METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR ESTABLISHING A CONNECTION BETWEEN DEVICES IN UNLICENSED RADIO FREQUENCY SPECTRUM

• US 20200136714A1
• Filed: 03/25/2019
• Published: 04/30/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cable Television Laboratories Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Cable Television Laboratories Incorporated
• Inventors: Viorel, Dorin Gheorghe
• Granted Patent: US 11,115,109 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/318 Received signal strength
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0695 using beam selection
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0862 receiver computing weights based on information from the transmitter
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/088 using beam selection
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/14 Spectrum sharing arrangements between different networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/28 using beam steering
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 56/001 Synchronization between nodes
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/23 in the downlink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards a terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/54 based on quality criteria
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/006 in the downlink, i.e. towards the terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/0816 with collision avoidance

Abstract

A method for establishing a wireless connection between a user equipment (UE) device and a base station in unlicensed radio frequency (RF) spectrum includes (a) receiving, at the UE device, a plurality of RF beams broadcasted by the base station, (b) identifying a selected RF beam of the plurality of RF beams having control information with a maximum received signal level, and (c) identifying a first channel occupancy time (COT1) of the base station from control information of the selected RF beam.

Claims

1. A method for establishing a wireless connection between a user equipment (UE) device and a base station in unlicensed radio frequency (RF) spectrum, comprising:

receiving, at the UE device, a plurality of RF beams broadcasted by the base station;

identifying a selected RF beam of the plurality of RF beams having control information detected based on a maximum received signal level; and

identifying a first channel occupancy time (COT1) of the base station from control information transmitted over the selected RF beam.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the COT1 is performed at the UE device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the COT1 comprises determining a repetition period, a starting time of the control information, and a COT1 duration of the selected RF beam.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising designating a starting point of the control information of the selected RF beam as a control information sequence starting point.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising determining the COT1 from at least (a) the control information sequence starting point, (b) a priority class of the control information of the selected RF beam, and (c) a duration of the COT1.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising granting, at the base station, access transmission rights to the UE device during COT1.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising transmitting a first access message from the UE device to the base station during COT1.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising transmitting a second access message from the base station to the UE device in response to receiving the first access message at the base station, during COT1.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

in response to receiving the second access message at the UE device, performing a first clear channel assessment (CCA) at the UE device; and

in response to the first CCA being successful, (a) assigning a second channel occupancy time (COT2) to the UE device and (b) transmitting a third access message from the UE device to the base station.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising granting, at the UE device, transmission rights to the base station during COT2.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising transmitting a fourth access message from the base station to the UE device, in response to receiving the third access message at the base station, during COT2.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein:

the control information of the selected RF beam comprises fifth Generation (5G) New Radio (NR) synchronization signal blocks (SSBs); and

each of the first access message, the second access message, the third access message, and the fourth access message comprises a respective NR physical random access channel (PRACh) message.

13. The method of claim 8, further comprising transmitting a third access message from the UE device to the base station during COT1, in response to receiving the second access message at the UE device.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising transmitting a fourth access message from the base station to the UE device, in response to receiving the third access message at the base station.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein:

the synchronization information of the selected RF beam comprises fifth Generation (5G) New Radio (NR) synchronization signal blocks (SSBs); and

each of the first access message, the second access message, the third access message, and the fourth access message comprises a respective NR physical random access channel (PRACh) message.

16. The method of claim 7, further comprising retransmitting the first access message from the UE device to the base station, in response to failure to receive a second access message from the base station at the UE device during COT1.

17. A method for establishing a wireless connection between a user equipment (UE) device and a base station in unlicensed radio frequency (RF) spectrum, comprising:

broadcasting control information from the base station during a first channel occupancy time (COT1);

granting a plurality of UE devices access transmission rights during COT1;

receiving at the base station a first access message from a first UE device of the plurality of UE devices during COT1; and

transmitting a second access message from the base station to the first UE device during COT1, in response to receiving the first access message.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

receiving at the base station a third access message during a second channel occupancy time (COT2); and

transmitting a fourth access message from the base station to the first UE device during COT2, in response to receiving the third access message.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein:

the control information comprises fifth Generation (5G) New Radio (NR) synchronization signal blocks (SSBs); and

each of the first access message, the second access message, the third access message, and the fourth access message comprises a respective NR physical random access channel (PRACh) message.

20. A user equipment (UE) device, comprising:

an antenna;

a transceiver communicatively coupled to the antenna;

a memory; and

a processor communicatively coupled to the memory, wherein the processor is configured to execute instructions stored in the memory to;

identify a selected radio frequency (RF) beam of a plurality of RF beams received via the antenna and the transceiver, the selected RF beam having control information with a maximum received signal level, and

identify a first channel occupancy time (COT1) of a base station separate from the UE device, from control information of the selected RF beam.