Techniques for managing a plurality of radio access technologies accessing a shared radio frequency spectrum band

• US 9,912,438 B2
• Filed: 02/09/2016
• Issued: 03/06/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 02/11/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Yerramalli, Srinivas, Luo, Tao, Damnjanovic, Aleksandar, Papaleo, Marco, Malik, Rahul, Gaal, Peter
• Primary Examiner(s): Ho, Duc C
• Application Number:
  US15/019,767
• Publication Number:
  US 20160234835A1
• Time in Patent Office: 756 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0009 by adapting the channel coding H04L1/1812 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1812 Hybrid protocols; Hybrid automatic repeat request [HARQ]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/14 Spectrum sharing arrangements between different networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/1215 for collaboration of different radio technologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/0808 using carrier sensing, e.g. carrier sense multiple access [CSMA]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/06 adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals

Abstract

Techniques are described for wireless communication. A first method includes sensing an indication of first radio access technology (RAT) communications occupying a shared radio frequency spectrum band; and configuring, in response to the sensing, at least one parameter of a second RAT used by a device to contend for access to the band. A second method includes randomly selecting a number from a range of numbers extending between a lower bound and an upper bound; contending for access to a shared radio frequency spectrum band by performing an extended clear channel assessment (ECCA) procedure over a plurality of CCA slots, the plurality of CCA slots including a first number of CCA slots equal to the upper bound; and winning contention for access to the band after determining, while performing the ECCA procedure, that the band is available for a second number of CCA slots equal to the randomly selected number.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication, comprising:

sensing an indication of first radio access technology (RAT) communications occupying a shared radio frequency spectrum band;

configuring, in response to the sensing, at least one parameter of a second RAT used by a device to contend for access to the shared radio frequency spectrum band; and

configuring a range of numbers from which a random number is selected, wherein the random number determines a number of clear channel assessment (CCA) slots over which the device performs at least one of a plurality of extended CCA procedures.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first RAT comprises a Wi-Fi RAT and the second RAT comprises a cellular RAT.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein configuring the range of numbers comprises at least one of:

increasing a lower bound of the range of numbers, or increasing an upper bound of the range of numbers, or a combination thereof.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein configuring the at least one parameter of the second RAT comprises:

identifying a number of consecutive CCA slots for which the shared radio frequency spectrum band is available before the device wins contention for access to the shared radio frequency spectrum band.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the identified number of CCA slots is a last number of the CCA slots in which the extended CCA procedure is performed when the device has not won contention for access to the shared radio frequency spectrum band.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein configuring the at least one parameter of the second RAT comprises:

configuring a CCA energy detection threshold for at least one CCA slot in which at least one CCA procedure is performed.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

configuring the device to sense an energy level of the shared radio frequency spectrum band following a period in which the shared radio frequency spectrum band is occupied.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein configuring the at least one parameter of the second RAT comprises:

configuring a CCA energy detection threshold based at least in part on the sensed energy;

configuring the device to perform a number of CCA procedures based at least in part on the CCA energy detection threshold, wherein the number of CCA procedures is performed in a set of CCA slots; and

configuring the device to win contention for access to the shared radio frequency spectrum band when the shared radio frequency spectrum band is determined to be available for a subset of CCA slots included in the set of CCA slots.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein configuring the at least one parameter of the second RAT comprises:

increasing a duration of a last CCA slot of the random number of CCA slots in which the extended CCA procedure is performed.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of extended CCA procedures comprises a first extended CCA procedure followed by a second extended CCA procedure.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the first extended CCA procedure is configured to be performed over a first number of CCA slots and the second extended CCA procedure is configured to be performed over a second number of CCA slots.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein configuring the at least one parameter of the second RAT comprises:

configuring a deferment period for the device to wait, upon determining the shared radio frequency spectrum band is unavailable, before performing an additional number of CCA procedures; and

configuring the device to win contention for access to the shared radio frequency spectrum band upon determining the shared radio frequency spectrum band is available for each of the additional number of CCA procedures.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the indication of first RAT communications is based at least in part on a number of transmitters detected within an energy detection range of the device.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the indication of first RAT communications is based at least in part on a failure rate of transmissions for which feedback is reported.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the indication of first RAT communications is based at least in part on an erasure rate for transmissions for which an error is not reported.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the indication of first RAT communications is based at least in part on a variance between a supported modulation and coding scheme (MCS) and an MCS actually used.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the device comprises one of a base station or a user equipment (UE), and wherein the sensing and the configuring are performed by the one of the base station or the UE.

18. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

a processor;

memory in electronic communication with the processor; and

instructions stored in the memory, the instructions being executable by the processor to;

sense an indication of first radio access technology (RAT) communications occupying a shared radio frequency spectrum band;

configure, in response to the sensing, at least one parameter of a second RAT used by a device to contend for access to the shared radio frequency spectrum band; and

configure a range of numbers from which a random number is selected, wherein the random number determines a number of clear channel assessment (CCA) slots over which the device performs at least one of a plurality of extended CCA procedures.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the instructions executable by the processor to configure the at least one parameter of the second RAT comprise instructions executable by the processor to:

identify a number of consecutive CCA slots for which the shared radio frequency spectrum band is available before the device wins contention for access to the shared radio frequency spectrum band.

20. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the instructions executable by the processor to configure the at least one parameter of the second RAT comprise instructions executable by the processor to:

configure a CCA energy detection threshold for at least one CCA slot in which at least one CCA procedure is performed.

21. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the instructions executable by the processor to configure the at least one parameter of the second RAT comprise instructions executable by the processor to:

increase a duration of a last CCA slot in which the extended CCA procedure is performed.

22. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the plurality of extended CCA procedures comprises a first extended CCA procedure followed by a second extended CCA procedure.

23. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the instructions executable by the processor to configure the at least one parameter of the second RAT comprise instructions executable by the processor to:

configure a deferment period for the device to wait, upon determining the shared radio frequency spectrum band is unavailable, before performing an additional number of CCA procedures; and

configure the device to win contention for access to the shared radio frequency spectrum band upon determining the shared radio frequency spectrum band is available for each of the additional number of CCA procedures.

24. A method for wireless communication, comprising:

randomly selecting a number from a range of numbers extending between a lower bound and an upper bound;

contending for access to a shared radio frequency spectrum band by performing an extended clear channel assessment (CCA) procedure over a plurality of CCA slots, the plurality of CCA slots comprising a first number of CCA slots equal to the upper bound; and

winning contention for access to the shared radio frequency spectrum band, while performing the extended CCA procedure, after determining that the shared radio frequency spectrum band is available for a second number of CCA slots equal to the randomly selected number.

25. The method of claim 24, further comprising:

discontinuing the extended CCA procedure and failing to win contention for access to the shared radio frequency spectrum band after determining, while performing the extended CCA procedure, that the shared radio frequency spectrum band is unavailable for a third number of CCA slots equal to the first number of CCA slots, less the randomly selected number, plus one.

26. The method of claim 24, further comprising:

randomly selecting a second number from a second range of numbers extending between a second lower bound and a second upper bound; and

after successfully performing the first extended CCA procedure, contending for access to the shared radio frequency spectrum band by performing a second extended CCA procedure.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the second extended procedure comprises determining that the shared radio frequency band is available for the second number of CCA slots that is equal to the second randomly selected number.

28. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

determining that the first range of numbers and the second range of numbers are overlapping; and

setting a limitation on at least one of the lower bound, upper bound, second lower bound, or second upper bound based at least in part on determining that the first range of numbers and the second range of numbers are overlapping.

29. The method of claim 24, wherein performing the extended CCA procedure further comprises performing at least one of a downlink CCA (DCCA) procedure or a uplink CCA (UCCA) procedure.

30. The method of claim 24, wherein performing the extended CCA procedure comprises performing the extended CCA procedure based at least in part on a load based equipment protocol.

31. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

a processor;

memory in electronic communication with the processor; and

instructions stored in the memory, the instructions being executable by the processor to;

randomly select a number from a range of numbers extending between a lower bound and an upper bound;

contend for access to a shared radio frequency spectrum band by performing an extended clear channel assessment (CCA) procedure over a plurality of CCA slots, the plurality of CCA slots comprising a first number of CCA slots equal to the upper bound; and

win contention for access to the shared radio frequency spectrum band, while performing the extended CCA procedure, after determining that the shared radio frequency spectrum band is available for a second number of CCA slots equal to the randomly selected number.

32. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

means for randomly selecting a number from a range of numbers extending between a lower bound and an upper bound;

means for contending for access to a shared radio frequency spectrum band by performing an extended clear channel assessment (CCA) procedure over a plurality of CCA slots, the plurality of CCA slots comprising a first number of CCA slots equal to the upper bound; and

means for winning contention for access to the shared radio frequency spectrum band, while performing the extended CCA procedure, after determining that the shared radio frequency spectrum band is available for a second number of CCA slots equal to the randomly selected number.

33. The method of claim 32, further comprising:

means for randomly selecting a second number from a second range of numbers extending between a second lower bound and a second upper bound; and

after successfully performing the first extended CCA procedure, means for contending for access to the shared radio frequency spectrum band by performing a second extended CCA procedure.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein the second extended procedure comprises means for determining that the shared radio frequency band is available for the second number of CCA slots that is equal to the second randomly selected number.

35. The method of claim 33, further comprising:

means for determining that the first range of numbers and the second range of numbers are overlapping; and

means for setting a limitation on at least one of the lower bound, upper bound, second lower bound, or second upper bound based at least in part on determining that the first range of numbers and the second range of numbers are overlapping.

36. The method of claim 32, wherein performing the extended CCA procedure further comprises means for performing at least one of a downlink CCA (DCCA) procedure or a uplink CCA (UCCA) procedure.

37. The method of claim 32, wherein performing the extended CCA procedure comprises means performing the extended CCA procedure based at least in part on a load based equipment protocol.

38. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable code for wireless communication, the code executable to:

randomly select a number from a range of numbers extending between a lower bound and an upper bound;

contending for access to a shared radio frequency spectrum band by performing an extended clear channel assessment (CCA) procedure over a plurality of CCA slots, the plurality of CCA slots comprising a first number of CCA slots equal to the upper bound; and

winning contention for access to the shared radio frequency spectrum band, while performing the extended CCA procedure, after determining that the shared radio frequency spectrum band is available for a second number of CCA slots equal to the randomly selected number.

39. The method of claim 38, the code being further executable to:

randomly select a second number from a second range of numbers extending between a second lower bound and a second upper bound; and

after successfully performing the first extended CCA procedure, contend for access to the shared radio frequency spectrum band by performing a second extended CCA procedure.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein when the processor performs the second extended CCA procedure, the code is further executable to determine that the shared radio frequency band is available for the second number of CCA slots that is equal to the second randomly selected number.

41. The method of claim 39, the code being further executable to:

determine that the first range of numbers and the second range of numbers are overlapping; and

set a limitation on at least one of the lower bound, upper bound, second lower bound, or second upper bound based at least in part on determining that the first range of numbers and the second range of numbers are overlapping.

42. The method of claim 38, wherein when the processor performs the extended CCA procedure, the code is further executable to perform at least one of a downlink CCA (DCCA) procedure or a uplink CCA (UCCA) procedure.

43. The method of claim 38, wherein when the processor performs the extended CCA procedure, the code is further executable to perform the extended CCA procedure based at least in part on a load based equipment protocol.