Uplink resource scheduling control in response to channel busy condition

A user equipment (UE) comprising:

• at least one processor configured to:
• receive an uplink grant of an uplink resource from a wireless access network node;
• detect a busy condition related to the uplink resource that prevents the UE from transmitting on the uplink resource;
• in response to the detecting, send an indication of the busy condition to the wireless access network node;
• enter a backoff state in response to the detecting of the busy condition;
• perform a backoff procedure that includes initializing a backoff timer for the UE to an initial value corresponding to a non-zero number of backoff time slots;
• and
• refrain from transmitting on the uplink resource while the backoff timer contains a value that is greater than zero.

An article comprising at least one non-transitory machine-readable storage medium storing instructions that upon execution cause a wireless access network node to:

• determine whether a user equipment (UE) has experienced a channel busy condition that prevented the UE from transmitting on an uplink to the wireless access network node;
• in response to determining that the UE has experienced the channel busy condition, refrain from scheduling an uplink resource for the UE for a time duration based on a backoff procedure at the wireless access network node, wherein the backoff procedure includes initializing a backoff timer for the UE to an initial value corresponding to a non-zero number of backoff time slots, and wherein the wireless access network node refrains from the scheduling of the uplink resource while the backoff timer contains a value that is greater than zero;
• and
• in response to determining that the UE has not experienced the channel busy condition, send, to the UE, an uplink grant that schedules the uplink resource over which the UE is able to perform an uplink communication to the wireless access network node.