Listen-before-talk (LBT) with new radio-spectrum sharing (NR-SS) discovery signal transmission

1. A method of wireless communication, comprising:

sensing, by a wireless communication device, a channel in a spatial domain based on a plurality of expected beam transmission directions, wherein the wireless communication device is associated with a first network operating entity, and wherein the channel is shared by a plurality of network operating entities including the first network operating entity;

transmitting, after the sensing, by the wireless communication device, a spatial-specific channel reservation signal in one or more of the plurality of expected beam transmission directions based on the sensing, wherein the transmitting the spatial-specific channel reservation signal comprises:

transmitting, by the wireless commnication device, a first spatial-specific channel reservation signal in a first subset of the plurality of expected beam transmission directions; and

transmitting, by the wireless communication device, a second spatial-specific channel reservation signal in a second subset of the plurality of expected beam transmission directions; and

transmitting, after the sensing, by the wireless communication device, a plurality of discovery signals in the one or more of the plurality of expected beam transmission directions during a discovery period to facilitate synchronization in the channel based on the sensing.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sensing includes monitoring the channel for a transmission from another wireless communication device using an omnidirectional reception beam before the discovery period.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sensing includes monitoring the channel in the first subset of the plurality of expected beam transmission directions for a transmission from another wireless communication device.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the transmitting includes transmitting, a subset of the plurality of discovery signals, each in one of the first subset of the plurality of expected beam transmission directions.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the sensing further includes monitoring the channel in the second subset of the plurality of expected beam transmission directions for a transmission from another wireless communication device, wherein the first subset and the second subset of the plurality of expected beam transmission directions are different, and wherein the channel is monitored in the first subset of the plurality of expected beam transmission directions and in the second subset of the plurality of expected beam transmission directions before the discovery period.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein transmitting the spatial-specific channel reservation signal in the one or more of the plurality of expected beam transmission directions comprises:

transmitting, by the wireless communication device, the first spatial-specific channel reservation signal based on the monitoring in the first subset of the plurality of expected beam transmission directions; and

transmitting, by the wireless communication device, the second spatial-specific channel reservation signal based on the monitoring in the second subset of the plurality of expected beam transmission directions.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the channel is monitored in the first subset of the plurality of expected beam transmission directions within the discovery period before transmitting the subset of the plurality of discovery signals.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein transmitting the spatial-specific channel reservation signal in the one or more of the plurality of expected beam transmission directions comprises:

transmitting, by the wireless communication device, the spatial-specific channel reservation signal in the first subset of the plurality of expected beam transmission directions during at least one of:

a time period before transmitting the subset of the plurality of discovery signals based on the monitoring in the first subset of the plurality of expected beam transmission directions; or

a time period concurrent with one of the subset of the plurality of discovery signals based on frequency-division multiplexing (FDM).

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the sensing includes:

monitoring the channel in a second subset of the plurality of expected beam transmission directions within the discovery period; and

detecting a transmission from another wireless communication device over the channel in the second subset of the plurality of expected beam transmission directions, and

wherein the method further comprises refraining, by the wireless communication device, from transmitting discovery signals in the second subset of the plurality of expected beam transmission directions based on the detecting.

10. The method of claim 4 , further comprising transmitting a data signal by multiplexing the data signal with one or more of the subset of the plurality of discovery signals in at least one of a frequency domain or a time domain, wherein the data signal is transmitted in at least one of the first subset of the plurality of expected beam transmission directions.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of discovery signals includes at least one of a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) signal, or a discovery reference signal.

12. An apparatus comprising:

a processor configured to sense a channel in a spatial domain based on a plurality of expected beam transmission directions, wherein the apparatus is associated with a first network operating entity, and wherein the channel is shared by a plurality of network operating entities including the first network operating entity;

a transceiver configured to:

transmit, after the sensing, a spatial-specific channel reservation signal in one or more of the plurality of expected beam transmission directions based on the sensing by:

transmitting a first spatial-specific channel reservation signal in a first subset of the plurality of expected beam tranmsission directions; and

transmitting a second spatial-specific channel reservation signal in a second subset of the plurality of expected beam transmission directions; and

transmit a plurality of discovery signals in the one or more of the plurality of expected beam transmission directions during a discovery period to facilitate synchronization in the channel based on the sensing.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the processor is further configured to sense the channel by monitoring the channel for a transmission from another wireless communication device using an omnidirectional reception beam before the discovery period.

14. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the processor is further configured to sense the channel by monitoring the channel in the first subset of the plurality of expected beam transmission directions for a transmission from another wireless communication device.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the transceiver is further configured to transmit the plurality of discovery signals by transmitting a subset of the plurality of discovery signals, each in one of the first subset of the plurality of expected beam transmission directions.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the processor is further configured to sense the channel by monitoring the channel in the second subset of the plurality of expected beam transmission directions for a transmission from another wireless communication device, wherein the first subset and the second subset of the plurality of expected beam transmission directions are different, and wherein the channel is monitored in the first subset of the plurality of expected beam transmission directions and in the second subset of the plurality of expected beam transmission directions before the discovery period.

17. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the transceiver configured to transmit the spatial-specific channel reservation signal comprises the transceiver configured to:

transmit the first spatial-specific channel reservation signal based on the monitoring in the first subset of the plurality of expected beam transmission directions; and

transmit the second spatial-specific channel reservation signal based on the monitoring in the second subset of the plurality of expected beam transmission directions.

18. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the channel is monitored in the first subset of the plurality of expected beam transmission directions within the discovery period before transmitting the subset of the plurality of discovery signals.

19. The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the transceiver configured to transmit the spatial-specific channel reservation signal comprises the transceiver configured to:

transmit the spatial-specific channel reservation signal in the first subset of the plurality of expected beam transmission directions during at least one of:

a time period before transmitting the subset of the plurality of discovery signals based on the monitoring in the first subset of the plurality of expected beam transmission directions; or

a time period concurrent with one of the subset of the plurality of discovery signals based on frequency-division multiplexing (FDM).

20. The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

sense the channel by:

monitoring the channel in the second subset of the plurality of expected beam transmission directions within the discovery period; and

detecting a transmission from another wireless communication device over the channel in the second subset of the plurality of expected beam transmission directions; and

refrain from transmitting discovery signals in the second subset of the plurality of expected beam transmission directions based on the detecting.

21. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the transceiver is further configured to transmit a data signal by multiplexing the data signal with one or more of the subset of the plurality of discovery signals in at least one of a frequency domain or a time domain, wherein the data signal is transmitted in at least one of the first subset of the plurality of expected beam transmission directions.

22. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein each of the plurality of discovery signals includes at least one of a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) signal, or a discovery reference signal.

23. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having program code recorded thereon, the program code comprising:

code for causing a wireless communication device to sense a channel in a spatial domain based on a plurality of expected beam transmission directions, wherein the wireless communication device is associated with a first network operating entity, and wherein the channel is shared by a plurality of network operating entities including the first network operating entity;

code for causing the wireless communication device to transmit, after the sensing, a spatial-specific channel reservation signal in one or more of the plurality of expected beam transmission directions based on the sensing, the code for causing the wireless communication device to transmit the spatial-specific channel reservation signal is configured to cause the wireless communication device to:

transmit a first spatial-specific channel reservation signal in a first subset of the plurality of expected beam transmission directions; and

transmit a second spatial-specific channel reservation signal in a second subset of the plurality of expected beam transmission directions; and

code for causing the wireless communication device to transmit, after the sensing, a plurality of discovery signals in the one or more of the plurality of expected beam transmission directions during a discovery period to facilitate synchronization in the channel based on the sensing.

24. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 23 , wherein the code for causing the wireless communication device to sense the channel is further configured to monitor the channel for a transmission from another wireless communication device using an omnidirectional reception beam before the discovery period.

25. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 23 , wherein the code for causing the wireless communication device to sense the channel is further configured to monitor the channel in the first subset of the plurality of expected beam transmission directions for a transmission from another wireless communication device.

26. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 25 , wherein the code for causing the wireless communication device to transmit the plurality of discovery signals is configured to cause the wireless communication device to transmit, a subset of the plurality of discovery signals, each in one of the first subset of the plurality of expected beam transmission directions.

27. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 26 , wherein the channel is monitored in the first subset of the plurality of expected beam transmission directions within the discovery period before transmitting the subset of the plurality of discovery signals.

28. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 27 , wherein the code for causing the wireless communication device to sense the channel is further configured to:

monitor the channel in the second subset of the plurality of expected beam transmission directions within the discovery period; and

detect a transmission from another wireless communication device over the channel in the second subset of the plurality of expected beam transmission directions, and

wherein non-transitory the computer-readable medium further comprises code for causing the wireless communication device to refrain from transmitting discovery signals in the second subset of the plurality of expected beam transmission directions based on the detecting.