Patent Description:
For New Radio unlicensed spectrum (NR-U), in order to achieve fair coexistence with other technologies using the same unlicensed spectrum, a channel access procedure is considered such that a device needs to sense the channel first and utilize the channel if the channel sensing outcome indicates the channel is available.

<NPL>), discloses DL Frame Structure Design and Signaling For LAA.

Specific embodiments are defined by the dependent claims.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the same elements will be designated by the same reference numerals although they are shown in different drawings. In the following description, specific details such as detailed configurations and components are merely provided to assist with the overall understanding of the embodiments of the present disclosure. Therefore, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications of the embodiments described herein may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions are omitted for clarity and conciseness. The terms described below are terms defined in consideration of the functions in the present disclosure, and may be different according to users, intentions of the users, or customs. Therefore, the definitions of the terms should be determined based on the contents throughout this specification.

The electronic device according to one embodiment may be one of various types of electronic devices. The electronic devices may include, for example, a portable communication device (e.g., a smart phone), a computer, a portable multimedia device, a portable medical device, a camera, a wearable device, or a home appliance. According to one embodiment of the disclosure, an electronic device is not limited to those described above.

With regard to the descriptions of the accompanying drawings, similar reference numerals may be used to refer to similar or related elements. A singular form of a noun corresponding to an item may include one or more of the things, unless the relevant context clearly indicates otherwise. As used herein, terms such as "<NUM>st," "2nd," "first," and "second" may be used to distinguish a corresponding component from another component, but are not intended to limit the components in other aspects (e.g., importance or order). It is intended that if an element (e.g., a first element) is referred to, with or without the term "operatively" or "communicatively", as "coupled with," "coupled to," "connected with," or "connected to" another element (e.g., a second element), it indicates that the element may be coupled with the other element directly (e.g., wired), wirelessly, or via a third element.

As used herein, the term "module" may include a unit implemented in hardware, software, or firmware, and may interchangeably be used with other terms, for example, "logic," "logic block," "part," and "circuitry. " A module may be a single integral component, or a minimum unit or part thereof, adapted to perform one or more functions. For example, according to one embodiment, a module may be implemented in a form of an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC).

The channel access procedure is referred to as listen-before-talk (LBT). Devices which employ LBT can be categorized into load based equipment (LBE) or frame based equipment (FBE). For LBE, channel sensing can occur at any instance for data transmission but a random back-off procedure is applied when the channel is sensed to be busy. For FBE, predetermined periodic channel access opportunities are applied and a fixed duration for data transmission followed by a fixed idle period are associated with each channel sensing. If a channel sensing procedure succeeds in FBE, the disclosed fixed duration for data transmission can be utilized. Otherwise, no access to the channel is allowed until the next channel access opportunity.

According to LBT, a DL transmission is not guaranteed due to an unpredictable channel access procedure outcome at the network. In particular, the available bandwidth for DL transmission may vary at each channel access procedure and the DL transmission power may vary accordingly. Therefore, it is reasonable for a UE to determine the DL transmissions from different channel occupancy durations acquired in different network channel access procedures have different transmission powers and a UE should acknowledge this aspect in the related operation. However, the channel occupancy duration information may not be always known by a UE. One identified operation which is impacted by the lack of channel occupancy duration information is the UE procedure on utilizing CSI-RS power. In a licensed spectrum, a UE can measure CSI-RS power in several reception occasions to improve the estimation of channel noise. Such an operation cannot be easily performed without considering the potential varied transmission power at each reception occasions due to unpredictable channel access status in the unlicensed spectrum. One approach to resolve the issue is to determine the CSI-RS transmission power is different at each occasion. However, such a determination is too conservative and the channel noise estimation performance will be sacrificed.

<FIG> illustrates a diagram of CSI-RS occasions occurring within a COT, according to an embodiment. To address the potential CSI-RS power variation issue, available information regarding the COT (or channel occupancy duration) can be utilized by a UE to exploit the reception power of CSI-RS. One useful information is the COT indicated in DCI format 2_0. As shown in <FIG>, from the DCI <NUM>, the UE can determine the COT <NUM>, and in the example shown in <FIG>, the CSI-RS occasions <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM> occur within the COT. With the channel occupancy duration information, a UE can know the duration of a channel occupancy acquired by the network and determine the CSI-RS occasions within the indicated channel occupancy duration have the same power.

<FIG> illustrate diagrams of CSI-RS occasions occurring within DL transmissions, according to an embodiment. In <FIG>, the CSI-RS occasions <NUM> and <NUM> are within two DL transmissions <NUM> and <NUM>. In <FIG>, the CSI-RS occasion <NUM> occurs before a first DL transmission <NUM>, and the CSI-RS occasion <NUM> occurs after a second DL transmission <NUM>. The UE may also determine a set of DL transmissions which have a small gap (e.g., about <NUM>) is transmitted within the same channel occupancy from the network. Therefore, a UE can determine the CSI-RS occasions which are part of a set of DL transmissions which has a small gap have the same power.

When the COT information is not available at the UE, the UE may utilize a timer to specify a duration where the network potentially occupies the channel. With the timer, the UE can determine the CSI-RS occasions occur within a duration where the timer is running have the same transmission power. One example of a timer can be the one introduced for the switching groups of search space sets.

<FIG> illustrate diagrams of CSI-RS occasions occurring between DCI and a PDSCH, according to an embodiment. The network may include DL transmissions to many UEs in one COT after a successful channel access procedure. In this case, DL transmissions received at each UE could have large gaps even within a single channel occupancy time duration. To address the CSI-RS power determination for this scenario, the UE may determine a dynamic DCI and the scheduled data in a PDSCH are within the same COT. Therefore, the CSI-RS occasions which are part of a set of DL transmissions can be determined to have the same power if the set of DL transmission satisfies certain timing conditions (e.g., all the detected DCIs within the set of DL transmission are received between a detected DCI and the scheduled PDSCH). As shown in <FIG>, the CSI-RS occasions <NUM> and <NUM> occur between the DCI <NUM> and the PDSCH <NUM>. Therefore, the UE determines the CSI-RS occasions <NUM> and <NUM> to have the same power. In <FIG>, the CSI-RS occasion <NUM> occurs between a first DCI <NUM> and a first PDSCH <NUM>. The CSI-RS occasion <NUM> occurs between a second DCI <NUM> and the first PDSCH <NUM>. The CSI-RS occasion <NUM> occurs between the second DCI <NUM> and the second PDSCH <NUM>. Therefore, the UE determines the CSI-RS occasions <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM> to have the same power.

For FBE, due to the nature of the associated channel access procedure, each data transmission duration can be considered as a COT when the associated channel sensing is successful before the data transmission duration. Consequently, a UE can determine CSI-RS occasions occur within the same transmission duration have the same power. In particular, a set of DL transmissions including a group of physical downlink control channels (PDCCHs) and PDSCHs scheduled by them can be reasonably determined to be considered in the same COT if, for every PDCCH in the group except the latest received PDCCH, there is a second PDCCH in the group satisfying that the ending symbol of the second PDCCH is later than or equal to (or not more than <NUM> earlier than) the starting symbol of the first PDCCH and the starting symbol of the second PDCCH is earlier than or equal to (or not more than <NUM> later than) the ending symbol of the PDSCH scheduled by the first PDCCH.

A UE may determine the CSI-RS transmission powers are the same if the reception occasions are within a channel occupancy duration indicated by a DCI 2_0 or a running timer or configuration, or within a set of DL transmissions which satisfies a certain timing constraint (e.g., a small gap among the transmissions). Otherwise, the UE may determine the CSI-RS transmission power is different at each reception occasion.

If at least one of a slot format indication (SFI) and channel occupancy (CO) duration fields in DCI 2_0 is configured, the UE averages measurements of two or more instances of a periodic or semi-persistent non-zero power (NZP) CSI-RS for a channel measurement or for an interference measurement that occur in the indicated remaining CO duration. The UE may not average measurements of two or more instances of a periodic or semi-persistent NZP CSI-RS for channel measurement or for interference measurement that do not occur in the indicated remaining CO duration.

If neither the SFI nor the CO duration fields in DCI 2_0 are configured but CSI-RS-ValidationWith-DCI-r16 is configured, the UE may average measurements of two or more instances of a periodic or semi-persistent NZP CSI-RS for a channel measurement or for an interference measurement that occur in a time duration for which all OFDM symbols are occupied by a set of PDSCH and/or CSI-RS(s) that are scheduled/triggered to the UE, including the scheduling/triggering PDCCH(s). The UE may not average measurements of two or more instances of a periodic or semi-persistent NZP CSI-RS for channel measurement or for interference measurement that occur in a time duration for which not all orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols are occupied by a set of PDSCH and/or CSI-RS(s) scheduled/triggered to the UE, including the scheduling/triggering PDCCH(s).

<FIG> illustrates a flowchart <NUM> for a method of operating a UE, according to an embodiment. At <NUM>, the UE receives at least one DL transmission. At <NUM>, the UE determines CSI-RS occasions in the DL transmission.

At <NUM>, the UE determines whether the power of each of the CSI-RS occasions is the same. The UE may determine the COT for DCI included in the DL transmission, and determine the power of the CSI-RS occasions to be the same when each of the CSI-RS occasions occur within the COT. The UE may receive a set of DL transmissions, and then determine the power of the CSI-RS occasions to be the same when the CSI-RS occasions occur within the set of DL transmissions that are separated by a predetermined gap size. The UE may run a timer for a predetermined duration and determine the power of the CSI-RS occasions to be the same when the CSI-RS occasions occur within the predetermined duration. The UE may determine the power of the CSI-RS occasions to be the same when the CSI-RS occasions occur between a detected DCI and a scheduled PDSCH. The UE may be an FBE, and the UE may determine the power of the CSI-RS occasions to be the same when each of the CSI-RS occasions occur within a predetermined transmission duration.

At <NUM>, UE averages corresponding measurements when the power of each of the CSI-RS occasions is determined to be the same.

For an operation with shared spectrum channel access, if the UE is configured with a CSI-ReportConfig with higher layer parameter reportQuantity set to 'cri-RI-PMI-CQI ', 'cri-RI-i1', 'cri-RI-i1-CQI', 'cri-RI-CQI' or 'cri-RI-LI-PMI-CQI', the UE may derive the CSI parameters without averaging two or more instances of any periodic or semi-persistent nzp-CSI-RSResource in the corresponding nzp-CSI-RS-ResourceSet for channel measurement or for interference measurement located in different DL transmissions, where the instances of the nzp-CSI-RSResource are not in the same channel occupancy duration indicated by DCI format 2_0, if the UE is provided at least one of SlotFormatIndicator or CO-DurationList-r16 (e.g., when the CSI-RS occasions are within a COT), or the instances of the nzp-CSI-RSResource occurring in a set of symbols which are not all occupied by PDSCH(s) and/or aperiodic CSI-RS(s) indicated by DCI formats and the corresponding PDSCH(s), if the UE is neither provided with CO-DurationPerCell-r16 nor SlotFormatIndicator, but is provided with CSI-RS-ValidationWith-DCI-r16 (e.g., when the CSI-RS occasions are part of a set of DL transmissions).

<FIG> illustrates a block diagram of an electronic device <NUM> in a network environment <NUM>, according to one embodiment. The electronic device <NUM> may communicate with the electronic device <NUM> via the server <NUM>. The electronic device <NUM> may include a processor <NUM>, a memory <NUM>, an input device <NUM>, a sound output device <NUM>, a display device <NUM>, an audio module <NUM>, a sensor module <NUM>, an interface <NUM>, a haptic module <NUM>, a camera module <NUM>, a power management module <NUM>, a battery <NUM>, a communication module <NUM>, a subscriber identification module (SIM) <NUM>, or an antenna module <NUM>. In one embodiment, at least one (e.g., the display device <NUM> or the camera module <NUM>) of the components may be omitted from the electronic device <NUM>, or one or more other components may be added to the electronic device <NUM>. In one embodiment, some of the components may be implemented as a single integrated circuit (IC). For example, the sensor module <NUM> (e.g., a fingerprint sensor, an iris sensor, or an illuminance sensor) may be embedded in the display device <NUM> (e.g., a display).

The processor <NUM> may execute, for example, software (e.g., a program <NUM>) to control at least one other component (e.g., a hardware or a software component) of the electronic device <NUM> coupled with the processor <NUM>, and may perform various data processing or computations. As at least part of the data processing or computations, the processor <NUM> may load a command or data received from another component (e.g., the sensor module <NUM> or the communication module <NUM>) in volatile memory <NUM>, process the command or the data stored in the volatile memory <NUM>, and store resulting data in non-volatile memory <NUM>. Additionally or alternatively, the auxiliary processor <NUM> may be adapted to consume less power than the main processor <NUM>, or execute a particular function. The auxiliary processor <NUM> may be implemented as being separate from, or a part of, the main processor <NUM>.

The auxiliary processor <NUM> may control at least some of the functions or states related to at least one component (e.g., the display device <NUM>, the sensor module <NUM>, or the communication module <NUM>) among the components of the electronic device <NUM>, instead of the main processor <NUM> while the main processor <NUM> is in an inactive (e.g., sleep) state, or together with the main processor <NUM> while the main processor <NUM> is in an active state (e.g., executing an application). According to one embodiment, the auxiliary processor <NUM> (e.g., an image signal processor or a communication processor) may be implemented as part of another component (e.g., the camera module <NUM> or the communication module <NUM>) functionally related to the auxiliary processor <NUM>.

The communication module <NUM> may include one or more communication processors that are operable independently from the processor <NUM> (e.g., the AP) and supports a direct (e.g., wired) communication or a wireless communication. According to one embodiment, the communication module <NUM> may include a wireless communication module <NUM> (e.g., a cellular communication module, a short-range wireless communication module, or a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) communication module) or a wired communication module <NUM> (e.g., a local area network (LAN) communication module or a power line communication (PLC) module). A corresponding one of these communication modules may communicate with the external electronic device via the first network <NUM> (e.g., a short-range communication network, such as Bluetooth™, wireless-fidelity (Wi-Fi) direct, or a standard of the Infrared Data Association (IrDA)) or the second network <NUM> (e.g., a long-range communication network, such as a cellular network, the Internet, or a computer network (e.g., LAN or wide area network (WAN)). These various types of communication modules may be implemented as a single component (e.g., a single IC), or may be implemented as multiple components (e.g., multiple ICs) that are separate from each other.

According to one embodiment, commands or data may be transmitted or received between the electronic device <NUM> and the external electronic device <NUM> via the server <NUM> coupled with the second network <NUM>.

Claim 1:
A method of a user equipment, UE, in a wireless communication network, the method comprising:
receiving (<NUM>), from the network, at least one downlink, DL, transmission;
determining (<NUM>), by the UE, channel state information reference signal, CSI-RS, occasions (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) in the at least one DL transmission;
determining (<NUM>), by the UE, whether a power of each of the CSI-RS occasions (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) is the same; and
averaging (<NUM>), by the UE, corresponding measurements of two or more instances of a periodic or semi-persistent non-zero power, NZP, CSI-RS for a channel measurement or for an interference measurement that occur in a remaining channel occupancy duration when the power of each of the CSI-RS occasions (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) is determined to be the same and if at least one of a slot format indication, SFI, and channel occupancy, CO, duration fields in downlink control information, DCI, 2_0 is configured, and
wherein the power of each of the CSI-RS occasions (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) is determined to be the same when the CSI-RS occasions (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) occur between a detected DCI and a scheduled physical downlink shared channel, PDSCH.