Measurement relaxation

Description

1 / 33 TERMINAL DEVICE AND RELATED METHOD FIELD

[001] The exemplary embodiments of this disclosure generally relate to the field of communications and, in particular, to computer-readable devices, methods, apparatus and storage media for measurement relaxation. BACKGROUND

[002] A communication network can be viewed as an infrastructure that enables communication between two or more communication devices, or that provides communication devices with access to a data network. A mobile or wireless communication network is an example of a communication network. A communication device may be provided with a service by an application server.

[003] These communication networks operate according to standards, such as those provided by 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) or ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute). Examples of standards are the so-called 5G (5th Generation) standards provided by 3GPP. SUMMARY

[004] In general, the example embodiments of this disclosure provide a solution for measurement relaxation, especially for radio link monitoring (RLM) measurements and beam fault detection (BFD) measurements.

[005] In a first aspect, a terminal device is provided. The terminal device comprises at least one processor and at least one memory that stores instructions which, when executed by at least one processor, cause the terminal device to at least: determine a short discontinuous receive cycle (DRX) and a long DRX cycle configured for the Petition 870260073420, dated 07 / 23 / 2026, page 13 / 137 2 / 33 terminal device and determine, based on at least one of the short XRD cycle or the long XRD cycle, at least one of (i) whether the terminal device is allowed to relax a measurement, or (ii) a relaxed evaluation period for the measurement.

[006] In a second aspect, a terminal device is provided. The terminal device comprises at least one processor and at least one memory that stores instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the terminal device to at least: determine a short discontinuous receive cycle (DRX) and a long DRX cycle configured for the terminal device; detect a transition from the use of one of the short DRX cycles or the long DRX cycle to the use of the other of the short DRX cycles and the long DRX cycle; and prevent the reporting of a measurement relaxation state due to the transition.

[007] In a third aspect, a method is provided. The method comprises determining a short discontinuous reception cycle (XRD) and a long XRD cycle configured for the terminal device and determining, based on at least one of the short XRD cycle or the long XRD cycle, at least one of (i) whether the terminal device is allowed to relax a measurement, or (ii) a relaxed evaluation period for the measurement.

[008] In a fourth aspect, a method is provided. The method comprises determining a short discontinuous reception cycle (XRD) and a long XRD cycle configured for the terminal device; detecting a transition from the use of one of the short XRD cycle or the long XRD cycle to the use of the other of the short XRD cycle and the long XRD cycle; and preventing the reporting of a measurement relaxation state due to the transition.

[009] In a fifth aspect, an apparatus is provided. The apparatus comprises means for determining a discontinuous reception cycle (XRD). Petition 870260073420, dated 07 / 23 / 2026, p. 14 / 137 3 / 33 short and a long XRD cycle configured for the terminal device and means to determine, based on at least one of the short XRD cycle or the long XRD cycle, at least one of (i) whether the terminal device is allowed to relax a measurement, or (ii) a relaxed evaluation period for the measurement.

[010] In a sixth aspect, an apparatus is provided. The apparatus comprises means for determining a short discontinuous reception cycle (XRD) and a long XRD cycle configured for the terminal device; means for detecting a transition from the use of one of the short XRD cycle or the long XRD cycle to the use of the other of the short XRD cycle and the long XRD cycle; and means for preventing the reporting of a measurement relaxation state due to the transition.

[011] In a seventh aspect, a non-transient, computer-readable means is provided comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method according to the third and fourth aspects.

[012] In an eighth aspect, a computer program is provided comprising instructions which, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform at least the method according to at least one of the third or fourth aspects.

[013] In a ninth aspect, a terminal device is provided. The terminal device comprises a set of determination circuits configured to determine a short discontinuous receive cycle (XRD) and a long XRD cycle configured for the terminal device and a set of determination circuits configured to determine, based on at least one of the short XRD cycle or the long XRD cycle, at least one Petition 870260073420, dated 07 / 23 / 2026, p. 15 / 137 4 / 33 of (i) whether the terminal device is allowed to relax a measurement, or (ii) a relaxed evaluation period for the measurement.

[014] In a tenth aspect, a terminal device is provided. The terminal device comprises a set of determination circuits configured to determine a short discontinuous reception cycle (XRD) and a long XRD cycle configured for the terminal device; a set of detection circuits configured to detect a transition from the use of one of the short XRD cycle or the long XRD cycle to the use of the other of the short XRD cycle and the long XRD cycle; and a set of prevention circuits configured to prevent the reporting of a measurement relaxation state due to the transition.

[015] It should be understood that the summary section is not intended to identify key or essential attributes of the features of this disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of this disclosure. Other attributes of this disclosure will become easily understood through the description below. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[016] Some example embodiments will now be described with reference to the attached drawings, in which: FIG. 1A illustrates an example of a network environment in which example embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented; FIG. 1B illustrates a discontinuous reception (XRD) cycle related to some modalities of the present disclosure; FIG. 2A illustrates a flowchart of the method according to some modalities of the present disclosure; FIG. 2B illustrates a flowchart of the method according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; Petition 870260073420, dated 07 / 23 / 2026, p. 16 / 137 5 / 33 FIG. 2C illustrates a flowchart of the method according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG. 3 illustrates some principles of the rules according to some modalities of this disclosure; FIG. 4 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a device that is suitable for implementing some example embodiments of the present disclosure; and FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of an example of a computer-readable medium 700 in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure.

[017] Throughout the drawings, the same reference numbers or similar reference numbers represent the same element or similar elements. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[018] The principles of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some exemplary embodiments. It should be understood that these embodiments are described for illustrative purposes only and assist those skilled in the art in understanding and implementing the present disclosure, without suggesting any limitation as to the scope of the disclosure. The disclosure described in the present invention can be implemented in various ways other than those described below.

[019] In the description and claims that follow, unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used in the present invention have the same meaning as normally understood by a person skilled in the art to which this disclosure pertains.

[020] References in this disclosure to “a modality”, “an example modality” and the like indicate that the modality described may include Petition 870260073420, dated 07 / 23 / 2026, p. 17 / 137 6 / 33 a particular attribute, structure, or characteristic, but it is not necessary that each modality include the particular attribute, structure, or characteristic. Furthermore, such phrases do not necessarily refer to the same modality. Additionally, when a particular attribute, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with a modality, it is understood that it is within the knowledge of a person skilled in the art to designate such attribute, structure, or characteristic in connection with other modalities, whether this is explicitly stated or not.

[021] It will be understood that, although the terms “first” and “second,” etc., may be used in the present invention to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are used only to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element may be called a second element, and similarly, a second element may be called a first element without departing from the scope of the exemplary embodiments. As used in the present invention, the term “and / or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

[022] The terminology used in the present invention is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting as to the embodiments exemplified. As used in the present invention, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It should be further understood that the terms “comprises”, “comprising”, “has”, “having”, “includes” and / or “including”, when used in the present invention, specify the presence of stated attributes, elements and / or components, etc., but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other attributes, elements, components and / or combinations thereof. As Petition 870260073420, dated 07 / 23 / 2026, p. 18 / 137 7 / 33 used in the present invention, “at least one of the following:<uma lista de dois ou mais elementos> "and at least one of"<uma lista de dois ou mais elementos> "and similar wording, where the list of two or more elements is joined by "and" or "or", means at least any one of the elements, or at least any two or more of the elements, or at least all of the elements."

[023] As used in this application, the term circuit set may refer to one, more, or all of the following: (a) hardware-only circuits (such as analog and / or digital circuits) and (b) combinations of hardware and software circuits, such as (as applicable): (i) a combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuit(s) with software (e.g., firmware); and (ii) any portions of hardware processor(s) with software (including digital signal processor(s), software and memory(ies) that work together to enable a device, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions) and (c) hardware circuit(s) and / or processor(s), such as microprocessor(s) or a portion of a microprocessor(s), that require software (e.g., firmware) for operation, but the software may not be present when it is not required for operation.

[024] This definition of circuit assembly applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term circuit assembly also covers an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a hardware circuit. Petition 870260073420, dated 07 / 23 / 2026, page 19 / 137 8 / 33 or processor and its attached software and / or firmware. The term circuit assembly also covers, for example, and if applicable to the particular claim element, a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in a server, a cellular network device or other computing or networking device.

[025] As used in the present invention, the term “cellular network” refers to a network that operates in accordance with any suitable radio access technology defined by standards, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE Advanced (LTE-A), new radio Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), High-Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA), Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), and so forth. Furthermore, communications between a terminal device and a network device of a cellular network may be performed in accordance with any suitable communication protocols, including, but not limited to, fourth generation (4G), 4.5G, future fifth-generation (5G) communication protocols, and / or any other protocols currently known or to be developed in the future. The embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied to various cellular networks.Given the rapid development in communications, there will naturally also be future-type communication technologies and systems with which the present disclosure can be adapted. This should not be seen as limiting the scope of the present disclosure solely to the system mentioned above.

[026] As used in the present invention, the term “network device” refers to any device on a cellular network via which a terminal device accesses a data network and receives services exposed by other network devices on the cellular network. In some examples, a device Petition 870260073420, dated 07 / 23 / 2026, page 20 / 137 Network 9 / 33 may comprise or implement a network function of a 5th generation (5GS) communication system (e.g., a core network) of a cellular network. In some examples, network devices may be located in the 5GS RAN. The network device may be part of a satellite, a base station (BS), or an access point (AP), for example, a B node (NodeB or NB), an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB), an NR NB (also referred to as a gNB), a Remote Radio Unit (RRU), a radio header (RH), a remote radio head (RRH), a relay, a low-power node such as a femto, a pico node, and so on, depending on the terminology and technology applied. A gNB may include a centralized CU unit and one or more distributed DUs. Femto and Pico nodes are small base stations with reduced coverage area.

[027] The term “terminal device” refers to a device in a cellular network communication system, such as a 55th generation (5GS) communication system, that may be capable of wireless communication (e.g., via radio) with a 5GS NR-RAN. By way of example rather than limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a wireless communication device, a user equipment (UE), a Subscriber Station (SS), a Portable Subscriber Station, a Mobile Station (MS), or an Access Terminal (AT).Examples of a terminal device include, but are not limited to, a mobile phone, a cell phone, a smartphone, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, a tablet, a wearable terminal device, a personal digital assistant (PDA), laptops, desktop computers, image capture terminal devices such as digital cameras, gaming terminal devices, music storage and playback appliances, vehicle-mounted wireless terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, and equipment. Petition 870260073420, dated 07 / 23 / 2026, page 21 / 137 10 / 33 embedded in laptop (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), USB dongles, smart devices, wireless equipment on customer premises (CPE), an Internet of Things (IoT) device, a watch or other wearable, a head-mounted display (HMD), a vehicle, a drone, a medical device and applications (e.g., remote surgery), an industrial device and applications (e.g., a robot and / or other wireless devices operating in an industrial and / or automated processing chain context), a consumer electronic device, a device operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, and similar devices. In the following description, the terms “terminal device”, “communication device”, “terminal”, “user equipment”, and “UE” may be used interchangeably.

[028] A user device (UD) can be configured with discontinuous reception (XRD). Such a configuration can include a long XRD and, additionally, a short XRD. Therefore, the UD can be configured with a short XRD cycle and a long XRD cycle. However, the UD may no longer be allowed to relax RLM or BFD measurements when the configured XRD cycle is longer than, for example, 80 ms. The UD behavior is unclear when the UD is configured with a short XRD cycle, which is shorter than, for example, 80 ms, and a long XRD cycle, which is longer than, for example, 80 ms. It is unclear whether the UD is allowed or not to relax RLM / BFD measurements. Without clear and defined UD behavior, the network is unable to determine the expected UD behavior. Therefore, without defining the UE behavior, different UEs in the field can be implemented and behave differently when configured with long and short DRX, and RLM / BFD relaxation is also allowed.This will make it complex for the network to use the attributes together. Petition 870260073420, dated 07 / 23 / 2026, p. 22 / 137 11 / 33

[029] In some scenarios, a network is aware when the UE is using a short XDR cycle or a long XDR cycle for Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) monitoring. Therefore, this causes unnecessary signaling and increased UE power consumption if the UE initiates the UE Assistance Information procedure to report its RLM and / or BFD relaxation state every time it transitions from using the short XDR cycle to using the long XDR cycle (or from using the long XDR cycle to using the short XDR cycle).

[030] Furthermore, the UE behavior is unclear when the configured short XRD cycle is shorter than, for example, 80 ms, and the long XRD cycle is longer than, for example, 80 ms. It is unclear whether or not the UE is allowed to relax the RLM / BFD measurements in this case and whether the UE should report its RLM and / or BFD relaxation state accordingly.

[031] In view of the foregoing, the example embodiments of this disclosure provide a solution for relaxing measurements. In the example embodiments of this disclosure, a terminal device can determine a short discontinuous receive cycle (DXR) and a long DXR cycle configured for the terminal device. Based on at least one of the short DXR cycle or the long DXR cycle, the terminal device can determine at least one of (i) whether the terminal device is allowed to relax a measurement, or (ii) a relaxed evaluation period for the measurement. In this way, UE behavior is predictable and thus the efficiency or effectiveness of communication in a communication system can be improved.

[032] FIG. 1A illustrates an example of a 100a network environment in which some example embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented. The 100a environment can be part of a communication network and comprise a plurality of terminal devices and network devices, Petition 870260073420, dated 07 / 23 / 2026, page 23 / 137 12 / 33 such as a terminal device 110 and a network device 120. For example, the terminal device 110 can be implemented as a User Equipment (UE) or an Access Terminal (AT), and the network device 120 can be implemented as a base station (BS). The network device 120 can transmit various data to the terminal device 110 via the network environment 100a.

[033] To transmit data and / or control information, terminal device 110 can perform communications with network device 120. A link from network device 120 to terminal device 110 is referred to as a downlink (DL), while a link from terminal device 110 to network device 120 is called an uplink (UL).

[034] Although terminal device 110 and network device 120 are described in communication environment 100a of FIG. 1A, the embodiments of this disclosure may also be applied to any other suitable communication devices communicating with each other. That is, the embodiments of this disclosure are not limited to the exemplary scenarios of FIG. 1A. In this respect, it is noted that although the terminal device is schematically depicted as a mobile phone and the network device 120 is schematically depicted as a base station in FIG. 1A, it is understood that these depictions are merely exemplary and do not suggest any limitation. In other embodiments, terminal device 110 and network device 120 may be any other communication devices, for example, any other wireless communication devices.

[035] It should be understood that the particular number of various communication devices and the particular number of various communication links, as shown in FIG. 1A, are for illustrative purposes only and do not suggest any Petition 870260073420, dated 07 / 23 / 2026, p. 24 / 137 13 / 33 limitations. The 100a communication environment may include any suitable number of communication devices and any suitable number of communication links to implement the modalities of this disclosure. Furthermore, it should be appreciated that there may be multiple communications, both wireless and wired (if necessary), between all communication devices.

[036] FIG. 1B illustrates a discontinuous reception cycle (XDR) 100b related to some embodiments of the present disclosure. UE power savings can be achieved by the terminal device or by the UE 110 by relaxing the RLM / BFD measurements. When configured, the UE can determine whether it is in a low mobility state and / or whether the server cell radio link quality is better than a threshold. The configuration for low mobility and a good server cell quality criterion is provided through dedicated RRC signaling. RLM and BFD relaxation can be enabled / disabled separately through one or more RRC settings. Additionally, RLM relaxation can be enabled / disabled per cell group, while BFD relaxation can be enabled / disabled per server cell.

[037] The UE is allowed to perform RLM and / or BFD relaxation when the relaxed measurement criteria for low mobility and / or good server cell quality are met. If configured to do so, the UE may trigger a report of its RLM and / or BFD relaxation status via UE assistance information if the UE changes its respective RLM and / or BFD relaxation status while meeting the minimum UE requirements.

[038] The UE may not be allowed to relax RLM measurements and apply relaxed radio link monitoring if at least one of the following conditions is met: the UE sends desynchronization indications to the Petition 870260073420, dated 07 / 23 / 2026, page 25 / 137 14 / 33 upper layers; the T310 timer is running; or no XDR is configured or the configured XDR cycle 100b is longer than, say, 80ms. The UE may not be allowed to relax BFD measurements and apply relaxed link recovery procedures if at least one of the following conditions is met: the beamFailureDetectionTimer is running; or no XDR is configured or the configured XDR cycle 100b is longer than, say, 80ms.

[039] When the DRX 100b is configured, the UE does not need to continuously monitor PDCCHs. An active state duration is the duration the UE can wait, at least, to receive PDCCHs after waking up. If the UE successfully decodes a PDCCH, it can remain awake and start the idle timer. An idle timer is the duration the UE can wait to successfully decode a PDCCH, starting from the last successful decoding of a PDCCH; otherwise, it can return to sleep mode. The UE can restart the idle timer after a single successful decoding of a PDCCH only for the first transmission (i.e., not for retransmissions). A retransmission timer is the duration until a retransmission can be expected. The loop can specify the periodic repetition of the active state duration followed by a possible idle period.

[040] Active time is the total duration that the UE monitors the PDCCH. This may include the “active time duration” of the DRX cycle, the time the UE is performing continuous reception while the inactivity timer has not expired, and the time the UE is performing continuous reception while waiting for a retransmission opportunity. The UE may also be configured with a short DRX cycle, which is used after the drx-InactivityTimer expires or if the UE receives a DRX Command CE MAC. Petition 870260073420, dated 07 / 23 / 2026, page 26 / 137 15 / 33

[041] When DRX is configured, the MAC entity can start or restart drx-ShortCycleTimer for this DRX group on the first symbol after drx-InactivityTimer expires and use the short DRX cycle for this DRX group if drx-InactivityTimer for a DRX group expires and the short DRX cycle is configured. Otherwise, the MAC entity can use the long DRX cycle for this DRX group.

[042] If a DRX Command MAC CE, indicated by a PDCCH addressed to C-RNTI or CS-RNTI, or by a downlink assignment configured for unicast transmission, is received and the short DRX cycle is configured, the MAC entity may start or restart the drxShortCycleTimer for each DRX group on the first symbol after the DRX Command MAC CE reception ends and use the short DRX cycle for each DRX group. Otherwise, the MAC entity may use the long DRX cycle for each DRX group.

[043] If drx-ShortCycleTimer for a DRX group expires, the MAC entity may use the long DRX cycle for that DRX group. If a long DRX Command CE MAC is received, the MAC entity may interrupt drx-ShortCycleTimer for each DRX group and use the long DRX cycle for each DRX group.

[044] If the short DRX cycle is used for a group of DRX, and [(SFN x 10) + number of subframes] modulo (drx-ShortCycle) = (drx-StartOffset) modulo (drx-ShortCycle), the MAC entity can start drx-onDurationTimer for this group of DRX after drx-SlotOffset of the subframe start.

[045] FIG. 2A illustrates a method flowchart according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, method 200a will be described with reference to FIG. 1A. It would be appreciated that, although process flow 200a has been described with reference to FIG. 1A, this flow of Petition 870260073420, dated 07 / 23 / 2026, p. 27 / 137 16 / 33 process 200a can be applied in the same way to other similar communication scenarios.

[046] In process flow 200a, terminal device 110 can determine (202) a short discontinuous receive cycle (XRD) and a long XRD cycle configured for the terminal device. Based on the short XRD cycle or the long XRD cycle (or based on both), terminal device 110 can determine (204) whether the terminal device is allowed to relax a measurement, or determine a relaxed evaluation period for the measurement, or both.

[047] For example, in some embodiments, terminal device 110 may determine that terminal device 110 is allowed to relax the measurement, regardless of the long XRD cycle, based on the determination that the short XRD cycle is less than or equal to a threshold duration. In some other embodiments, terminal device 110 may determine that terminal device is allowed to relax the measurement based on the determination that the short XRD cycle is less than or equal to a threshold duration and the long XRD cycle is greater than the threshold duration.

[048] In some additional embodiments, terminal device 110 may determine that the terminal device is allowed to relax the measurement based on the determination that the short XRD cycle is less than or equal to a threshold duration. Alternatively, or additionally, terminal device 110 may determine that the terminal device is not allowed to relax the measurement based on the determination that the short XRD cycle is greater than the threshold duration.

[049] In some example embodiments, terminal device 110 can determine whether the terminal device is allowed to exit relaxed measurement based on short XRD cycle. Petition 870260073420, dated 07 / 23 / 2026, p. 28 / 137 17 / 33

[050] In some other examples, terminal device 110 may determine an evaluation period for the measurement, based on the determination that the short XRD cycle is less than or equal to a threshold duration and the long XRD cycle is greater than the threshold duration, determining the relaxed evaluation period based on the XRD cycle that terminal device 110 uses to determine that terminal device 110 is allowed to relax the measurement.

[051] In some additional examples, the terminal device 110 can determine the evaluation period for the measurement, based on the determination that both the short XRD cycle and the long XRD cycle are less than or equal to a threshold duration, determining the relaxed evaluation period based on the short XRD cycle or the long XRD cycle. The XRD cycle to be used to determine the relaxed evaluation period can be predefined, for example, using the long XRD cycle, indicated by the UE, for example, in the UE capacity, or configured by the network.

[052] In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine the evaluation period for the measurement, based on the determination that the terminal device is allowed to relax the measurement, determining the relaxed evaluation period to assess whether the downlink radio link quality becomes worse than a threshold based on one of the long or short XRD cycles. Alternatively or additionally, the terminal device 110 may determine the evaluation period for the measurement, determining the relaxed evaluation period to assess whether the downlink radio link quality becomes better than a threshold, based on the other of the long XRD cycle and the short XRD cycle.

[053] Alternatively, or additionally, the threshold duration may be 80 milliseconds or any other appropriate time period. Petition 870260073420, dated 07 / 23 / 2026, p. 29 / 137 18 / 33

[054] In some example embodiments, the measurement comprises radio link monitoring (RLM) measurement and / or beam fault detection (BFD) measurement.

[055] FIG. 2B illustrates a method flowchart according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, method 200b will be described with reference to FIG. 1A. It would be appreciated that, although process flow 200b has been described with reference to FIG. 1A, this process flow 200b can be applied in the same way to other similar communication scenarios.

[056] In process flow 200b, terminal device 110 can first determine (206) a short discontinuous reception cycle (XRD) and a long XRD cycle configured for the terminal device. Then, terminal device 110 can detect (208) a transition from the use of one of the short XRD cycle or the long XRD cycle to the use of the other of the short XRD cycle and the long XRD cycle. Terminal device 110 can prevent (210) the reporting of a measurement relaxation state due to the transition.

[057] In some other embodiments, terminal device 110 may determine that a relaxation state of a measurement has changed due to the transition. In some example embodiments, terminal device 110 may determine whether the terminal device is allowed to relax a measurement based on the short XRD cycle or long XRD cycle, or based on both.

[058] In some embodiments, terminal device 110 may prevent the initiation of an EU assistance information procedure to report the relaxation state of measurement. In some instances, terminal device 110 may exclude the reporting of the relaxation state of measurement from an EU assistance information procedure. In some instances, terminal device 110 may determine that a relaxation state of Petition 870260073420, dated 07 / 23 / 2026, page 30 / 137 19 / 33 a measurement was altered for reasons (such as mobility, good channel quality) other than the transition, and the terminal device 110 can then report the current relaxation state of the measurement.

[059] In some instances, terminal device 110 may compare the relaxation state of the measurement with a previously reported relaxation state of the measurement. Terminal device 110 may report the current relaxation state of the measurement based on the determination that the relaxation state is different from the previously reported relaxation state. The report may comprise the initiation of an EU assistance information procedure to report the relaxation state of the measurement. In some additional embodiments, terminal device 110 may prevent the reporting of the current relaxation state of the measurement based on the determination that the relaxation state is the same as the previously reported relaxation state. Alternatively, or additionally, the measurement may comprise radio link monitoring (RLM) measurement and / or beam fault detection (BFD) measurement.

[060] FIG. 2C illustrates a method flowchart according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Note that process flow 200c can be considered as a further example of FIG. 1A. For example, terminal device 230 can be one of the example devices of terminal device 110, and network device 240 can be one of the example devices of network device 120. It should be understood that these devices are described for illustrative purposes only, without suggesting any limitation as to the scope of the disclosure.

[061] In some embodiments, network device 240 can set up XRD cycles for terminal device 230, and terminal device 230 can transmit a capability indication 205 to network device 240 Petition 870260073420, dated 07 / 23 / 2026, p. 31 / 137 20 / 33 indicating the preferred XRD cycle for relaxation and whether the terminal device is capable of relaxed measurements per cell group (per-CG).

[062] In some other embodiments, network device 240 may transmit an RRC reconfiguration 207 to terminal device 230, including relaxation configuration and XRD cycle. In some embodiments, terminal device 230 may make (215) determinations as to whether to relax measurements. In some additional embodiments, terminal device 230 may perform measurements (217) based on relaxed or unrelaxed behavior. The terminal device may transmit measurement reports 219 to network device 240.

[063] FIG. 3 illustrates some principles of the 300 rules according to some embodiments of this disclosure. Note that process flow 300 can be considered as an additional example of process flow 200. It should be understood that these elements are described for illustrative purposes only, without suggesting any limitation as to the scope of the disclosure.

[064] In FIG. 3, element X may represent a configured long XRD and element Y may represent a configured short XRD. In some embodiments, the UE is configured with long XRD, X, and short XRD, Y, and may also be configured to allow relaxation of RLM / BFD measurements. For example, in some embodiments, if X>80ms, the UE may not be allowed to relax RLM or BFD. In another example, if X > 80 ms while Y <= 80 ms, the UE may be allowed to relax RLM / BFD. In some additional examples, if X<=80ms and Y<=80ms, the UE may be allowed to relax RLM / BFD.

[065] In some detailed embodiments, the EU may determine that it is not permitted to relax the RLM / BFD measurements if the XRD cycle is short Petition 870260073420, dated 07 / 23 / 2026, p. 32 / 137 If the configured 21 / 33 cycle is shorter than, for example, 80 ms and / or if the configured long XRD cycle is longer than, for example, 80 ms.

[066] In example embodiments, the UE may determine that the UE is not permitted to relax RLM / BFD measurements if the configured long XRD cycle is longer than, for example, 80 ms, regardless of the length of the configured short XRD cycle.

[067] In some instances, the UE may determine that the UE is permitted to relax RLM / BFD measurements if the configured short XRD cycle length is, for example, 80 ms or less than, for example, 80 ms (even if, or regardless of, the configured long XRD cycle length).

[068] Alternatively, or additionally, the UE may use the configured shorter or longer XRD cycle (short or long) to determine whether the UE is permitted to relax the RLM / BFD measurements. For example, if the short XRD is configured with an XRD cycle of 80 ms or less, for example, 80 ms, the UE may be permitted to relax the RLM / BFD measurements. In another example, the UE may be permitted to relax the RLM / BFD measurements if the configured longer XRD cycle (long or short) is, for example, 80 ms or less than, for example, 80 ms. In some embodiments, the EU may determine that the EU is not permitted to relax the RLM / BFD measurements if both the short XRD cycle and the long XRD cycle are longer than, for example, 80 ms. In other embodiments, the EU may be permitted to relax the RLM / BFD measurements if both the short XRD cycle and the long XRD cycle are shorter than, for example, 80 ms.

[069] In some example embodiments, the UE may use the shortest configured XRD cycle to determine whether the UE is permitted to relax the Petition 870260073420, dated 07 / 23 / 2026, p. 33 / 137 22 / 33 RLM / BFD measurements and the UE can use the configured longest XRD cycle to determine if the UE is allowed to exit relaxed RLM / BFD measurements. This disclosure method can apply when the configured short XRD cycle or long XRD cycle is no longer than, for example, 80 ms.

[070] The method of this disclosure may also apply to determining the evaluation period of relaxed RLM / BFD measurement. In some scenarios, it may not be clear what the “XRD cycle” refers to when both short XRD and long XRD are configured.

[071] In some example embodiments, the UE determines that the short XRD cycle is less than or equal to a threshold duration (such as 80 ms) and the long XRD cycle is greater than the threshold duration. The UE will determine the relaxed evaluation period for the RLM / BFD measurement based on the XRD cycle that the terminal device uses to determine that the terminal device is allowed to relax the measurement, or it will determine the relaxed evaluation period based on the long XRD cycle. For example, if the UE uses a short XRD cycle to determine that the terminal device is allowed to relax the measurement regardless of the long XRD cycle, the relaxed evaluation period will be determined based on the short XRD cycle. Alternatively, the UE may determine the relaxed evaluation period for the RLM / BFD measurement based on the long XRD cycle as the UE performs relaxed measurements for both short and long XRD cycles.

[072] In some other example embodiments, the UE determines that both the short XRD cycle and the long XRD cycle are less than or equal to a threshold duration (such as 80 ms). The UE may determine the relaxed assessment period based on the short XRD cycle or the long XRD cycle. For example, the relaxed assessment period is always determined based on the long XRD cycle. Petition 870260073420, dated 07 / 23 / 2026, p. 34 / 137 23 / 33

[073] In some other example embodiments, the UE may determine that the terminal device is allowed to relax the measurement. The UE may then determine the relaxed evaluation period to assess whether the downlink radio link quality worsens below a threshold (e.g., Qout) based on either the long or short XRD cycle, and determine the relaxed evaluation period to assess whether the downlink radio link quality improves above a threshold (e.g., Qin) based on either the long or short XRD cycle.

[074] In some other embodiments, when the UE is configured with short XRD cycle and long XRD cycle, the UE may or may not trigger the RLM / BFD measurement relaxation state report when the relaxation state is changed due to the transition from using short XRD cycle to long XRD cycle (or from using long XRD cycle to short XRD cycle).

[075] Alternatively, or additionally, the EU may or may not initiate the EU Assistance Information procedure for reporting the relaxation status of RLM / BFD measurements when the relaxation status has changed due to the transition from the use of a short XRD cycle to a long XRD cycle (or from the use of a long XRD cycle to a short XRD cycle).

[076] In some instances, the UE may exclude the RLM / BFD relaxation status report due to the UE transitioning from a short XRD cycle to a long XRD cycle, or the UE transitioning to a short XRD cycle from a long XRD cycle. In some modes, the UE may determine to initiate transmission of the UEAssistanceInformation message to provide the relaxation state of RLM / BFD measurements for the cell group if the relaxation state of RLM / BFD measurements for the cell group is currently different from the relaxation state reported in the last message transmission. Petition 870260073420, dated 07 / 23 / 2026, p. 35 / 137 24 / 33 UEAssistanceInformation which includes rlm / bfd-MeasRelaxationState of the cell group and the change in relaxation state was not (or was) due to the transition from the use of a short XRD cycle to a long XRD cycle (or from the use of a long XRD cycle to a short XRD cycle).

[077] In some embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing any of the 200A method (for example, the 110 terminal device) may comprise means for performing the respective steps of the 200A method. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the media may be implemented in a circuit assembly or software module.

[078] In some embodiments, the apparatus comprises means for determining a short discontinuous reception cycle (XRD) and a long XRD cycle configured for the terminal device; and means for determining, based on at least one of the short XRD cycle or the long XRD cycle, at least one of (i) whether the terminal device is allowed to relax a measurement, or (ii) a relaxed evaluation period for the measurement.

[079] In some embodiments, the means for determining whether the terminal device is permitted to relax the measurement comprise: means for determining that the terminal device is permitted to relax the measurement regardless of the long XRD cycle, based on the determination that the short XRD cycle is less than or equal to a threshold duration. In some embodiments, the means for determining whether the terminal device is permitted to relax the measurement comprise: means for determining that the terminal device is permitted to relax the measurement based on the determination that the short XRD cycle is less than or equal to a threshold duration and the long XRD cycle is greater than the threshold duration. Petition 870260073420, dated 07 / 23 / 2026, p. 36 / 137 25 / 33

[080] In some embodiments, the means for determining whether the terminal device is permitted to relax the measurement comprise: means for determining that the terminal device is permitted to relax the measurement based on the determination that the short XRD cycle is less than or equal to a threshold duration. In some additional embodiments, the means for determining whether the terminal device is permitted to relax the measurement comprise: means for determining that the terminal device is not permitted to relax the measurement based on the determination that the short XRD cycle is greater than the threshold duration.

[081] In some example embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for determining whether the terminal device is permitted to exit relaxed measurement based on the short XRD cycle. In some example embodiments, the means for determining the evaluation period for the measurement comprise: means for, based on the determination that the short XRD cycle is less than or equal to a threshold duration and the long XRD cycle is greater than the threshold duration, determining the relaxed evaluation period based on the XRD cycle that the terminal device uses to determine whether the terminal device is permitted to relax the measurement, or determining the relaxed evaluation period based on the long XRD cycle.

[082] In some additional embodiments, the means for determining the evaluation period for the measurement comprise: means for, based on the determination that both the short XRD cycle and the long XRD cycle are less than or equal to a threshold duration, determining the relaxed evaluation period based on the short XRD cycle or the long XRD cycle.

[083] In some additional embodiments, the means for determining the evaluation period for the measurement comprise: means for, based on the determination that the terminal device is permitted to relax the measurement, Petition 870260073420, dated 07 / 23 / 2026, p. 37 / 137 26 / 33 determine the relaxed evaluation period to assess whether the downlink radio link quality becomes worse than a threshold based on either the long or short XRD cycle, and means to determine the relaxed evaluation period to assess whether the downlink radio link quality becomes better than a threshold based on either the long or short XRD cycle. In some additional embodiments, the threshold duration is 80 milliseconds. In some example embodiments, the measurement comprises radio link monitoring (RLM) measurement and / or beam fault detection (BFD) measurement.

[084] In some embodiments, the apparatus additionally comprises means for performing other steps in some embodiments of method 200a. In some embodiments, the means comprise at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code, or at least one memory and computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, bring about the performance of the apparatus.

[085] In some embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing any of the steps of method 200B (for example, terminal device 110) may comprise means for performing the respective steps of method 200B. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuit assembly or software module.

[086] In some example embodiments, the device comprises: means for determining a short discontinuous receive cycle (XRD) and a long XRD cycle configured for the terminal device; means for detecting a transition from the use of one of the short XRD cycle or the long XRD cycle to Petition 870260073420, dated 07 / 23 / 2026, p. 38 / 137 27 / 33 the use of the other between the short XRD cycle and the long XRD cycle; and means to prevent the reporting of a measurement relaxation state due to the transition In some exemplary embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for determining that a relaxation state of a measurement has been altered due to the transition. In some exemplary embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for determining, based on at least one of the short XRD cycle or the long XRD cycle, whether the terminal device is allowed to relax a measurement.

[087] In some example embodiments, the device further comprises means for preventing the initiation of an EU assistance information procedure to report the measurement relaxation state. In some example embodiments, the device further comprises means for excluding the reporting of the measurement relaxation state from an EU assistance information procedure.

[088] In some exemplary embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for determining that a relaxation state of a measurement has been altered due to reasons other than transition; and means for reporting the current relaxation state of the measurement.

[089] In some exemplary embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for comparing the relaxation state of the measurement with a previously reported relaxation state of the measurement, and means for reporting the current relaxation state of the measurement based on the determination that the relaxation state is different from the previously reported relaxation state, wherein the report comprises initiating an EU assistance information procedure to report the relaxation state of the measurement, and means for preventing the reporting of the current relaxation state of the measurement based on the determination that the relaxation state is the same. Petition 870260073420, dated 07 / 23 / 2026, page 39 / 137 28 / 33 that the previously reported relaxation state. In some example embodiments, the measurement comprises radio link monitoring (RLM) measurement and / or beam fault detection (BFD) measurement.

[090] In some embodiments, the apparatus additionally comprises means for performing other steps in some embodiments of method 200b. In some embodiments, the means comprise at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code, at least one memory and computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, bring about the performance of the apparatus.

[091] FIG. 4 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a device 400 that is suitable for implementing some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 400 can be provided to implement a communication device, for example, the terminal device 110 and the network device 120 as shown in FIG. 1A. As shown, the device 400 includes one or more processors 410, one or more memories 420 coupled to the processor 410 and one or more communication modules 440 coupled to the processor 410.

[092] The 440 communication module is for bidirectional communication. The 440 communication module has at least one antenna to facilitate communication. The communication interface can represent any interface that is necessary for communication with other network elements.

[093] The 410 processor may be of any type suitable for the local technical network and may include one or more of the following: general-purpose computers, special-purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs), and processors based on multicore processor architecture, as non-limiting examples. The 400 device Petition 870260073420, dated 07 / 23 / 2026, page 40 / 137 29 / 33 may have multiple processors, such as an application-specific integrated circuit chip that is time-switched to a clock, which synchronizes with the main processor.

[094] Memory 420 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of non-volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a Read-Only Memory (ROM) 424, an electrically programmable read-only memory (EPROM), a flash memory, a hard disk, a compact disc (CD), a digital video disc (DVD), and other magnetic and / or optical storage. Examples of volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a random access memory (RAM) 422 and other volatile memories that will not withstand the duration of a power-off.

[095] A computer program 430 includes computer executable instructions that are executed by the associated processor 410. The program 430 can be stored in ROM 424. The processor 410 can perform any actions and processing appropriate to loading the program 430 into RAM 422.

[096] The embodiments of this disclosure can be implemented by means of program 430 so that device 400 can perform any process of the disclosure, as discussed with reference to FIGS. 2A and 2B. The embodiments of this disclosure can also be implemented by hardware or by a combination of software and hardware.

[097] In some example embodiments, program 430 may be tangibly contained in a computer-readable medium which may be included in device 400 (such as memory 420) or other storage devices that are accessible by device 400. Device 400 may load program 430 from the computer-readable medium into RAM. Petition 870260073420, dated 07 / 23 / 2026, p. 41 / 137 30 / 33 422 for execution. The computer-readable medium may include any type of tangible non-volatile storage, such as ROM, EPROM, flash memory, hard disk, CD, DVD, and the like.

[098] FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of an example of a computer-readable medium 500 in accordance with some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. The computer-readable medium 500 has the program 430 stored thereon. Note that although the computer-readable medium 500 is depicted in the form of a CD or DVD in FIG. 5, the computer-readable medium 500 may be in any other form suitable for carrying or maintaining the program 430.

[099] Generally, various embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented in special-purpose hardware or circuits, software, logic, or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software, which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor, or other computing device. Although various aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flowcharts, or using some other pictorial representations, it should be understood that the block, apparatus, system, technique, or method described in the present invention can be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, special-purpose hardware, software, firmware, circuits or logic, general-purpose hardware or controller, or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

[100] This disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transient, computer-readable storage medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as those Petition 870260073420, dated 07 / 23 / 2026, page 42 / 137 31 / 33 included in program modules, being executed on a device on a real or virtual target processor, to accomplish methods 200a and 200b, as described above with reference to FIGS. 2A and 2B. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, or the like that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of program modules can be combined or partitioned among program modules as desired in various ways. Machine-executable instructions for program modules can be executed within a local or distributed device. In a distributed device, program modules can be located on either local or remote storage media.

[101] The program code for carrying out methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. These program codes may be provided to a processor or controller of a general-purpose computer, special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing device, such that the program codes, when executed by the processor or controller, cause the functions / operations specified in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams to be implemented. The program code may be executed entirely on one machine, partially on the machine as a stand-alone software package, partially on the machine and partially on a remote machine, or entirely on the remote machine or server.

[102] In the context of this disclosure, computer program codes or related data may be ported by any suitable carrier to enable the device, apparatus or processor to Petition 870260073420, dated 07 / 23 / 2026, page 43 / 137 32 / 33 perform various processes and operations as described above. Examples of the carrier include a signal, computer-readable media, and the like.

[103] A computer-readable medium may be a computer-readable signal medium or a computer-readable storage medium. A computer-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination thereof. More specific examples of a computer-readable storage medium would include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer floppy disk, a hard disk drive, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc (CD-ROM) read-only memory, an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination thereof.The term "non-transient," as used in the present invention, is a limitation of the medium itself (i.e., tangible, not a signal) as opposed to a limitation in the persistence of data storage (e.g., RAM vs. ROM).

[104] Additionally, although the operations are depicted in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Likewise, although several specific implementation details are contained in the discussions above, they should not be interpreted as limitations on the scope of this disclosure, but rather as descriptions of attributes that may be specific to Petition 870260073420, dated 07 / 23 / 2026, page 44 / 137 33 / 33 particular modalities. Certain attributes that are described in the context of separate modalities may also be implemented in combination in a single modality. Conversely, several attributes that are described in the context of an individual modality may also be implemented in multiple modalities separately or in any suitable subcombination.

[105] Although the present disclosure has been described in languages ​​specific to structural attributes and / or methodological acts, it should be understood that the present disclosure defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific attributes or acts described above. Instead, the specific attributes and acts described above are disclosed as example ways to implement the claims. Petition 870260073420, dated 07 / 23 / 2026, p. 45 / 137

Claims

1 / 3 CLAIMS 1. Terminal device, characterized in that it comprises: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the terminal device to at least: determine a short discontinuous receive cycle (DRX) and a long DRX cycle configured for the terminal device; detect a transition from the use of one of the short DRX cycles or the long DRX cycle to the use of the other of the short DRX cycles or the long DRX cycle; and prevent the reporting of a relaxation state of a measurement due to the transition.

2. Terminal device, according to claim 1, characterized in that the terminal device is additionally made to: determine that the relaxation state of the measurement is altered due to the transition.

3. Terminal device, according to claim 2, characterized in that the terminal device is additionally enabled to: determine, based on the short XRD cycle being less than or equal to a threshold duration and the long XRD cycle being greater than the threshold duration, that the terminal device is allowed to relax the measurement.

4. Terminal device, according to claim 1, characterized in that the terminal device is additionally carried out to, at least one of: prevent the initiation of an EU assistance information procedure to report the measurement relaxation status, or Petition 870260073420, dated 23 / 07 / 2026, page 46 / 137 2 / 3 exclude the reporting of the measurement relaxation status from the EU assistance information procedure.

5. Terminal device according to claim 1, characterized in that the terminal device is additionally carried out to: determine that the relaxation state of the measurement is altered due to a reason other than the transition; and report a current relaxation state of the measurement.

6. Terminal device, according to claim 5, characterized in that the terminal device is additionally carried out to: compare the relaxation state of the measurement with a previously reported relaxation state of the measurement; based on the determination that the relaxation state is different from the previously reported relaxation state, report the current relaxation state of the measurement, wherein the report comprises initiating an EU assistance information procedure to report the relaxation state of the measurement; and based on the determination that the relaxation state is the same as the previously reported relaxation state, prevent the reporting of the current relaxation state of the measurement.

7. Terminal device according to claim 1, characterized in that the measurement comprises at least one of the following: a radio link monitoring (RLM) measurement; or a beam fault detection (BFD) measurement.

8. A method performed by a terminal device, characterized in that it comprises: determining a short discontinuous reception cycle (XRD) and a long XRD cycle configured for the terminal device; detecting a transition from the use of one of the short XRD cycles or the long XRD cycle to the use of the other of the short XRD cycles or the long XRD cycle; and preventing the reporting of a relaxation state of a measurement due to the transition.

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