Patent Description:
A variety of wireless cellular communication systems have been implemented, including a 3rd Generation Partnership Project (<NUM> GPP) Universal Mobile Telecommunications System, a 3GPP Long-Term Evolution (LTE) system, and a 3GPP LTE- Advanced (LTE-A) system. Next-generation wireless cellular communication systems based upon LTE and LTE-A systems are being developed, such as a fifth generation (<NUM>) wireless system / <NUM> mobile networks system. Next-generation wireless cellular communication systems may provide support for higher bandwidths in part by using unlicensed spectrum.

<CIT> discloses a method wherein an eNB determines a CCA parameter for use by a UE in performing a CCA procedure for UL transmission and transmits an indication of the CCA parameter to the UE which performs the CCA procedure for UL transmission using the indicated CCA parameter, wherein the UE may transmit to the eNB prior to receiving the indication of the CCA parameter and the eNB may use the report in determining the CCA parameter for use by the UE.

The present invention is defined by the features of the independent claim(s). Preferred advantageous embodiments thereof are defined by the sub-features of the dependent claims.

The embodiments of the disclosure will be understood more fully from the detailed description given below and from the accompanying drawings of various embodiments of the disclosure. However, while the drawings are to aid in explanation and understanding, they are only an aid, and should not be taken to limit the disclosure to the specific embodiments depicted therein.

Various wireless cellular communication systems have been implemented or are being proposed, including a 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), a 3GPP Long-Term Evolution (LTE) system, a 3GPP LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) system, and a 5th Generation (<NUM>) wireless system / <NUM> mobile networks system.

Due to the popularity of mobile devices and smart devices, the widespread adoption of wireless broadband has resulted in significant growth in the volume of mobile data traffic and has radically impacted system requirements, sometimes in divergent ways. For example, while it may be important to lower complexity, elongate battery life, and support highly mobility and service continuity of devices, it may also be important to increase data rates and bandwidths and lower latencies to support modem applications.

In order to meet the needs of future wireless networks, several new physical layer techniques have been introduced in the recent years, e.g., multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) techniques, enhanced Inter-Cell Interference Coordination (eICIC), coordinated multi-point designs, etc..

To meet the needs of future wireless networks, various physical layer techniques have been introduced (e. g, Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) techniques, enhanced Inter-Cell Interference Coordination (ICIC) designs, coordinated multi-point designs, and so on). An increasing interest has also arisen in operating cellular networks in unlicensed spectrum to ameliorate the scarcity of licensed spectrum in low frequency bands, with the aim to further improve data rates. One enhancement for LTE in 3GPP Release <NUM> has been to enable operation in unlicensed spectrum via Licensed-Assisted Access (LAA), which may expand a system bandwidth by utilizing a flexible carrier aggregation (CA) framework introduced by the LTE-Advanced system. Enhanced operation of LTE systems in unlicensed spectrum is also expected in future releases, as well as in <NUM> systems.

Potential LTE operations in unlicensed spectrum may include (but not be limited to) LTE system operation in the unlicensed spectrum via Dual Connectivity (DC) (e.g., DC-based LAA). Potential LTE operations in unlicensed spectrum may also include LTE-based technology operating solely in unlicensed spectrum without relying upon an "anchor" in licensed spectrum, such as in MulteFire™ technology by MulteFire Alliance of Fremont California, USA. Standalone LTE operation in unlicensed spectrum, e.g., MulteFire™ technology, may combine performance benefits of LTE technology with a relative simplicity of Wi-Fi®-like deployments. (Wi-Fi® is a registered trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance of Austin, Texas, USA. ) Standalone LTE operation may accordingly be an advantageous technology in meeting demands of ever-increasing wireless traffic.

An unlicensed-spectrum frequency band of current interest for 3GPP systems is the <NUM> gigahertz (GHz) band, which may present a wide spectrum with global common availability. The <NUM> band in the US is governed by Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U NII) rules of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The primary incumbent systems in the <NUM> band may be Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN) systems, specifically those based on IEEE <NUM> a/n/ac technologies. Since WLAN systems may be widely deployed both by individuals and operators for carrier-grade access service and data offloading, sufficient care should be taken before deployment of coexisting 3GPP systems.

Accordingly, Listen-Before-Talk (LBT) may be a feature of Release <NUM> LAA systems to promote fair coexistence with incumbent systems. In an LBT procedure, a radio transmitter may first sense a medium and may transmit if the medium is sensed to be idle.

Meanwhile, in scheduled-based Uplink (UL) designs, UL Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmission may be determined based on explicit UL grant transmission via Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) (e.g., via Downlink Control Information (DCI) format <NUM>). UL grant transmission may be performed after completing an LBT procedure at an Evolved Node-B (eNB). After receiving an UL grant, a scheduled User Equipment (UE) may perform a short LBT or Category <NUM> (Cat <NUM>) LBT during an allocated time interval. If the LBT is successful at the scheduled UE, then UE may transmit PUSCH on resources indicated by the UL grant.

Due to the double LBT requirement at both eNB (when sending the UL grant) and at the scheduled UEs (before UL transmission), UL performance in unlicensed spectrum may be significantly degraded by UL starvation. This is a general problem when a scheduled system (such as LTE) coexists with a non-scheduled autonomous system (such as Wi-Fi®).

Accordingly, in various embodiments, autonomous UL (AUL) transmission (which may also be referred to as Grant-less UL (GUL) transmission) may be employed to improve the performance of UL transmission. GUL may be activated, released, and configured in a variety of manners, as discussed herein in further details.

In some embodiments, in order to improve the communication system performance in the unlicensed spectrum (e.g., due to the double LBT requirement), the UE may perform GUL transmission, where the eNB does not transmit UL grant for physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmissions and/or Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) transmissions by the UE. In this regard, the double LBT requirement can be alleviated when GUL transmission by the UE takes place, since the eNB will not perform LBT, and LBT may be performed merely by the UE. Since the UE performing grantless UL transmission does not have to wait for an UL grant by the eNB, any additional delay for accessing a channel for UL transmission may be eliminated or reduced, contributing to performance improvement.

Thus, in GUL scenarios, the UE may perform an LBT procedure on the unlicensed spectrum to determine if one of the channels in the unlicensed spectrum is available. The UE may send the UL transmissions (e.g., PUSCH, PUCCH, etc.) without a prior UL grant from the eNB, upon a determination that the one of the channels in the unlicensed spectrum is available.

In the following description, numerous details are discussed to provide a more thorough explanation of embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent to one skilled in the art, however, that embodiments of the present disclosure may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form, rather than in detail, in order to avoid obscuring embodiments of the present disclosure.

Throughout the specification, and in the claims, the term "connected" means a direct electrical, mechanical, or magnetic connection between the things that are connected, without any intermediary devices. The term "coupled" means either a direct electrical, mechanical, or magnetic connection between the things that are connected or an indirect connection through one or more passive or active intermediary devices. The term "circuit" or "module" may refer to one or more passive and/or active components that are arranged to cooperate with one another to provide a desired function. The term "signal" may refer to at least one current signal, voltage signal, magnetic signal, or data/clock signal. The meaning of "a," "an," and "the" include plural references. The meaning of "in" includes "in" and "on.

The terms "substantially," "close," "approximately," "near," and "about" generally refer to being within +/- <NUM>% of a target value. Unless otherwise specified the use of the ordinal adjectives "first," "second," and "third," etc., to describe a common object, merely indicate that different instances of like objects are being referred to, and are not intended to imply that the objects so described must be in a given sequence, either temporally, spatially, in ranking, or in any other manner.

It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments of the invention described herein are, for example, capable of operation in other orientations than those illustrated or otherwise described herein.

For purposes of the embodiments, the transistors in various circuits, modules, and logic blocks are Tunneling FETs (TFETs). Some transistors of various embodiments may comprise metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) transistors, which include drain, source, gate, and bulk terminals. The transistors may also include Tri-Gate and FinFET transistors, Gate All Around Cylindrical Transistors, Square Wire, or Rectangular Ribbon Transistors or other devices implementing transistor functionality like carbon nanotubes or spintronic devices. MOSFET symmetrical source and drain terminals i.e., are identical terminals and are interchangeably used here. A TFET device, on the other hand, has asymmetric Source and Drain terminals. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that other transistors, for example, Bi-polar junction transistors-BJT PNP/NPN, BiCMOS, CMOS, etc., may be used for some transistors without departing from the scope of the disclosure.

For the purposes of the present disclosure, the phrases "A and/or B" and "A or B" mean (A), (B), or (A and B).

In addition, for purposes of the present disclosure, the term "eNB" may refer to a legacy LTE capable Evolved Node-B (eNB), a next-generation or <NUM> capable eNB, an Access Point (AP), and/or another base station for a wireless communication system. The term "gNB" may refer to a <NUM>-capable or NR-capable eNB. For purposes of the present disclosure, the term "UE" may refer to a legacy LTE capable User Equipment (UE), a Station (STA), and/or another mobile equipment for a wireless communication system. The term "UE" may also refer to a next-generation or <NUM> capable UE.

Various embodiments of eNBs and/or UEs discussed below may process one or more transmissions of various types. Some processing of a transmission may comprise demodulating, decoding, detecting, parsing, and/or otherwise handling a transmission that has been received. In some embodiments, an eNB or UE processing a transmission may determine or recognize the transmission's type and/or a condition associated with the transmission. For some embodiments, an eNB or UE processing a transmission may act in accordance with the transmission's type, and/or may act conditionally based upon the transmission's type. An eNB or UE processing a transmission may also recognize one or more values or fields of data carried by the transmission. Processing a transmission may comprise moving the transmission through one or more layers of a protocol stack (which may be implemented in, e.g., hardware and/or software-configured elements), such as by moving a transmission that has been received by an eNB or a UE through one or more layers of a protocol stack.

Various embodiments of eNBs and/or UEs discussed below may also generate one or more transmissions of various types. Some generating of a transmission may comprise modulating, encoding, formatting, assembling, and/or otherwise handling a transmission that is to be transmitted. In some embodiments, an eNB or UE generating a transmission may establish the transmission's type and/or a condition associated with the transmission. For some embodiments, an eNB or UE generating a transmission may act in accordance with the transmission's type, and/or may act conditionally based upon the transmission's type. An eNB or UE generating a transmission may also determine one or more values or fields of data carried by the transmission. Generating a transmission may comprise moving the transmission through one or more layers of a protocol stack (which may be implemented in, e.g., hardware and/or software-configured elements), such as by moving a transmission to be sent by an eNB or a UE through one or more layers of a protocol stack.

In various embodiments, resources may span various Resource Blocks (RBs), Physical Resource Blocks (PRBs), and/or time periods (e.g., frames, subframes, and/or slots) of a wireless communication system. In some contexts, allocated resources (e.g., channels, Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbols, subcarrier frequencies, resource elements (REs), and/or portions thereof) may be formatted for (and prior to) transmission over a wireless communication link. In other contexts, allocated resources (e.g., channels, OFDM symbols, subcarrier frequencies, REs, and/or portions thereof) may be detected from (and subsequent to) reception over a wireless communication link.

<FIG> illustrates a scenario of one or more eNBs and one or more UEs, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. A scenario <NUM> may comprise a first eNB <NUM> serving a first cell <NUM> and a second eNB <NUM> serving a second cell <NUM>. A first UE <NUM> may be positioned with respect to the first cell <NUM> and the second cell <NUM> in such a way as to permit wireless communication with both the first eNB <NUM> and the second eNB <NUM>, whereas a second UE <NUM> may be positioned with respect to the first cell <NUM> and the second cell <NUM> in such a way as to permit wireless communication merely with the second eNB <NUM>.

In an example, the first eNB <NUM> may support both DC-based LAA in unlicensed spectrum and standalone access in unlicensed spectrum, while second eNB <NUM> may merely support standalone access in unlicensed spectrum. Accordingly, first UE <NUM> may employ either DC-based LAA in unlicensed spectrum or standalone access in unlicensed spectrum, while second UE <NUM> may employ standalone access in unlicensed spectrum.

Either the first UE <NUM> or the second UE <NUM> may employ GUL transmission, may employ GUL activation to activate GUL transmission, may employ GUL release to release or terminate GUL transmission, etc. For example, the first UE <NUM> may employ GUL transmission to communicate with the first eNB <NUM> and/or the second eNB <NUM>. In another example, the second UE <NUM> may employ GUL transmission to communicate with the second eNB <NUM>.

In some embodiments, the GUL mode at UE side may be activated and/or released by DCI from its serving eNB, e.g., to avoid conflict. Moreover, the grant-less UL transmission may require control information from the eNB, e.g., an appropriate Modulation and coding scheme (MCS), hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) ACK/NACK bitmap for retransmission, TPC (transmit power control) command, etc. In some embodiments, a UE may receive one or more DCIs for GUL activation, one or more DCI for GUL configuration and for previous GUL transmission feedback (e.g., also referred to as GUL-DCI, or G-DCI), one or more DCI for GUL release, and/or the like.

As will be discussed in further details herein, in some embodiments, existing DCI formats (e.g., which are used for scheduled UL transmission) may be reused for G-DCI, DCIs for GUL activation, DCIs for GUL release, and/or the like. From the perspective of UE blind detection, it may be preferable to reuse existing DCI formats (e.g., with the same length as the existing DCI formats). In addition, UE specific DCI may be preferred. In an example, some existing DCI formats (e.g., DCIs used for scheduled UL transmissions) that may be potentially used for GUL are as follows:.

Thus, as seen in Table <NUM>, DCI formats 0A, 0B, 4A, 4B, and/or the like may be used for DCI signaling for scheduled UL transmission scenarios (e.g., in the unlicensed spectrum), where N in Table <NUM> may be a number of subframes scheduled for transmission, and <NUM> Mega Hertz (MHz) and <NUM> may be possible bandwidths to be used for transmission (e.g., in the unlicensed spectrum). Merely as examples, for <NUM> and <NUM> bandwidths, DCI format 0A may about <NUM> to <NUM> bits, and about <NUM> to <NUM> bits, respectively. In some embodiments, one or more of the DCI formats 0A, 0B, 4A, and 4B of Table <NUM> may be used for transmission of DCIs in GUL transmission scenarios.

As previously alluded to, in the GUL transmission scenarios, at least three types of DCIs may be used by the eNB to transmit control data to the UE: (i) GUI-DCIs, or simply referred to as G-DCI, which may be used by the eNB to transmit UE specific control information to the UE (e.g., HARQ ACK/NCK bitmap feedback for previous grant-less UL transmissions, MCS information, TPC information, etc.), (ii) DCIs for GUL activation (also referred to as GUL-activation DCIs) to activate or initiate GUL transmission, and (iii) DCIs for GUL release (also referred to as GUL-release DCIs) to release or terminate GUL transmission.

In some embodiments, one or more of the DCI formats of Table <NUM> (e.g., one or more of DCI formats 0A, 0B, 4A, or 4B) may be configured by Radio Resource Control (RRC) and used for G-DCI. In an example, the DCI format may be compacted (e.g., up to x bits), and may contain HARQ bitmap, possibly along with TPC bits and MCS bits, where x may be a configurable number. The compacting may be achieved by, for example, removing redundant bits (e.g., which may not be used to transmit any meaningful information) from the DCI format.

In another example, the DCI format may be extended (e.g., up to y bits), and may contain HARQ bitmap, MCS bits, and TPC bits, where y may be a configurable number. Thus, in the extended format for a DCI, the DCI used in GUL scenarios may not be truncated or compacted relative to the DCIs used for scheduled UL transmissions in unlicensed spectrum or DCIs used in legacy LTE (e.g., DCIs used for transmission in the licensed spectrum).

For example, if one transmission block (TB) is assigned for grant-less uplink transmission, then the G-DCI may comprise at least one or more of <NUM> HARQ bitmap bits, <NUM> MCS bits, and <NUM> TPC bits, e.g., one or more of at least these <NUM> bits. In another example, if two TBs are assigned for grant-less uplink transmission, then the G-DCI may comprise one or more of: <NUM> HARQ bitmap bits, <NUM> MCS bits, and <NUM> TPC bits, e.g., one or more of at least these <NUM> bits.

Table <NUM> illustrates an example mapping between various DCI formats, bandwidth (in MHz), and number of TBs assigned for GUL transmissions.

In Table <NUM>, "N" indicates "No," e.g., the corresponding DCI format may not be used; and "Y" indicates "Yes," e.g., the corresponding DCI format may be used. For example, for <NUM> TB assignment, any one of DCI formats 0A, 0B, 4A, or 4B may be used for either <NUM> bandwidth in unlicensed spectrum, or for <NUM> bandwidth in unlicensed spectrum. As indicated in Table <NUM>, the DCI format for the <NUM> TB scenario may have <NUM> bits. For <NUM> TB assignment, any one of DCI formats 0B, 4A, or 4B (but not DCI format 0A) may be used for either <NUM> bandwidth in unlicensed spectrum, or for <NUM> bandwidth in unlicensed spectrum. As indicated in Table <NUM>, the DCI format for the <NUM> TB scenario may have <NUM> bits.

However, in some other embodiments, contrary to Table <NUM>, in some embodiments, DCI format 0A may be used for transmission in GUL transmission as well.

In some embodiments, the DCI format 0A may be utilized for G-DCI. For example, the DCI format 0A may be used for a compacted G-DCI (e.g., compacted to include x bits comprising HARQ bitmap, possibly along with TPC bits and/or MCS bits). In another example, the DCI format 0A may be used for an expanded G-DCI (e.g., expanded to include y bits comprising HARQ bitmap, TPC bits and MCS bits).

Discussed below are various possible options for G-DCI for <NUM> and <NUM> TB scenarios.

Option <NUM>: For example, for the <NUM> TB assignment of GUL transmission, the DCI format 0A may include the contents (e.g., all the contents) in the G-DCI for both <NUM> and <NUM> bandwidth cases. For either extended or compacted G-DCI, the HARQ bitmap, the TPC bits, and/or the MCS bits can be included in the G-DCI.

Option 2A: For <NUM> TB case, in one example, the G-DCI may include <NUM>*N bits HARQ bitmap, where N is the configured GUL HARQ process number (e.g., N may be indicative of a number of adjacent processes to be used for GUL transmission).

Option 2B: For <NUM> TB case, in another example, the G-DCI may include <NUM>*N bits HARQ bitmap and <NUM> bits TPC, where N is the configured GUL HARQ process number (e.g., N may be indicative of a number of adjacent processes to be used for GUL transmission).

Option 2C: For <NUM> TB case, in another example, the G-DCI may include <NUM>*N bits HARQ bitmap and <NUM> bits MCS, where N is the configured GUL HARQ process number (e.g., N may be indicative of a number of adjacent processes to be used for GUL transmission).

Option 2D: For <NUM> TB case, in another example, the G-DCI may include <NUM>*N bits HARQ bitmap, <NUM> bits MCS, and between <NUM> to <NUM> bit differential MCS, where N is the configured GUL HARQ process number (e.g., N may be indicative of a number of adjacent processes to be used for GUL transmission).

Option 2E: For <NUM> TB case, in another example, the G-DCI may include <NUM>*N bits HARQ bitmap, and <NUM> bits MCS, where N is the configured GUL HARQ process number (e.g., N may be indicative of a number of adjacent processes to be used for GUL transmission).

Option 2F: For <NUM> TB case, in another example, the G-DCI may include <NUM>*N bits HARQ bitmap, <NUM> bits TPC, and <NUM> bits MCS, where N is the configured GUL HARQ process number (e.g., N may be indicative of a number of adjacent processes to be used for GUL transmission).

Option <NUM>: For <NUM> TB case, in another example, the G-DCI may include <NUM>*N bits HARQ bitmap, <NUM> bits TPC, <NUM> bits MCS, and between <NUM> to <NUM> bit differential MCS, where N is the configured GUL HARQ process number (e.g., N may be indicative of a number of adjacent processes to be used for GUL transmission).

Option <NUM>: For <NUM> TB case, in yet another example, the G-DCI may include <NUM>*N bits HARQ bitmap, <NUM> bits TPC, and <NUM> bits MCS, where N is the configured GUL HARQ process number (e.g., N may be indicative of a number of adjacent processes to be used for GUL transmission).

In some embodiments, either the compacted or extended format for the G-DCI may be adopted, e.g., for one or more of the G-DCI options discussed herein.

In some embodiments, the format of G-DCI may be determined based on the configured GUL HARQ process number N. After N is determined, the bit length for TPC, MCS, and/or differential MCS may be decided (e.g., may be selected from any of the options <NUM>, 2A,. , <NUM> discussed herein above).

In a G-DCI, not all bits may be used for transmission of useful information. In some embodiments, such redundant or dummy bits of the G-DCI may be set to zero. Put differently, one or more redundant or dummy bits (e.g., having values of zero) appended or padded to the G-DCI, such that the G-DCI has a pre-determined length (e.g., where the pre-determined length may be the length of DCIs used for scheduled transmission in unlicensed spectrum, or may be the length of DCIs used in licensed spectrum). Additional of such redundant bits ensure uniformity of DCI lengths across GUL scenarios, scenarios for scheduled transmission in unlicensed spectrum, and scenarios for transmission in licensed spectrum. In an example, without addition of such redundant bits, some information are compressed or omitted.

Table 3A illustrates example content of G-DCI for scenarios associated with <NUM> bandwidth in unlicensed spectrum, and Table 3B illustrates example content of G-DCI for scenarios associated with <NUM> bandwidth in unlicensed spectrum. Note for the compacted G-DCI format, the parameters of TPC, MCS, and/or differential MCS may or may not be included in the G-DCI.

In some embodiments, in a <NUM> TB scenario, the <NUM> bit MCS index for the second TB may be replaced as a differential MCS in respect with that for the first TB.

In some embodiments, a length of differential MCS may range from <NUM> bit to <NUM> bits. In some embodiments, in a <NUM> TB scenario, the MCS for the second TB (e.g., MCSTB2) may be calculated based on the MCS for the first TB (e.g., MCSTB1) and a differential MCS value. Calculation of the MCS for the second TB (e.g., MCSTB2), based on the MCS for the first TB (e.g., MCSTB1) and the differential MCS value, may be in accordance with the following Table <NUM>:.

As illustrated in Table <NUM>, the differential MCS value (e.g., the indicator of Table <NUM>) may be a single bit, <NUM> bits, <NUM> bits, <NUM> bits, or the like. Merely as an example, if the indicator of Table <NUM> is <NUM>, then MCSTB2 = MCSTB1. Merely as an example, if the indicator of Table <NUM> is <NUM>, then MCSTB2 = MCSTB1-<NUM>. Thus, in some embodiments, in the <NUM> TB scenario, the MCS for the second TB (e.g., MCSTB2) may be determined based on the MCS for the first TB (e.g., MCSTB1) and the differential MCS value (e.g., the indicator) using Table <NUM>.

In some embodiments, the differential MCS value may be indicated as being proportion to MCSTB1, and a granularity of the differential MCS indication may be determined by a length of the differential MCS indication, as follows: <MAT> <MAT> <MAT> <MAT>.

Thus, for a single bit differential MCS, MCSTB2 may have a value of either <NUM>, or MCSTB1 (e.g., based on the value of the differential MCS), as seen in equation <NUM>. In another example, for a two bit differential MCS, MCSTB2 may have a value of either <NUM>, <MAT>, or MCSTB1 (e.g., based on the value of the differential MCS), as seen in equation <NUM>.

In some embodiments, the DCI format 0A may be utilized for compacted G-DCI transmission, while a DCI format larger than <NUM> bits (e.g., DCI format 0B, 4A, 4B) may be utilized for extended G-DCI.

As previously alluded herein, other than the G-DCI, a GUL system in the unlicensed spectrum may also use a DCI for GUL activation (also referred to as GUL-activation DCI) to activate or initiate GUL transmission, and/or a DCI for GUL release (also referred to as GUL-release DCI) to release or terminate GUL transmission.

In some embodiments, DCIs for GUL activation and/or release (e.g., GUL-activation DCI and/or GUL-release DCI) may comprise one or more of: MCS bits (e.g., <NUM> MCS bits), demodulation reference signal (DMRS) (e.g., <NUM> bit DMRS in legacy LTE, or <NUM> bit DMRS), a TB number configuration (e.g., <NUM> bit having value "<NUM>" for <NUM> TB, and "<NUM>" for <NUM> TBs, or vice versa), layer number (e.g., <NUM> bit layer number), HARQ process number (e.g., <NUM> bit HARQ process number), validation bits (e.g., about <NUM><NUM> bit validation bits), and/or the like. In an example, the DCI for GUL activation and/or release (e.g., GUL-activation DCI and/or GUL-release DCI) may comprise a total of about <NUM> to <NUM> bits.

In some embodiments, DCIs for GUL activation and/or release (e.g., GUL-activation DCI and/or GUL-release DCI) may comprise one or more of: MCS bits (e.g., <NUM> MCS bits), DMRS bits (e.g., <NUM> bit in legacy LTE or <NUM> bits, <NUM> bits to support <NUM> dynamic DMRS configuration, e.g., <NUM> cyclic shift * <NUM> OCC (orthogonal cover code)), TB number configuration bits (e.g., <NUM> bit having value "<NUM>" for <NUM> TB, and "<NUM>" for <NUM> TBs, or vice versa), layer number bits (e.g., <NUM> bits), HARQ process number (e.g., <NUM> bits), validation bits (e.g., between <NUM> to <NUM> bits) , and/or the like. In an example, a DCI for GUL activation and/or release (e.g., GUL-activation DCI and/or GUL-release DCI) may comprise a total of about <NUM> to <NUM> bits.

A DCI for GUL activation and a DCI for GUL release (e.g., GUL-activation DCI and GUL-release are two separate DCI, with the same length as the G-DCI (e.g., to reduce blind detection complexity). In some embodiments, DCI format 0A, 0B, 4A, 4B may be enough to contain the fields of the DCI for GUL activation and the DCI for GUL release.

In some embodiments, a DCI for GUL activation and/or a DCI for GUL release may be distinguished from a G-DCI using one of a variety of manners. A DCI in GUL scenarios comprises a flag. A first value of the flag (e.g., a value of <NUM>) indicates that the DCI is a G-DCI; and a second value of the flag (e.g., a value of <NUM>) indicates that the DCI is a DCI for GUL activation and/or a DCI for GUL release.

In another example, a differential scrambling sequence used by a DCI may indicate a type of the DCI. For example, a DCI for activation or release may use different scrambling sequence than that used by the G-DCI, e.g., to indicate a type of the DCI. The scrambling sequence used for the DCI for activation or release or in the G-DCI may be different from scrambling sequences used in scheduled UL transmission in unlicensed spectrum, and may be different from scrambling sequences used in licensed spectrum.

In yet another example, a special field configuration in the DCI may be used to differentiate between various types of DCIs in GUL scenario (e.g., differentiate between G-DCI, DCI for GUL activation, and/or a DCI for GUL release). For example, Table <NUM> below illustrates a special field (e.g., bits <NUM>, <NUM>) appended to MCS index, which may distinguish between DCI for GUL activation and DCI for GUL release.

In some embodiments, a new Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI) specific for grant less UL transmission (e.g., a GUL C-RNTI) may be configured by the eNB through high layer signaling. This RNTI (e.g., the GUL C-RNTI) may be the same as, or different from, semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) C-RNTI. In some embodiments, G-DCI may reuse the SPS scrambling ID.

Various embodiments may also fall within one or more of the types discussed herein.

<FIG> illustrates an eNB and a UE, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. <FIG> includes block diagrams of an eNB <NUM> and a UE <NUM> which are operable to co-exist with each other and other elements of an LTE network. High-level, simplified architectures of eNB <NUM> and UE <NUM> are described so as not to obscure the embodiments. It should be noted that in some embodiments, eNB <NUM> may be a stationary non-mobile device.

eNB <NUM> is coupled to one or more antennas <NUM>, and UE <NUM> is similarly coupled to one or more antennas <NUM>. However, in some embodiments, eNB <NUM> may incorporate or comprise antennas <NUM>, and UE <NUM> in various embodiments may incorporate or comprise antennas <NUM>.

In some embodiments, antennas <NUM> and/or antennas <NUM> may comprise one or more directional or omni-directional antennas, including monopole antennas, dipole antennas, loop antennas, patch antennas, microstrip antennas, coplanar wave antennas, or other types of antennas suitable for transmission of RF signals. In some MIMO (multiple-input and multiple output) embodiments, antennas <NUM> are separated to take advantage of spatial diversity.

eNB <NUM> and UE <NUM> are operable to communicate with each other on a network, such as a wireless network. eNB <NUM> and UE <NUM> may be in communication with each other over a wireless communication channel <NUM>, which has both a downlink path from eNB <NUM> to UE <NUM> and an uplink path from UE <NUM> to eNB <NUM>.

As illustrated in <FIG>, in some embodiments, eNB <NUM> may include a physical layer circuitry <NUM>, a MAC (media access control) circuitry <NUM>, a processor <NUM>, a memory <NUM>, and a hardware processing circuitry <NUM>. A person skilled in the art will appreciate that other components not shown may be used in addition to the components shown to form a complete eNB.

In some embodiments, physical layer circuitry <NUM> includes a transceiver <NUM> for providing signals to and from UE <NUM>. Transceiver <NUM> provides signals to and from UEs or other devices using one or more antennas <NUM>. In some embodiments, MAC circuitry <NUM> controls access to the wireless medium. Memory <NUM> may be, or may include, a storage media/medium such as a magnetic storage media (e.g., magnetic tapes or magnetic disks), an optical storage media (e.g., optical discs), an electronic storage media (e.g., conventional hard disk drives, solid-state disk drives, or flash-memory-based storage media), or any tangible storage media or non-transitory storage media. Hardware processing circuitry <NUM> may comprise logic devices or circuitry to perform various operations. In some embodiments, processor <NUM> and memory <NUM> are arranged to perform the operations of hardware processing circuitry <NUM>, such as operations described herein with reference to logic devices and circuitry within eNB <NUM> and/or hardware processing circuitry <NUM>.

Accordingly, in some embodiments, eNB <NUM> may be a device comprising an application processor, a memory, one or more antenna ports, and an interface for allowing the application processor to communicate with another device.

As is also illustrated in <FIG>, in some embodiments, UE <NUM> may include a physical layer circuitry <NUM>, a MAC circuitry <NUM>, a processor <NUM>, a memory <NUM>, a hardware processing circuitry <NUM>, a wireless interface <NUM>, and a display <NUM>. A person skilled in the art would appreciate that other components not shown may be used in addition to the components shown to form a complete UE.

In some embodiments, physical layer circuitry <NUM> includes a transceiver <NUM> for providing signals to and from eNB <NUM> (as well as other eNBs). Transceiver <NUM> provides signals to and from eNBs or other devices using one or more antennas <NUM>. In some embodiments, MAC circuitry <NUM> controls access to the wireless medium. Memory <NUM> may be, or may include, a storage media/medium such as a magnetic storage media (e.g., magnetic tapes or magnetic disks), an optical storage media (e.g., optical discs), an electronic storage media (e.g., conventional hard disk drives, solid-state disk drives, or flash-memory-based storage media), or any tangible storage media or non-transitory storage media. Wireless interface <NUM> may be arranged to allow the processor to communicate with another device. Display <NUM> may provide a visual and/or tactile display for a user to interact with UE <NUM>, such as a touch-screen display. Hardware processing circuitry <NUM> may comprise logic devices or circuitry to perform various operations. In some embodiments, processor <NUM> and memory <NUM> may be arranged to perform the operations of hardware processing circuitry <NUM>, such as operations described herein with reference to logic devices and circuitry within UE <NUM> and/or hardware processing circuitry <NUM>.

Accordingly, in some embodiments, UE <NUM> may be a device comprising an application processor, a memory, one or more antennas, a wireless interface for allowing the application processor to communicate with another device, and a touch-screen display.

Elements of <FIG>, and elements of other figures having the same names or reference numbers, can operate or function in the manner described herein with respect to any such figures (although the operation and function of such elements is not limited to such descriptions). For example, <FIG> and <FIG>-<NUM> also depict embodiments of eNBs, hardware processing circuitry of eNBs, UEs, and/or hardware processing circuitry of UEs, and the embodiments described with respect to <FIG> and <FIG> and<FIG>can operate or function in the manner described herein with respect to any of the figures.

In addition, although eNB <NUM> and UE <NUM> are each described as having several separate functional elements, one or more of the functional elements may be combined and may be implemented by combinations of software-configured elements and/or other hardware elements. In some embodiments of this disclosure, the functional elements can refer to one or more processes operating on one or more processing elements. Examples of software and/or hardware configured elements include Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), one or more microprocessors, DSPs, Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Radio-Frequency Integrated Circuits (RFICs), and so on.

<FIG> illustrates hardware processing circuitries for a UE for GUL activation, GUL release, and/or GUL transmission, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. With reference to <FIG>, a UE may include various hardware processing circuitries discussed herein (such as hardware processing circuitry <NUM> of <FIG>), which may in turn comprise logic devices and/or circuitry operable to perform various operations. For example, in <FIG>, UE <NUM> (or various elements or components therein, such as hardware processing circuitry <NUM>, or combinations of elements or components therein) may include part of, or all of, these hardware processing circuitries.

In some embodiments, one or more devices or circuitries within these hardware processing circuitries may be implemented by combinations of software-configured elements and/or other hardware elements. For example, processor <NUM> (and/or one or more other processors which UE <NUM> may comprise), memory <NUM>, and/or other elements or components of UE <NUM> (which may include hardware processing circuitry <NUM>) may be arranged to perform the operations of these hardware processing circuitries, such as operations described herein with reference to devices and circuitry within these hardware processing circuitries. In some embodiments, processor <NUM> (and/or one or more other processors which UE <NUM> may comprise) may be a baseband processor.

Returning to <FIG>, an apparatus of UE <NUM> (or another UE or mobile handset), which may be operable to communicate with one or more eNBs on a wireless network, may comprise hardware processing circuitry <NUM>. In some embodiments, hardware processing circuitry <NUM> may comprise one or more antenna ports <NUM> operable to provide various transmissions over a wireless communication channel (such as wireless communication channel <NUM>). Antenna ports <NUM> may be coupled to one or more antennas <NUM> (which may be antennas <NUM>). In some embodiments, hardware processing circuitry <NUM> may incorporate antennas <NUM>, while in other embodiments, hardware processing circuitry <NUM> may merely be coupled to antennas <NUM>.

Antenna ports <NUM> and antennas <NUM> may be operable to provide signals from a UE to a wireless communications channel and/or an eNB, and may be operable to provide signals from an eNB and/or a wireless communications channel to a UE. For example, antenna ports <NUM> and antennas <NUM> may be operable to provide transmissions from UE <NUM> to wireless communication channel <NUM> (and from there to eNB <NUM>, or to another eNB). Similarly, antennas <NUM> and antenna ports <NUM> may be operable to provide transmissions from a wireless communication channel <NUM> (and beyond that, from eNB <NUM>, or another eNB) to UE <NUM>.

Hardware processing circuitry <NUM> may comprise various circuitries operable in accordance with the various embodiments discussed herein. With reference to <FIG>, hardware processing circuitry <NUM> may comprise a first circuitry <NUM> and/or a second circuitry <NUM>.

In some embodiments, the first circuitry <NUM> may be operable to process a first DCI format 0A transmission indicating an SPS activation. First circuitry <NUM> is operable to process a first DCI format 0A transmission indicating a GUL activation, and process a second DCI format 0A transmission indicating a GUL release. Second circuitry <NUM> is operable to generate UL transmissions for an unlicensed spectrum of the wireless network after the GUL activation and before the GUL release. Hardware processing circuitry <NUM> also comprises an interface for sending UL transmissions to a transmission circuitry and for receiving DCI format 0A transmissions from a receiving circuitry.

First circuitry <NUM> is operable to process a third DCI format 0A transmission, wherein the third DCI format 0A transmission is a GUL-DCI comprising a UE-specific parameter associated with the UL transmissions for the unlicensed spectrum. The third DCI formal 0A transmission comprises one or more flags to specify that the third DCI formal 0A transmission is a GUL-DCI (G-DCI) transmission. In some embodiments, the UE-specific parameter of the GUL-DCI may comprise one or more bits for HARQ ACK bitmap associated with the UL transmissions for the unlicensed spectrum. In some embodiments, the UE-specific parameter of the GUL-DCI may comprise one or more of: one or more bits for TPC associated with the UL transmissions in the unlicensed spectrum, or one or more bits for associated with a MCS used for transmissions in the unlicensed spectrum. In some embodiments, the third DCI format 0A transmission may be processed after sending the one or more UL transmissions and before processing the second DCI format 0A transmission. The third DCI format 0A transmission comprises a plurality of redundant bits, which may not be used to transmit any meaningful information and which may be set to zero. A flag in the first DCI format 0A transmission indicates that the first DCI format 0A transmission is for GUL activation and the flag in the third DCI format 0A transmission indicates that the third DCI format 0A transmission is the GUL-DCI. The flag in the second DCI format 0A transmission indicates that the second DCI format 0A transmission is for GUL release.

In some embodiments, the UL transmissions may comprise at least one of: one or more Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmissions, or one or more Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) transmissions, which are transmitted without any UL grant from the eNB for UL transmission. In some embodiments, the first circuitry <NUM>, the second circuitry <NUM>, and/or another component of the UE may be operable to facilitate performing a listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure on the unlicensed spectrum to determine if one of the channels in the unlicensed spectrum is available; and facilitate sending of the UL transmissions without a prior UL grant, upon a determination that the one of the channels in the unlicensed spectrum is available. In some embodiments, the first DCI format 0A transmission and second DCI format 0A transmission are received over the unlicensed spectrum.

In some embodiments, first circuitry <NUM> and/or second circuitry <NUM> may be implemented as separate circuitries. In other embodiments, first circuitry <NUM> and/or second circuitry <NUM> may be combined and implemented together in a circuitry without altering the essence of the embodiments.

<FIG> illustrates hardware processing circuitries for an eNB for generating DCIs for GUL activation, DCIs for GUL release, and G-DCIs, according to some embodiments. With reference to <FIG>, an eNB may include various hardware processing circuitries discussed below, which may in turn comprise logic devices and/or circuitry operable to perform various operations. For example, in <FIG>, eNB <NUM> (or various elements or components therein, such as hardware processing circuitry <NUM>, or combinations of elements or components therein) may include part of, or all of, these hardware processing circuitries.

In some embodiments, one or more devices or circuitries within these hardware processing circuitries may be implemented by combinations of software-configured elements and/or other hardware elements. For example, processor <NUM> (and/or one or more other processors which eNB <NUM> may comprise), memory <NUM>, and/or other elements or components of eNB <NUM> (which may include hardware processing circuitry <NUM>) may be arranged to perform the operations of these hardware processing circuitries, such as operations described herein with reference to devices and circuitry within these hardware processing circuitries. In some embodiments, processor <NUM> (and/or one or more other processors which eNB <NUM> may comprise) may be a baseband processor.

Returning to <FIG>, an apparatus of eNB <NUM> (or another eNB or base station), which may be operable to communicate with one or more UEs on a wireless network, may comprise hardware processing circuitry <NUM>. In some embodiments, hardware processing circuitry <NUM> may comprise one or more antenna ports <NUM> operable to provide various transmissions over a wireless communication channel (such as wireless communication channel <NUM>). Antenna ports <NUM> may be coupled to one or more antennas <NUM> (which may be antennas <NUM>). In some embodiments, hardware processing circuitry <NUM> may incorporate antennas <NUM>, while in other embodiments, hardware processing circuitry <NUM> may merely be coupled to antennas <NUM>.

Antenna ports <NUM> and antennas <NUM> may be operable to provide signals from an eNB to a wireless communications channel and/or a UE, and may be operable to provide signals from a UE and/or a wireless communications channel to an eNB. For example, antenna ports <NUM> and antennas <NUM> may be operable to provide transmissions from eNB <NUM> to wireless communication channel <NUM> (and from there to UE <NUM>, or to another UE). Similarly, antennas <NUM> and antenna ports <NUM> may be operable to provide transmissions from a wireless communication channel <NUM> (and beyond that, from UE <NUM>, or another UE) to eNB <NUM>.

Hardware processing circuitry <NUM> may comprise various circuitries operable in accordance with the various embodiments discussed herein. With reference to <FIG>, hardware processing circuitry <NUM> may comprise a first circuitry <NUM> and a second circuitry <NUM>.

The first circuitry <NUM> is operable to generate a first Downlink Control Information (DCI) indicating a Grant-less Uplink (GUL) activation. The first circuitry <NUM> is also operable to generate a second DCI comprising one or more UE-specific parameters associated with one or more GUL Uplink (UL) transmissions on an unlicensed spectrum of the wireless network. A flag in the first DCI indicates that the first DCI is for GUL activation and the flag in the second DCI indicates that the second DCI is a GUL-DCI (G-DCI) comprising the one or more UE-specific parameters. Hardware processing circuitry <NUM> also comprises an interface for outputting the first and second DCIs to a transceiver circuitry, for transmission to the UE.

The first circuitry <NUM> is also operable to generate a third DCI indicating a GUL release. Individual ones of the first and second DCI have a DCI format 0A. In some embodiments, the second circuitry <NUM> may be operable to process one or more UL transmissions on the unlicensed spectrum of the wireless network, after generation of the first DCI and before generation of the second DCI. In some embodiments, the second DCI may comprise one or more of: HARQ ACK bitmap feedback comprising <NUM>*N bits, where N is a number of configured HARQ process identifications (IDs) for grant-less transmissions; TPC command comprising <NUM> bits; or MCS information comprising one of <NUM> bits or <NUM> bits. In some embodiments, to generate the first DCI indicating the GUL activation, the first circuitry <NUM> may set one or more bits of the first DCI to zeros, such that a length of the first DCI corresponds to a pre-defined length of a format 0A DCI. In some embodiments, to generate the first DCI indicating the GUL activation, the first circuitry <NUM> may scramble the first DCI using a Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI) that is specific to GUL transmission.

In some embodiments, first circuitry <NUM> and second circuitry <NUM> may be implemented as separate circuitries. In other embodiments, first circuitry <NUM> and second circuitry <NUM> may be combined and implemented together in a circuitry without altering the essence of the embodiments.

<FIG> illustrates methods for a UE for processing a DCI for GUL activation, a G-DCI, and/or a DCI for GUL release, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. With reference to <FIG>, methods that may relate to UE <NUM> and hardware processing circuitry <NUM> are discussed herein. Although the actions in method 500a of <FIG> are shown in a particular order, the order of the actions can be modified. Thus, the illustrated embodiments can be performed in a different order, and some actions may be performed in parallel. Some of the actions and/or operations listed in <FIG> are optional in accordance with certain embodiments. The numbering of the actions presented is for the sake of clarity and is not intended to prescribe an order of operations in which the various actions must occur. Additionally, operations from the various flows may be utilized in a variety of combinations.

Moreover, in some embodiments, machine readable storage media have executable instructions that, when executed, cause UE <NUM> and/or hardware processing circuitry <NUM> to perform an operation comprising the methods of <FIG>. Such machine readable storage media may include any of a variety of storage media, like magnetic storage media (e.g., magnetic tapes or magnetic disks), optical storage media (e.g., optical discs), electronic storage media (e.g., conventional hard disk drives, solid-state disk drives, or flash-memory-based storage media), or any other tangible storage media or non-transitory storage media. In some embodiments, an apparatus may comprise means for performing various actions and/or operations of the methods of <FIG>.

In some embodiments, the method 500a comprises at <NUM>, processing a first DCI format 0A transmission indicating a Grant-less Uplink (GUL) activation. The method 500a further comprises at <NUM>, generating UL transmissions for an unlicensed spectrum of the wireless network after the GUL activation. The method 500a further comprises at <NUM>, processing a second DCI format 0A transmission, wherein the second DCI format 0A transmission is a GUL-DCI comprising one or more UE-specific parameters associated with the UL transmissions for the unlicensed spectrum. The method further comprises at <NUM>, processing a third DCI format 0A transmission indicating a GUL release.

The second DCI formal 0A transmission comprises one or more flags to specify that the second DCI formal 0A transmission is a GUL-DCI (G-DCI) transmission. In some embodiments, the UE-specific parameter of the GUL-DCI may comprise one or more of: one or more bits for HARQ ACK bitmap associated with the UL transmissions for the unlicensed spectrum, one or more bits for TPC associated with the UL transmissions in the unlicensed spectrum, or one or more bits for associated with a MCS used for transmissions in the unlicensed spectrum. In some embodiments, the second DCI format 0A transmission may be processed after sending the one or more UL transmissions and before processing the third DCI format 0A transmission. The first DCI formal 0A transmission comprises a flag to specify that the first DCI format 0A transmission is associated with a GUL activation.

<FIG> illustrates methods 500b for an eNB for generating DCIs for GUL activation, DCIs for GUL release, and G-DCIs, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. With reference to <FIG>, various methods that may relate to eNB <NUM> and hardware processing circuitry <NUM> are discussed below. Although the actions in methods are shown in a particular order, the order of the actions can be modified. Thus, the illustrated embodiments can be performed in a different order, and some actions may be performed in parallel. Some of the actions and/or operations listed in <FIG> are optional in accordance with certain embodiments. The numbering of the actions presented is for the sake of clarity and is not intended to prescribe an order of operations in which the various actions must occur. Additionally, operations from the various flows may be utilized in a variety of combinations.

Moreover, in some embodiments, machine readable storage media may have executable instructions that, when executed, cause eNB <NUM> and/or hardware processing circuitry <NUM> to perform an operation comprising the methods of <FIG>. Such machine readable storage media may include any of a variety of storage media, like magnetic storage media (e.g., magnetic tapes or magnetic disks), optical storage media (e.g., optical discs), electronic storage media (e.g., conventional hard disk drives, solid-state disk drives, or flash-memory-based storage media), or any other tangible storage media or non-transitory storage media.

In some embodiments, an apparatus may comprise means for performing various actions and/or operations of the methods 500b of <FIG>.

Returning to <FIG>, various methods may be in accordance with the various embodiments discussed herein.

In some embodiments, the method 500b may comprise, at <NUM>, generating a first Downlink Control Information (DCI) indicating a Grant-less Uplink (GUL) activation. In some embodiments, the method 500b may comprise, at <NUM>, processing one or more UL transmissions on the unlicensed spectrum of the wireless network, after generation of the first DCI and before generation of a second DCI. In some embodiments, the method 500b may comprise, at <NUM>, generating a second DCI comprising one or more UE-specific parameters associated with one or more GUL Uplink (UL) transmissions on an unlicensed spectrum of the wireless network. In some embodiments, a flag in the first DCI may indicate that the first DCI is for GUL activation or GUL release, and the flag in the second DCI may indicate that the second DCI is a GUL-DCI (G-DCI) comprising the one or more UE-specific parameters. In some embodiments, an interface may output the first and second DCIs to a transceiver circuitry, for transmission to the UE. In some embodiments, the method 500b may comprise, at <NUM>, generating a third DCI indicating a GUL release.

In some embodiments, individual ones of the first and second DCI may have a DCI format 0A. In some embodiments, the second DCI may comprise one or more of: HARQ ACK bitmap feedback comprising <NUM>*N bits, where N is a number of configured HARQ process IDs for grant-less transmissions; TPC command comprising <NUM> bits; or MCS information comprising one of <NUM> bits or <NUM> bits. In some embodiments, generating the first DCI indicating the GUL activation comprises setting one or more bits of the first DCI to zeros, such that a length of the first DCI corresponds to a pre-defined length of a format 0A DCI. In some embodiments, generating the first DCI indicating the GUL activation comprises scrambling the first DCI using a RNTI that is specific to GUL transmission.

<FIG> illustrates example components of a device, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. In some embodiments, the device <NUM> may include application circuitry <NUM>, baseband circuitry <NUM>, Radio Frequency (RF) circuitry <NUM>, front-end module (FEM) circuitry <NUM>, one or more antennas <NUM>, and power management circuitry (PMC) <NUM> coupled together at least as shown. The components of the illustrated device <NUM> may be included in a UE or a RAN node. In some embodiments, the device <NUM> may include less elements (e.g., a RAN node may not utilize application circuitry <NUM>, and instead include a processor/controller to process IP data received from an EPC). In some embodiments, the device <NUM> may include additional elements such as, for example, memory/storage, display, camera, sensor, or input/output (I/O) interface. In other embodiments, the components described below may be included in more than one device (e.g., said circuitries may be separately included in more than one device for Cloud-RAN (C-RAN) implementations).

The processor(s) may include any combination of general-purpose processors and dedicated processors (e.g., graphics processors, application processors, and so on).

The baseband circuitry <NUM> may include one or more baseband processors or control logic to process baseband signals received from a receive signal path of the RF circuitry <NUM> and to generate baseband signals for a transmit signal path of the RF circuitry <NUM>. Baseband processing circuity <NUM> may interface with the application circuitry <NUM> for generation and processing of the baseband signals and for controlling operations of the RF circuitry <NUM>. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry <NUM> may include a third generation (<NUM>) baseband processor 604A, a fourth generation (<NUM>) baseband processor 604B, a fifth generation (<NUM>) baseband processor 604C, or other baseband processor(s) 604D for other existing generations, generations in development or to be developed in the future (e.g., second generation (<NUM>), sixth generation (<NUM>), and so on). The baseband circuitry <NUM> (e.g., one or more of baseband processors 604A-D) may handle various radio control functions that enable communication with one or more radio networks via the RF circuitry <NUM>. In other embodiments, some or all of the functionality of baseband processors 604A-D may be included in modules stored in the memory <NUM> and executed via a Central Processing Unit (CPU) 604E. The radio control functions may include, but are not limited to, signal modulation/demodulation, encoding/decoding, radio frequency shifting, and so on. In some embodiments, modulation/demodulation circuitry of the baseband circuitry <NUM> may include Fast-Fourier Transform (FFT), precoding, or constellation mapping/demapping functionality. In some embodiments, encoding/decoding circuitry of the baseband circuitry <NUM> may include convolution, tail-biting convolution, turbo, Viterbi, or Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) encoder/decoder functionality. Embodiments of modulation/demodulation and encoder/decoder functionality are not limited to these examples and may include other suitable functionality in other embodiments.

In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry <NUM> may include one or more audio digital signal processor(s) (DSP) 604F. The audio DSP(s) 604F may be include elements for compression/decompression and echo cancellation and may include other suitable processing elements in other embodiments. Components of the baseband circuitry may be suitably combined in a single chip, a single chipset, or disposed on a same circuit board in some embodiments. In some embodiments, some or all of the constituent components of the baseband circuitry <NUM> and the application circuitry <NUM> may be implemented together such as, for example, on a system on a chip (SOC).

In various embodiments, the RF circuitry <NUM> may include switches, filters, amplifiers, and so on to facilitate the communication with the wireless network.

In some embodiments, the receive signal path of the RF circuitry <NUM> may include mixer circuitry 606A, amplifier circuitry 606B and filter circuitry 606C. In some embodiments, the transmit signal path of the RF circuitry <NUM> may include filter circuitry 606C and mixer circuitry 606A. RF circuitry <NUM> may also include synthesizer circuitry 606D for synthesizing a frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 606A of the receive signal path and the transmit signal path. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 606A of the receive signal path may be configured to down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry <NUM> based on the synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuitry 606D. The amplifier circuitry 606B may be configured to amplify the down-converted signals and the filter circuitry 606C may be a low-pass filter (LPF) or band-pass filter (BPF) configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signals to generate output baseband signals. Output baseband signals may be provided to the baseband circuitry <NUM> for further processing. In some embodiments, the output baseband signals may be zero-frequency baseband signals, although this is not a requirement. In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 606A of the receive signal path may comprise passive mixers, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 606A of the transmit signal path may be configured to up-convert input baseband signals based on the synthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuitry 606D to generate RF output signals for the FEM circuitry <NUM>. The baseband signals may be provided by the baseband circuitry <NUM> and may be filtered by filter circuitry 606C.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 606A of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 606A of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadrature downconversion and upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 606A of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 606A of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 606A of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 606A may be arranged for direct downconversion and direct upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 606A of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 606A of the transmit signal path may be configured for super-heterodyne operation.

In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 606D may be a fractional-N synthesizer or a fractional N/N+<NUM> synthesizer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect as other types of frequency synthesizers may be suitable. For example, synthesizer circuitry 606D may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer comprising a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider.

The synthesizer circuitry 606D may be configured to synthesize an output frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 606A of the RF circuitry <NUM> based on a frequency input and a divider control input. In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 606D may be a fractional N/N+<NUM> synthesizer.

Synthesizer circuitry 606D of the RF circuitry <NUM> may include a divider, a delay-locked loop 'L), a multiplexer and a phase accumulator. In some embodiments, the divider may be a dual modulus divider (DMD) and the phase accumulator may be a digital phase accumulator (DPA). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured to divide the input signal by either N or N+<NUM> (e.g., based on a carry out) to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, the DLL may include a set of cascaded, tunable, delay elements, a phase detector, a charge pump and a D-type flip-flop. In these embodiments, the delay elements may be configured to break a VCO period up into Nd equal packets of phase, where Nd is the number of delay elements in the delay line. In this way, the DLL provides negative feedback to help ensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle.

In some embodiments, synthesizer circuitry 606D may be configured to generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, while in other embodiments, the output frequency may be a multiple of the carrier frequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrier frequency) and used in conjunction with quadrature generator and divider circuitry to generate multiple signals at the carrier frequency with multiple different phases with respect to each other. In some embodiments, the output frequency may be a LO frequency (fLO). In some embodiments, the RF circuitry <NUM> may include an IQ/polar converter.

While <FIG> shows the PMC <NUM> coupled only with the baseband circuitry <NUM>. However, in other embodiments, the PMC <NUM> may be additionally or alternatively coupled with, and perform similar power management operations for, other components such as, but not limited to, application circuitry <NUM>, RF circuitry <NUM>, or FEM <NUM>.

If there is no data traffic activity for an extended period of time, then the device <NUM> may transition off to an RRC_Idle state, where it disconnects from the network and does not perform operations such as channel quality feedback, handover, and so on. The device <NUM> goes into a very low power state and it performs paging where again it periodically wakes up to listen to the network and then powers down again. The device <NUM> may not receive data in this state, in order to receive data, it must transition back to RRC_Connected state.

<FIG> illustrates example interfaces of baseband circuitry, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. As discussed above, the baseband circuitry <NUM> of <FIG> may comprise processors 604A-604E and a memory <NUM> utilized by said processors. Each of the processors 604A-604E may include a memory interface, 704A-704E, respectively, to send/receive data to/from the memory <NUM>.

It is pointed out that elements of any of the Figures herein having the same reference numbers and/or names as elements of any other Figure herein may, in various embodiments, operate or function in a manner similar those elements of the other Figure (without being limited to operating or functioning in such a manner).

While the disclosure has been described in conjunction with specific embodiments thereof, many alternatives, modifications and variations of such embodiments will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art in light of the foregoing description. For example, other memory architectures e.g., Dynamic RAM (DRAM) may use the embodiments discussed. The embodiments of the disclosure are intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications, and variations as to fall within the broad scope of the appended claims.

In addition, well known power/ground connections to integrated circuit (IC) chips and other components may or may not be shown within the presented figures, for simplicity of illustration and discussion, and so as not to obscure the disclosure. Further, arrangements may be shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the disclosure, and also in view of the fact that specifics with respect to implementation of such block diagram arrangements are highly dependent upon the platform within which the present disclosure is to be implemented (i.e., such specifics should be well within purview of one skilled in the art). Where specific details (e.g., circuits) are set forth in order to describe example embodiments of the disclosure, it should be apparent to one skilled in the art that the disclosure can be practiced without, or with variation of, these specific details. The description is thus to be regarded as illustrative instead of limiting.

All optional features of the apparatus described herein may also be implemented with respect to a method or process.

Claim 1:
A User Equipment, UE, (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) operable to communicate with an Evolved Node-B, eNB, (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) on a wireless network (<NUM>), comprising:
one or more processors (<NUM>) configured to:
process a first Downlink Control Information, DCI, format 0A transmission indicating a Grant-less Uplink, GUL, activation, wherein a flag in the first DCI format 0A transmission indicates that the first DCI format 0A transmission is for GUL activation,
generate one or more GUL Uplink, UL, transmissions for an unlicensed spectrum of the wireless network after the GUL activation and before a GUL release,
process a second DCI format 0A transmission, the second DCI format 0A transmission being a GUL-DCI, G-DCI, transmission comprising one or more UE specific parameters associated with the one or more GUL UL transmissions and a plurality of redundant bits,
wherein the plurality of redundant bits cause the G-DCI transmission to have a pre-determined length, and
wherein a flag in the second DCI format 0A transmission is to indicate that the second DCI format 0A transmission comprises the one or more UE-specific parameters, and
process a third DCI format 0A transmission indicating the GUL release, wherein a flag in the third DCI format 0A transmission indicates that the third DCI format 0A transmission is for the GUL release, and
an interface for sending the one or more UL transmissions to a transmission circuitry and for receiving DCI format 0A transmissions from a receiving circuitry.