Patent Description:
Wireless communication systems are rapidly growing in usage. In recent years, wireless devices such as smart phones and tablet computers have become increasingly sophisticated. In addition to supporting telephone calls, many mobile devices now provide access to the internet, email, text messaging, and navigation using the global positioning system (GPS), and are capable of operating sophisticated applications that utilize these functionalities. Additionally, there exist numerous different wireless communication technologies and standards. Some examples of wireless communication standards include GSM, UMTS (associated with, for example, WCDMA or TD-SCDMA air interfaces), LTE, LTE Advanced (LTE-A), HSPA, 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), IEEE <NUM> (WLAN or Wi-Fi), BLUETOOTH™, etc..

The ever-increasing number of features and functionality introduced in wireless communication devices also creates a continuous need for improvement in both wireless communications and in wireless communication devices. To increase coverage and better serve the increasing demand and range of envisioned uses of wireless communication, in addition to the communication standards mentioned above, there are further wireless communication technologies under development.

A proposed next telecommunications standard moving beyond the current International Mobile Telecommunications-Advanced (IMT-Advanced) Standards is called 5th generation mobile networks or 5th generation wireless systems, or <NUM> for short (otherwise known as <NUM>-NR for <NUM> New Radio, also simply referred to as NR). <NUM>-NR proposes a higher capacity for a higher density of mobile broadband users, also supporting device-to-device, ultra-reliable, and massive machine communications, as well as lower latency and lower battery consumption, than current LTE standards. Further, the <NUM>-NR standard may allow for less restrictive UE scheduling as compared to current LTE standards. Consequently, efforts are being made in ongoing developments of <NUM>-NR to take advantage of higher throughputs possible at higher frequencies.

Further, wireless communication technology has evolved from voice-only communications to also include the transmission of data, such as Internet and multimedia content. Additionally, interference, collisions and conflicts between transmissions of one or multiple radio access technologies (RATs) are increasingly possible (e.g., in unlicensed spectrum). For example, collisions may be possible between transmissions, e.g., between <NUM>/cellular transmissions and/or wireless local area network (WLAN) transmissions. Interference, collisions, and conflicts may degrade the wireless ecosystem and lead to negative impacts on users, e.g., of one or more RATs. Accordingly, improvements in the field in support of such development and design are desired.

<CIT> describes a method of operating a UE that includes receiving frequency measurement configuration information from an evolved Node B (eNB), performing frequency measurement in a radio resource control (RRC) idle mode or an RRC inactivate mode, based on the frequency measurement configuration information and transmitting a result of the frequency measurement to an eNB,.

<CIT> describes systems and methods for triggering CSI reporting on PUCCH.

<NPL> describes various channel access related aspects.

<CIT> describes a method that includes receiving, by a user equipment, a configuration for determining one or more antenna panel-wise cross-link interference measurements from a network entity configured to receive one or more downlink spatial directions. The method further includes calculating, by the user equipment, one or more interference estimates of UL interfering signals and related cross-link interference powers from the network entity. The method further includes transmitting, by the used equipment, one or more interference measurements based upon the configured flexible UL-to-DL cross-link specific resource configuration to the network entity. <CIT> relates to a wireless communication system and, more particularly, to a method for a terminal to measure and report channel state information between base stations and terminals to achieve higher reliability and throughput. <CIT> relates to a transmitter configured to transmit a capability identifier (capability ID) corresponding to a plurality of capabilities of the UE, to a next generation Node B (gNB).

Embodiments relate to wireless communications, and more particularly to apparatuses, systems, and methods for an improved receiver assisted access mechanism in the New Radio (NR) unlicensed spectrum.

In some embodiments, a user equipment (UE) may receive a measurement reporting capability request from a base station and further transmit, in response to the request, an indication of the UE's measurement reporting capability. The UE may further receive signaling comprising a channel status information (CSI) request trigger from the base station. In response to receiving the CSI request trigger, the UE may transmit a measurement report to the base station, wherein the measurement report may comprise at least one received signal strength indicator (RSSI) measurement.

According to some embodiments, the measurement report may be an aperiodic-channel status information (AP-CSI) report and the at least one RSSI measurement may be a layer-<NUM> (L1) RSSI measurement. In some embodiments, the UE may re-use, for the RSSI measurement, an existing processing timeline or existing priority rule corresponding to a reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement.

According to some embodiments, the UE may be configured to perform the RSSI measurement in a time domain. Additionally or alternatively, a measurement time of the RSSI measurement in the time domain may correspond to one orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol for a <NUM> sub-carrier spacing (SCS), three OFDM symbols for a <NUM> SCS, and five OFDM symbols for a <NUM> SCS.

In some embodiments, the RSSI measurement in the time domain may be performed using a receive beam associated with an active transmission configuration indicator (TCI) of the signaling.

According to some embodiments, a zero-power-channel status information-reference signal (ZP-CSI-RS) may be characterized for the RSSI measurement in the time domain. Additionally or alternatively, the RSSI measurement may be measured from one or more symbols within or across a slot.

The techniques described herein may be implemented in and/or used with a number of different types of devices, including but not limited to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), unmanned aerial controllers (UACs), base stations, access points, cellular phones, tablet computers, wearable computing devices, portable media players, automobiles and/or motorized vehicles, and any of various other computing devices.

While the features described herein may be susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to be limiting to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the scope of the subject matter as characterized by the appended claims.

Memory Medium - Any of various types of non-transitory memory devices or storage devices. The term "memory medium" is intended to include an installation medium, e.g., a CD-ROM, floppy disks, or tape device; a computer system memory or random access memory such as DRAM, DDR RAM, SRAM, EDO RAM, Rambus RAM, etc.; a non-volatile memory such as a Flash, magnetic media, e.g., a hard drive, or optical storage; registers, or other similar types of memory elements, etc. The memory medium may include other types of non-transitory memory as well or combinations thereof. In addition, the memory medium may be located in a first computer system in which the programs are executed, or may be located in a second different computer system which connects to the first computer system over a network, such as the Internet. In the latter instance, the second computer system may provide program instructions to the first computer for execution. The term "memory medium" may include two or more memory mediums which may reside in different locations, e.g., in different computer systems that are connected over a network. The memory medium may store program instructions (e.g., embodied as computer programs) that may be executed by one or more processors.

Computer System (or Computer) - any of various types of computing or processing systems, including a personal computer system (PC), mainframe computer system, workstation, network appliance, Internet appliance, personal digital assistant (PDA), television system, grid computing system, or other device or combinations of devices. In general, the term "computer system" can be broadly characterized to encompass any device (or combination of devices) having at least one processor that executes instructions from a memory medium.

User Equipment (UE) (or "UE Device") - any of various types of computer systems devices which are mobile or portable and which performs wireless communications. Examples of UE devices include mobile telephones or smart phones (e.g., iPhone™, Android™-based phones), portable gaming devices (e.g., Nintendo DS™, PlayStation Portable™, Gameboy Advance™, iPhone™), laptops, wearable devices (e.g. smart watch, smart glasses), PDAs, portable Internet devices, music players, data storage devices, other handheld devices, automobiles and/or motor vehicles, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) (e.g., drones), UAV controllers (UACs), and so forth. In general, the term "UE" or "UE device" can be broadly characterized to encompass any electronic, computing, and/or telecommunications device (or combination of devices) which is easily transported by (or with) a user and capable of wireless communication.

Processing Element (or Processor) - refers to various elements or combinations of elements that are capable of performing a function in a device, such as a user equipment or a cellular network device. Processing elements may include, for example: processors and associated memory, portions or circuits of individual processor cores, entire processor cores, processor arrays, circuits such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), programmable hardware elements such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA), as well any of various combinations of the above.

Various components may be described as "configured to" perform a task or tasks.

The communication area (or coverage area) of the base station may be referred to as a "cell. " The base station 102A and the UEs <NUM> may be configured to communicate over the transmission medium using any of various radio access technologies (RATs), also referred to as wireless communication technologies, or telecommunication standards, such as GSM, UMTS (associated with, for example, WCDMA or TD-SCDMA air interfaces), LTE, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), <NUM> new radio (<NUM> NR), HSPA, 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), etc. Note that if the base station 102A is implemented in the context of LTE, it may alternately be referred to as an 'eNodeB' or 'eNB'. Note that if the base station 102A is implemented in the context of <NUM> NR, it may alternately be referred to as 'gNodeB' or 'gNB'.

In some embodiments, base station 102A may be a next generation base station, e.g., a <NUM> New Radio (<NUM> NR) base station, or "gNB". In some embodiments, a gNB may be connected to a legacy evolved packet core (EPC) network and/or to a NR core (NRC) network. In addition, a gNB cell may include one or more transmission and reception points (TRPs).

Note that a UE <NUM> may be capable of communicating using multiple wireless communication standards. For example, the UE <NUM> may be configured to communicate using a wireless networking (e.g., Wi-Fi) and/or peer-to-peer wireless communication protocol (e.g., Bluetooth, Wi-Fi peer-to-peer, etc.) in addition to at least one cellular communication protocol (e.g., GSM, UMTS (associated with, for example, WCDMA or TD-SCDMA air interfaces), LTE, LTE-A, <NUM> NR, HSPA, 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), etc.). The UE <NUM> may also or alternatively be configured to communicate using one or more global navigational satellite systems (GNSS, e.g., GPS or GLONASS), one or more mobile television broadcasting standards (e.g., ATSC-M/H or DVB-H), and/or any other wireless communication protocol, if desired. Other combinations of wireless communication standards (including more than two wireless communication standards) are also possible.

<FIG> illustrates user equipment <NUM> (e.g., one of the devices 106A through 106N) in communication with a base station <NUM> and an access point <NUM>, according to some embodiments. The UE <NUM> may be a device with both cellular communication capability and non-cellular communication capability (e.g., Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and so forth) such as a mobile phone, a hand-held device, a computer or a tablet, or virtually any type of wireless device.

The UE <NUM> may include one or more antennas for communicating using one or more wireless communication protocols or technologies. In some embodiments, the UE <NUM> may be configured to communicate using, for example, CDMA2000 (1xRTT / 1xEV-DO / HRPD / eHRPD), LTE/LTE-Advanced, or <NUM> NR using a single shared radio and/or GSM, LTE, LTE-Advanced, or <NUM> NR using the single shared radio. The shared radio may couple to a single antenna, or may couple to multiple antennas (e.g., for MIMO) for performing wireless communications. In general, a radio may include any combination of a baseband processor, analog RF signal processing circuitry (e.g., including filters, mixers, oscillators, amplifiers, etc.), or digital processing circuitry (e.g., for digital modulation as well as other digital processing). Similarly, the radio may implement one or more receive and transmit chains using the aforementioned hardware. For example, the UE <NUM> may share one or more parts of a receive and/or transmit chain between multiple wireless communication technologies, such as those discussed above.

<FIG> illustrates an exemplary block diagram of an access point (AP) <NUM>. It is noted that the block diagram of the AP of <FIG> is only one example of a possible system. As shown, the AP <NUM> may include processor(s) <NUM> which may execute program instructions for the AP <NUM>. The processor(s) <NUM> may also be coupled (directly or indirectly) to memory management unit (MMU) <NUM>, which may be configured to receive addresses from the processor(s) <NUM> and to translate those addresses to locations in memory (e.g., memory <NUM> and read only memory (ROM) <NUM>) or to other circuits or devices.

The AP <NUM> may include at least one network port <NUM>. The network port <NUM> may be configured to couple to a wired network and provide a plurality of devices, such as UEs <NUM>, access to the Internet. For example, the network port <NUM> (or an additional network port) may be configured to couple to a local network, such as a home network or an enterprise network. For example, port <NUM> may be an Ethernet port. The local network may provide connectivity to additional networks, such as the Internet.

The AP <NUM> may include at least one antenna <NUM>, which may be configured to operate as a wireless transceiver and may be further configured to communicate with UE <NUM> via wireless communication circuitry <NUM>. The antenna <NUM> communicates with the wireless communication circuitry <NUM> via communication chain <NUM>. Communication chain <NUM> may include one or more receive chains, one or more transmit chains or both. The wireless communication circuitry <NUM> may be configured to communicate via Wi-Fi or WLAN, e.g., <NUM>. The wireless communication circuitry <NUM> may also, or alternatively, be configured to communicate via various other wireless communication technologies, including, but not limited to, <NUM> NR, Long-Term Evolution (LTE), LTE Advanced (LTE-A), Global System for Mobile (GSM), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), CDMA2000, etc., for example when the AP is co-located with a base station in case of a small cell, or in other instances when it may be desirable for the AP <NUM> to communicate via various different wireless communication technologies.

In some embodiments, as further described below, an AP <NUM> may be configured to perform methods for overhead reduction for multi-carrier beam selection and power control as further described herein.

The network port <NUM> may be configured to couple to a telephone network and provide a plurality of devices, such as UE devices <NUM>, access to the telephone network as described above in <FIG> and <FIG>.

<FIG> illustrates an example block diagram of a server <NUM>, according to some embodiments. It is noted that the server of <FIG> is merely one example of a possible server. As shown, the server <NUM> may include processor(s) <NUM> which may execute program instructions for the server <NUM>.

The server <NUM> may be configured to provide a plurality of devices, such as base station <NUM>, UE devices <NUM>, and/or UTM <NUM>, access to network functions, e.g., as further described herein.

In some embodiments, the server <NUM> may be part of a radio access network, such as a <NUM> New Radio (<NUM> NR) radio access network. In some embodiments, the server <NUM> may be connected to a legacy evolved packet core (EPC) network and/or to a NR core (NRC) network.

As described further subsequently herein, the server <NUM> may include hardware and software components for implementing or supporting implementation of features described herein. The processor <NUM> of the server <NUM> may be configured to implement or support implementation of part or all of the methods described herein, e.g., by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively (or in addition) the processor <NUM> of the server <NUM>, in conjunction with one or more of the other components <NUM>, <NUM>, and/or <NUM> may be configured to implement or support implementation of part or all of the features described herein.

<FIG> illustrates an example simplified block diagram of a communication device <NUM>, according to some embodiments. It is noted that the block diagram of the communication device of <FIG> is only one example of a possible communication device. According to embodiments, communication device <NUM> may be a user equipment (UE) device, a mobile device or mobile station, a wireless device or wireless station, a desktop computer or computing device, a mobile computing device (e.g., a laptop, notebook, or portable computing device), a tablet, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), a UAV controller (UAC) and/or a combination of devices, among other devices. As shown, the communication device <NUM> may include a set of components <NUM> configured to perform core functions. For example, this set of components may be implemented as a system on chip (SOC), which may include portions for various purposes. Alternatively, this set of components <NUM> may be implemented as separate components or groups of components for the various purposes. The set of components <NUM> may be coupled (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) to various other circuits of the communication device <NUM>.

Note that the term "SIM" or "SIM entity" is intended to include any of various types of SIM implementations or SIM functionality, such as the one or more UICC(s) cards <NUM>, one or more eUICCs, one or more eSIMs, either removable or embedded, etc. In some embodiments, the UE <NUM> may include at least two SIMs. Each SIM may execute one or more SIM applications and/or otherwise implement SIM functionality. Thus, each SIM may be a single smart card that may be embedded, e.g., may be soldered onto a circuit board in the UE <NUM>, or each SIM may be implemented as a removable smart card. Thus, the SIM(s) may be one or more removable smart cards (such as UICC cards, which are sometimes referred to as "SIM cards"), and/or the SIMs <NUM> may be one or more embedded cards (such as embedded UICCs (eUICCs), which are sometimes referred to as "eSIMs" or "eSIM cards"). In some embodiments (such as when the SIM(s) include an eUICC), one or more of the SIM(s) may implement embedded SIM (eSIM) functionality; in such an embodiment, a single one of the SIM(s) may execute multiple SIM applications. Each of the SIMs may include components such as a processor and/or a memory; instructions for performing SIM/eSIM functionality may be stored in the memory and executed by the processor. In some embodiments, the UE <NUM> may include a combination of removable smart cards and fixed/non-removable smart cards (such as one or more eUICC cards that implement eSIM functionality), as desired. For example, the UE <NUM> may comprise two embedded SIMs, two removable SIMs, or a combination of one embedded SIMs and one removable SIMs. Various other SIM configurations are also contemplated.

As noted above, in some embodiments, the UE <NUM> may include two or more SIMs. The inclusion of two or more SIMs in the UE <NUM> may allow the UE <NUM> to support two different telephone numbers and may allow the UE <NUM> to communicate on corresponding two or more respective networks. For example, a first SIM may support a first RAT such as LTE, and a second SIM support a second RAT such as <NUM> NR. Other implementations and RATs are of course possible. In some embodiments, when the UE <NUM> comprises two SIMs, the UE <NUM> may support Dual SIM Dual Active (DSDA) functionality. The DSDA functionality may allow the UE <NUM> to be simultaneously connected to two networks (and use two different RATs) at the same time, or to simultaneously maintain two connections supported by two different SIMs using the same or different RATs on the same or different networks. The DSDA functionality may also allow the UE <NUM> to simultaneously receive voice calls or data traffic on either phone number. In certain embodiments the voice call may be a packet switched communication. In other words, the voice call may be received using voice over LTE (VoLTE) technology and/or voice over NR (VoNR) technology. In some embodiments, the UE <NUM> may support Dual SIM Dual Standby (DSDS) functionality. The DSDS functionality may allow either of the two SIMs in the UE <NUM> to be on standby waiting for a voice call and/or data connection. In DSDS, when a call/data is established on one SIM, the other SIM is no longer active. In some embodiments, DSDx functionality (either DSDA or DSDS functionality) may be implemented with a single SIM (e.g., a eUICC) that executes multiple SIM applications for different carriers and/or RATs.

As shown, the SOC <NUM> may include processor(s) <NUM>, which may execute program instructions for the communication device <NUM> and display circuitry <NUM>, which may perform graphics processing and provide display signals to the display <NUM>. The processor(s) <NUM> may also be coupled to memory management unit (MMU) <NUM>, which may be configured to receive addresses from the processor(s) <NUM> and translate those addresses to locations in memory (e.g., memory <NUM>, read only memory (ROM) <NUM>, NAND flash memory <NUM>) and/or to other circuits or devices, such as the display circuitry <NUM>, short to medium range wireless communication circuitry <NUM>, cellular communication circuitry <NUM>, connector I/F <NUM>, and/or display <NUM>. The MMU <NUM> may be configured to perform memory protection and page table translation or set up. In some embodiments, the MMU <NUM> may be included as a portion of the processor(s) <NUM>.

As noted above, the communication device <NUM> may be configured to communicate using wireless and/or wired communication circuitry. The communication device <NUM> may be configured to perform methods for beam failure recovery based on a unified TCI framework, e.g., in <NUM> NR systems and beyond, as further described herein.

As described herein, the communication device <NUM> may include hardware and software components for implementing the above features for a communication device <NUM> to communicate a scheduling profile for power savings to a network. The processor <NUM> of the communication device <NUM> may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein, e.g., by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively (or in addition), processor <NUM> may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit). Alternatively (or in addition) the processor <NUM> of the communication device <NUM>, in conjunction with one or more of the other components <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein.

Further, as described herein, cellular communication circuitry <NUM> and short to medium range wireless communication circuitry <NUM> may each include one or more processing elements. In other words, one or more processing elements may be included in cellular communication circuitry <NUM> and, similarly, one or more processing elements may be included in short to medium range wireless communication circuitry <NUM>. Thus, cellular communication circuitry <NUM> may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) that are configured to perform the functions of cellular communication circuitry <NUM>. In addition, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc.) configured to perform the functions of cellular communication circuitry <NUM>. Similarly, the short to medium range wireless communication circuitry <NUM> may include one or more ICs that are configured to perform the functions of short to medium range wireless communication circuitry <NUM>. In addition, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc.) configured to perform the functions of short to medium range wireless communication circuitry <NUM>.

<FIG> illustrates an example simplified block diagram of cellular communication circuitry, according to some embodiments. It is noted that the block diagram of the cellular communication circuitry of <FIG> is only one example of a possible cellular communication circuit. According to embodiments, cellular communication circuitry <NUM>, which may be cellular communication circuitry <NUM>, may be included in a communication device, such as communication device <NUM> described above. As noted above, communication device <NUM> may be a user equipment (UE) device, a mobile device or mobile station, a wireless device or wireless station, a desktop computer or computing device, a mobile computing device (e.g., a laptop, notebook, or portable computing device), a tablet and/or a combination of devices, among other devices.

The cellular communication circuitry <NUM> may couple (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) to one or more antennas, such as antennas 435a-b and <NUM> as shown (in <FIG>). In some embodiments, cellular communication circuitry <NUM> may include dedicated receive chains (including and/or coupled to, e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly. For example, as shown in <FIG>, cellular communication circuitry <NUM> may include a modem <NUM> and a modem <NUM>. Modem <NUM> may be configured for communications according to a first RAT, e.g., such as LTE or LTE-A, and modem <NUM> may be configured for communications according to a second RAT, e.g., such as <NUM> NR.

In some embodiments, the cellular communication circuitry <NUM> may be configured to perform methods beam failure recovery based on a unified TCI framework, e.g., in <NUM> NR systems and beyond, as further described herein.

As described herein, the modem <NUM> may include hardware and software components for implementing the above features or for time division multiplexing UL data for NSA NR operations, as well as the various other techniques described herein. The processors <NUM> may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein, e.g., by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively (or in addition), processor <NUM> may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit). Alternatively (or in addition) the processor <NUM>, in conjunction with one or more of the other components <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM> may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein.

As described herein, the modem <NUM> may include hardware and software components for implementing the above features for communicating a scheduling profile for power savings to a network, as well as the various other techniques described herein. The processors <NUM> may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein, e.g., by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively (or in addition), processor <NUM> may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit). Alternatively (or in addition) the processor <NUM>, in conjunction with one or more of the other components <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM> may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein.

In some implementations, fifth generation (<NUM>) wireless communication will initially be deployed concurrently with current wireless communication standards (e.g., LTE). For example, dual connectivity between LTE and <NUM> new radio (<NUM> NR or NR) has been specified as part of the initial deployment of NR. Thus, as illustrated in <FIG>, evolved packet core (EPC) network <NUM> may continue to communicate with current LTE base stations (e.g., eNB <NUM>). In addition, eNB <NUM> may be in communication with a <NUM> NR base station (e.g., gNB <NUM>) and may pass data between the EPC network <NUM> and gNB <NUM>. Thus, EPC network <NUM> may be used (or reused) and gNB <NUM> may serve as extra capacity for UEs, e.g., for providing increased downlink throughput to UEs. In other words, LTE may be used for control plane signaling and NR may be used for user plane signaling. Thus, LTE may be used to establish connections to the network and NR may be used for data services.

<FIG> illustrates a proposed protocol stack for eNB <NUM> and gNB <NUM>. As shown, eNB <NUM> may include a medium access control (MAC) layer <NUM> that interfaces with radio link control (RLC) layers 622a-b. RLC layer 622a may also interface with packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer 612a and RLC layer 622b may interface with PDCP layer 612b. Similar to dual connectivity as specified in LTE-Advanced Release <NUM>, PDCP layer 612a may interface via a master cell group (MCG) bearer with EPC network <NUM> whereas PDCP layer 612b may interface via a split bearer with EPC network <NUM>.

Additionally, as shown, gNB <NUM> may include a MAC layer <NUM> that interfaces with RLC layers 624a-b. RLC layer 624a may interface with PDCP layer 612b of eNB <NUM> via an X<NUM> interface for information exchange and/or coordination (e.g., scheduling of a UE) between eNB <NUM> and gNB <NUM>. In addition, RLC layer 624b may interface with PDCP layer <NUM>. Similar to dual connectivity as specified in LTE-Advanced Release <NUM>, PDCP layer <NUM> may interface with EPC network <NUM> via a secondary cell group (SCG) bearer. Thus, eNB <NUM> may be considered a master node (MeNB) while gNB <NUM> may be considered a secondary node (SgNB). In some scenarios, a UE may be required to maintain a connection to both an MeNB and a SgNB. In such scenarios, the MeNB may be used to maintain a radio resource control (RRC) connection to an EPC while the SgNB may be used for capacity (e.g., additional downlink and/or uplink throughput).

In some embodiments, the <NUM> core network (CN) may be accessed via (or through) a cellular connection/interface (e.g., via a 3GPP communication architecture/protocol) and a non-cellular connection/interface (e.g., a non-3GPP access architecture/protocol such as Wi-Fi connection). <FIG> illustrates an example of a <NUM> network architecture that incorporates both 3GPP (e.g., cellular) and non-3GPP (e.g., non-cellular) access to the <NUM> CN, according to some embodiments. As shown, a user equipment device (e.g., such as UE <NUM>) may access the <NUM> CN through both a radio access network (RAN, e.g., such as gNB or base station <NUM>) and an access point, such as AP <NUM>. The AP <NUM> may include a connection to the Internet <NUM> as well as a connection to a non-3GPP inter-working function (N3IWF) <NUM> network entity. The N3IWF may include a connection to a core access and mobility management function (AMF) <NUM> of the <NUM> CN. The AMF <NUM> may include an instance of a <NUM> mobility management (<NUM> MM) function associated with the UE <NUM>. In addition, the RAN (e.g., gNB <NUM>) may also have a connection to the AMF <NUM>. Thus, the <NUM> CN may support unified authentication over both connections as well as allow simultaneous registration for UE <NUM> access via both gNB <NUM> and AP <NUM>. As shown, the AMF <NUM> may include one or more functional entities associated with the <NUM> CN (e.g., network slice selection function (NSSF) <NUM>, short message service function (SMSF) <NUM>, application function (AF) <NUM>, unified data management (UDM) <NUM>, policy control function (PCF) <NUM>, and/or authentication server function (AUSF) <NUM>). Note that these functional entities may also be supported by a session management function (SMF) 706a and an SMF 706b of the <NUM> CN. The AMF <NUM> may be connected to (or in communication with) the SMF 706a. In some embodiments, such functional entities may reside on (and/or be executed by and/or be supported by) one or more servers <NUM> located within the RAN and/or core network. Further, the gNB <NUM> may in communication with (or connected to) a user plane function (UPF) 708a that may also be communication with the SMF 706a. Similarly, the N3IWF <NUM> may be communicating with a UPF 708b that may also be communicating with the SMF 706b. Both UPFs may be communicating with the data network (e.g., DN 710a and 710b) and/or the Internet <NUM> and IMS core network <NUM>.

<FIG> illustrates an example of a <NUM> network architecture that incorporates both dual 3GPP (e.g., LTE and <NUM> NR) access and non-3GPP access to the <NUM> CN, according to some embodiments. As shown, a user equipment device (e.g., such as UE <NUM>) may access the <NUM> CN through both a radio access network (RAN, e.g., such as gNB or base station <NUM> or eNB or base station <NUM>) and an access point, such as AP <NUM>. The AP <NUM> may include a connection to the Internet <NUM> as well as a connection to the N3IWF <NUM> network entity. The N3IWF may include a connection to the AMF <NUM> of the <NUM> CN. The AMF <NUM> may include an instance of the <NUM> MM function associated with the UE <NUM>. In addition, the RAN (e.g., gNB <NUM>) may also have a connection to the AMF <NUM>. Thus, the <NUM> CN may support unified authentication over both connections as well as allow simultaneous registration for UE <NUM> access via both gNB <NUM> and AP <NUM>. In addition, the <NUM> CN may support dual-registration of the UE on both a legacy network (e.g., LTE via base station <NUM>) and a <NUM> network (e.g., via base station <NUM>). As shown, the base station <NUM> may have connections to a mobility management entity (MME) <NUM> and a serving gateway (SGW) <NUM>. The MME <NUM> may have connections to both the SGW <NUM> and the AMF <NUM>. In addition, the SGW <NUM> may have connections to both the SMF 706a and the UPF 708a. As shown, the AMF <NUM> may include one or more functional entities associated with the <NUM> CN (e.g., NSSF <NUM>, SMSF <NUM>, AF <NUM>, UDM <NUM>, PCF <NUM>, and/or AUSF <NUM>). Note that UDM <NUM> may also include a home subscriber server (HSS) function and the PCF may also include a policy and charging rules function (PCRF). Note further that these functional entities may also be supported by the SMF706a and the SMF 706b of the <NUM> CN. The AMF <NUM> may be connected to (or in communication with) the SMF 706a. In some embodiments, such functional entities may reside on (and/or be executed by and/or be supported by) one or more servers <NUM> located within the RAN and/or core network. Further, the gNB <NUM> may in communication with (or connected to) the UPF 708a that may also be communication with the SMF 706a. Similarly, the N3IWF <NUM> may be communicating with a UPF 708b that may also be communicating with the SMF 706b. Both UPFs may be communicating with the data network (e.g., DN 710a and 710b) and/or the Internet <NUM> and IMS core network <NUM>.

Note that in various embodiments, one or more of the above described network entities may be configured to perform methods to implement mechanisms for a measurement period extension procedure, e.g., as further described herein.

<FIG> illustrates an example of a baseband processor architecture for a UE (e.g., such as UE <NUM>), according to some embodiments. The baseband processor architecture <NUM> described in <FIG> may be implemented on one or more radios (e.g., radios <NUM> and/or <NUM> described above) or modems (e.g., modems <NUM> and/or <NUM>) as described above. As shown, the non-access stratum (NAS) <NUM> may include a <NUM> NAS <NUM> and a legacy NAS <NUM>. The legacy NAS <NUM> may include a communication connection with a legacy access stratum (AS) <NUM>. The <NUM> NAS <NUM> may include communication connections with both a <NUM> AS <NUM> and a non-3GPP AS <NUM> and Wi-Fi AS <NUM>. The <NUM> NAS <NUM> may include functional entities associated with both access stratums. Thus, the <NUM> NAS <NUM> may include multiple <NUM> MM entities <NUM> and <NUM> and <NUM> session management (SM) entities <NUM> and <NUM>. The legacy NAS <NUM> may include functional entities such as short message service (SMS) entity <NUM>, evolved packet system (EPS) session management (ESM) entity <NUM>, session management (SM) entity <NUM>, EPS mobility management (EMM) entity <NUM>, and mobility management (MM)/ GPRS mobility management (GMM) entity <NUM>. In addition, the legacy AS <NUM> may include functional entities such as LTE AS <NUM>, UMTS AS <NUM>, and/or GSM/GPRS AS <NUM>.

Thus, the baseband processor architecture <NUM> allows for a common <NUM>-NAS for both <NUM> cellular and non-cellular (e.g., non-3GPP access). Note that as shown, the <NUM> MM may maintain individual connection management and registration management state machines for each connection. Additionally, a device (e.g., UE <NUM>) may register to a single PLMN (e.g., <NUM> CN) using <NUM> cellular access as well as non-cellular access. Further, it may be possible for the device to be in a connected state in one access and an idle state in another access and vice versa. Finally, there may be common <NUM>-MM procedures (e.g., registration, de-registration, identification, authentication, as so forth) for both accesses.

Note that in various embodiments, one or more of the above described functional entities of the <NUM> NAS and/or <NUM> AS may be configured to perform methods overhead reduction for multi-carrier beam selection and power control, e.g., as further described herein.

In recent developments of wireless standards, receive (Rx) assisted access has been studied to provide enhancement for communications. For a receiver (e.g., a UE) to provide assistance, channel sensing and reporting may be performed by the UE in order to assess the characteristics (e.g., power measurements) of one or more wireless channels and accordingly inform the network of said characteristics. In some embodiments, the UE may perform channel sensing using received signal strength indicator (RSSI) measurements and reporting. For example, in some embodiments, the RSSI measurement may be compared with an energy detection threshold (EDT), according to some embodiments. In some embodiments, the UE may perform beam specific RSSI measurement and reporting and/or zero-power-channel status information-reference signal (ZP-CSI-RS) based RSSI measurements. Additionally or alternatively, the UE may provide layer-<NUM> (L1) RSSI reporting in the form of a special CSI report.

In some embodiments, the UE may utilize an enhanced aperiodic channel status information report (AP-CSI), although other specific reports (e.g., CSI reports) are also envisioned. For example, if a UE is configured with aperiodic CSI reporting, the UE may report CSI when both CSI-interference measurement (CSI-IM) and Zero Power - Channel Status Information - Reference Signal (NZP-CSI-RS) resources are configured as periodic, semi-persistent or aperiodic. Furthermore, the time and frequency resources that may be used by the UE to report CSI may be controlled by the base station (e.g., gNB). Moreover, CSI may include Channel Quality Indicator (CQI), precoding matrix indicator (PMI), CSI-RS resource indicator (CRI), SS/PBCH Block Resource indicator (SSBRI), layer indicator (LI), rank indicator (RI), L1-RSRP, L1-RSSI, and/or layer-<NUM> signal-to-noise interference ratio (L1-SINR). Additionally or alternatively, the UE may perform aperiodic CSI reporting using PUSCH on a serving cell upon successful decoding of a DCI format <NUM>-<NUM> or DCI format <NUM>-<NUM> which may further trigger an aperiodic CSI trigger state. In some embodiments, a UE may perform semi-persistent CSI reporting on the PUSCH upon successful decoding of a DCI format <NUM>-<NUM> or DCI format <NUM>-<NUM> which may activate a semi-persistent CSI trigger state.

As another form of receiver assisted access, the UE may also perform listen before talk (LBT) operations as the receiver. LBT may further be characterized by the UE performing a clear channel assessment (CCA) before attempting to use the channel. For example, the UE may perform a CCA procedure to listen or monitor for the CCA observation time duration for the appropriate channel. The channel may be considered occupied if the energy level in the channel exceeds a certain threshold. Accordingly, if the UE determines that the channel is occupied (e.g., the measured energy level exceeds the threshold), the UE may delay further attempts to access the channel.

Moreover, in some embodiments, the UE may perform extended clear channel assessment (eCCA) in order to assess the occupancy characteristics or states of one or more channels. For example, the UE may perform an eCCA procedure in order to utilize a flexible CCA observation time duration to listen or monitor for energy levels in the channel. Additionally or alternatively, the UE may perform category <NUM> (Cat2) LBT which may correspond to performing a "one-shot" LBT or LBT without random back-off and may further have a determined CCA period or duration. In other words, Cat2 LBT may correspond to having a fixed sensing period within a frame or subframe and may also not include a back-off period corresponding to a portion of the frame or subframe preceding the sensing period. In some embodiments, the back-off period may be generated based on random values in order facilitate channel time or spacing between contended resources and potentially mitigate resource collisions. LBT category <NUM> (Cat3) and category <NUM> (Cat4), in contrast, may utilize variable sensing periods and additionally include random back-off periods. These other categories of LBT may be used in various embodiments described herein.

In some existing implementations, a listen before talk (LBT) mechanism may be used to access shared medium (e.g., such as unlicensed bands commonly used for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and other short to medium range communications, e.g., non-3GGP access) to avoid conflicts or collisions (e.g., of transmissions emanating from two or more wireless devices attempting to access the shared medium) and to improve medium utilization efficiency. However, LBT mechanisms are not collision free. In other words, LBT mechanisms cannot guarantee collision free transmissions.

For example, in the case of a uni-cast transmission, a transmitter may readily detect a transmission collision based on a receiver's acknowledgement/negative acknowledgement (ACK/NACK) feedback. However, in the case of a multi-cast (or group-cast) transmission, a transmitter may not easily detect a collision based on receivers' ACK/NACKs due, at least in part, to heavy traffic associated with ACK/NACKs from multiple receivers and to a transmitter's inability to distinguish between (or isolate) transmission collisions from channel quality issues based on received ACK/NACKs. In other words, since receivers in a multi-cast transmission may have different locations with differing channel quality, a reason for a NACK (e.g., transmission collision versus poor channel quality) cannot be determined by the transmitter. Additionally, in the case of a broadcast transmission, feedback from receivers is known to not be feasible, thus, a transmitter has no knowledge of collisions. Further, in some implementations, a transmitter may reserve periodic slots within a reservation period for communication. In such implementations, if collisions occur, the collisions could persist for at least a portion of the reservation period (and in a worst-case scenario, the duration of the reservation period) if the transmitter does not detect (or is unable to detect) the collisions.

In current implementations of 3GPP <NUM> NR, studies in extending current NR operation to <NUM> are related to UE measurements involving physical layer procedures. For example, some studies have been directed toward enhancing timing associated with beam-based operations to new sub-carrier spacing (e.g., <NUM> and/or <NUM>) in shared spectrum operations. Additionally, other studies have been directed toward channel access mechanisms using beam-based operations that comply with regulatory requirements associated with the unlicensed spectrum between <NUM> and <NUM>. Furthermore, some studies have attempted to specify listen before talk (LBT) and non-LBT procedures (of which no additional sensing mechanism is specified) with regard to omni-directional LBT, directional LBT, energy detection threshold enhancement, and receiver assistance in channel access. Moreover, some core specifications regarding new bands for the <NUM> - <NUM> frequency range have been discussed in addition to defining uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) operation within the bands and excluding the intelligent transportation system (ITS) spectrum in said frequency range. Additionally, gNB (e.g., a base station), UE radio-frequency (RF), radio resource management (RRM), radio link monitoring (RLM), and broadcast multicast (BM) core requirements for bands (and combinations of bands) in the <NUM> - <NUM> frequency range have also been studied.

Furthermore, when a UE makes a cell specific measurement during a LBT procedure in a NR environment, the UE may be susceptible to or experience LBT failures. These LBT failures may involve the UE performing beam measurements in the higher, unlicensed spectrum of the <NUM> - <NUM> frequency range.

While embodiments described below discuss L1-RSSI and various specific CSI reports, any of various messages, measurements, reports, etc. may be used. One example of a receiver assistance technique may involve transmitting measurements (e.g., the L1-RSSI measurement) as part of an enhanced report (e.g., an AP-CSI report), according to some embodiments. Additionally or alternatively, the timeline of measurements, reporting configurations, triggering, measurement configurations and resources of L1-RSSI and/or ZP-CSI-RS based measurements, beam specific RSSI measurements and reporting, contents of the L1-RSSI report (e.g., the value of RSSI measurement and/or comparison outcome with EDT), and CCA/eCCA based receiver assistance may also be utilized as part of receiver assisted access techniques.

In some embodiments, the measurement (e.g., a L1-RSSI) may be included as an enhanced report (e.g., an AP-CSI report) enhancement involving enhanced or altered parameters involving triggering, report configuration (e.g., ReportConfig), timeline, priority, measurement, and the report format over PUSCH. Additionally or alternatively, the UE may provide receive assisted access through use of LBT in Rx, according to some embodiments. For example, a base station may trigger the measurement to be reported through use of a downlink DCI (downlink control information) transmission. Moreover, the PDSCH transmission from the base station may further depend on the measurement (which may be quantized) and reported in PUCCH or PUSCH.

<FIG> is a flowchart diagram illustrating an example method of including a measurement as part of an enhanced report, according to some embodiments.

Aspects of the method of <FIG> may be implemented by a wireless device, such as the UE(s) <NUM>, in communication with one or more base stations (e.g., BS <NUM>) as illustrated in and described with respect to the Figures, or more generally in conjunction with any of the computer systems or devices shown in the Figures, among other circuitry, systems, devices, elements, or components shown in the Figures, among other devices, as desired. For example, one or more processors (or processing elements) of the UE (e.g., processor(s) <NUM>, baseband processor(s), processor(s) associated with communication circuitry, etc., among various possibilities) may cause the UE to perform some or all of the illustrated method elements. Note that while at least some elements of the method are described in a manner relating to the use of communication techniques and/or features associated with 3GPP specification documents, such description is not intended to be limiting to the disclosure, and aspects of the method may be used in any suitable wireless communication system, as desired. In various embodiments, some of the elements of the methods shown may be performed concurrently, in a different order than shown, may be substituted for by other method elements, or may be omitted. Additional method elements may also be performed as desired. As shown, the method may operate as follows.

In <NUM>, the UE may receive a measurement reporting capability request from a base station. More specifically, the base station may be requesting an indication from the UE regarding the UE's capability in reporting measurements (e.g., L1-RSSI) as part of an enhanced report (e.g., an AP-CSI report). For example, some UEs may not support this capability due to the hardware or software configurations implemented in older UEs. However, newer UEs may possess the hardware and/or software specifications or configurations to support the capability of including measurements as part of an enhanced report.

In <NUM> the UE may, in response to the measurement reporting capability request from the base station, transmit an indication of its measurement reporting capability to the base station. For example, the UE may respond to the BS that it does or does not support L1-RSSI measurement reporting as part of an AP-CSI report configuration. Furthermore, the UE may indicate the aforementioned capability or lack thereof using certain bit parameter assignments in the response transmission. In some embodiments, the assigned bits may correspond to binary "true" or "false" parameters corresponding to "<NUM>" or "<NUM>" values, respectively. According to some embodiments, a parameter such as rssi-csi-dynamicChannelAccess-r17, for example, may be used to indicate whether the UE supports L1-RSSI measurement reporting as part of an AP-CSI enhancement.

In <NUM> the UE may, having indicated in <NUM> that it is capable of including certain measurements (e.g., L1-RSSI) as part of an enhanced report (e.g., an AP-CSI report), receive or decode a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) transmission from the base station which may further include a CSIrequest trigger. For example, the PDCCH transmission may include a CSIrequest field which may be set or assigned a certain parameter in order to trigger the measurement report. In some embodiments, the base station may utilize DCI Format <NUM>-<NUM> and DCI Format <NUM>-<NUM> with the CSIrequest field in order to indicate the measurement report trigger. Moreover, the CSI request parameter may include <NUM>-<NUM> bits which may be further determined by a higher layer parameter such as reportTriggerSize, according to some embodiments. Additionally, it may be necessary for the enhanced report (e.g., AP-CSI report) configuration to include the measurement (e.g., L1-RSSI). An example code block of the aforementioned parameters is shown below. CSI-ReportConfig ::= SEQUENCE {
reportConfigId CSI-ReportConfigId,
carrier ServCellIndex OPTIONAL, --. reportQuantity CHOICE {
none NULL,
cri-RI-PMI-CQI NULL,
cri-RI-i1 NULL,
cri-RI-i1-CQI SEQUENCE {
pdsch-BundleSizeForCSI ENUMERATED {n2, n4} OPTIONAL -- Need S
},
cri-RI-CQI NULL,
cri-RSRP NULL,
ssb-Index-RSRP NULL,
cri-RI-LI-PMI-CQI NULL
RSSI NULL
},.

In <NUM> the UE may, in response to receiving the PDCCH transmission from the base station, transmit a measurement (e.g., a quantized L1-RSSI) as part of an enhanced report (e.g., AP-CSI report) via a PUSCH transmission. More specifically, the PDCCH transmission from the base station may include a trigger which may in turn cause the UE to transmit the measurement as part of an enhanced report. Accordingly, the UE may perform measurements or sensing of appropriate channels in order to generate the measurement. Moreover, the measurement may be quantized (e.g., comprising bit fields in the data transmission) such that the measurement indicates a measured value (e.g., L1-RSSI value), according to some embodiments. Additionally or alternatively, the measurement may be quantized based on a comparison to an energy detection threshold (EDT) value.

In <NUM>, the UE may receive or decode DCI from the base station pertaining the scheduling of a PDSCH transmission. For example, based on the feedback received from the UE the BS may transmit scheduling information pertaining to a PDSCH transmission. According to some embodiments, if the UE previously indicated via the measurement (L1-RSSI) in the enhanced report (e.g., AP-CSI report) that the channel was not noisy (e.g., low interference levels), the base station may proceed with transmitting DCI in order to schedule a transmission via PDSCH. Additionally or alternatively, if the UE's quantized measurement (e.g., L1-RSSI) was indicative of a noisy channel (e.g., high interference levels), the base station may optionally or automatically cancel the PDSCH transmission and therefore not transmit the DCI scheduling information. In some embodiments, the base station (e.g., gNB) may transmit PDCCH signaling with a larger control channel element (CCE) aggregation level. Additionally or alternatively, the DCI may schedule a PDSCH with a lower mission critical services (MCS) index if the L1-RSSI indicates a noisy channel but the interference level can still sustain lower rate transmissions. In other words, the base station (e.g., gNB) may adapt the PDCCH and PDSCH transmissions to the UE based on the quantized feedback (e.g., L1-RSSI) it received in <NUM>.

In <NUM>, the UE may receive the PDSCH transmission from the base station. Accordingly, the UE may receive the PDSCH as a result of the quantized measurement indicating to the base station that the measured channel had low interference levels and was not noisy.

In <NUM>, the UE may transmit an acknowledgement (ACK) or negative-acknowledgement (NACK) to the base station. Accordingly, the base station may utilize this ACK or NACK for determination of successful reception or failure of the previously transmitted PDSCH transmission. Accordingly, if the BS receives a NACK from the UE, the BS may optionally cease further attempts at communication with the UE or alternatively may attempt to restart the measurement reporting process at <NUM>.

<FIG> illustrates an example communication flow between the UE and base station (e.g., gNB) when including a L1-RSSI measurement as part of an AP-CSI report, according to some embodiments.

As briefly discussed above in regard to <FIG>, the UE may first receive a capability request from a base station and respond to the base station with an indication of its capability (or lack thereof) to include a quantized L1-RSSI measurement as part of an AP-CSI report.

Accordingly, the UE may receive or decode a PDCCH transmission from the base station including a CSIrequest trigger. More specifically, if the UE has indicated that it supports the capability to include the L1-RSSI measurement as part of the AP-CSI report, the base station may respond with a L1-RSSI triggering PDCCH transmission, according to some embodiments. Moreover, the base station may schedule the PDCCH transmission such that it corresponds to offset value K1' (K1 prime).

Next, the UE may, in response to receiving the PDCCH, transmit a quantized L1-RSSI (as part of an AP-CSI report) to the base station via a PUSCH transmission. More specifically, during offset value K1', the UE may decode the DCI associated with the PDCCH transmission with the CSIrequest trigger, perform the RSSI measurement, and accordingly transmit via PUSCH the quantized L1-RSSI report as part of an AP-CSI report.

In response to transmitting a L1-RSSI that is indicative of a low noise or low interference channel, the UE may receive or decode DCI from the base station pertaining the scheduling of a PDSCH transmission and further associated with offset period K0. More specifically, K0 may correspond to the offset between the DL slot where the PDCCH (e.g. DCI) for downlink scheduling is received and the DL slot where PDSCH is scheduled.

Accordingly, the UE may receive the PDSCH transmission from the base station and further transmit an ACK response to the base station upon successful reception of the PDSCH transmission. Furthermore, the ACK response may correspond to offset period K1 which may be characterized as the offset between the DL slot at which the data is scheduled on PDSCH and the UL slot at which the ACK/NACK feedback for the scheduled PDSCH data is to be transmitted.

<FIG> illustrates an example embodiment of processing timelines and priorities associated with including a measurement as part of an enhanced report, according to some embodiments.

For example, as shown in <FIG>, a UE may decode DCI corresponding to a PDCCH with the CSIrequest trigger received from a base station. Moreover, the PDCCH may be configured by the base station (e.g., gNB) such that the base station has enough time to process a measurement (e.g., L1-RSSI) for DCI before PDSCH transmission at K0. In other words, it may be necessary for the base station to wait, receive, and process the measurement (corresponding to K1'). During this time, the UE may perform a measurement (e.g., a L1-RSSI) and further transmit a quantized measurement via PUSCH.

In some embodiments, including the measurement (e.g., L1-RSSI) as part of an enhanced report (e.g., AP-CSI) may further include utilizing a processing timeline (e.g., CSI processing timeline). For example, according to some embodiments, the L1-RSSI may be able to re-use the layer <NUM> reference signal received power (L1-RSRP) processing timeline which may involve <NUM> subcarrier spacings (SCS) and <NUM> SCS. Additionally or alternatively, the L1-RSSI processing timeline and/or measurement may occur faster than the L1-RSRP processing timeline due to the L1-RSSI being based on energy sensing in the time domain and that frequency domain processing may not be necessary. Moreover, the L1-RSSI measurement may use zero or one CSI Processing Unit (CPU) at a maximum, according to some embodiments.

In some embodiments, the L1-RSSI may utilize a priority rule for CSI reports. For example, a first CSI report may have priority over a second CSI report if the associated priority value (e.g., k) is lower for the first report than for the second report. In one example, the L1-RSSI may be able to re-use the L1-RSRP priority rule (e.g., k=<NUM>), according to some embodiments. Additionally or alternatively, the L1-RSSI may be associated with a lower priority than the CSI (e.g., k=<NUM>). However, a collision may occur between two CSI reports if the time occupancy of the physical channels scheduled to carry the CSI reports overlap in at least one OFDM symbol and are transmitted on the same carrier.

According to some embodiments, a RSSI measurement may be used to sense the overall environment in unlicensed band (which may include certain <NUM>. 11ad and <NUM>. 11ay technologies/standards). Moreover, the L1-RSSI measurement (as part of an AP-CSI report) may further include a RSSI measurement configuration in the time domain.

For example, in some embodiments, the measurement time for a L1-RSSI measurement may be greater than or equal to a <NUM> microsecond CCA slot time which may correspond to a minimum timing slot. More specifically, for a <NUM> SCS, the L1-RSSI measurement time may correspond to one orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol and for <NUM> and <NUM> SCSs, the L1-RSSI measurement time may correspond to three and five OFDM symbols respectively.

Additionally or alternatively, the ZP-CSI-RS may be characterized for the L1-RSSI measurement. For example, the ZP-CSI-RS may be characterized with a new measurement resource configuration (rather than the legacy zero power configuration corresponding to resource block/resource element estimation) such that the new pattern occupies the entire amount of OFDM symbols, according to some embodiments. Additionally or alternatively, a parameter such as CSI-reportConfigID for L1-RSSI may be linked to a Null OFDM symbol directly. These alternative configurations may allow for the UE to, when not transmitting, utilize certain gaps or spacings to perform RSSI measurements of its nearby environment (e.g., channels).

In some embodiments, the L1-RSSI may be measured from symbols within a slot. Additionally or alternatively, the L1-RSSI may be measured from symbols across a slot. For example, the L1-RSSI measurement time corresponding to three and five OFDM symbols (for <NUM> and <NUM> SCSs) may extend across slot boundaries.

According to some embodiments, the time domain measurement restriction for L1-RSSI may not be configurable and therefore the UE may utilize a "one-shot" measurement corresponding to LBT Category <NUM>.

In some embodiments, the UE may utilize a directional L1-RSSI. For example, the UE may measure L1-RSSI using the Rx beam associated with the active TCI state of the triggering PDCCH. Additionally or alternatively, the UE may measure L1-RSSI using the Rx beam based on the default PDSCH beam if the triggering PDCCH does not carry the active TCI state.

According to some embodiments, the L1-RSSI may reuse the L3-RSSI report range. For example, an information element (IE) such as RSSI-Range may specify the value range used in RSSI measurements and thresholds for operation (e.g., new radio (NR)) with shared spectrum channel access. More specifically, the L1-RSSI report range may be characterized as "RSSI-Range-r16 ::= INTEGER(<NUM>. <NUM>) " where the reporting range of the measurements may be defined from -<NUM> dBm to -25dBm with a <NUM> dBm resolution. For example, a RSSI reported value of "RSSI <NUM>" may correspond to a RSSI measured quantity value of less than -<NUM> dBm, a RSSI reported value of "RSSI <NUM>" may correspond to a RSSI measured quantity value greater than or equal to -<NUM> dBm and less than -<NUM> dBm, and a RSSI reported value of "RSSI <NUM>" may correspond to a RSSI measured quantity value greater than or equal to -<NUM> dBm and less than -<NUM> dBm, according to some embodiments. Moreover, this characterization may continue for the L1-RSSI reporting range such that a RSSI reported value of "RSSI <NUM>" may correspond to a RSSI measured quantity value greater than or equal to -<NUM> dBm and less than -<NUM> dBm and a RSSI reported value of "RSSI <NUM>" may correspond to a RSSI measured quantity value greater than or equal to -<NUM> dBm.

Additionally or alternatively to the time domain measurement configuration, the L1-RSSI measurement (as part of an AP-CSI report) may further include a RSSI measurement configuration in the frequency domain, according to some embodiments.

In some embodiments, the UE may be configured to re-use the existing ZP-CSI-RS configuration for the L1-RSSI measurement. Additionally or alternatively, the UE may be configured to define a new ZP-CSI-RS configuration pattern which may further enable continuous REs (e.g., RB-based) estimation. According to some embodiments, frequency domain RSSI measurements may not capture, characterize or sense interference from <NUM>. 11ad sources as well as time domain based RSSI measurements.

<FIG> illustrates exemplary techniques for performing an example method of including a measurement as part of a CCA procedure, according to some embodiments.

In <NUM>, the base station may transmit a measurement reporting capability request to a UE. More specifically, the base station may be requesting an indication from the UE regarding the UE's capability in reporting measurements (e.g., L1-RSSI) as part of an enhanced procedure (e.g., a CCA or eCCA procedure).

In <NUM>, the base station may receive an indication of the UE's measurement reporting capability from the UE. More specifically, the indication may indicate to the base station whether or not the UE supports measurement reporting as part of an enhanced CCA procedure. This capability may be indicated using certain bit parameter assignments in the UE's response transmission.

In <NUM>, the base station may transmit downlink DCI trigger L1-RSSI along with the PDSCH scheduling. For example, the base station may transmit a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) to the UE which may further include a CSIrequest trigger. Additionally, the PDCCH transmission may include a CSIrequest field which may be set or assigned a certain parameter in order to trigger the measurement (e.g., L1-RSSI) report. In some embodiments, the base station may utilize DCI Format <NUM>-<NUM> and DCI Format <NUM>-<NUM> with the CSIrequest field in order to indicate the measurement report trigger. Additionally or alternatively, the transmission from the base station may include DCI pertaining the scheduling of a PDSCH transmission.

In <NUM>, the base station may receive a measurement (e.g., a quantized L1-RSSI) via a PUSCH or PUCCH transmission from the UE. For example, the UE may indicate via the measurement report that the channel was not noisy (e.g., low interference levels). Alternatively, the UE's quantized L1-RSSI report may also indicate a noisy channel (e.g., high interference levels).

In <NUM>, the base station may, in response to receiving the measurement (e.g., quantized L1-RSSI), transmit a PDSCH to the UE as part of subsequent communications. For example, if the UE's measurement indicated low interference levels, the base station may proceed, due to the included DCI scheduling information included with the request trigger, with its scheduled PDSCH transmission. Alternatively, if the UE's measurement indicated a noisy channel, the base station may optionally or automatically cancel the PDSCH transmission.

In <NUM>, the base station may receive an acknowledgement (ACK) transmission from the UE which indicates to the base station that the UE successfully received the PDSCH transmission. Alternatively, if there was a failure in the PDSCH transmission, the base station may receive a negative acknowledgement (NACK) transmission from the UE.

<FIG> illustrates, as part of the method of including a measurement as part of a CCA procedure, an explicit indication to trigger a L1-RSSI report, according to some embodiments.

For example, in some embodiments, the base station may transmit a DL scheduling DCI trigger L1-RSSI together with PDSCH scheduling. Furthermore, as part of an explicit indication, the base station may utilize a <NUM>-bit L1-RSSI trigger field in DCI Format <NUM>-<NUM> or <NUM>-<NUM>. Accordingly, the L1-RSSI may be quantized and compared to an EDT. In some embodiments, if the L1-RSSI is above the EDT, the <NUM>-bit L1-RSSI trigger field may be set to <NUM>. Additionally or alternatively, if the L1-RSSI is below the EDT, the <NUM>-bit L1-RSSI trigger may be set to <NUM>. In some embodiments, the base station may utilize <NUM> or more bits with linear quantization of L1-RSSI.

In some embodiments, additional bit fields may be used to indicate the K1' value for quantized L1-RSSI transmission on PUCCH. Additionally or alternatively, K1' may be configured by radio resource control RRC signaling corresponding to each time domain resource allocation (TDRA) entry in DCI.

According to some embodiments, the base station (e.g., gNB) may perform scheduling of transmissions to ensure K1' is smaller than K0 in order to ensure that the base station has enough time to process L1-RSSI for DCI before PDSCH transmission at K0. In other words, it may be necessary for the base station to wait, receive, and process the L1-RSSI (corresponding to K1'). Therefore, the base station may configure K0 or K1' such that it is larger than K1' so that the PDSCH is transmitted after receiving and processing the L1-RSSI. However, in the event of K0 being less than K1', the feedback provided by the L1-RSSI may not be usable by the base station for the subsequent PDSCH transmission. Moreover, the PDSCH may be transmitted only when L1-RSSI is below the EDT, according to some embodiments. In other words, if the UE reports strong interference in the corresponding channel with the quantized L1-RSSI (which may indicate poor conditions for the base station to be transmitting through), the base station may be able to adapt accordingly and possibly cancel the PDSCH transmission "automatically". According to further embodiments, if the L1-RSSI is above the EDT, the PDSCH may be cancelled.

In some embodiments, the base station may facilitate the scheduling of transmissions such that K1' is above a threshold that the UE has reported in order for the UE to have enough time to decode the PDCCH and identify the correct Rx beam for L1-RSSI measurement.

<FIG> illustrates as part of the method of including a measurement (e.g., L1-RSSI) report as part of a CCA procedure, an implicit indication to trigger the L1-RSSI report, according to some embodiments.

In some embodiments, the base station may transmit a DL scheduling DCI trigger L1-RSSI together with PDSCH scheduling and may further utilize an implicit indication. For example, the base station may re-use DCI Format <NUM>-<NUM> and DCI Format <NUM>-<NUM>, according to some embodiments. Additionally or alternatively, the base station may utilize RRC configuration or MAC CE signaling to enable L1-RSSI feedback for the UE. Accordingly, the UE may, in response to the signaling, send or transmit a quantized L1-RSSI corresponding to timing offset K1 from the DCI. Additionally, the K1 slot may be configured such that it is less than the following K0 timing offset. For example, as discussed above, the base station may configure K1 to be smaller than K0 in order to ensure that the base station has enough time to process L1-RSSI for DCI before PDSCH transmission at K0. In some embodiments, if the L1-RSSI is below the EDT, the base station may transmit the PDSCH and the UE may transmit an acknowledgement (ACK) after the K1 slot from the PDSCH. Additionally or alternatively, if the L1-RSSI is above the EDT, the PDSCH may be cancelled.

According to some embodiments, the UE may be configured by higher layers (e.g., RRC or MAC-CE) to perform periodic CSI reporting via PUCCH transmissions. The periodic CSI reporting may further correspond to CSI reporting settings and associated CSI resource settings which may also be configured via higher layers. In addition to including the L1-RSSI report as part of the CCA procedure, the L1-RSSI quantization may correspond to <NUM>-bit quantization comparison to an EDT. In some embodiments, this <NUM>-bit quantization comparison may be used to minimize the payload size of the PUCCH. Additionally or alternatively, the PUCCH resource used to report the quantized L1-RSSI may further include a PUCCH resource index configured by higher layer signaling such RRC or MAC CE signaling, according to some embodiments. Additionally or alternatively, a new field may be introduced for PUCCH resource index indication. In some embodiments, the PUCCH resource may be determined by the indicated PUCCH resource for a HARQ-ACK report. Moreover, for uplink (e.g., UCI) collision handling, the priority of L1-RSSI on PUCCH may be the same as or higher/lower than the L1-RSRP on PUCCH, according to some embodiments.

In some embodiments, the UE may perform CCA sensing to determine whether or not the medium (e.g., channel) is busy after receiving the PDCCH. The UE may be configured for <NUM> or <NUM> microsecond one-time sensing, according to some embodiments. Additionally or alternatively, the UE may be configured to perform an eCCA procedure in which it utilizes a <NUM> microsecond sensing event followed by <NUM>-<NUM> consecutive <NUM> microsecond slots sensing events.

In some embodiments, the quantized L1-RSSI may utilize the same HARQ ID as the PDSCH scheduling for a UCI mapping procedure. For example, the quantized L1-RSSI may be multiplexed with an ACK for another HARQ process based on the corresponding HARQ-codebook, according to some embodiments. Additionally or alternatively, the quantized L1-RSSI may be reported independently (e.g., not based on the corresponding HARQ-codebook). Accordingly, in some embodiments, it may be necessary for the UE to discard the HARQ-ACK upon detecting a collision.

In some embodiments, a device (e.g., a UE <NUM>) may be configured to include a processor (or a set of processors) and a memory medium, where the memory medium stores program instructions, where the processor is configured to read and execute the program instructions from the memory medium, where the program instructions are executable to implement any of the various method embodiments described herein (or, any combination of the method embodiments described herein, or, any subset of any of the method embodiments described herein, or, any combination of such subsets). The device may be realized in any of various forms.

Although the embodiments above have been described in considerable detail, numerous variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated. It is intended that the following claims be interpreted to embrace all such variations and modifications.

Claim 1:
A method, comprising:
by a user equipment, UE (<NUM>) or a baseband processor:
receiving, from a base station, BS (<NUM>), a measurement reporting capability request;
transmitting, to the BS (<NUM>), an indication of the UE's measurement reporting capability;
receiving, from the BS (<NUM>), signaling comprising a channel status information, CSI, request trigger, wherein the CSI request trigger is implicitly indicated via re-use, by the BS (<NUM>) of one or more bits of downlink control information, DCI Format <NUM>-<NUM> or DCI Format <NUM>-<NUM>; and
transmitting, in response to receiving the CSI request trigger, a measurement report to the base station (<NUM>), wherein the measurement report comprises at least one received signal strength indicator, RSSI, measurement.