Apparatus and methods for multicarrier unlicensed heterogeneous channel access

1 . A method for providing multi-carrier utilization in an unlicensed frequency band, the method comprising:

performing real-time sensing comprising:

measuring one or more first channel sensing parameters with respect to a first frequency band; and

measuring one or more second channel sensing parameters with respect to a second frequency band;

performing threshold comparisons comprising:

comparing the one or more first channel sensing parameters with one or more first thresholds; and

comparing the one or more second channel sensing parameters with one or more second thresholds;

based on the comparing of the one or more first channel sensing parameters with the one or more first thresholds, determining an availability of the first frequency band;

based on the comparing of the one or more second channel sensing parameters with the one or more second thresholds, determining an availability of the second frequency band; and

transmitting data in at least one of the first or the second frequency bands only if the respective band is determined to be available, wherein the transmitting comprises, for each of the first and the second frequency bands, dynamically enabling or disabling transmission in that band based on the real-time sensing and the threshold comparison for that band, such that simultaneous transmission in both of the first and the second frequency bands is performed only if both are available, and selective transmission is performed if only one is available.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the method is performed by a Fifth Generation (5G) New Radio-Unlicensed (NR-U) capable device operating across the unlicensed frequency band;

the determining of the availability of the first frequency band comprises the 5G NR-U capable device performing a first Listen Before Talk (LBT) procedure; and

the determining of the availability of the second frequency band comprises the 5G NR-U capable device performing a second LBT procedure.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the transmitting of the data in the at least one of the first or the second frequency bands comprises causing suspension of the transmitting of the data on one of the first frequency band or the first frequency band until at least the comparing of the one or more second channel sensing parameters with the one or more second thresholds is completed.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

initializing a computerized client device; and

causing data communication between the computerized client device and a wireless access node, the causing of the data communication comprising establishing one or more communication channels which enable the computerized client device to receive data directing the computerized client device to utilize one or more LBT-based heterogeneous unlicensed band procedures to effect the determining of the availability of the first frequency band and the determining of the availability of the second frequency band.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the first frequency band is associated with at least one first frame in a periodic Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) radio frame transmission;

the second frequency band is associated with at least one second frame in the periodic 3GPP radio frame transmission; and

the method further comprises synchronizing one or more boundaries of the at least one first frame with one or more boundaries of the at least one second frame.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more first channel sensing parameters and the one or more second channel sensing parameters comprise one or more parameters relating to maximum and minimum backoff counter size.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising transmitting a coordination signal, the coordination signal comprising a common preamble that has a specific signature or pattern that unlicensed spectrum-based devices attempt to detect.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the coordination signal dynamically allocates at least one of (i) device-specific channel sensing or (ii) channel access data.

9 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

prior to transmitting the data, transmitting a coordination signal comprising a common preamble with a device-specific signature, wherein unlicensed spectrum-based devices attempt to detect the device-specific signature to coordinate multi-band access.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the measuring of the one or more first channel sensing parameters and the measuring of the one or more second channel sensing parameters comprises measuring a backoff counter size for each frequency band.

11 . A computerized wireless apparatus for use in a wireless infrastructure, the computerized wireless apparatus comprising:

digital processing apparatus;

at least one data network interface in data communication with the digital processing apparatus; and

a storage device in data communication with the digital processing apparatus, the storage device comprising a storage medium having at least one computer program, the at least one computer program configured to, when executed on the digital processing apparatus, cause the computerized wireless apparatus to:

perform availability determinations for a first transmission opportunity, comprising:

perform a first Listen Before Talk (LBT)-based protocol to determine an availability of one or more first carriers in an unlicensed spectrum in a first frequency band; and

perform a second LBT-based protocol to determine an availability of one or more second carriers in the unlicensed spectrum in a second frequency band;

perform transmission selections for the first transmission opportunity, comprising:

based on a determination that both the one or more first carriers and the one or more second carriers are available, concurrently transmit data over both the first frequency band and the second frequency band; and

based on a determination that only one of (i) the one or more first carriers or (ii) the one or more second carriers, is available, transmit data exclusively over one of the first frequency band or the second frequency band which is associated with the available one of (i) the one or more first carriers or (ii) the one or more second carriers and suspend transmission over one of the first frequency band or the second frequency band which is associated with the unavailable one of (i) the one or more first carriers or (ii) the one or more second carriers; and

repeat the availability determinations and the transmission selections prior to each subsequent transmission opportunity.

12 . The computerized wireless apparatus of claim 11 , wherein:

the first LBT-based protocol comprises:

(i) a measurement of a plurality of first channel sensing parameters for the first frequency band;

(ii) a comparison of the plurality of first channel sensing parameters to a plurality of first predetermined threshold values, respectively; and

(iii) a determination, based on the comparison, of whether any device is transmitting on the one or more first carriers in the first frequency band; and

the second LBT-based protocol comprises:

(i) a measurement of a plurality of second channel sensing parameters for the second frequency band;

(ii) a comparison of the plurality of second channel sensing parameters to a plurality of second predetermined threshold values, respectively; and

(iii) a determination, based on the comparison, of whether any device is transmitting on the one or more second carriers in the second frequency band.

13 . The computerized wireless apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the computerized wireless apparatus comprises a Fifth Generation New Radio Unlicensed (5G NR-U) capable gNodeB, and the first and second frequency bands comprise a 5 GHz band and 6 GHz band, respectively.

14 . The computerized wireless apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the concurrent transmission of data over both the first frequency band and the second frequency band comprises utilization of the one or more first carriers simultaneously with the one or more second carriers to transmit at least one of 3GPP PDCCH control data or PDSCH user plane data on each of the one or more first carriers and the one or more second carriers.

15 . Computer readable apparatus comprising a non-transitory storage medium, the non-transitory storage medium comprising at least one computer program having a plurality of instructions, the plurality of instructions configured to, when executed on a processing apparatus, cause a wireless user device to:

identify a first medium access protocol for use to determine an availability of a first unlicensed frequency band;

identify a second medium access protocol for use to determine an availability of a second unlicensed frequency band, the second unlicensed frequency band having access requirements different from those of the first unlicensed frequency band;

perform an availability evaluation comprising, prior to each data transmission, independently evaluate a current availability for each of the first and second unlicensed frequency bands via use of their respective medium access protocols;

perform a transmission selection comprising selection, for each transmission opportunity, to: (i) transmit data over both of the first and second unlicensed frequency bands only if both of the first and second unlicensed frequency bands are determined to be available, or (ii) transmit data solely over one of the first unlicensed frequency band or second unlicensed frequency band if only one is available, and to refrain from transmitting over any unlicensed frequency band determined to be unavailable; and

repeat the availability evaluation and the transmission selection for each subsequent transmission opportunity.

16 . The computer readable apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the availability evaluation comprises use of the first medium access protocol and the second medium access protocol simultaneously.

17 . The computer readable apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the first medium access protocol comprises an energy detection protocol, and the second medium access protocol comprises a preamble detection protocol.

18 . The computer readable apparatus of claim 15 , wherein each of the first medium access protocol and the second medium access protocol comprise (i) measurement of data relating to one or more channel sensing parameters, and (ii) comparison of the data relating to the one or more channel sensing parameters to one or more thresholds.

19 . The computer readable apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the plurality of instructions are further configured to, when executed on the processing apparatus, cause the wireless user device to:

determine one or more bandwidth requirements; and

compare the one or more bandwidth requirements to data relating to bandwidth availability of the at least one wireless access node, and invoke a multi-band operation, the multi-band operation comprising use of the first and second medium access protocols.

20 . The computer readable apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the invocation of the multi-band operation comprises:

a determination of a number of carriers needed to meet the one or more bandwidth requirements;

identification of two or more heterogeneous bands capable of servicing a request with sufficient bandwidth available to meet the one or more bandwidth requirements; and

based at least on the identification of the two or more heterogeneous bands, commence the first and second medium access protocols on the first and second unlicensed frequency bands, respectively.