Method and apparatus for handling LBT failure

1. A user equipment (UE) comprising:

one or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing a set of computer-executable instructions; and

at least one processor coupled to the one or more non-transitory computer-readable media, the at least one processor configured to execute the set of computer-executable instructions to cause the UE to:

receive, from a serving cell that is a special cell, a bandwidth part (BWP) configuration;

configure a plurality of uplink (UL) BWPs in the serving cell based on the BWP configuration;

determine that a listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure has failed in a first UL BWP of the plurality of UL BWPs;

switch from the first UL BWP to a second UL BWP of the plurality of UL BWPs after determining that the second UL BWP is configured with physical random access channel (PRACH) occasions and an LBT procedure has not failed in the second UL BWP;

release a radio resource control (RRC) connection with the serving cell and transition to an RRC_IDLE state after determining that an LBT procedure has failed in each of the plurality of UL BWPs that is configured with the PRACH occasions and that a timer is not running; and

indicate, by an RRC layer of the UE to an upper layer of the UE, the release of the RRC connection with a release cause ‘RRC connection failure’ after determining that the LBT procedure has failed in each of the plurality of UL BWPs that is configured with the PRACH occasions.

2. The UE of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to cause the UE to:

perform a cell reselection procedure after determining that the LBT procedure has failed in each of the plurality of UL BWPs that is configured with the PRACH occasions.

3. The UE of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to cause the UE to:

initiate a random access procedure in the second UL BWP after switching from the first UL BWP to the second UL BWP.

4. The UE of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to cause the UE to:

configure a plurality of downlink (DL) BWPs in the serving cell based on the BWP configuration;

configure a DL inactivity timer associated with a first DL BWP of the plurality of DL BWPs based on the BWP configuration;

restart the DL inactivity timer when receiving DL data in the first DL BWP; and

switch from the first DL BWP to a second DL BWP of the plurality of DL BWPs when the DL inactivity timer expires.

5. The UE of claim 4 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to cause the UE to:

restart the DL inactivity timer when receiving a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) addressed to a paging radio network temporary identifier (P-RNTI) in the first DL BWP.

6. The UE of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to cause the UE to:

receive a BWP priority list in the BWP configuration; and

determine the second UL BWP based on the BWP priority list.

7. The UE of claim 1 , wherein

the second UL BWP is selected from the plurality of UL BWPs based on at least one of a channel busy ratio or a channel occupancy ratio.

8. The UE of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to cause the UE to:

transmit assistance information to the serving cell in the second UL BWP, the assistance information including BWP congestion information associated with the first UL BWP.

9. A method for wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:

receiving, from a serving cell that is a special cell, a bandwidth part (BWP) configuration;

configuring a plurality of uplink (UL) BWPs in the serving cell based on the BWP configuration;

determining that a listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure has failed in a first UL BWP of the plurality of UL BWPs;

switching from the first UL BWP to a second UL BWP of the plurality of UL BWPs after determining that the second UL BWP is configured with physical random access channel (PRACH) occasions and an LBT procedure has not failed in the second UL BWP;

releasing a radio resource control (RRC) connection with the serving cell and transitioning to an RRC IDLE state after determining that an LBT procedure has failed in each of the plurality of UL BWPs that is configured with the PRACH occasions and that a timer is not running; and

indicating, by an RRC layer of the UE to an upper layer of the UE, the release of the RRC connection with a release cause ‘RRC connection failure’ after determining that the LBT procedure has failed in each of the plurality of UL BWPs that is configured with the PRACH occasions.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

performing a cell reselection procedure after determining that the LBT procedure has failed in each of the plurality of UL BWPs that is configured with the PRACH occasions.

11. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

initiating a random access procedure in the second UL BWP after switching from the first UL BWP to the second UL BWP.

12. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

configuring a plurality of downlink (DL) BWPs in the serving cell based on the BWP configuration;

configuring a DL inactivity timer associated with a first DL BWP of the plurality of DL BWPs based on the BWP configuration;

restarting the DL inactivity timer when receiving DL data in the first DL BWP; and

switching from the first DL BWP to a second DL BWP of the plurality of DL BWPs when the DL inactivity timer expires.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:

restarting the DL inactivity timer when receiving a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) addressed to a paging radio network temporary identifier (P-RNTI) in the first DL BWP.

14. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

receiving a BWP priority list in the BWP configuration; and

determining the second UL BWP based on the BWP priority list.

15. The method of claim 9 ,

wherein the second UL BWP is selected from the plurality of UL BWPs based on at least one of a channel busy and or a channel occupancy ratio.

16. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

transmitting assistance information to the serving cell in the second UL BWP, the assistance information including BWP congestion information associated with the first UL BWP.