Device, network, and method for communications with spatial-specific sensing

1. A method for providing contention-based transmission from a first communication node in a network to a second communication node, the method comprising:

determining, by the first communication node, a transmission direction;

generating, by the first communication node, at least one of a spatial-specific receiving pattern or a spatial-specific processing pattern in accordance with a sensing direction associated with the transmission direction;

receiving, by the first communication node, a waveform signal from one or more second nodes in accordance with the at least one of the spatial-specific receiving pattern or the spatial-specific processing pattern;

determining, by the first communication node, a channel status of a channel along the sensing direction according to the waveform signal and the at least one of the spatial-specific receiving pattern or the spatial-specific processing pattern;

transmitting, by the first communication node, a signal along the transmission direction when the channel is idle; and

performing spatial-specific carrier sensing in accordance with the sensing direction, wherein performing spatial-specific carrier sensing comprises determining a receiver combining vector/matrix, wherein determining the receiver combining the vector or combining the matrix comprises:

generating, by the first communication node, the spatial-specific receiving pattern and the spatial-specific processing pattern in accordance with the sensing direction;

obtaining a waveform received by analog components of receive antennas in accordance with the spatial-specific receiving pattern;

determining a plurality of combining vectors or combining matrices associated with a plurality of spatial-specific processing patterns;

generating a plurality of decision variables according to the plurality of combining vectors or combining matrices by applying the combining vectors or combining matrices to the waveform;

selecting one of the plurality of combining vectors or combining matrices as the receive combining vector or combining matrix according to a smallest one of the plurality of decision variables, wherein the selected receive combining vector or combining matrix defines the selected spatial-specific processing pattern, wherein the selected sensing direction is characterized by the spatial-specific receiving pattern and the selected spatial-specific processing pattern, and wherein the channel status of the channel along the selected sensing direction is determined by the decision variable generated by the selected spatial-specific processing pattern;

determining, by the first communication node, a new transmission direction associated with the selected sensing direction; and

transmitting, by the first communication node, a transmission along the new transmission direction.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sensing direction is along the transmission direction.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sensing direction is along a direction opposite of the transmission direction.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the waveform signal comprises a superposition of transmissions from the one or more second nodes.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the channel status of the channel along the sensing direction is determined by comparing the decision variable against a decision threshold, wherein the channel is considered idle along the transmission direction when the decision variable is smaller than the decision threshold.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the decision threshold is determined based on at least one of the factors of a transmission power of the transmission, a frequency band for the transmission, or the transmission direction.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the spatial-specific receiving pattern is associated with a receiver beam direction and is associated with a set of receiver phase shift values applied to receiver analog phase shifters.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the spatial-specific processing pattern is a receiver combining vector or combining matrix associated with a precoding vector/matrix of the transmission direction applied in a digital domain.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the resource-specific receiving pattern and the resource-specific processing pattern are patterned such that a composite receiver combining a direction in a spatial domain is aligned with a composite beamforming direction plus a beamsteering of the transmission direction in the spatial domain.

10. A first communication node for providing contention-based transmission from a first communication node in a network to a second communication node, comprising:

a processor; and

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

determine a transmission direction;

generate at least one of a spatial-specific receiving pattern or a spatial-specific processing pattern in accordance with a sensing direction associated with the transmission direction;

receive a waveform signal from one or more second nodes in accordance with the at least one of the spatial-specific receiving pattern or the spatial-specific processing pattern;

determine a channel status of a channel along the sensing direction according to the waveform signal and the at least one of the spatial-specific receiving pattern or the spatial-specific processing pattern;

transmit a signal along the transmission direction when the channel is idle;

perform spatial-specific carrier sensing in accordance with the sensing direction, wherein the instruction to perform spatial-specific carrier sensing comprises instructions to determine a receiver combining vector or combining matrix, wherein the instructions to determine the receive combining vector or combining matrix comprises instructions to:

generate the spatial-specific receiving pattern and the spatial-specific processing pattern in accordance with the sensing direction;

obtain a waveform received by analog components of receive antennas in accordance with the spatial-specific receiving pattern;

determine a plurality of combining vectors or combining matrices associated with a plurality of spatial-specific processing patterns;

generate a plurality of decision variables according to the plurality of combining vectors or combining matrices by applying the combining vectors or combining matrices to the waveform;

select one of the plurality of combining vectors or combining matrices as the receive combining vector or combining matrix according to a smallest one of the plurality of decision variables, wherein the selected receive combining vector or combining matrix defines the selected spatial-specific processing pattern, and the selected sensing direction is characterized by the spatial-specific receiving pattern and the selected spatial-specific processing pattern, and wherein the channel status of the channel along the selected sensing direction is determined by the decision variable generated by the selected spatial-specific processing pattern;

determine a new transmission direction associated with the selected sensing direction; and

transmit a transmission along the new transmission direction.

11. The first communication node of claim 10 , wherein the sensing direction is along the transmission direction.

12. The first communication node of claim 10 , wherein the sensing direction is along a direction opposite of the transmission direction.

13. The first communication node of claim 10 , wherein the waveform signal comprises a superposition of transmissions from the one or more second nodes.

14. The first communication node of claim 10 , wherein the channel status of the channel along the sensing direction is determined by comparing the decision variable against a decision threshold, wherein the channel is considered idle along the transmission direction when the decision variable is smaller than the decision threshold.

15. The first communication node of claim 14 , wherein the decision threshold is determined based on at least one of a transmission power for the transmission, a frequency band for the transmission, or the transmission direction.

16. The first communication node of claim 10 , wherein the spatial-specific receiving pattern is associated with a receiver beam direction and is associated with a set of receiver phase shift values applied to receiver analog phase shifters.

17. The first communication node of claim 10 , wherein the spatial-specific processing pattern is a receiver combining vector or combining matrix associated with a precoding vector or combining matrix of the transmission direction applied in a digital domain.

18. The first communication node of claim 17 , wherein the resource-specific receiving pattern and the resource-specific processing pattern are patterned such that a composite receiver combining a direction in a spatial domain is aligned with a composite beamforming plus beamsteering direction of the transmission direction in the spatial domain.