Cellular Burst Detection in Unlicensed Spectrum

A method, comprising:

• by a wireless device:
• establishing a cellular link with a cellular base station, wherein the cellular base station provides a first cell deployed on an unlicensed frequency channel;
• performing a search for other cells deployed on the unlicensed frequency channel;
• obtaining identification information for at least a second cell deployed on the unlicensed frequency channel based at least in part on the search for other cells deployed on the unlicensed frequency channel;
• detecting a transmission on the unlicensed frequency channel, wherein the transmission is performed by the second cell;
• determining that the transmission is performed by the second cell based at least in part on the identification information for the second cell;
• determining a channel occupancy time of the transmission;
• and
• determining whether to skip control channel decoding for the first cell based at least in part on the transmission by the second cell.

A wireless device, comprising:

• an antenna;
• a radio operably coupled to the antenna;
• and
• a processing element operably coupled to the radio;
• wherein the wireless device is configured to:
• establish a cellular link with a cellular base station, wherein the cellular base station provides a first cell deployed on an unlicensed frequency channel;
• receive a transmission from a second cell, wherein the second cell is not a serving cell of the wireless device, wherein the transmission is received on at least a portion of the unlicensed frequency channel;
• decode a channel occupancy time field of the transmission from the second cell;
• and
• determine a channel occupancy time of the transmission from the second cell based at least in part on the channel occupancy time field.