Device, network, and method for communications with carrier sensing and coexistence

1. A method for wireless communications, comprising:

sensing, by a second network element, a first reservation signal transmitted by a first network element in a sensing region of a frame communicated over a carrier, the first reservation signal being transmitted to reserve the carrier for transmission by the first network element, wherein the first network element and the second network element share the carrier and are from different operators;

determining, by the second network element, whether the carrier is available for transmission by the second network element by performing cancellation on sensed signals of the second network element to remove the first reservation signal from the sensed signals; and

transmitting, by the second network element, a second reservation signal in the sensing region of the frame to reserve the carrier for transmission by the second network element in response to determining that the carrier is available, the carrier being determined to be available when a power level of the sensed signal after the cancellation is performed is less than a threshold, wherein both the first network element and the second network element reserve the carrier for transmission.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second reservation signal at least partially overlaps the first reservation signal in the time domain.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

transmitting, by the second network element, data in a data region following the sensing region of the frame, the data region being in the frame or in a subsequent frame.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first network element and the second network element are neighboring base stations in a wireless network.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the carrier is an unlicensed carrier.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the carrier is a shared-licensed carrier.

7. A second network element comprising:

a processor; and

a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing programming for execution by the processor, the programming including instructions to:

sense a first reservation signal transmitted by a first network element in a sensing region of a frame communicated over a carrier, the first reservation signal being transmitted to reserve the carrier for transmission by the first network element, wherein the first network element and the second network element share the carrier and are from different operators;

determine whether the carrier is available for transmission by the second network element by performing cancellation on sensed signals of the second network element to subtract the first reservation signal from the sensed signals; and

transmit a second reservation signal in the sensing region of the frame to reserve the carrier for transmission by the second network element in response to determining that the carrier is available, the carrier being determined to be available when a power level of the sensed signal after the cancellation is performed is less than a threshold, wherein both the first network element and the second network element reserve the carrier for transmission.

8. The second network element of claim 7 , wherein the second reservation signal at least partially overlaps the first reservation signal in the time domain.

9. The second network element of claim 7 , wherein the programming comprises further instructions to:

transmit data in a data region following the sensing region of the frame, the data region being in the frame or in a subsequent frame.

10. The second network element of claim 7 , wherein the first network element and the second network element are neighboring base stations in a wireless network.

11. The second network element of claim 7 , wherein the carrier is an unlicensed carrier.

12. The second network element of claim 7 , wherein the carrier is a shared-licensed carrier.

13. A method for wireless communications, comprising:

determining, by a first network element, whether a carrier is available for transmission by the first network element by:

performing carrier sensing over a first set of frequency subcarriers of the carrier in a sensing region of a frame excluding a second set of frequency subcarriers of the carrier, the first set of frequency subcarriers of the carrier being orthogonal to the second set of frequency subcarriers of the carrier; and

determining that the carrier is unoccupied when a power level of sensed signals in the first set of frequency subcarriers excluding the second set of frequency subcarriers of the carrier is greater than a threshold; and

transmitting, by the first network element in response to determining that the carrier is available, a first reservation signal over the first set of frequency subcarriers of the carrier in the sensing region to reserve the carrier, wherein the first reservation signal at least partially overlaps a second reservation signal in the time domain, the second reservation signal being transmitted by a second network element over the second set of frequency subcarriers of the carrier, and the second reservation signal being transmitted to reserve the carrier for the second network element in response to determining that the carrier is available for transmission by the second network element, wherein the carrier is determined to be available for transmission by the second network element based on carrier sensing that is performed over the second set of frequency subcarriers of the carrier excluding the first set of frequency subcarriers of the carrier, wherein both the first network element and the second network element reserve the carrier, and the first network element is within a listening distance of the second network element.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

transmitting, by the first network element, data in a data region following the sensing region of the frame, the data region being in the frame or in a subsequent frame.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the carrier is an unlicensed carrier.

16. The method of claim 13 , wherein the carrier is a shared-licensed carrier.

17. A first network element comprising:

a processor; and

a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing programming for execution by the processor, the programming including instructions to:

determine whether a carrier is available for transmission by the first network element by:

performing carrier sensing over a first set of frequency subcarriers of the carrier in a sensing region of a frame excluding a second set of frequency subcarriers of the carrier, the first set of frequency subcarriers of the carrier being orthogonal to the second set of frequency subcarriers of the carrier; and

determining that the carrier is unoccupied when a power level of sensed signals in the first set of frequency subcarriers excluding the second set of frequency subcarriers of the carrier is greater than a threshold; and

transmit, in response to determining that the carrier is available for transmission by the first network element, a first reservation signal over the first set of frequency subcarriers of the carrier in the sensing region of the frame to reserve the carrier, wherein the first reservation signal at least partially overlaps a second reservation signal in the time domain, the second reservation signal being transmitted by a second network element over the second set of frequency subcarriers of the carrier, and the second reservation signal being transmitted to reserve the carrier for the second network element in response to determining that the carrier is available for transmission by the second network element based on carrier sensing performed over the second set of frequency subcarriers of the carrier excluding the first set of frequency subcarriers of the carrier, wherein both the first network element and the second network element reserve the carrier, and the first network element is within a listening distance of the second network element.

18. The first network element of claim 17 , wherein the programming comprises further instructions to:

transmit data in a data region following the sensing region of the frame, the data region being in the frame or in a subsequent frame.

19. The first network element of claim 17 , wherein the carrier is an unlicensed carrier.

20. The first network element of claim 17 , wherein the carrier is a shared-licensed carrier.