NR-U wideband enhancements

1. An apparatus, comprising:

an antenna circuit; and

a processing circuit operatively connected to the antenna circuit,

wherein, for a wideband communication with at least one transceiver in a the wireless communication system using one or more subbands of a predefined wideband, the processing circuit is arranged to:

perform an initial Listen-Before-Talk (LBT) for each subband of the predefined wideband so as to determine from the predefined wideband at least one initially non-occupied subband on which the wideband communication is allowed during a Channel Occupancy Time (COT), and

during the COT, transmit to and/or receive from the transceiver using the at least one initially non-occupied sub-band, and

wherein the processing circuit is arranged to, during the COT, when the initial LBT indicates that at least one of the subbands is initially occupied:

perform a further LBT for the at least one initially occupied subband so as to determine that the at least one initially occupied subband is no longer occupied, and

transmit to and/or receive from the transceiver using, in addition to the at least one initially non-occupied subband, the at least one no longer occupied subband,

wherein the processing circuit is arranged to:

continue performing the LBT on the at least one initially occupied subband while transmitting/receiving using the at least one initially non-occupied subband,

signal to the at least one transceiver that the at least one no longer occupied subband is available, and

provide a control message to the at least one transceiver, wherein the control message indicates the at least one no longer occupied subband.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a transmission time of the at least one no longer occupied subband is substantially aligned with an ending of the Channel Occupancy Time.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuit is arranged to signal to the at least one transceiver the at least one no longer occupied subband using the at least one initially non-occupied subband and/or the at least one no longer occupied subband, wherein the control message indicates the at least one no longer occupied subband.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuit provides the control message using RRC signaling, or L1 signaling, or over the top signaling by the core network.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the control message comprises a subband field, wherein the subband field indicates which of the subbands of the predefined wideband are available.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the processing circuit indicates which of the subbands of the predefined wideband are available by setting respective bits of the subband field associated with the subbands to a first value or to a second value, wherein the first value indicates a non-occupied state, and wherein the second value indicates an occupied state.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein

wherein the apparatus is a base station of the wireless communication system, wherein the processing circuit is arranged to signal to at least one user device of the wireless communication system the at least one no longer occupied subband in a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), wherein the PDCCH comprises Downlink Control Information, or

wherein the apparatus is a user device of the wireless communication system, wherein the processing circuit is arranged to signal to at least one base station of the wireless communication system the at least one no longer occupied subband in a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), wherein the PUCCH comprises Uplink Control Information, or

the apparatus is a user device of the wireless communication system, wherein the processing circuit is arranged to signal to at least one other user device of the wireless communication system the at least one no longer occupied subband in a Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH), wherein the PSCCH comprises Sidelink Control Information.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the signaling indicates a frequency and/or bandwidth for the at least one no longer occupied subband.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuit is arranged to wait for a first time before transmitting using the at least one no longer occupied subband.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , further comprising a timer wherein the timer sets the first time after which the apparatus transmits on the at least one no longer occupied subband, wherein the timer starts directly after an indication of an existence of the at least one no longer occupied subband.

11. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the processing circuit is arranged to wait for preparing a transmission on the at least one no longer occupied subband.

12. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the processing circuit is arranged to perform a rate-matching procedure.

13. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuit is arranged to transmit a reservation signaling at the beginning of a transmission time associated with the at least one no longer occupied subband so as to reserve the subband.

14. The apparatus of claim 1 ,

wherein the apparatus comprises a user equipment, wherein the user equipment (UE) comprises at least one a mobile terminal, or stationary terminal, or cellular Internet-of-Things user equipment (IoT-UE), or vehicular UE, or vehicular group leader UE, an IoT or narrowband IoT, device, or a ground based vehicle, or an aerial vehicle, or a drone, or a moving base station, or road side unit, or a building, or any other item or device provided with network connectivity enabling the item/device to communicate using the wireless communication network, or

wherein the apparatus comprises a base station, wherein the base station comprises at least one of a macro cell base station, or a small cell base station, or a central unit of a base station, or a distributed unit of a base station, or a road side unit, or a UE, or a group leader, or a relay, or a remote radio head, or an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), or a Session Management Function, or a core network entity, or mobile edge computing entity, or a network slice, or any transmission/reception point enabling an item or a device to communicate using the wireless communication network, the item or device being provided with network connectivity to communicate using the wireless communication network.

15. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a transmission time of the at least one no longer occupied subband is not-aligned with an ending of the Channel Occupancy Time.

16. A method for a wideband communication in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:

for a wideband communication with at least one transceiver in the wireless communication system using at least one subband of a predefined wideband,

performing an initial Listen-Before-Talk (LBT) for each subband of the predefined wideband so as to determine from the predefined wideband at least one initially non-occupied subband on which the wideband communication is allowed during a Channel Occupancy Time (COT), and

during the COT, transmitting to and/or receiving from the transceiver using the at least one initially non-occupied sub-band;

during the COT, when the initial LBT indicates that at least one of the subbands is initially are occupied;

performing a further LBT for the at least one initially occupied subband so as to determine that the at least one initially occupied subband is no longer occupied, and

transmitting to and/or receive from the transceiver using, in addition to the at least one initially non-occupied subband, the at least one no longer occupied subband;

continuing to perform the LBT on the at least one initially occupied subband while transmitting/receiving using the at least one initially non-occupied subband;

signaling to the at least transceiver that the at least one no longer occupied subband is available;

providing a control message to the at least one transceiver, wherein the control message indicates the at least one no longer occupied subband.

17. A non-transitory computer program product comprising a computer readable medium storing instructions which, when executed on a computer, performs the method of claim 16 .

18. The method of claim 16 , further comprising signaling to the at least one transceiver the at least one no longer occupied subband using the at least one initially non-occupied subband and/or the at least one no longer occupied subband, wherein the control message indicates the at least one no longer occupied subband.

19. The method of claim 16 , further comprising providing the control message using RRC signaling, or L1 signaling, or over the top signaling by the core network.

20. The method of claim 16 , wherein the control message comprises a subband field indicating which of the subbands of the predefined wideband are available.

21. The method of claim 20 , further comprising indicating which of the subbands of the predefined wideband are available by setting respective bits of the subband field associated with the subbands to a first value or to a second value, wherein the first value indicates a non-occupied state, and wherein the second value indicates an occupied state.