondary RAN node  112 . 
     Any of the RAN nodes  111  and  112  can terminate the air interface protocol and can be the first point of contact for the UEs  101  and  102 . In some aspects, any of the RAN nodes  111  and  112  can fulfill various logical functions for the RAN  110  including, but not limited to, radio network controller (RNC) functions such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management, and data packet scheduling, and mobility management. In an example, any of the nodes  111  and/or  112  can be a new generation Node-B (gNB), an evolved node-B (eNB), or another type of RAN node. 
     The RAN  110  is shown to be communicatively coupled to a core network (CN)  120  via an S 1  interface  113 . In aspects, the CN  120  may be an evolved packet core (EPC) network, a NextGen Packet Core (NPC) network, or some other type of CN (e.g., as illustrated in reference to  FIGS.  1 B- 1 C ). In this aspect, the S 1  interface  113  is split into two parts: the S 1 -U interface  114 , which carries user traffic data between the RAN nodes  111  and  112  and the serving gateway (S-GW)  122 , and the S 1 -mobility management entity (MME) interface  115 , which is a signaling interface between the RAN nodes  111  and  112  and MMEs  121 . 
     In this aspect, the CN  120  comprises the MMEs  121 , the S-GW  122 , the Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway (P-GW)  123 , and a home subscriber server (HSS)  124 . The MMEs  121  may be similar in function to the control plane of legacy Serving General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Support Nodes (SGSN). The MMEs  121  may manage mobility aspects in access such as gateway selection and tracking area list management. The HSS  124  may comprise a database for network users, including subscription-related information to support the network entities’ handling of communication sessions. The CN  120  may comprise one or several HSSs  124 , depending on the number of mobile subscribers, on the capacity of the equipment, on the organization of the network, etc. For example, the HSS  124  can provide support for routing/roaming, authentication, authorization, naming/addressing resolution, location dependencies, etc. 
     The S-GW  122  may terminate the S 1  interface  113  towards the RAN  110 , and route data packets between the RAN  110  and the CN  120 . In addition, the S-GW  122  may be a local mobility anchor point for inter-RAN node handovers and also may provide an anchor for inter-3GPP mobility. Other responsibilities of the S-GW  122  may include lawful intercept, charging, and some policy enforcement. 
     The P-GW  123  may terminate an SGi interface toward a PDN. The P-GW  123  may route data packets between the EPC network  120  and external networks such as a network including the application server  184  (alternatively referred to as application function (AF)) via an Internet Protocol (IP) interface  125 . The P-GW  123  can also communicate data to other external networks  131 A, which can include the Internet, IP multimedia subsystem (IPS) network, and other networks. Generally, the application server  184  may be an element offering applications that use IP bearer resources with the core network (e.g., UMTS Packet Services (PS) domain, LTE PS data services, etc.). In this aspect, the P-GW  123  is shown to be communicatively coupled to an application server  184  via an IP interface  125 . The application server  184  can also be configured to support one or more communication services (e.g., Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) sessions, PTT sessions, group communication sessions, social networking services, etc.) for the UEs  101  and  102  via the CN  120 . 
     The P-GW  123  may further be a node for policy enforcement and charging data collection. Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF)  126  is the policy and charging control element of the CN  120 . In a non-roaming scenario, in some aspects, there may be a single PCRF in the Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN) associated with a UE’s Internet Protocol Connectivity Access Network (IP-CAN) session. In a roaming scenario with a local breakout of traffic, there may be two PCRFs associated with a UE’s IP-CAN session: a Home PCRF (H-PCRF) within an HPLMN and a Visited PCRF (V-PCRF) within a Visited Public Land Mobile Network (VPLMN). The PCRF  126  may be communicatively coupled to the application server  184  via the P-GW  123 . 
     In some aspects, the communication network  140 A can be an IoT network or a 5G network, including a 5G new radio network using communications in the licensed (5G NR) and the unlicensed (5G NR-U) spectrum. One of the current enablers of IoT is the narrowband-loT (NB-IoT). 
     An NG system architecture can include the RAN  110  and a 5G network core (5GC)  120 . The NG-RAN  110  can include a plurality of nodes, such as gNBs and NG-eNBs. The core network  120  (e.g., a 5G core network or 5GC) can include an access and mobility function (AMF) and/or a user plane function (UPF). The AMF and the UPF can be communicatively coupled to the gNBs and the NG-eNBs via NG interfaces. More specifically, in some aspects, the gNBs and the NG-eNBs can be connected to the AMF by NG-C interfaces, and to the UPF by NG-U interfaces. The gNBs and the NG-eNBs can be coupled to each other via Xn interfaces. 
     In some aspects, the NG system architecture can use reference points between various nodes as provided by 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 23.501 (e.g., V15.4.0, 2018-12). In some aspects, each of the gNBs and the NG-eNBs can be implemented as a base station, a mobile edge server, a small cell, a home eNB, a RAN network node, and so forth. In some aspects, a gNB can be a master node (MN) and NG-eNB can be a secondary node (SN) in a 5G architecture. In some aspects, the master/primary node may operate in a licensed band and the secondary node may operate in an unlicensed band. 
       FIG.  1 B  illustrates a non-roaming 5G system architecture in accordance with some aspects. Referring to  FIG.  1 B , there is illustrated a 5G system architecture  140 B in a reference point representation. More specifically, UE  102  can be in communication with RAN  110  as well as one or more other 5G core (5GC) network entities. The 5G system architecture  140 B includes a plurality of network functions (NFs), such as access and mobility management function (AMF)  132 , session management function (SMF)  136 , policy control function (PCF)  148 , application function (AF)  150 , user plane function (UPF)  134 , network slice selection function (NSSF)  142 , authentication server function (AUSF)  144 , and unified data management (UDM)/home subscriber server (HSS)  146 . The UPF  134  can provide a connection to a data network (DN)  152 , which can include, for example, operator services, Internet access, or third-party services. The AMF  132  can be used to manage access control and mobility and can also include network slice selection functionality. The SMF  136  can be configured to set up and manage various sessions according to network policy. The UPF  134  can be deployed in one or more configurations according to the desired service type. The PCF  148  can be configured to provide a policy framework using network slicing, mobility management, and roaming (similar to PCRF in a 4G communication system). The UDM can be configured to store subscriber profiles and data (similar to an HSS in a 4G communication system). 
     In some aspects, the 5G system architecture  140 B includes an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS)  168 B as well as a plurality of IP multimedia core network subsystem entities, such as call session control functions (CSCFs). More specifically, the IMS  168 B includes a CSCF, which can act as a proxy CSCF (P-CSCF) 162BE, a serving CSCF (S-CSCF)  164 B, an emergency CSCF (E-CSCF) (not illustrated in  FIG.  1 B ), or interrogating CSCF (I-CSCF)  166 B. The P-CSCF  162 B can be configured to be the first contact point for the UE  102  within the IM subsystem (IMS)  168 B. The S-CSCF  164 B can be configured to handle the session states in the network, and the E-CSCF can be configured to handle certain aspects of emergency sessions such as routing an emergency request to the correct emergency center or PSAP. The I-CSCF  166 B can be configured to function as the contact point within an operator’s network for all IMS connections destined to a subscriber of that network operator, or a roaming subscriber currently located within that network operator’s service area. In some aspects, the I-CSCF  166 B can be connected to another IP multimedia network  170 E, e.g. an IMS operated by a different network operator. 
     In some aspects, the UDM/HSS  146  can be coupled to an application server  160 E, which can include a telephony application server (TAS) or another application server (AS). The AS  160 B can be coupled to the IMS  168 B via the S-CSCF  164 B or the I-CSCF  166 B. 
     A reference point representation shows that interaction can exist between corresponding NF services. For example,  FIG.  1 B  illustrates the following reference points: N 1  (between the UE  102  and the AMF  132 ), N 2  (between the RAN  110  and the AMF  132 ), N 3  (between the RAN  110  and the UPF  134 ), N 4  (between the SMF  136  and the UPF  134 ), N 5  (between the PCF  148  and the AF  150 , not shown), N 6  (between the UPF  134  and the DN  152 ), N 7  (between the SMF  136  and the PCF  148 , not shown), N 8  (between the UDM  146  and the AMF  132 , not shown), N 9  (between two UPFs  134 , not shown), N 10  (between the UDM  146  and the SMF  136 , not shown), N 11  (between the AMF  132  and the SMF  136 , not shown), N 12  (between the AUSF  144  and the AMF  132 , not shown), N 13  (between the AUSF  144  and the UDM  146 , not shown), N 14  (between two AMFs  132 , not shown), N 15  (between the PCF  148  and the AMF  132  in case of a non-roaming scenario, or between the PCF  148  and a visited network and AMF  132  in case of a roaming scenario, not shown), N 16  (between two SMFs, not shown), and N 22  (between AMF  132  and NSSF  142 , not shown). Other reference point representations not shown in  FIG.  1 B  can also be used. 
       FIG.  1 C  illustrates a 5G system architecture  140 C and a service-based representation. In addition to the network entities illustrated in  FIG.  1 B , system architecture  140 C can also include a network exposure function (NEF)  154  and a network repository function (NRF)  156 . In some aspects, 5G system architectures can be service-based and interaction between network functions can be represented by corresponding point-to-point reference points Ni or as service-based interfaces. 
     In some aspects, as illustrated in  FIG.  1 C , service-based representations can be used to represent network functions within the control plane that enable other authorized network functions to access their services. In this regard, 5G system architecture  140 C can include the following service-based interfaces: Namf  158 H (a service-based interface exhibited by the AMF  132 ), Nsmf  158 I (a service-based interface exhibited by the SMF  136 ), Nnef  158 B (a service-based interface exhibited by the NEF  154 ), Npcf  158 D (a service-based interface exhibited by the PCF  148 ), a Nudm  158 E (a service-based interface exhibited by the UDM  146 ), Naf  158 F (a service-based interface exhibited by the AF  150 ), Nnrf  158 C (a service-based interface exhibited by the NRF  156 ), Nnssf  158 A (a service-based interface exhibited by the NSSF  142 ), Nausf  158 G (a service-based interface exhibited by the AUSF  144 ). Other service-based interfaces (e.g., Nudr, N5g-eir, and Nudsf) not shown in  FIG.  1 C  can also be used. 
       FIG.  2   ,  FIG.  3   , and  FIG.  4    illustrate various systems, devices, and components that may implement aspects of disclosed embodiments. 
       FIG.  2    illustrates a network  200  in accordance with various embodiments. The network  200  may operate in a manner consistent with 3GPP technical specifications for LTE or 5G/NR systems. However, the example embodiments are not limited in this regard and the described embodiments may apply to other networks that benefit from the principles described herein, such as future 3GPP systems, or the like. 
     The network  200  may include a UE  202 , which may include any mobile or non-mobile computing device designed to communicate with a RAN  204  via an over-the-air connection. The UE  202  may be, but is not limited to, a smartphone, tablet computer, wearable computing device, desktop computer, laptop computer, in-vehicle infotainment, in-car entertainment device, instrument cluster, head-up display device, onboard diagnostic device, dashtop mobile equipment, mobile data terminal, electronic engine management system, electronic/engine control unit, electronic/engine control module, embedded system, sensor, microcontroller, control module, engine management system, networked appliance, machine-type communication device, M2M or D2D device, IoT device, etc. 
     In some embodiments, the network  200  may include a plurality of UEs coupled directly with one another via a sidelink interface. The UEs may be M2M/D2D devices that communicate using physical sidelink channels such as but not limited to, PSBCH, PSDCH, PSSCH, PSCCH, PSFCH, etc. 
     In some embodiments, the UE  202  may additionally communicate with an AP  206  via an over-the-air connection. The AP  206  may manage a WLAN connection, which may serve to offload some/all network traffic from the RAN  204 . The connection between the UE  202  and the AP  206  may be consistent with any IEEE 802.11 protocol, wherein the AP  206  could be a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi®) router. In some embodiments, the UE  202 , RAN  204 , and AP  206  may utilize cellular-WLAN aggregation (for example, LWA/LWIP). Cellular-WLAN aggregation may involve the UE  202  being configured by the RAN  204  to utilize both cellular radio resources and WLAN resources. 
     The RAN  204  may include one or more access nodes, for example, access node (AN)  208 . AN  208  may terminate air-interface protocols for the UE  202  by providing access stratum protocols including RRC, Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP), Radio Link Control (RLC), MAC, and L1 protocols. In this manner, the AN  208  may enable data/voice connectivity between the core network (CN)  220  and the UE  202 . In some embodiments, the AN  208  may be implemented in a discrete device or as one or more software entities running on server computers as part of, for example, a virtual network, which may be referred to as a CRAN or virtual baseband unit pool. The AN  208  be referred to as a BS, gNB, RAN node, eNB, ng-eNB, NodeB, RSU, TRxP, TRP, etc. The AN  208  may be a macrocell base station or a low-power base station for providing femtocells, picocells, or other like cells having smaller coverage areas, smaller user capacity, or higher bandwidth compared to macrocells. 
     In embodiments in which the RAN  204  includes a plurality of ANs, they may be coupled with one another via an X2 interface (if the RAN  204  is an LTE RAN) or an Xn interface (if the RAN  204  is a 5G RAN). The X2/Xn interfaces, which may be separated into control/user plane interfaces in some embodiments, may allow the ANs to communicate information related to handovers, data/context transfers, mobility, load management, interference coordination, etc. 
     The ANs of the RAN  204  may each manage one or more cells, cell groups, component carriers, etc. to provide the UE  202  with an air interface for network access. The UE  202  may be simultaneously connected with a plurality of cells provided by the same or different ANs of the RAN  204 . For example, the UE  202  and RAN  204  may use carrier aggregation to allow the UE  202  to connect with a plurality of component carriers, each corresponding to a Pcell or Scell In dual connectivity scenarios, a first AN may be a master node that provides an MCG and a second AN may be a secondary node that provides an SCG. The first/second ANs may be any combination of eNB, gNB, ng-eNB, etc. 
     The RAN  204  may provide the air interface over a licensed spectrum or an unlicensed spectrum. To operate in the unlicensed spectrum, the nodes may use LAA, eLAA, and/or feLAA mechanisms based on CA technology with PCells/Scells. Before accessing the unlicensed spectrum, the nodes may perform medium/carrier-sensing operations based on, for example, a listen-before-talk (LBT) protocol. 
     In V2X scenarios, the UE  202  or AN  208  may be or act as a roadside unit (RSU), which may refer to any transportation infrastructure entity used for V2X communications. An RSU may be implemented in or by a suitable AN or a stationary (or relatively stationary) UE. An RSU implemented in or by: a UE may be referred to as a “UE-type RSU”; an eNB may be referred to as an “eNB-type RSU”; a gNB may be referred to as a “gNB-type RSU”; and the like. In one example, an RSU is a computing device coupled with radio frequency circuitry located on a roadside that provides connectivity support to passing vehicle UEs. The RSU may also include internal data storage circuitry to store intersection map geometry, traffic statistics, media, as well as application s/software to sense and control ongoing vehicular and pedestrian traffic. The RSU may provide very low latency communications required for high-speed events, such as crash avoidance, traffic warnings, and the like. Additionally, or alternatively, the RSU may provide other cellular/WLAN communications services. The components of the RSU may be packaged in a weatherproof enclosure suitable for outdoor installation and may include a network interface controller to provide a wired connection (e.g., Ethernet) to a traffic signal controller or a backhaul network. 
     In some embodiments, the RAN  204  may be an LTE RAN  210  with eNBs, for example, eNB  212 . The LTE RAN  210  may provide an LTE air interface with the following characteristics: sub-carrier spacing (SCS) of 15 kHz, CP-OFDM waveform for downlink (DL) and SC-FDMA waveform for uplink (UL); turbo codes for data and TBCC for control; etc. The LTE air interface may rely on CSI-RS for CSI acquisition and beam management; PDSCH/PDCCH DMRS for PDSCH/PDCCH demodulation; and CRS for cell search and initial acquisition, channel quality measurements, and channel estimation for coherent demodulation/detection at the UE. The LTE air interface may operate on sub-6 GHz bands. 
     In some embodiments, the RAN  204  may be an NG-RAN  214  with gNBs, for example, gNB  216 , or ng-eNBs, for example, ng-eNB  218 . The gNB  216  may connect with 5G-enabled UEs using a 5G NR interface. The gN-B  216  may connect with a 5G core through an NG interface, which may include an N 2  interface or an N 3  interface. The ng-eNB  218  may also connect with the 5G core through an NG interface but may connect with a UE via an LTE air interface. The gNB  216  and the ng-eNB  218  may connect over an Xn interface. 
     In some embodiments, the NG interface may be split into two parts, an NG user plane (NG-U) interface, which carries traffic data between the nodes of the NG-RAN  214  and a UPF  248  (e.g., N 3  interface), and an NG control plane (NG-C) interface, which is a signaling interface between the nodes of the NG-RAN  214  and an AMF  244  (e.g., N 2  interface). 
     The NG-RAN  214  may provide a 5G-NR air interface with the following characteristics: variable SCS; CP-OFDM for DL, CP-OFDM and DFT -s-OFDM for UL; polar, repetition, simplex, and Reed-Muller codes for control and LDPC for data. The 5G-NR air interface may rely on CSI-RS, PDSCH/PDCCH DMRS similar to the LTE air interface. The 5G-NR air interface may not use a CRS but may use PBCH DMRS for PBCH demodulation; PTRS for phase tracking for PDSCH and tracking reference signal for time tracking. The 5G-NR air interface may operate on FR1 bands that include sub-6 GHz bands or FR2 bands that include bands from 24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz. The 5G-NR air interface may include an SSB that is an area of a downlink resource grid that includes PSS/SSS/PBCH. 
     In some embodiments, the 5G-NR air interface may utilize BWPs (bandwidth parts) for various purposes. For example, BWP can be used for dynamic adaptation of the SCS. For example, the UE  202  can be configured with multiple BWPs where each BWP configuration has a different SCS. When a BWP change is indicated to the UE  202 , the SCS of the transmission is changed as well. Another use case example of BWP is related to power saving. In particular, multiple BWPs can be configured for the UE  202  with different amounts of frequency resources (for example, PRBs) to support data transmission under different traffic loading scenarios. A BWP containing a smaller number of PRBs can be used for data transmission with a small traffic load while allowing power saving at the UE  202  and in some cases at the gNB  216 . A BWP containing a larger number of PRBs can be used for scenarios with higher traffic loads. 
     The RAN  204  is communicatively coupled to CN  220  that includes network elements to provide various functions to support data and telecommunications services to customers/subscribers (for example, users of UE  202 ). The components of the CN  220  may be implemented in one physical node or separate physical nodes. In some embodiments, NFV may be utilized to virtualize any or all of the functions provided by the network elements of the CN  220  onto physical compute/storage resources in servers, switches, etc. A logical instantiation of the CN  220  may be referred to as a network slice, and a logical instantiation of a portion of the CN  220  may be referred to as a network sub-slice. 
     In some embodiments, the CN  220  may be connected to the LTE radio network as part of the Enhanced Packet System (EPS)  222 , which may also be referred to as an EPC (or enhanced packet core). The EPC  222  may include MME  224 , SGW  226 , SGSN  228 , HSS  230 , PGW  232 , and PCRF  234  coupled with one another over interfaces (or “reference points”) as shown. Functions of the elements of the EPC  222  may be briefly introduced as follows. 
     The MME.  224  may implement mobility management functions to track the current location of the UE  202  to facilitate paging, bearer activation/deactivation, handovers, gateway selection, authentication, etc. 
     The SGW  226  may terminate an S 1  interface toward the RAN and route data packets between the RAN and the EPC  222 . The SGW  226  may be a local mobility anchor point for inter-RAN node handovers and also may provide an anchor for inter-3GPP mobility. Other responsibilities may include lawful intercept, charging, and some policy enforcement. 
     The SGSN  228  may track the location of the UE  202  and perform security functions and access control. In addition, the SGSN  228  may perform inter-EPC node signaling for mobility between different RAT networks; PDN and S-GW selection as specified by MME  224 ; MME selection for handovers; etc. The S3 reference point between the MME  224  and the SGSN  228  may enable user and bearer information exchange for inter-3 GPP access network mobility in idle/active states. 
     The HSS  230  may include a database for network users, including subscription-related information to support the network entities’ handling of communication sessions. The HSS  230  can provide support for routing/roaming, authentication, authorization, naming/addressing resolution, location dependencies, etc. An S 6   a  reference point between the HSS  230  and the MME  224  may enable the transfer of subscription and authentication data for authenticating/authorizing user access to the LTE CN  220 . 
     The PGW  232  may terminate an SGi interface toward a data network (DN.)  236  that may include an application/content server  238 . The PGW  232  may route data packets between the LTE CN  222  and the data network  236 . The PGW  232  may be coupled with the SGW  226  by an S5 reference point to facilitate user plane tunneling and tunnel management. The PGW  232  may further include a node for policy enforcement and charging data collection (for example, PCEF). Additionally, the SGi reference point between the PGW  232  and the data network  236  may be an operator external public, a private PDN, or an intra-operator packet data network, for example, for provision of IMS services. The PGW  232  may be coupled with a PCRF  234  via a Gx reference point. 
     The PCRF  234  is the policy and charging control element of the LTE CN  222 . The PCRF  234  may be communicatively coupled to the app/content server  238  to determine appropriate QoS and charging parameters for service flows. The PCRF  232  may provision associated rules into a PCEF (via Gx reference point) with appropriate TFT and QCI. 
     In some embodiments, the CN  220  may be a 5GC  240 . The 5GC  240  may include an AUSF  242 , AMF  244 , SMF  246 , UPF  248 , NSSF  250 , NEF  252 , NRF  254 , PCF  256 , UDM  258 , and AF  260  coupled with one another over interfaces (or “reference points”) as shown. Functions of the elements of the 5GC  240  may be briefly introduced as follows. 
     The AUSF  242  may store data for authentication of UE  202  and handle authentication-related functionality. The AUSF  242  may facilitate a common authentication framework for various access types. In addition to communicating with other elements of the 5GC  240  over reference points as shown, the AUSF  242  may exhibit a Nausf service-based interface. 
     The AMF  244  may allow other functions of the 5GC  240  to communicate with the UE  202  and the RAN  204  and to subscribe to notifications about mobility events with respect to the UE  202 . The AMF  244  may be responsible for registration management (for example, for registering UE  202 ), connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception of AMF-related events, and access authentication and authorization. The AMF  244  may provide transport for SM messages between the UE  202  and the SMF  246 , and act as a transparent proxy for routing SM messages. AMF  244  may also provide transport for SMS messages between UE  202  and an SMSF. AMF  244  may interact with the AUSF  242  and the UE  202  to perform various security anchor and context management functions. Furthermore, AMF  244  may be a termination point of a RAN CP interface, which may include or be an N 2  reference point between the RAN  204  and the AMF  244 ; and the AMF  244  may be a termination point of NAS (N 1 ) signaling, and perform NAS ciphering and integrity protection. AMF  244  may also support NAS signaling with the UE  202  over an N 3  IWF interface. 
     The SMF  246  may be responsible for SM: (for example, session establishment, tunnel management between UPF  248  and AN  208 ); UE IP address allocation and management (including optional authorization); selection and control of UP function; configuring traffic steering at UPF  248  to route traffic to proper destination; termination of interfaces toward policy control functions; controlling part of policy enforcement, charging, and QoS., lawful intercept (for SM events and interface to LI system); termination of SM parts of NAS messages; downlink data notification; initiating AN specific SM information, sent via AMF  244  over N 2  to AN  208 , and determining SSC mode of a session. SM may refer to the management of a PDU session, and a PDU session or “session” may refer to a PDU connectivity service that provides or enables the exchange of PDUs between the UE  202  and the data network  236 . 
     The UPF  248  may act as an anchor point for intra-RAT and inter-RAT mobility, an external PDU session point of interconnecting to data network  236 , and a branching point to support multi-homed PDU sessions. The UPF  248  may also perform packet routing and forwarding, perform packet inspection, enforce the user plane part of policy rules, lawfully intercept packets (UP collection), perform traffic usage reporting, perform QoS handling for a user plane (e.g., packet filtering, gating, UL/DL rate enforcement), perform uplink traffic verification (e.g., SDF-to-QoS flow mapping), transport level packet marking in the uplink and downlink, and perform downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering. UPF  248  may include an uplink classifier to support routing traffic flows to a data network. 
     The NSSF  250  may select a set of network slice instances serving the UE  202 . The NSSF  250  may also determine allowed NSSAI and the mapping to the subscribed S-NSSAIs if needed. The NSSF  250  may also determine the AMF set to be used to serve the UE  202 , or a list of candidate AMFs based on a suitable configuration and possibly by querying the NRF  254 . The selection of a set of network slice instances for the UE  202  may be triggered by the AMF  244  with which the UE  202  is registered by interacting with the NSSF  250 , which may lead to a change of AMF. The NSSF  250  may interact with the AMF  244  via an N 22  reference point; and may communicate with another NSSF in a visited network via an N 31  reference point (not shown). Additionally, the NSSF  250  may exhibit an Nnssf service-based interface. 
     The NEF  252  may securely expose services and capabilities provided by 3GPP network functions for the third party, internal exposure/re-exposure, AFs (e.g., AF  260 ), edge computing or fog computing systems, etc. In such embodiments, the NEF  252  may authenticate, authorize, or throttle the AFs. NEF  252  may also translate information exchanged with the AF  260  and information exchanged with internal network functions. For example, the NEF  252  may translate between an AF-Service-Identifier and an internal 5GC information. NEF  252  may also receive information from other NFs based on the exposed capabilities of other NFs. This information may be stored at the NEF  252  as structured data, or a data storage NF using standardized interfaces. The stored information can then be re-exposed by the NEF  252  to other NFs and AFs, or used for other purposes such as analytics. Additionally, the NEF  252  may exhibit a Nnef service-based interface. 
     The NRF  254  may support service discovery functions, receive NF discovery requests from NF instances, and provide the information of the discovered NF instances to the NF instances. NRF  254  also maintains information on available NF instances and their supported services. As used herein, the terms “instantiate,” “instantiation,” and the like may refer to the creation of an instance, and an “instance” may refer to a concrete occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, during the execution of program code. Additionally, the NRF  254  may exhibit the Nnrf service-based interface. 
     The PCF  256  may provide policy rules to control plane functions to enforce them, and may also support a unified policy framework to govern network behavior. The PCF  256  may also implement a front end to access subscription information relevant for policy decisions in a UDR of the UDM  258 . In addition to communicating with functions over reference points as shown, the PCF  256  exhibits an Npcf service-based interface. 
     The UDM  258  may handle subscription-related information to support the network entities’ handling of communication sessions and may store the subscription data of UE  202 . For example, subscription data may be communicated via an N 8  reference point between the UDM  258  and the AMF  244 . The UDM  258  may include two parts, an application front end, and a UDR. The UDR may store subscription data and policy data for the UDM  258  and the PCF  256 , and/or structured data for exposure and application data (including PFDs for application detection, application request information for multiple UEs  202 ) for the NEF  252 . The Nudr service-based interface may be exhibited by the UDR  221  to allow the UDM  258 , PCF  256 , and NEF  252  to access a particular set of the stored data, as well as to read, update (e.g., add, modify), delete, and subscribe to the notification of relevant data changes in the UDR. The UDM may include a UDM-FE, which is in charge of processing credentials, location management, subscription management, and so on. Several different front ends may serve the same user in different transactions. The UDM-FE accesses subscription information stored in the UDR and performs authentication credential processing, user identification handling, access authorization, registration/mobility management, and subscription management. In addition to communicating with other NFs over reference points as shown, the UDM  258  may exhibit the Nudm service-based interface. 
     The AF  260  may provide application influence on traffic routing, provide access to NEF, and interact with the policy framework for policy control. 
     In some embodiments, the 5GC  240  may enable edge computing by selecting operator/3rd party services to be geographically close to a point that the UE  202  is attached to the network. This may reduce latency and load on the network. To provide edge-computing implementations, the 5GC  240  may select a UPF  248  close to the UE  202  and execute traffic steering from the UPF  248  to data network  236  via the N 6  interface. This may be based on the UE subscription data, UE location, and information provided by the AF  260 . In this way, the AF  260  may influence UPF (re)selection and traffic routing. Based on operator deployment, when AF  260  is considered to be a trusted entity, the network operator may permit AF  260  to interact directly with relevant NFs. Additionally, the AF  260  may exhibit a Naf service-based interface. 
     The data network  236  may represent various network operator services, Internet access, or third-party services that may be provided by one or more servers including, for example, application/content server  238 . 
       FIG.  3    schematically illustrates a wireless network  300  in accordance with various embodiments. The wireless network  300  may include a UE  302  in wireless communication with AN  304 . The UE  302  and AN  304  may be similar to, and substantially interchangeable with, like-named components described elsewhere herein. 
     The UE  302  may be communicatively coupled with the AN  304  via connection  306 . The connection  306  is illustrated as an air interface to enable communicative coupling and can be consistent with cellular communications protocols such as an LTE protocol or a 5G NR protocol operating at mmWave or sub-6 GHz frequencies. 
     The UE  302  may include a host platform  308  coupled with a modem platform  310 . The host platform  308  may include application processing circuitry  312 , which may be coupled with protocol processing circuitry  314  of the modem platform  310 . The application processing circuitry  312  may run various applications for the UE  302  that source/sink application data. The application processing circuitry  312  may further implement one or more layer operations to transmit/receive application data to/from a data network. These layer operations may include transport (for example UDP) and Internet (for example, IP) operations 
     The protocol processing circuitry  314  may implement one or more layer operations to facilitate transmission or reception of data over the connection  306 . The layer operations implemented by the protocol processing circuitry  314  may include, for example, MAC, RLC, PDCP, RRC, and NAS operations. 
     The modem platform  310  may further include digital baseband circuitry  316  that may implement one or more layer operations that are “below” layer operations performed by the protocol processing circuitry  314  in a network protocol stack. These operations may include, for example, PHY operations including one or more of HARQ-ACK functions, scrambling/descrambling, encoding/decoding, layer mapping/de-mapping, modulation symbol mapping, received symbol/bit metric determination, multi-antenna port precoding/decoding, which may include one or more of space-time, space-frequency or spatial coding, reference signal generation/detection, preamble sequence generation and/or decoding, synchronization sequence generation/detection, control channel signal blind decoding, and other related functions. 
     The modem platform  310  may further include transmit circuitry  318 , receive circuitry  320 , RF circuitry  322 , and RF front end (RFFE)  324 , which may include or connect to one or more antenna panels  326 . Briefly, the transmit circuitry  318  may include a digital-to-analog converter, mixer, intermediate frequency (IF) components, etc.; the receive circuitry  320  may include an analog-to-digital converter, mixer, IF components, etc.; the RF circuitry  322  may include a low-noise amplifier, a power amplifier, power tracking components, etc.; RFFE  324  may include filters (for example, surface/bulk acoustic wave filters), switches, antenna tuners, beamforming components (for example, phase-array antenna components), etc. The selection and arrangement of the components of the transmit circuitry  318 , receive circuitry  320 , RF circuitry  322 , RFFE  324 , and antenna panels  326  (referred generically as “transmit/receive components”) may be specific to details of a specific implementation such as, for example, whether the communication is TDM or FDM, in mmWave or sub-6 GHz frequencies, etc. In some embodiments, the transmit/receive components may be arranged in multiple parallel transmit/receive chains, may be disposed of in the same or different chips/modules, etc. 
     In some embodiments, the protocol processing circuitry  314  may include one or more instances of control circuitry (not shown) to provide control functions for the transmit/receive components. 
     A UE reception may be established by and via the antenna panels  326 , RFFE  324 , RF circuitry  322 , receive circuitry  320 , digital baseband circuitry  316 , and protocol processing circuitry  314 . In some embodiments, the antenna panels  326  may receive a transmission from the AN  304  by receive-beamforming signals received by a plurality of antennas/antenna elements of the one or more antenna panels  326 . 
     A UE transmission may be established by and via the protocol processing circuitry  314 , digital baseband circuitry  316 , transmit circuitry  318 , RF circuitry  322 , RFFE  324 , and antenna panels  326 . In some embodiments, the transmit components of the UE  304  may apply a spatial filter to the data to be transmitted to form a transmit beam emitted by the antenna elements of the antenna panels  326 . 
     Similar to the UE  302 , the AN  304  may include a host platform  328  coupled with a modem platform  330 . The host platform  328  may include application processing circuitry  332  coupled with protocol processing circuitry  334  of the modem platform  330 . The modem platform may further include digital baseband circuitry  336 , transmit circuitry  338 , receive circuitry  340 , RF circuitry  342 , RFFE circuitry  344 , and antenna panels  346 . The components of the AN  304  may be similar to and substantially interchangeable with like-named components of the UE  302 . In addition to performing data transmission/reception as described above, the components of the AN  308  may perform various logical functions that include, for example, RNC functions such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management, and data packet scheduling. 
       FIG.  4    is a block diagram illustrating components, according to some example embodiments, able to read instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. Specifically,  FIG.  4    shows a diagrammatic representation of hardware resources  400  including one or more processors (or processor cores)  410 , one or more memory/storage devices  420 , and one or more communication resources  430 , each of which may be communicatively coupled via a bus  440  or other interface circuitry. For embodiments where node virtualization (e.g., NFV) is utilized, a hypervisor  402  may be executed to provide an execution environment for one or more network slices/sub-slices to utilize the hardware resources  400 . 
     The processors  410  may include, for example, a processor  412  and a processor  414 . The processors  410  may be, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processor, a complex instruction set computing (CISC) processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a DSP such as a baseband processor, an ASIC, an FPGA, a radiofrequency integrated circuit (RFIC), another processor (including those discussed herein), or any suitable combination thereof. 
     The memory/storage devices  420  may include a main memory, disk storage, or any suitable combination thereof. The memory/storage devices  420  may include but are not limited to, any type of volatile, non-volatile, or semi-volatile memory such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), Flash memory, solid-state storage, etc. 
     The communication resources  430  may include interconnection or network interface controllers, components, or other suitable devices to communicate with one or more peripheral devices  404  or one or more databases  406  or other network elements via a network  408 . For example, the communication resources  430  may include wired communication components (e.g., for coupling via USB, Ethernet, etc.), cellular communication components, NFC components, Bluetooth® (or Bluetooth® Low Energy) components, Wi-Fi® components, and other communication components. 
     Instructions  450  may comprise software, a program, an application, an applet, an app, or other executable code for causing at least any of the processors  410  to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. The instructions  450  may reside, completely or partially, within at least one of the processors  410  (e.g., within the processor’s cache memory), the memory/storage devices  420 , or any suitable combination thereof. Furthermore, any portion of the instructions  450  may be transferred to the hardware resources  400  from any combination of the peripheral devices  404  or the databases  406 . Accordingly, the memory of processors  410 , the memory/storage devices  420 , the peripheral devices  404 , and the databases  406  are examples of computer-readable and machine-readable media. 
     For one or more embodiments, at least one of the components outlined in one or more of the preceding figures may be configured to perform one or more operations, techniques, processes, and/or methods as outlined in the example sections below. For example, the baseband circuitry as described above in connection with one or more of the preceding figures may be configured to operate in accordance with one or more of the examples set forth below. For another example, circuitry associated with a UE, base station, network element, etc. as described above in connection with one or more of the preceding figures may be configured to operate in accordance with one or more of the examples set forth below in the example section. 
     The term “application” may refer to a complete and deployable package, environment to achieve a certain function in an operational environment. The term “AI/ML application” or the like may be an application that contains some artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning (ML) models and application-level descriptions. In some embodiments, an AI/ML application may be used for configuring or implementing one or more of the di sclosed aspects. 
     The term “machine learning” or “ML” refers to the use of computer systems implementing algorithms and/or statistical models to perform a specific task(s) without using explicit instructions but instead relying on patterns and inferences. ML algorithms build or estimate mathematical model(s) (referred to as “ML models” or the like) based on sample data (referred to as “training data,” “model training information,” or the like) to make predictions or decisions without being explicitly programmed to perform such tasks. Generally, an ML algorithm is a computer program that learns from experience with respect to some task and some performance measure, and an ML model may be any object or data structure created after an ML algorithm is trained with one or more training datasets. After training, an ML model may be used to make predictions on new datasets. Although the term “ML algorithm” refers to different concepts than the term “ML model,” these terms as discussed herein may be used interchangeably for the present disclosure. 
     The term “machine learning model,” “ML model,” or the like may also refer to ML methods and concepts used by an ML-assisted solution. An “ML-assisted solution” is a solution that addresses a specific use case using ML algorithms during operation. ML models include supervised learning (e.g., linear regression, k-nearest neighbor (KNN), decision tree algorithms, support machine vectors, Bayesian algorithm, ensemble algorithms, etc.) unsupervised learning (e.g., K-means clustering, principle component analysis (PCA), etc.), reinforcement learning (e.g., Q-learning, multi-armed bandit learning, deep RL, etc.), neural networks, and the like. Depending on the implementation a specific ML, model could have many sub-models as components and the ML, model may train all sub-models together. Separately trained ML models can also be chained together in an ML pipeline during inference. An “ML pipeline” is a set of functionalities, functions, or functional entities specific for an ML-assisted solution; an ML pipeline may include one or several data sources in a data pipeline, a model training pipeline, a model evaluation pipeline, and an actor. The “actor” is an entity that hosts an ML-assisted solution using the output of the ML model inference). The term “ML training host” refers to an entity, such as a network function, that hosts the training of the model. The term “ML inference host” refers to an entity, such as a network function, that hosts the model during inference mode (which includes both the model execution as well as any online learning if applicable). The ML-host informs the actor about the output of the ML algorithm, and the actor decides for an action (an “action” is performed by an actor as a result of the output of an ML-assisted solution). The term “model inference information” refers to information used as an input to the ML model for determining inference(s); the data used to train an ML model and the data used to determine inferences may overlap, however, “training data” and “inference data” refer to different concepts. 
     Mobile communications have evolved significantly from early voice systems to today’s highly sophisticated integrated communication platforms. The next generation wireless communication system, 5G, or new radio (NR) will provide access to information and sharing of data anywhere, anytime by various users and applications. NR is expected to be a unified network/system that targets to meet vastly different and sometimes conflicting performance dimensions and services. Such diverse multi-dimensional requirements are driven by different services and applications. In general, NR evolves based on 3GPP LTE-Advanced with additional potential new Radio Access Technologies (RATs) to enrich people’s lives with better, simple, and seamless wireless connectivity solutions. NR may enable wireless communications and deliver fast, rich content and services. 
     To further improve the capabilities of NR, the disclosed techniques may be used for enabling NR in the communication band between 52.6 GHz and 71 GHz, including implementing changes to NR using downlink (DL)/uplink (UL) NR waveforms to support operation between 52. 6 GHz and 71 GHz. Other considerations when using the disclosed techniques include a study of applicable numerology including subcarrier spacing, channel bandwidth (BW) (including maximum BW), and their impact on frequency range 2 (FR2) physical (PHY) layer design to support system functionality considering practical radio frequency (RF) impairments and identifying potential criticalities to physical signal/channels if any. Additional considerations when using the disclosed techniques include a study of channel access mechanism, considering potential interference to/from other nodes, assuming beam-based operation to comply with the regulatory requirements applicable to unlicensed spectrum for frequencies between 52.6 GHz and 71 GHz. In some aspects, if a potential interference impact is identified, the disclosed techniques may further include interference mitigation solutions as part of the channel access mechanism. 
     In some embodiments, the disclosed techniques are used to allow NR to operate also in the unlicensed bands, which are available worldwide in the band of 52.6 GHz - 71 GHz. For example, for the regions belonging to ITU Region 1, additional guidance for conformance tests and compliance with the regulatory requirements are available within the ETSI BRAN EN 302 567 (2017) specification, which is part of the harmonized standards created under standardization requests from the European Commission. Within the present disclosure, listen before talk (LBT) may always be used under all circumstances. 
     In some embodiments, the LBT procedure may be performed as follows: 
     (A) Before a single transmission or a burst of transmissions on an operating channel, the equipment (e.g., a UE) that initiates transmission may perform a Clear Channel Assessment (CCA) check in the operating channel. 
     (B) If the UE detects the operating channel is occupied, the UE refrains from transmission in that channel and it does not enable other equipment(s) to transmit in that channel. If the CCA procedure has determined the channel to be no longer occupied and transmission was deferred for the number of empty slots defined by the CCA check procedure, the UE may resume transmissions or enable other equipment to transmit on this channel. 
     (C) The equipment that initiates transmission shall perform the CCA check using “energy detect” techniques. The operating channel may be considered occupied for a slot time of 5 µs if the energy level in the channel exceeds the threshold corresponding to the power level given in step (G) below. The UE may observe the operating channel(s) for the duration of the CCA observation time measured by multiple slot times. 
     (D) CCA check definition: 
     (a) A CCA check is initiated at the end of an operating channel occupied slot time. 
     (b) Upon observing that an operating channel was not occupied for a minimum of 8 µs, transmission deferring may occur. 
     (c) The transmission deferring may last for a minimum of random (0 to Max number) number of empty slot periods. 
     (d) Max number may not be lower than 3. 
     (E) The total time that the equipment initiating transmission makes use of an operating channel is defined as the Channel Occupancy Time (COT). The COT may be less than 5 ms, after which it shall perform a new CCA check as described in steps (A) - (C) above. 
     (F) An equipment (initiating or not initiating transmission), upon correct reception of a packet which was intended for this equipment, can skip the CCA check and immediately proceed with the transmission in response to received frames. A consecutive sequence of transmissions by the equipment, without a new CCA check, may not exceed the 5 ms COT as defined in step (E) above. 
     (G) The energy detection threshold for the CCA check may be as follows: -47 dBm + 10 × log10 (PMax / Pout) (Pmax and Pout in W EIRP), where Pout is the RF output power (EIRP) and Pmax is the RF output power limit. 
     Given that the slot or symbol granularity of NR above 52.6 GHz does not coincide with the CCA slot granularity (e.g., 8us and 5us), a gap may be present between the time where the CCA procedure succeeds and the closest slot or symbol boundary. If the gap is sufficiently long for a device that is concurrently also contending the channel to assess whether this is idle or not, this device may assess that the channel is indeed idle, while instead this was already occupied by another device. To prevent this scenario, upon the success of the CCA procedure a device may transmit a reservation signal until the closer transmission opportunity so that the channel would appear occupied by any other nearby devices contending the same medium. The disclosed techniques provide details related to the reservation channel including how this may be signaled. 
     Reservation Signal for UL Scheduled Transmissions and Signaling 
     When a UE is an initiating device, a UE may perform a CCA procedure to assess whether the channel is idle, and only in this case it may be able to transmit. In this case, the UE may perform a CCA procedure that resembles CAT-4, and which is constituted by the listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure with a random back-off variable size of the contention window. In this case, as mentioned above the instance when the CCA procedure succeeds may not perfectly align with the scheduled resources devoted for the UL transmission, and the UE may end up, based on the channel contention, to succeed CCA earlier or later to a specific transmission opportunity, as follows: 
     (a) In some embodiments, if the CCA succeeds earlier to a specific transmission opportunity, and no immediate transmission is performed by the UE, then potentially another device could assess that the channel is occupied, and this may lead to potential interference. The interval of time between the instance of a time when the CCA procedure succeeds and the beginning of the transmission opportunity is denoted (e.g., in  FIG.  5    and  FIG.  6   ) as T ext . In one embodiment, the UE may transmit a reservation signal within the interval of time T ext . 
     In one option, the reservation signal may be in the form of a cyclic prefix, and the cyclic prefix would correspond to that of the first OFDM symbol 1 allocated for PUCCH or PUSCH transmission. The reservation signal  
     
       
         
           
             
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                     μ 
                   
                 
               
             
             
               t 
             
               
             . 
           
         
       
     
     The time interval T ext  may be less than or equal to the length of symbol l - 1. Alternatively, T ext  may be longer than the length of symbol l - 1. In another option, the reservation signal may be a data transmission with a random payload or an SRS transmission. 
       FIG.  5    is an illustration  500  of a reservation channel when a clear channel assessment (CCA) procedure succeeds before a transmission opportunity or a first symbol/slot scheduled for an uplink (UL) transmission, according to an example embodiment. 
     (b) In some embodiments, if the CCA succeeds later to a specific opportunity, the UE may lock the channel, and prevent any other device to use it, and succeed LBT by transmitting a reservation signal up to the following transmission opportunity. The reservation signal may be in the form of a cyclic prefix or data transmission with all zeros or ones payload. 
     The interval between a time when the UE succeeds the CCA procedure and the following transmission opportunity may be denoted with T ext . If the reservation signal is in the form of the cyclic prefix of the first OFDM symbol l allocated for PUCCH or PUSCH transmission in the subsequent transmission opportunity, then the reservation signal  
     
       
         
           
             
               s 
               
                 ext 
               
               
                 
                   
                     p 
                     , 
                     μ 
                   
                 
               
             
             
               t 
             
           
         
       
     
     for the interval  
     
       
         
           
             
               t 
               
                 starl, 
                 l 
               
               μ 
             
             − 
             
               T 
               
                 ext 
               
             
             ≤ 
             t 
             &lt; 
             
               t 
               
                 start, 
                 l 
               
               μ 
             
           
         
       
     
      may be equal to 
     
       
         
           
             
               s 
               
                 ext 
               
               
                 
                   
                     p 
                     , 
                     μ 
                   
                 
               
             
             
               t 
             
             = 
             
               
                 s 
                 ¯ 
               
               l 
               
                 
                   
                     p 
                     , 
                     μ 
                   
                 
               
             
             
               t 
             
               
             . 
           
         
       
     
       FIG.  6    is an illustration  600  of a reservation channel when a CCA procedure succeeds after a transmission opportunity or a first symbol/slot scheduled for a UL transmission, according to an example embodiment. 
     In some embodiments, when a UE is acting as a responding device and the scheduled resources are within a gNB’s shared COT, a UE may either transmit directly without performing any CCA procedure or may be required in some cases (e.g., when directional LBT is used at the gNB or to acquire the channel to transmit synchronization signals blocks) to perform a “single-shot LBT” (e.g., the gap for the single-slot LBT is 8 us or 13 us (i.e., 8+5 us) or 23 us (8+15 us)). In this case, it may be important for the gNB to indicate to the UE which LBT type it should use, and to preserve the occupancy of the channel, the scheduled resources may account for the gap for the UE to perform a single-shot LBT, and a reservation signal may be used to fill up any gap before the symbol boundary l where the scheduled UL resources start. 
     In one embodiment, the reservation signal is in the form of the cyclic prefix of the first OFDM symbol l allocated for PUCCH or PUSCH transmission, and the reservation signal  
     
       
         
           
             
               s 
               
                 ext 
               
               
                 
                   
                     p 
                     , 
                     μ 
                   
                 
               
             
             
               t 
             
           
         
       
     
     for the interval 
     
       
         
           
             
               t 
               
                 starl, 
                 l 
               
               μ 
             
             − 
             
               T 
               
                 ext 
               
             
             ≤ 
           
         
       
     
     
       
         
           
             t 
             &lt; 
             
               t 
               
                 starl, 
                 l 
               
               μ 
             
           
         
       
     
     is equal to 
     
       
         
           
             
               s 
               
                 ext 
               
               
                 
                   
                     p 
                     , 
                     μ 
                   
                 
               
             
             
               t 
             
             = 
             
               
                 s 
                 ¯ 
               
               l 
               
                 
                   
                     p 
                     , 
                     μ 
                   
                 
               
             
             
               t 
             
               
             . 
           
         
       
     
     In some aspects, T ext  indicates the interval between the end of the single-shot LBT and the first symbol l, where the scheduled UL resources start. In one embodiment, T ext  may be calculated as follows: 
     
       
         
           
             
               T 
               
                 ext 
               
             
             = 
             min 
             
               
                 max 
                 
                   
                     
                       
                         T 
                         ′ 
                       
                       
                         ext 
                       
                     
                     , 
                     0 
                   
                 
                 , 
                 
                   T 
                   
                     symb 
                     
                       
                         l 
                         − 
                         1 
                       
                     
                     mod 
                     7 
                     ⋅ 
                     
                       2 
                       μ 
                     
                   
                   μ 
                 
               
             
           
         
       
     
     and 
     
       
         
           
             
               
                 T 
                 ′ 
               
               
                 ext 
               
             
             = 
             
               
                 ∑ 
                 
                   k 
                   = 
                   1 
                 
                 
                   
                     C 
                     i 
                   
                 
               
               
                 
                   T 
                   
                     symb, 
                     
                       
                         l 
                         − 
                         k 
                       
                     
                     mod 
                     7 
                     ⋅ 
                     
                       2 
                       μ 
                     
                   
                   μ 
                 
               
             
             − 
             
               Δ 
               i 
             
               
             , 
           
         
       
     
     where the following configurations may be used. 
     In one embodiment, Δ i =13 • 10 -6  + T TA  or Δ i =8 • 10 -6  + T TA  or Δ i =23 • 10 -6  + T TA  for the case of DL to UL switch, T TA  is the time advance adjustment, µ indicates the subcarrier spacing (SC), and C i  may be either fixed or RRC configured. 
     In one embodiment, C i  could be selected from the following sets based on the specific SCS for Δ i =13 • 10 -6  + T TA : 
     (a) {2,.....,X} for µ = 3, which corresponds to 120 kHz subcarrier spacing (SCS), where X is a predefined integer and could be as an example equal to 28 or any other value. 
     (b) {3,.....,X} for µ = 4, which corresponds to 240 kHz SCS, where X is a predefined integer and could be as an example equal to 28 or any other value. 
     (c) {,......X) for µ = 5, which corresponds to 480 kHz SCS, where X is a predefined integer and could be as an example equal to 28 or any other value. 
     (d) {12,.....,X} for µ = 6, which corresponds to 960 kHz SCS, where X is a predefined integer and could be as an example equal to 28 or any other value. 
     (e) {24,.....,X) for µ = 7, which corresponds to 1920 kHz SCS, where X is a predefined integer and could be as an example equal to 28 or any other value. 
     In one embodiment, C i  could be selected from the following sets based on the specific SCS for Δ i =23 • 10 -6  + T TA : 
     (a) {2,.....,X} for µ = 3, which corresponds to 120 kHz SCS, where X is a predefined integer and could be as an example equal to 28 or any other value. 
     (b) {5,.....,X} for µ = 4, which corresponds to 240 kHz SCS, where X is a predefined integer and could be as an example equal to 28 or any other value. 
     (c) {10,.....,X} for µ = 5, which corresponds to 480 kHz SCS, where X is a predefined integer and could be as an example equal to 28 or any other value. 
     (d) {20,.....,X} for µ = 6, which corresponds to 960 kHz SCS, where X is a predefined integer and could be as an example equal to 28 or any other value. 
     (e) {40,......,X} for µ = 7, which corresponds to 1920 kHz SCS, where X is a predefined integer and could be as an example equal to 56 or any other value. 
     In another embodiment, C i  could be selected from the following sets based on the specific SCS for Δ i =8 • 10 -6  + T TA : 
     (a) {1,.....,X} for µ = 3, which corresponds to 120 kHz SCS, where X is a predefined integer and could be as an example equal to 28 or any other value. 
     (b) {2,.....,X} for µ = 4, which corresponds to 240 kHz SCS, where X is a predefined integer and could be as an example equal to 28 or any other value. 
     (c) (4,.....,X} for µ = 5, which corresponds to 480 kHz SCS, where X is a predefined integer and could be as an example equal to 28 or any other value. 
     (d) {8,.....,X} for µ = 6, which corresponds to 960 kHz SCS, where X is a predefined integer and could be as an example equal to 28 or any other value. 
     (e) {15,.....,X} for µ = 7, which corresponds to 1920 kHz SCS, where is a predefined integer and X could be as an example equal to 28 or any other value. 
     In another embodiment, Δ i =13 • 10 -6  or Δ i =8 • 10 -6  for the case of UL to UL switch within the gNB’s shared COT, µ indicates the subcarrier spacing (SC) and C i  may be a fixed value. In this case, the following configurations may be used. 
     For Δ i =13 • 10 -6 , C i  could be selected as follows: 
     (a) C i  =2 for µ = 3, which corresponds to 120 kHz SCS. 
     (b) C i  = 3 for µ = 4, which corresponds to 240 kHz SCS. 
     (c) C i  = 6 for µ = 5, which corresponds to 480 kHz SCS. 
     (d) C i  = 12 for µ = 6, which corresponds to 960 kHz SCS. 
     (e) C i  = 24 for µ = 7, which corresponds to 1920 kHz SCS. 
     For Δ i =23 • 10 -6 , C i  could be selected as follows: 
     (a) C i  =2 for µ = 3, which corresponds to 120 kHz SCS. 
     C i  =5 for µ= 4, which corresponds to 240 kHz SCS. 
     C i  = 10 for µ = 5, which corresponds to 480 kHz SCS. 
     C i  = 20 for µ = 6, which corresponds to 960 kHz SCS. 
     C i  = 40 for µ = 7, which corresponds to 1920 kHz SCS. 
     For Δ i =8 • 10 -6 , C i  could be selected as follows: 
     (a) C i  = 1 for µ = 3, which corresponds to 120 kHz SCS. 
     (b) C i  = 2 for µ = 4, which corresponds to 240 kHz SCS. 
     (c) C i  = 4 for µ = 5, which corresponds to 480 kHz SCS. 
     (d) C i  = 8 for µ = 6, which corresponds to 960 kHz SCS. 
     (e) C i  =15 for µ = 7, which corresponds to 1920 kHz SCS. 
     In another option, Δ i =0 for the case when LBT with back-off counter is used and C i  = 0. In another option, Δ i =0 and C i  = 0 are used irrespective of the type of LBT. 
     In one embodiment, both DCI formats 0_0 and/or 1_0 carry information related to the channel access type and/or CP extension. In particular: 
     (a) If only an LBT with a back-off counter is supported, and no single-shot LBT is supported, DCI 0_0 and 1_0 carry a single-bit field, which would indicate to the UE whether to use no LBT or the LBT with a back-off counter. This field may jointly indicate whether the gNB’s COT is shared or not. 
     (b) If both LBT with back-off counter and single-shot LBT is supported, DCI 0_0 and 1_0 carry a two-bit field, which would jointly indicate to the UE the LBT type to use (e.g., no LBT, LBT with a back-off counter or single-shot LBT), and the length of the reservation signal based upon the previous embodiments. An example of how to interpret these two-bit fields is provided in Table 1 below, which is an example of bit field interpretation carrying information related to channel access type and reservation signal length. 
     
       
         
          TABLE 1
           
               
               
               
             
               
                 Bit field mapped to index 
                 Channel access type 
                 Reservation Signal length 
               
             
            
               
                 0 
                 No LBT 
                 0 
               
               
                 1 
                 Single Shot LBT 
                 C i  ∗ symbol length - [13 · 10 -6  or 8 · 10 -6  or 23· 10 -6 ] 
               
               
                 2 
                 Single Shot LBT 
                 C i  ∗ symbol length - [13 · 10 -6  + T TA  or 8 · 10 -6  + T TA  or 23· 10 -6  + T TA ] 
               
               
                 3 
                 LBT w/ Backoff 
                 0 
               
            
           
         
       
     
     In some aspects, when a 1-bit field for channel access type and/or CP extension is included in DCl formats 0_0 and/or 1_0, this field may use the 1 LSB or MSB of the existing field “Channel Access-CPext”. The unused bit may be reserved or used for another field. 
     In one embodiment, gNB’s COT sharing is supported between msg2 and msg3 for the 4-step RACH procedure. In this case, the RAR UL grant may be modified by either repurposing some of its bits or adding additional bits to include a new field that will indicate information related to the channel access type and/or CP extension that the UE may use to transmit msg3. In particular, channel access type and/or CP extension can be explicitly included in the RAR UL grant, while the msg3 PUSCH frequency domain resource allocation field can be reduced from 14 bits to 12 bits. 
     In some embodiments, for gNB’s COT sharing for 2-step RACH, channel access type and/or CP extension can be included in the fallbackRAR UL grant and successRAR. In particular, the following processing may be configured: 
     (a) If only an LBT with a back-off counter is supported and no single-shot LBT is supported, the RAR UL grant or fallbackRAR UL grant or successRAR may use a single bit field, which would indicate to the UE whether to use no LBT or the LBT with the back-off counter. This field may jointly indicate whether the gNB’s COT is shared or not. 
     (b) If both LBT with back-off counter and single-shot LBT are supported the RAR UL grant carries a two-bit field, which would jointly indicate to the UE the LBT type to use (e.g., no LBT, LBT with back-off counter, or single-shot LBT), and the length of the reservation signal may be based upon the previous embodiments. In this case, in one example these bits could be interpreted as in Table 1. 
     In some embodiments, for the above option, when the 1-bit field for channel access type and/or CP extension is included in the RAR or fallbackRAR UL grant and successRAR, this field may use the 1 LSB or MSB of the existing field “Channel Access-CPext”. The unused bit may be reserved or used for another field. In one example, the PUSCH frequency domain resource allocation field may be extended from 12 bits to 13 bits. 
     In one embodiment, DCI format 0_1 and/or 0______2 and may carry information related to the channel access type and/or CP extension. In particular, the following processing may be configured. 
     (a) If only an LBT with a back-off counter is supported and no single-shot LBT is supported, the bit field may indicate to the UE whether to use no LBT or the LBT with a back-off counter. In addition, if the LBT with back-off counter is characterized by a channel access priority class, this information may be also jointly indicated. For example, if four CAPC are defined for the LBT with a back-off counter, this bit field may indicate one of the entries of one of the following Tables 2-5. 
     
       
         
          TABLE 2
           
               
               
               
             
               
                 Entry index 
                 Channel Access Type 
                 CAPC 
               
             
            
               
                 0 
                 LBT with back-off counter 
                 1 
               
               
                 1 
                 LBT with back-off counter 
                 2 
               
               
                 2 
                 LBT with back-off counter 
                 3 
               
               
                 3 
                 LBT with back-off counter 
                 4 
               
               
                 4 
                 No LBT 
                 1 
               
               
                 5 
                 No LBT 
                 2 
               
               
                 6 
                 No LBT 
                 3 
               
               
                 7 
                 No LBT 
                 4 
               
            
           
         
       
     
     
       
         
          TABLE 3
           
               
               
               
             
               
                 Entry index 
                 Channel Access Type 
                 CAPC 
               
             
            
               
                 0 
                 No LBT 
                 1 
               
               
                 1 
                 No LBT 
                 2 
               
               
                 2 
                 No LBT 
                 3 
               
               
                 3 
                 No LBT 
                 4 
               
               
                 4 
                 LBT with back-off counter 
                 1 
               
               
                 5 
                 LBT with back-off counter 
                 2 
               
               
                 6 
                 LBT with back-off counter 
                 3 
               
               
                 7 
                 LBT with back-off counter 
                 4 
               
            
           
         
       
     
     
       
         
          TABLE 4
           
               
               
               
             
               
                 Entry index 
                 Channel Access Type 
                 CAPC 
               
             
            
               
                 0 
                 LBT with back-off counter 
                 1 
               
               
                 4 
                 LBT with back-off counter 
                 2 
               
               
                 5 
                 LBT with back-off counter 
                 3 
               
               
                 6 
                 LBT with back-off counter 
                 4 
               
               
                 7 
                 No LBT 
                 - 
               
            
           
         
       
     
     
       
         
          TABLE 5
           
               
               
               
             
               
                 Entry index 
                 Channel Access Type 
                 CAPC 
               
             
            
               
                 0 
                 No LBT 
                 - 
               
               
                 4 
                 LBT with back-off counter 
                 1 
               
               
                 5 
                 LBT with back-off counter 
                 2 
               
               
                 6 
                 LBT with back-off counter 
                 3 
               
               
                 7 
                 LBT with back-off counter 
                 4 
               
            
           
         
       
     
     (b) If both LBT with back-off counter and single-shot LBT is supported, the bit field may indicate jointly to the UE the LBT type to use (e.g., no LBT, LBT with back-off counter, or single-shot LBT) as well as the length of the reservation signal based upon the previous embodiments. In addition, if the LBT with back-off counter is characterized by a channel access priority class this information may be also jointly indicated. Several examples of how this indication may be done in the case of four CAPC would be defined are provided in the following Tables 6-9. 
     
       
         
          TABLE 6
           
               
               
               
               
             
               
                 Entry index 
                 Channel Access Type 
                 Reservation Signal Length 
                 CAPC 
               
             
            
               
                 0 
                 No LBT 
                 0 
                 1 
               
               
                 1 
                 No LBT 
                 0 
                 2 
               
               
                 2 
                 No LBT 
                 0 
                 3 
               
               
                 3 
                 No LBT 
                 0 
                 4 
               
               
                 4 
                 Single shot LBT 
                 0 
                 1 
               
               
                 5 
                 Single shot LBT 
                 0 
                 2 
               
               
                 6 
                 Single shot LBT 
                 0 
                 3 
               
               
                 7 
                 Single shot LBT 
                 0 
                 4 
               
               
                 8 
                 Single Shot LBT 
                 C i   *  symbol length - [23 ▪ 10 -6  or 13 ▪ 10 -6  or 8 ▪ 10 - 6] 
                 1 
               
               
                 9 
                 Single Shot LBT 
                 C i   *  symbol length - [23 ▪ 10 -6  or 13 3▪ 10 -6  or 8 ▪ 10 -6 ]1 
                 2 
               
               
                 10 
                 Single Shot LBT 
                 C i   *  symbol length - [23 ▪ 10 -6  or 13 3▪ 10 -6  or 8 ▪ 10 -6 ] 
                 3 
               
               
                 11 
                 Single Shot LBT 
                 C i   *  symbol length - [23 ▪ 10 -6  or 13 3▪ 10 -6  or 8 ▪ 10 -6 ] 
                 4 
               
               
                 12 
                 Single Shot LBT 
                 C i   *  symbol length - [23 ▪ 10 -6  + T TA  or 13 ▪ 10 -6  + T TA  or 8 ▪ 10 -6  + T TA ] 
                 1 
               
               
                 13 
                 Single Shot LBT 
                 C i   *  symbol length ---- [23 ■ 10 -6  + T TA  or 13 ▪ 10 -6  + T TA  or 8 ▪ 10 -6  + T TA ] 
                 2 
               
               
                 14 
                 Single Shot LBT 
                 C i   *  symbol length ---- [23 ▪ 10 -6  + T TA  or 13 ▪ 10 -6  + T TA  or 8 ▪ 10 -6  + T TA ] 
                 3 
               
               
                 15 
                 Single Shot LBT 
                 C i   *  symbol length - [23 ▪ 10 -6  + T TA  or 13 ▪ 10 -6  + T TA  or 8 ▪ 10 -6  + T TA ] 
                 4 
               
               
                 16 
                 LBT w/ Backoff 
                 0 
                 1 
               
               
                 17 
                 LBT w/ Backoff 
                 0 
                 2 
               
               
                 18 
                 LBT w/ Backoff 
                 0 
                 3 
               
               
                 19 
                 LBTw/ Backoff 
                 0 
                 4 
               
            
           
         
       
     
     
       
         
          TABLE 7
           
               
               
               
               
             
               
                 Entry index 
                 Channel Access Type 
                 Reservation Signal Length 
                 CAPC 
               
             
            
               
                 0 
                 No LBT 
                 0 
                 - 
               
               
                 1 
                 Single shot LBT 
                 0 
                 - 
               
               
                 2 
                 Single Shot LBT 
                 C j   *  symbol length ---- [23 ▪ 10 -6  or 13 ▪ 10 -6  or 8 ▪ 10 -6 ] 
                 - 
               
               
                 3 
                 Single Shot LBT 
                 C i   *  symbol length - [23 ▪ 10 -6  + T TA  or 13 ▪ 10 -6  + T TA  or 8 ▪ 10 -6  + T TA ] 
                 - 
               
               
                 4 
                 LBT w/ Backoff 
                 0 
                 1 
               
               
                 5 
                 LBT w/ Backoff 
                 0 
                 2 
               
               
                 6 
                 LBT w/ Backoff 
                 0 
                 3 
               
               
                 7 
                 LBT w/ Backoff 
                 0 
                 4 
               
            
           
         
       
     
     
       
         
          TABLE 8
           
               
               
               
               
             
               
                 Entry index 
                 Channel Access Type 
                 Reservation Signal Length 
                 CAPC 
               
             
            
               
                 0 
                 No LBT 
                 0 
                 1 
               
               
                 1 
                 No LBT 
                 0 
                 2 
               
               
                 2 
                 No LBT 
                 0 
                 3 
               
               
                 3 
                 No LBT 
                 0 
                 4 
               
               
                 4 
                 Single shot LBT 
                 0 
                 1 
               
               
                 5 
                 Single shot LBT 
                 0 
                 2 
               
               
                 6 
                 Single shot LBT 
                 0 
                 3 
               
               
                 7 
                 Single shot LBT 
                 0 
                 4 
               
               
                 8 
                 Single Shot LBT 
                 C i   *  symbol length - [23 ▪ 10 -6  or 13 ▪ 10 -6  or 8 ▪ 10 -6 ] 
                 1 
               
               
                 9 
                 Single Shot LBT 
                 C i   *  symbol length - [23 ▪ 10 -6  or 13 ▪ 10 -6  or 8 ▪ 10 -6 ] 
                 2 
               
               
                 10 
                 Single Shot LBT 
                 C i   *  symbol length - [23 ▪ 10 -6  or 13 ▪ 10 -6  or 8 ▪ 10 -6 ] 
                 3 
               
               
                 11 
                 Single Shot LBT 
                 C i   *  symbol length - [23 ▪ 10 -6  or 13 ▪ 10 -6  or 8 ▪ 10 -6 ] 
                 4 
               
               
                 12 
                 Single Shot LBT 
                 C i   *  symbol length - [23 ▪ 10 -6  + T TA  or 13 ▪ 10 -6  + T TA  or 8 ▪ 10 -6  + T TA  ] 
                 1 
               
               
                 13 
                 Single Shot LBT 
                 C i   *  symbol length - [23 ▪ 10 -6  + T TA  or 13 ▪ 10 -6  + T TA  or 8 ▪ 10 -6  + T TA  ] 
                 2 
               
               
                 14 
                 Single Shot LBT 
                 C i   *  symbol length ---- [23 ▪ 10 -6  + T TA  or 13 ▪ 10 -6  + T TA  or 8 ▪ 10 -6  + T TA  ] 
                 3 
               
               
                 15 
                 Single Shot LBT 
                 C i   *  symbol length - [23 ▪ 10 -6  + T TA  or 13 ▪ 10 -6  + T TA  or 8 ▪ 10 -6  + T TA  ] 
                 4 
               
               
                 16 
                 LBT w/ Backoff 
                 0 
                 1 
               
               
                 17 
                 LBT w/ Backoff 
                 0 
                 2 
               
               
                 18 
                 LBT w/ Backoff 
                 0 
                 3 
               
               
                 19 
                 LBT w/ Backoff 
                 0 
                 4 
               
               
                 20 
                 LBT w/ Backoff 
                 C j   *  symbol length ---- [23 - 10 -6  or 13 ▪ 10 -6  or 8 ▪ 10 - 6] 
                 1 
               
               
                 21 
                 LBT w/ Backoff 
                 C j   *  symbol length ---- [23 ▪ 10 -6  or 13 ▪ 10 -6  or 8 ▪ 10 - 6] 
                 2 
               
               
                 22 
                 LBT w/ Backoff 
                 C j   *  symbol length - [23 ▪ 10 -6  or 13 ▪ 10 -6  or 8 ▪ 10 - 6] 
                 3 
               
               
                 23 
                 LBT w/ Backoff 
                 C j   *  symbol length - [23 ▪ 10 -6  or 13 -10 -6  or 8 ▪ 10 -6 ] 
                 4 
               
               
                 24 
                 LBT w/ Backoff 
                 C i   *  symbol length - [23 ▪ 10 -6  + T TA  or 13 ▪ 10 -6  + T T   A  or 8 ▪ 10 -6  + T TA ] 
                 1 
               
               
                 25 
                 LBT w/ Backoff 
                 c i  *symbol length — [23 • 10 -6  + T TA  or 13 •10 -6  + T TA  or 8 •10 -6  + T TA ] 
                 2 
               
               
                 26 
                 LBT w/ Backoff 
                 C i  *symbol length — [23 •10 -6  + T TA  or 13 ▪10 -6  + T TA  or 8 ▪ 10 -6  + T TA ] 
                 3 
               
               
                 27 
                 LBT w/ Backoff 
                 C i  *symbol length — [23 ▪10 -6  + T TA  or 13 ▪10 -6  + T TA  or 8 ▪10 -6  + T TA ] 
                 4 
               
            
           
         
       
     
     
       
         
          TABLE 9
           
               
               
               
               
             
               
                 Entry index 
                 Channel Access Type 
                 Reservation Signal Length 
                 CAPC 
               
             
            
               
                 0 
                 No LBT 
                 0 
                 - 
               
               
                 1 
                 Single shot LBT 
                 0 
                 - 
               
               
                 2 
                 Single Shot LBT 
                 C i  *symbol length — [23 ▪ 10 -6  or 13 ▪ 10 -6  or 8 ▪ 10 -6 ] 
                 - 
               
               
                 3 
                 Single Shot LBT 
                 C i  *symbol length — [23 ▪10 -6  + T TA  or 13 ▪ 10 -6  + T TA  or 8 ▪ 10 -6  + T TA 
 
                 - 
               
               
                 4 
                 LBT w/ Backoff 
                 0 
                 1 
               
               
                 5 
                 LBT w/ Backoff 
                 0 
                 2 
               
               
                 6 
                 LBT w/ Backoff 
                 0 
                 3 
               
               
                 7 
                 LBT w/ Backoff 
                 0 
                 4 
               
               
                 8 
                 LBT w/ Backoff 
                 C i  *symbol length — [23 ▪ 10 --6  or 13 ▪ 10 -6  or 8 ▪ 10 -6 ] 
                 1 
               
               
                 9 
                 LBT w/ Backoff 
                 C i  *symbol length — [23 ▪ 10 --6  or 13 ▪ 10 -6  or 8 ▪ 10 -6 ] 
                 2 
               
               
                 10 
                 LBT w/ Backoff 
                 C i  *symbol length — [23 ▪ 10 --6  or 13 ▪ 10 -6  or 8 ▪ 10 -6 ] 
                 3 
               
               
                 11 
                 LBT w/ Backoff 
                 C i  *symbol length — [23 ▪ 10 -6  or 13 ▪ 10 -6  or 8 ▪10 -6 ] 
                 4 
               
               
                 12 
                 LBT w/ Backoff 
                 C i  *symbol length — [23 ▪ 10 -6  + T TA  or 13 ▪ 10 -6  + T TA  or 8 ▪ 10 -6  + T TA ] 
                 1 
               
               
                 13 
                 LBT w/ Backoff 
                 C i  *symbol length — [23 ▪ 10 -6  + T TA  or 13 ▪10 -6  +T TA  or 8 ▪10 -6  + T TA ] 
                 2 
               
               
                 14 
                 LBT w/ Backoff 
                 C i  *symbol length — [23 ▪ 10 -6  + T TA  or 13 ▪ 10 -6  + T TA  or 8 ▪10 -6  + T TA ] 
                 3 
               
               
                 15 
                 LBT w/ Backoff 
                 C i  *symbol length — [23 ▪10 -6  + T TA or 13 ▪10 -6  + T TA or 8 ▪10 -6  + T TA ] 
                 4 
               
            
           
         
       
     
     In one embodiment, the size of this field may be fixed or RRC configured. In this last case, an RRC parameter may indicate a set of values, and the size of this field would be equal to [log 2 (1)], where I is the number of values that the RRC parameter carries. 
     In one embodiment, DCI format 1_1 and/or 1_2 and may carry information related to the channel access type and/or CP extension. In particular: 
     (a) If only an LBT with a back-off counter is supported and no single-shot LBT is supported, the bit field may indicate to the UE whether to use no LBT or the LBT with the back-off counter. For example, an entry index of 0 indicates a channel access type of LBT with a back-off counter, while an entry index of 1 indicates a channel access type of no LBT. 
     (b) If both LBT with back-off counter and a single-shot LBT is supported, the bit field may indicate jointly to the UE the LBT type to use (e.g., no LBT, LBT with back-off counter, or single-shot LBT) as well the length of the reservation signal based upon the previous embodiments. Several examples of how this indication may be done are provided in the following Tables 10-11. 
     
       
         
          TABLE 10
           
               
               
               
             
               
                 Entry index 
                 Channel Access Type 
                 Reservation Signal Length 
               
             
            
               
                 0 
                 No LBT 
                 0 
               
               
                 1 
                 Single shot LBT 
                 0 
               
               
                 2 
                 Single Shot LBT 
                 C i  *symbol length — [23 ▪ 10 -6  or 13 ▪ 10 -6  or 8 ▪ 10 -6  ] 
               
               
                 3 
                 Single Shot LBT 
                 C i *symbol length — [23 ▪ 10 -6  + T TA or 13▪ 10 -6  + T TA  or 8▪ 10 -6  + T TA ] 
               
               
                 4 
                 LBT w/ Backoff 
                 0 
               
            
           
         
       
     
     
       
         
          TABLE 11
           
               
               
               
             
               
                 Entry index 
                 Channel Access Type 
                 Reservation Signal Length 
               
             
            
               
                 0 
                 No LBT 
                 0 
               
               
                 1 
                 Single shot LBT 
                 0 
               
               
                 2 
                 Single Shot LBT 
                 C i  *symbol length -[23 ▪ 10 -6  or 13 ▪ 10 -6  or 8 ▪ 10 -6 ] 
               
               
                 3 
                 Single Shot LBT 
                 C i  *symbol length — [23 ▪ 10 -6  + T TA or 13 ▪ 10 -6  + T T   A  or 8 ▪10 -6  + T TA ] 
               
               
                 4 
                 LBT w/ Backoff 
                 0 
               
               
                 5 
                 LBT w/ Backoff 
                 C i  *symbol length — [23 ▪ 10 -6  or 13 ▪ 10 -6  or 8 ▪ 10 -6 ] 
               
               
                 6 
                 LBT w/ Backoff 
                 C i  *symbol length — [23 ▪ 10 -6  + T TA or 13 ▪ 10 -6  + T TA  or 8 ▪ 10 -6  + T TA ] 
               
            
           
         
       
     
     Reservation Signal for UL Configured Grant (CG) Transmissions 
     In some embodiments, to reduce mutual blocking among cell group (CG)-UEs and other devices, the intra-symbol starting positions defined for Rel.16 may be used and the values previously defined may be modified considering that the CCA slot for frequencies above 52.6 GHz is no longer 9 us as for sub-6 GHz, but it is 5 us, and the LBT gap may be 8 us, 16 us, or 23 us. 
     In one embodiment, if or when the single-shot LBT is needed or supported at the UE side within a gNB’s shared COT, for a PUSCH transmission using the configured grant,  
     
       
         
           
             
               T 
               
                 ext 
               
             
             = 
             
               
                 ∑ 
                 
                   k 
                   = 
                   1 
                 
                 
                   
                     2 
                     μ 
                   
                 
               
               
                 
                   T 
                   
                     symb, 
                     
                       
                         l 
                         − 
                         k 
                       
                     
                     mod 
                     7 
                     ⋅ 
                     
                       2 
                       μ 
                     
                   
                   μ 
                 
               
             
             − 
             
               Δ 
               i 
             
               
             , 
           
         
       
     
     where Δ i  is given by one of the following options reflected by Tables 11-16. 
     Option 1: 
     
       
         
          TABLE 11
           
               
               
             
               
                 index i 
                 Δ i 
 
               
             
            
               
                 0 
                 13 ▪ 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 1 
                 18 ▪ 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 2 
                 23 ▪ 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 3 
                 28 ▪ 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 4 
                 33 ▪10 -6 
 
               
               
                 5 
                 38 ▪ 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 6 
                 43 ▪ 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 7 
                 48 ▪ 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 8 
                 53▪10 -6 
 
               
               
                 9 
                 58 ▪ 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 10 
                 63▪ 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 11 
                 68 ▪ 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 12 
                 
                   
                     
                       
                         
                           
                             ∑ 
                             
                               k 
                               = 
                               1 
                             
                             
                               
                                 2 
                                 μ 
                               
                             
                           
                           
                             
                               T 
                               
                                 symb, 
                                 
                                   
                                     l 
                                     − 
                                     k 
                                   
                                 
                                 mod 
                                 7 
                                 ⋅ 
                                 
                                   2 
                                   μ 
                                 
                               
                               μ 
                             
                           
                         
                       
                     
                   
                 
               
            
           
         
       
     
     Option 2: 
     
       
         
          TABLE 12
           
               
               
             
               
                 index i 
                 Δ i 
 
               
             
            
               
                 0 
                 1.3▪ 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 1 
                 18 ▪ 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 2 
                 23 ▪ 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 3 
                 28 ▪ 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 4 
                 33 ▪ 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 5 
                 38▪ 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 6 
                 43 ▪ 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 7 
                 48 ▪ 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 8 
                 53 ▪10 -6 
 
               
               
                 9 
                 58 ▪10 --6 
 
               
               
                 10 
                 63 ▪ 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 11 
                 
                   
                     
                       
                         
                           
                             ∑ 
                             
                               k 
                               = 
                               1 
                             
                             
                               
                                 2 
                                 μ 
                               
                             
                           
                           
                             
                               T 
                               
                                 symb, 
                                 
                                   
                                     l 
                                     − 
                                     k 
                                   
                                 
                                 mod 
                                 7 
                                 ⋅ 
                                 
                                   2 
                                   μ 
                                 
                               
                               μ 
                             
                           
                         
                       
                     
                   
                 
               
            
           
         
       
     
     Option 3: 
     
       
         
          TABLE 13
           
               
               
             
               
                 index i 
                 Δ i 
 
               
             
            
               
                 0 
                 8 · 10 ~6 
 
               
               
                 1 
                 13 · 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 2 
                 18 · 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 3 
                 23 · 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 4 
                 28 · 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 5 
                 33 · 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 6 
                 38 · 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 7 
                 43 · 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 8 
                 48 · 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 9 
                 53 · 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 10 
                 58 · 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 11 
                 63 · 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 12 
                 68 · 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 13 
                 
                   
                     
                       
                         
                           
                             ∑ 
                             
                               k 
                               = 
                               1 
                             
                             
                               
                                 2 
                                 μ 
                               
                             
                           
                           
                             
                               T 
                               
                                 symb, 
                                 
                                   
                                     l 
                                     − 
                                     k 
                                   
                                 
                                 mod 
                                 7 
                                 ⋅ 
                                 
                                   2 
                                   μ 
                                 
                               
                               μ 
                             
                           
                         
                       
                     
                   
                 
               
            
           
         
       
     
     Option 4: 
     
       
         
          TABLE 14
           
               
               
             
               
                 index i 
                 Δ i 
 
               
             
            
               
                 0 
                 8 · 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 1 
                 13 · 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 2 
                 18 · 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 3 
                 23 · 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 4 
                 28 · 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 5 
                 33 · 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 6 
                 38 · 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 7 
                 43 · 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 8 
                 48 · 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 9 
                 53 · 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 10 
                 58 · 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 11 
                 63 · 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 12 
                 
                   
                     
                       
                         
                           
                             ∑ 
                             
                               k 
                               = 
                               1 
                             
                             
                               
                                 2 
                                 μ 
                               
                             
                           
                           
                             
                               T 
                               
                                 symb, 
                                 
                                   
                                     l 
                                     − 
                                     k 
                                   
                                 
                                 mod 
                                 7 
                                 ⋅ 
                                 
                                   2 
                                   μ 
                                 
                               
                               μ 
                             
                           
                         
                       
                     
                   
                 
               
            
           
         
       
     
     Option 5: 
     
       
         
          TABLE 15
           
               
               
             
               
                 index i 
                 Δ i 
 
               
             
            
               
                 0 
                 23 · 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 1 
                 33 · 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 2 
                 38 · 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 3 
                 43 · 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 4 
                 48 · 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 5 
                 53 · 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 6 
                 58 · 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 7 
                 63 · 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 8 
                 68 · 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 9 
                 
                   
                     
                       
                         
                           
                             ∑ 
                             
                               k 
                               = 
                               1 
                             
                             
                               
                                 2 
                                 μ 
                               
                             
                           
                           
                             
                               T 
                               
                                 symb, 
                                 
                                   
                                     l 
                                     − 
                                     k 
                                   
                                 
                                 mod 
                                 7 
                                 ⋅ 
                                 
                                   2 
                                   μ 
                                 
                               
                               μ 
                             
                           
                         
                       
                     
                   
                 
               
            
           
         
       
     
     Option 6: 
     
       
         
          TABLE 16
           
               
               
             
               
                 index i 
                 Δ i 
 
               
             
            
               
                 0 
                 23 · 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 1 
                 33 · 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 2 
                 38 · 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 3 
                 43 · 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 4 
                 48 · 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 5 
                 53 · 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 6 
                 58 · 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 7 
                 63 · 10 -6 
 
               
               
                 8 
                 
                   
                     
                       
                         
                           
                             ∑ 
                             
                               k 
                               = 
                               1 
                             
                             
                               
                                 2 
                                 μ 
                               
                             
                           
                           
                             
                               T 
                               
                                 symb, 
                                 
                                   
                                     l 
                                     − 
                                     k 
                                   
                                 
                                 mod 
                                 7 
                                 ⋅ 
                                 
                                   2 
                                   μ 
                                 
                               
                               μ 
                             
                           
                         
                       
                     
                   
                 
               
            
           
         
       
     
     In some embodiments, option 7 may be configured as follows: Tables 11-16 above may be bounded and contain only the first or last N elements, where N may be for example 7 or 8. 
     In one embodiment, if and when a single shot LBT is not supported or needed and a UE operates as a responding device within the gNB’s shared COT, for a PUSCH transmission using the configured grant, T ext  = 0 and no intra-symbol starting positions are needed given that a UE may transmit without the need of performing first any CCA procedure. 
       FIG.  7    illustrates a block diagram of a communication device such as an evolved Node-B (eNB), a new generation Node-B (gNB) (or another RAN node), an access point (AP), a wireless station (STA), a mobile station (MS), or a user equipment (UE), in accordance with some aspects and to perform one or more of the techniques disclosed herein. In alternative aspects, the communication device  700  may operate as a standalone device or may be connected (e.g., networked) to other communication devices. 
     Circuitry (e.g., processing circuitry) is a collection of circuits implemented in tangible entities of the device  700  that include hardware (e.g., simple circuits, gates, logic, etc.). Circuitry membership may be flexible over time. Circuitries include members that may, alone or in combination, perform specified operations when operating. In an example, the hardware of the circuitry may be immutably designed to carry out a specific operation (e.g., hardwired). In an example, the hardware of the circuitry may include variably connected physical components (e.g., execution units, transistors, simple circuits, etc.) including a machine-readable medium physically modified (e.g., magnetically, electrically, moveable placement of invariant massed particles, etc.) to encode instructions of the specific operation. 
     In connecting the physical components, the underlying electrical properties of a hardware constituent are changed, for example, from an insulator to a conductor or vice versa. The instructions enable embedded hardware (e.g., the execution units or a loading mechanism) to create members of the circuitry in hardware via the variable connections to carry out portions of the specific operation when in operation. Accordingly, in an example, the machine-readable medium elements are part of the circuitry or are communicatively coupled to the other components of the circuitry when the device is operating. In an example, any of the physical components may be used in more than one member of more than one circuitry. For example, under operation, execution units may be used in a first circuit of a first circuitry at one point in time and reused by a second circuit in the first circuitry, or by a third circuit in a second circuitry at a different time. Additional examples of these components with respect to the device  700  follow. 
     In some aspects, the device  700  may operate as a standalone device or may be connected (e.g., networked) to other devices. In a networked deployment, the communication device  700  may operate in the capacity of a server communication device, a client communication device, or both in server-client network environments. In an example, the communication device  700  may act as a peer communication device in a peer-to-peer (P2P) (or other distributed) network environment. The communication device  700  may be a UE, eNB, PC, a tablet PC, an STB, a PDA, a mobile telephone, a smartphone, a web appliance, a network router, switch or bridge, or any communication device capable of executing instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that communication device. Further, while only a single communication device is illustrated, the term “communication device” shall also be taken to include any collection of communication devices that individually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein, such as cloud computing, software as a service (SaaS), and other computer cluster configurations. 
     Examples, as described herein, may include, or may operate on, logic or a number of components, modules, or mechanisms. Modules are tangible entities (e.g., hardware) capable of performing specified operations and may be configured or arranged in a certain manner. In an example, circuits may be arranged (e.g., internally or with respect to external entities such as other circuits) in a specified manner as a module. In an example, the whole or part of one or more computer systems (e.g., a standalone, client, or server computer system) or one or more hardware processors may be configured by firmware or software (e.g., instructions, an application portion, or an application) as a module that operates to perform specified operations. In an example, the software may reside on a communication device-readable medium. In an example, the software, when executed by the underlying hardware of the module, causes the hardware to perform the specified operations. 
     Accordingly, the term “module” is understood to encompass a tangible entity, be that an entity that is physically constructed, specifically configured (e.g., hardwired), or temporarily (e.g., transitorily) configured (e.g., programmed) to operate in a specified manner or to perform part or all of any operation described herein. Considering examples in which modules are temporarily configured, each of the modules need not be instantiated at any one moment in time. For example, where the modules comprise a general-purpose hardware processor configured using the software, the general-purpose hardware processor may be configured as respective different modules at different times. The software may accordingly configure a hardware processor, for example, to constitute a particular module at one instance of time and to constitute a different module at a different instance of time. 
     The communication device (e.g., UE)  700  may include a hardware processor  702  (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a hardware processor core, or any combination thereof), a main memory  704 , a static memory  706 , and a storage device  707  (e.g., hard drive, tape drive, flash storage, or other block or storage devices), some or all of which may communicate with each other via an interlink (e.g., bus)  708 . 
     The communication device  700  may further include a display device  710 , an alphanumeric input device  712  (e.g., a keyboard), and a user interface (UI) navigation device  714  (e.g., a mouse). In an example, the display device  710 , input device  712 , and UI navigation device  714  may be a touchscreen display. The communication device  700  may additionally include a signal generation device  718  (e.g., a speaker), a network interface device  720 , and one or more sensors  721 , such as a global positioning system (GPS) sensor, compass, accelerometer, or another sensor. The communication device  700  may include an output controller  728 , such as a serial (e.g., universal serial bus (USB), parallel, or other wired or wireless (e.g., infrared (IR), near field communication (NFC), etc.) connection to communicate or control one or more peripheral devices (e.g., a printer, card reader, etc.). 
     The storage device  707  may include a communication device-readable medium  722 , on which is stored one or more sets of data structures or instructions  724  (e.g., software) embodying or utilized by any one or more of the techniques or functions described herein. In some aspects, registers of the processor  702 , the main memory  704 , the static memory  706 , and/or the storage device  707  may be, or include (completely or at least partially), the device-readable medium  722 , on which is stored the one or more sets of data structures or instructions  724 , embodying or utilized by any one or more of the techniques or functions described herein. In an example, one or any combination of the hardware processor  702 , the main memory  704 , the static memory  706 , or the mass storage  716  may constitute the device-readable medium  722 . 
     As used herein, the term “device-readable medium” is interchangeable with “computer-readable medium” or “machine-readable medium”. While the communication device-readable medium  722  is illustrated as a single medium, the term “communication device-readable medium” may include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) configured to store the one or more instructions  724 . The term “communication device-readable medium” is inclusive of the terms “machine-readable medium” or “computer-readable medium”, and may include any medium that is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying instructions (e.g., instructions  724 ) for execution by the communication device  700  and that causes the communication device  700  to perform any one or more of the techniques of the present disclosure, or that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying data structures used by or associated with such instructions. Non-limiting communication device-readable medium examples may include solid-state memories and optical and magnetic media. Specific examples of communication device-readable media may include non-volatile memory, such as semiconductor memory devices (e.g., Electrically Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM)) and flash memory devices; magnetic disks, such as internal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; Random Access Memory (RAM); and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks. In some examples, communication device-readable media may include non-transitory communication device-readable media. In some examples, communication device-readable media may include communication device-readable media that is not a transitory propagating signal. 
     Instructions  724  may further be transmitted or received over a communications network  726  using a transmission medium via the network interface device  720  utilizing any one of a number of transfer protocols. In an example, the network interface device  720  may include one or more physical jacks (e.g., Ethernet, coaxial, or phone jacks) or one or more antennas to connect to the communications network  726 . In an example, the network interface device  720  may include a plurality of antennas to wirelessly communicate using at least one of single-input-multiple-output (SIMO), MIMO, or multiple-input-single-output (MISO) techniques. In some examples, the network interface device  720  may wirelessly communicate using Multiple User MIMO techniques. 
     The term “transmission medium” shall be taken to include any intangible medium that is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying instructions for execution by the communication device  700 , and includes digital or analog communications signals or another intangible medium to facilitate communication of such software. In this regard, a transmission medium in the context of this disclosure is a device-readable medium. 
     Example Aspects 
     The following are some additional example aspects associated with the disclosed techniques and  FIG.  1 A- 7   . 
     Example 1 is an apparatus for a user equipment (UE) configured for operation in a 5G NR system, the apparatus including: processing circuitry, wherein to configure the UE for operating in an unlicensed spectrum at a carrier frequency of above 52.6 GHz, the processing circuitry is configured to perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) procedure to assess occupancy of a communication channel in the unlicensed spectrum; encode a reservation signal for transmission on the communication channel, when the CCA procedure is successful, the reservation signal occupying a time interval between completion of the CCA procedure and a starting symbol of an uplink (UL) transmission opportunity; and encode data physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) for transmission to a base station during the UL transmission opportunity and following the transmission of the reservation signal; and a memory coupled to the processing circuitry and configured to store the UL data. 
     In Example 2, the subject matter of Example 1 includes subject matter where the processing circuitry is configured to refrain from transmitting on the communication channel for at least a duration of 5 us when the CCA procedure is unsuccessful. 
     In Example 3, the subject matter of Examples 1-2 includes subject matter where the reservation signal comprises a cyclic prefix. 
     In Example 4, the subject matter of Example 3 includes subject matter where the cyclic prefix corresponds to a prefix of a first orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol allocated to a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission or a PUSCH transmission during the UL transmission opportunity. 
     In Example 5, the subject matter of Example 4 includes subject matter where a duration of the time interval equals a duration of a symbol preceding the first OFDM symbol allocated to the PUCCH transmission or the PUSCH transmission. 
     In Example 6, the subject matter of Examples 1-5 includes subject matter where the reservation signal comprises a UL data transmission with a random payload. 
     In Example 7, the subject matter of Examples 16 includes subject matter where the reservation signal comprises a sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission. 
     In Example 8, the subject matter of Examples 1-7 includes subject matter where the processing circuitry is configured to determine the CCA procedure is successful after the UL transmission opportunity; and encode the reservation signal for transmission on the communication channel, the reservation signal occupying a second time interval between completion of the CCA procedure and a starting symbol of a subsequent UL transmission opportunity. 
     In Example 9, the subject matter of Examples 1-8 includes subject matter where the processing circuitry is configured to determine the UL transmission opportunity is within a channel occupancy time (COT) of the base station, and encode the UL data for transmission to the base station during the UL transmission opportunity without performing the CCA procedure. 
     In Example 10, the subject matter of Examples 1-9 includes, transceiver circuitry coupled to the processing circuitry; and one or more antennas coupled to the transceiver circuitry. 
     Example 11 is a computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions for execution by one or more processors of user equipment (UE), the instructions to configure the UE for operating in an unlicensed spectrum in a 5G NR system at a carrier frequency of above 52.6 GHz and to cause the UE to perform operations including: performing a clear channel assessment (CCA) procedure to assess occupancy of a communication channel in the unlicensed spectrum; encoding a reservation signal for transmission on the communication channel, when the CCA procedure is successful, the reservation signal occupying a time interval between completion of the CCA procedure and a starting symbol of an uplink (UL) transmission opportunity; and encoding data physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) for transmission to a base station during the UL transmission opportunity and following the transmission of the reservation signal. 
     In Example 12, the subject matter of Example 11 includes subject matter where the reservation signal comprises a cyclic prefix. 
     In Example 13, the subject matter of Example 12 includes subject matter where the cyclic prefix corresponds to a prefix of a first orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol allocated to a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission or a PUSCH transmission during the UL transmission opportunity. 
     In Example 14, the subject matter of Example 13 includes subject matter where a duration of the time interval equals a duration of a symbol preceding the first OFDM symbol allocated to the PUCCH transmission or the PUSCH transmission. 
     In Example 15, the subject matter of Examples 11-14 includes subject matter where the reservation signal comprises a UL data transmission with a random payload. 
     In Example 16, the subject matter of Examples 11-15 includes subject matter where executing the instructions further causes the UE to perform operations including: determining the CCA procedure is successful after the UL transmission opportunity; and encoding the reservation signal for transmission on the communication channel, the reservation signal occupying a second time interval between completion of the CCA procedure and a starting symbol of a subsequent UL transmission opportunity. 
     Example 17 is a computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions for execution by one or more processors of a base station configured for operation in a 5G NR system, the instructions to configure the base station for operating in an unlicensed spectrum at a carrier frequency of above 52.6 GHz and to cause the base station to perform operations including: performing a clear channel assessment (CCA) procedure to assess occupancy of a communication channel in the unlicensed spectrum; encoding a reservation signal for transmission on the communication channel, when the CCA procedure is successful, the reservation signal occupying a time interval between completion of the CCA procedure and a starting symbol of a downlink (DL) transmission opportunity; and encoding data physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) for transmission to user equipment (UE) during the DL transmission opportunity and following the transmission of the reservation signal. 
     In Example 18, the subject matter of Example 17 includes subject matter where the reservation signal comprises a cyclic prefix. 
     In Example 19, the subject matter of Example 18 includes subject matter where the cyclic prefix corresponds to a prefix of a first orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol allocated to a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) transmission or a PDSCH transmission during the DL transmission opportunity. 
     In Example 20, the subject matter of Example 19 includes subject matter where a duration of the time interval equals a duration of a symbol preceding the first OFDM symbol allocated to the PDCCH transmission or the PDSCH transmission. 
     Example 21 is at least one machine-readable medium including instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry, cause the processing circuitry to perform operations to implement any of Examples 1-20. 
     Example 22 is an apparatus including means to implement any of Examples 1-20. 
     Example 23 is a system to implement any of Examples 1-20. 
     Example 24 is a method to implement any of Examples 1-20. 
     Although an aspect has been described with reference to specific exemplary aspects, it will be evident that various modifications and changes may be made to these aspects without departing from the broader scope of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense. This Detailed Description, therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of various aspects is defined only by the appended claims, along with the full range of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.