Frame based equipment and load based equipment modes switching in unregulated new radio
A wireless device, such as user equipment (UE) or other apparatus, like may use a transparent mode operation in which the device is not aware of the operation mode of abase station, such as a gNB or other transmission and receive point (TRP), via the use of configurations for Frame Based Equipment (FBE) and Load Based Equipment (LBE) operating modes. A base station may initiate a Channel Occupancy Time (COT) that is an FBE COT or an LBE COT, in which the wireless device follows FBE or LBE procedures accordingly. A variety of criteria may be applied in determining whether to use FBE or LBE procedures, and to switch between them. A network may use indicate the intention to switch operation mode and may do so via implicit or explicit indications. Similarly, a wireless device may autonomously switch operation mode, and may indicate the selected mode to the network.
1 . A wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) comprising a processor configured to:
receive configuration information comprising a frame-based equipment (FBE) configuration or a load based equipment (LBE) configuration;
determine that a timer exceeds a threshold, wherein the timer is associated with a channel;
receive a first indication that the WTRU is to operate in an LBE operating mode;
determine to operate in the LBE operating mode instead of an FBE operating mode based on the first indication and based on the determination that the timer exceeds the threshold;
receive a second indication of a location where a switch between the FBE operating mode and the LBE mode is intended to occur;
switch to the LBE operating mode at the location; and
operate in the LBE operating mode in accordance with the received LBE configuration.
2 . The WTRU of claim 1 , wherein the determination to operate in the LBE operating mode is further based on one or more measurements, wherein the one or more measurements comprise on one or more of: a reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement, a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) measurement, or a signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) measurement.
3 . The WTRU of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to access the channel when operating in the LBE operating mode, and wherein the processor is further configured to send an indication that indicates how the WTRU accesses the channel.
4 . The WTRU of claim 1 , wherein the processor being configured to operate in the LBE operating mode comprises the processor being configured to access the channel, wherein the channel is in an unlicensed spectrum.
5 . The WTRU of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to receive the first indication from a base station.
6 . The WTRU of claim 1 , wherein the determination to operate in the LBE operating mode is based on a counter-based determination, wherein the counter-based determination comprises processor being configured to switch from the FBE operating mode to the LBE operating mode based on a number of unsuccessful attempts to access the channel when operating in the FBE operating mode.
7 . The WTRU of claim 6 , wherein the number of unsuccessful attempts to access the channel is an average number of failed channel access attempts, and wherein the processor is configured to switch from the FBE operating mode to the LBE operating mode based on the average number of failed channel access attempts.
8 . The WTRU of claim 1 , wherein:
the configuration information comprises information for a higher priority class and information for a lower priority class, wherein the determination to operate in the LBE operating mode is further based on the information for the higher priority class.
9 . The WTRU of claim 1 , wherein the configuration information comprises a probability threshold, wherein the probability threshold indicates a probability to access the channel, and wherein the determination to operate in the LBE operating mode is based on the probability threshold.
10 . The WTRU of claim 9 , wherein the probability threshold is based on the one or more measurements.
11 . The WTRU of claim 1 , wherein the processor being configured to send the indication to the base station comprises the processor being configured to transmit a piggybacked uplink control information (UCI) that comprises a 1-bit field indicating the determination to operate in the LBE operating mode.
12 . A base station comprising a processor configured to:
send, to a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU), configuration information comprising a frame-based equipment (FBE) configuration or a load based equipment (LBE) configuration, the FBE configuration comprising a fixed frame period (FFP), an indication of a beginning of an FFP, a time offset, and/or a channel occupancy time (COT) duration;
receive a first indication from the WTRU;
determine, based on the first indication, that the WTRU is to operate selectively in an LBE mode or determine that the WTRU is to operate in a FBE mode; and
send a second indication to the WTRU, wherein the second indication indicates that the WTRU is to operate in the FBE mode according to the FBE configuration or wherein the second indication indicates the WTRU is to operate in the LBE mode; and
send, to the WTRU, an indication of a location where a switch between the FBE mode and the LBE mode is intended to occur.
13 . The base station of claim 12 , wherein the processor is further configured to send the FBE configuration via broadcast in a Remaining Minimum System Information (RMSI) block or an Other System Information (OSI) block.
14 . The base station of claim 12 , wherein the processor is further configured to send the FBE configuration via Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling.
15 . The base station of claim 12 , wherein the processor is further configured to send, to the WTRU, a plurality of FBE configurations and a criterion for the WTRU to select the FBE configuration from among the plurality of FBE configurations.
16 . The base station of claim 12 , wherein the processor is further configured to send, to the WTRU, an indication to switch between the FBE mode and the LBE mode.